Have paralysis/analysis - help!

[retep]

Hi,

Have educated myself a lot over the last few weeks yet when it comes to actually selecting the diamond I'm at a loss.

For the 4 C's I gather and am comfortable that H-I and SI1(maybe a bump up on each) are still great diamonds and you save a lot of money here. And I'm leaning towards 1.5 vs. 1.0 ct for size based on personal preference.

Trouble is my gal wants a cushion. And when it comes to cut and the difficulty of buying a cushion I'm stumped.

Say I'm looking at 10 diamonds all are cushion, 1.4, I, SI1 really hard to determine the best.

Also, hard to get the best combo at one online vendor. Can find the diamond at J. Allen but hate all their settings. Love the settings at Whiteflash yet maybe not best buy on the diamond. Than factor in some offer financing, some don't, some take weeks to assemble, others overnight.

Please help me make this easier - thanks!

 

[slg47]

what type of cushion are you looking for? cushions vary widely in appearance. if you're not sure, do you have any pictures of ones that she likes? CCL has a useful guide to cushion shopping, I can look for it and post

 

[iota15]

There are a lot of good cushion vendors out there (GOG, ERD, etc.). I found JA simpler to use because I could see pictures of more stones at once, but lots of companies, including WF will bring whatever you'd like in.

What's your budget? What type of cushion are you looking for (rectangularish, antique, etc.)? Maybe we can help.

Also, I'm not sure who offers what type of financing but do you really want to be financing this purchase? If you're set on financing regardless, have you considered a line of credit to give yourself more options with vendors?

Additionally, maybe consider a simple, temporary setting (unless you fiance falls in love with it), and allow her to choose her own setting later. You may even be able to return the temp setting. It also puts less pressure on your budget.

 

[Anon-E-Mouse]

Can find the diamond at J. Allen but hate all their settings.

Not a big fan of their settings either. Also, I'm waiting 3 days and counting for an ASET image and photo from them. You may do better with a vendor that has cushions in-house. I can't recommend one but I've run into a few online in my searches. They're out there.

 

[MyDiamondSparkles]

I just saw a video from one of the vendors www.GoodOldGold.com comparing an si cushion with some other cushions, it was amazing the differnece in cushion cut made. He had a square hearts and arrows cushion along with a modern faceted cushion and a vintage faceted cushion. It was very interesting.

The video compared some colors as well as what a si looks like next to a vs2 and how 2 H color diamonds can look different from each other, more yellow and another more grey. It was a very educational video.

Here's the link: www.vimeo.com/9189827

And the reason I am posting this video is that when you see a video of the diamond, it really makes you realize that yes, it is a cusion but the cut can make a huge difference. Not all 1.4 H Si's are going to look the same--some or gonna go gray, some are going to appear more white--it all depenjds on the cut and what the inclusions are. I think you really need to see them in person OR if you can get a great video of the ones you are choosing that helps too.

I gotta say I love www.GoodOldGold.com for their educational videos--there are a ton of them and they are excellent!

MyDiaomndSparkles