Help with antique cushion 3-stone?

[evergreen]

Getting the jewelry bug again... I bought this lovely antique cushion (not branded, AGS 2 so not August Vintage light return) on JA a year or two ago and I'm thinking to set it as a 3 stone. It's adorable; check out the JA video (my timing with the screenshot was not good, ha!)

https://www.jamesallen.com/mobile/l...ut/0.86-carat-k-color-vs2-clarity-sku-3089484


Here's the ratio I'm thinking --


How crazy is it to try to get matching side cushions? The facet pattern is pretty close to an AVC, I think, so I'd be trying to get ~L-M color custom cut AVCs, I think... Will the difference in light performance be obvious? I don't want the sides to literally outshine the center, and yet I don't know how else to find matching cushion sides other than custom!

Any setting ideas? I'd love to see examples of antique cushion graduated 3-stones... It will be rose gold, 6.5 finger.

 

[Dreamer_D]

What fun! So many three stones popping up on the forum these days, I love it.

I think you could try AV cushions. But it depends on the look you are after. Do you want all three to have the same LW ratio? The price for AVs will be steeper than generic/antiques, too.

I would consider round OECs for sides. I have seen quite a few such rings in my own searching for antique three stone inspiration, and it looks really nice. Then you would not have to worry about matching LW or table size.

 

[evergreen]

Thanks, @dreamer_dachsie ! I've been following your 3 stone adventures too. I have a tranny e-ring, a 5-stone OEC ring, and an OEC station necklace (oh boy, actually, 2, one of which I never ever wear and oughta do something about that) but this is my only cushion... So I think I want cushion sides. I want the 3 stones to work together, not look like a main stone with accents.

The L/W ratio is roughly the same as many AVCs (including the custom 0.5 ct-equiv stimulants he sells), so custom cutting shouldn't be impossible... But I'm not really sure how much $$ i'd be looking at. I'm not color sensitive, luckily, and the smaller sides I though I could go down to L/M since the center is a K.

I hadn't thought about matching table size, though. I've never seen an AVC with a 58+% table! I don't think they exist. Maybe that's why I like the faceting better on the cushion I bought than the AVC stills I've seen.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Are there none in the size you want in stock?

You could also order a CZ/Moissy one to see if the size and proportions look OK to you.

 

[evergreen]

All I see on Jon's site is over 0.5ct. 0.7+ is the smallest I see. Two 0.5 AV moissanite would be about $500 (they're on sale...) and to be honest I might just set them in the ring if I liked it -- so I'm reluctant to invest that much because part of me is a diamond snob and wants all diamonds.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Might be worth seeing to know if you want to custom cut diamond ones.

 

[D&T]

reach out to GoodOldGold. As I know when I last checked (3 weeks ago) they had several options as I was looking for my cushion pair and they had some in the .25 carat ranges.

Jonathan actually sent me to them for my pair. I don’t know if I would restrict to table sizes as you will have limited options unless you go custom cut route.

 

[evergreen]

@D&T would it be better to contact Jonathan through his August Vintage site, or GOG? I thought he'd split off but maybe I'm wrong... Only looking for AVCs though, I think, because of the uniformity. Getting into true antique cushions sounds semi-impossible.

 

[Rfisher]

Fun project @evergreen !
If GOG doesn't have what you want, I'd still ask paramexports (even tho they shamelessly tried to self promote here), DBL or OWD.
Only to see if they happen to have something in stock, but not listed on site.
I'd be upfront about not requesting them to do a search - as if they all do, it steps on toes within each other, as in sure you already know.

 

[D&T]

@D&T would it be better to contact Jonathan through his August Vintage site, or GOG? I thought he'd split off but maybe I'm wrong... Only looking for AVCs though, I think, because of the uniformity. Getting into true antique cushions sounds semi-impossible.

Its GoG's inventory, so just go to GoG ask for David (Jonathan's son) He set up a video for me for all the melees he thought looked like a good pair. I only went to them based on Jonathan's recommendation because otherwise I'd have to wait to get something cut, or try my chances with them, and sure enough they had some avcs melees left.

 

[leukolenos]

Fun project @evergreen !
If GOG doesn't have what you want, I'd still ask paramexports (even tho they shamelessly tried to self promote here), DBL or OWD.
Only to see if they happen to have something in stock, but not listed on site.
I'd be upfront about not requesting them to do a search - as if they all do, it steps on toes within each other, as in sure you already know.

I agree with Rfisher. I would definitely contact DBL and OWD, send them the details of your stone and they can take it from there. You could also try contacting Brilliantly Engaged, they do a lot of modern cut antique style cushions as well.

 

[evergreen]

Thanks, @D&T , @Rfisher , @leukolenos ! I peeped at the sites and saw some options with potential on DBL (F and G sides are going to look ridiculous with a K, though, right?), I've got a query out to GOG, and I'll get in touch with Adam tomorrow to ask about his inventory. I haven't heard of Param Exports and their website isn't terribly well developed so I'm holding off on contacting them for now... These other options make me a little more comfortable.