It''s a GO! Please help me replace stolen ring.

[Roxie Bling]

I've posted a few times before, but now it is official. I am set to replace my engagement ring that I recently discovered was stolen out of my jewelry box. Too many people have been in and out my house to accuse someone (or everyone), but it is a lesson to me that if a ring needs resizing don't store it in jewelry box on your dresser.

So, my budget including setting has a max of $15k. My hope is to find a Novo style cushion to place in a simple DeBeers inspired setting, custom designed by a highly reviewed (not here but on a general on-line website with over 200 positive comments) here in Atlanta.

I will post the setting I like below. I would change it to accommodate a square cushion. I am leaning towards white gold.

Here are my diamond specs:
Carat: 1 - 1.5 (ideal around 1.25) I have a size 4 finger, so think keeping it under 1.5 is the way to go. Am I crazy?
Clarity: vvs2 - SI1 (feel most comfortalbe with only going to VS2, but would go lower for great cut stone)
Color: F-H (with G as the ideal)
Cut: Ideal or Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent or VG
Polish: Excellent or VG
L/W ratio: 1 - 1.05

I love the look of the H & A cusions at GOG, but am concerned that they will come up looking small due to depth. Needless concern? And they don't have much right now between 1.15 - 1.5. in my price range. I don't "need" to have H & A, but boy they sure are glorious to my eyes.

Questions:

1) With my budget (and of course I don't mind spending less), how much of it should I allot to diamond and how much to setting?

2) Can I find the cushion I want? I know the search process for a square cushion brilliant of high cut quality is challenging.

3) If my designer has stones for me to look at (she is out of the country until later this week), what are the main things I should ask her or look for when we are face to face? Any tricks I should look out for?

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me (and my naked finger) get a beautiful stone for my ring.



Wendy

 

[Dreamer_D]

I am not a cushion expert, but I think that all well cut cushions face up "small" for carat weight when compared to rounds, for instance. So for me it would not be a concern with the square H&As at GOG.

I love those square H&As, the optics amazing. If it were me, I would call Jon at GOG and I would tell him what my budget was and what I ideally wanted and then I would just wait for it to come in.

Honestly, for 15k you can go much larger than 1.25, so really you can get exactly what you want at that size without any worry. Find a vendor you trust and go from there.

 

[Deactivated member 42515]

1) With my budget (and of course I don''t mind spending less), how much of it should I allot to diamond and how much to setting?

I think that how much you want to spend on a setting and how much you want to spend on a diamond is completely up to you. But I believe that with your budget, you have some wiggle room to play around a bit. Do you want THE PERFECT diamond but with a plain solitaire setting, or would u like a diamond that is still pretty good, but have some details and diamond in ur setting? My choice, would be to give a little to both and not spend the majority of the money on one thing. But, your DeBeers setting online says it starts at 3200 but that is platinum and you want white gold which should lower the price a bit and you say youi''re going to have it custom made... so lets just say your setting ends up being 3000. If you want to use all your budget, you have about 10,500 left if you want to stay within that budget after tax (I dont know if your budget was before or after tax but thought safer to do it with tax all together) I''m not sure about the GOG H&A square cushion cuz people seem to be having the problems with depth like you said, but I''m not familiar with cushions, so I''m not sure... But, basically I guess what I am saying is find out how much your setting is and then make a budget for your diamond. A setting can do SOOO much for a diamond. you know?
I just recently purchased my setting and I am a budgeter. I budget and budget, and try to make my money stretch as much as possible to get what I want, which I actually did and I ended up getting the ring of my dreams. I hope that things work out for you cuz i really do think that 15k is great! and you DESERVE a new ring!

2) Can I find the cushion I want? I know the search process for a square cushion brilliant of high cut quality is challenging.

I checked GOG too and they only had a 1.11 square cushion...which I''m sure you already checked too

3) If my designer has stones for me to look at (she is out of the country until later this week), what are the main things I should ask her or look for when we are face to face? Any tricks I should look out for?

WHen I was picking out my setting, my jeweler tried to sell me a diamond they had IN STORE. I told him that I wasn''t here to buy a diamond, just the setting but he insisted that this diamond was perfect for me. Which it actually was, it had all the characteristics I wanted to the T. BUT, when I asked what institute graded the diamond, he said EGL and in MY opinion, I would always go for GIA certified diamond. EGL seems to have lower? standards to their diamond grading and something that is a G in color at EGL might be a H at GIA. He kept assuring me that it was ok, which it might be, but I also felt like he just wanted to get rid of the diamond that he had IN STORE. So when you go in, yes have her show you the diamonds that she wants, but also have her bring some more in that are not in store and more closer to your specifications. Not that all jewelers are shady, and I''m not saying mine was, they really were great, but they ARE SALESMAN and they are trying to make as much money as possible off you. Cuz you know it costs tehm more to bring in another diamond that to sell one they have had in the store for months to even a year.

VS2s are a good value but they are NOT GUARANTEED to be eye clean. Yes, the majority of them might be, but there are rare cases and you said SI1 was ok also. Ask her if you can take a really close look at the diamonds, and if in her opinion it is eye clean. and if she is able to show you a 10x magnification of the diamond itself to give you an idea of the inclusions. Always ask to see the GIA report.

I know that you might be thinking I dont want to seem too pushy and annoying, cuz i sure thought that before I started my buying experience, but YOU are the one spending the 15,000 DOLLLARS! They are to cater to you and make sure that YOU and only YOU are happy. And you dont want to walk out of the store after you buy a diamond thinking whether or not you made the right choice! I always thought, when am I gonna know when i want THE ONE... I only felt that cuz I hadn''t found it yet, and when I did... there was no more searching for me. I KNEW I made the right decision and by myself without pushy jewelers. Ask questions, and dont be afraid to make them repeat things that you didnt understand until you DO understand.

SOrry this is long! haha Be happy with your purchase! I''m really excited that your search is starting!

 

[ChunkyCushionLover]

Date: 12/6/2009 11:52:10 PM
Author:Roxie Bling

I''ve posted a few times before, but now it is official. I am set to replace my engagement ring that I recently discovered was stolen out of my jewelry box. Too many people have been in and out my house to accuse someone (or everyone), but it is a lesson to me that if a ring needs resizing don''t store it in jewelry box on your dresser.

So, my budget including setting has a max of $15k. My hope is to find a Novo style cushion to place in a simple DeBeers inspired setting, custom designed by a highly reviewed (not here but on a general on-line website with over 200 positive comments) here in Atlanta.

I will post the setting I like below. I would change it to accommodate a square cushion. I am leaning towards white gold.

Here are my diamond specs:
Carat: 1 - 1.5 (ideal around 1.25) I have a size 4 finger, so think keeping it under 1.5 is the way to go. Am I crazy?
Clarity: vvs2 - SI1 (feel most comfortalbe with only going to VS2, but would go lower for great cut stone)
Color: F-H (with G as the ideal)
Cut: Ideal or Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent or VG
Polish: Excellent or VG
L/W ratio: 1 - 1.05

I love the look of the H & A cusions at GOG, but am concerned that they will come up looking small due to depth. Needless concern? And they don''t have much right now between 1.15 - 1.5. in my price range. I don''t ''need'' to have H & A, but boy they sure are glorious to my eyes.

Questions:

1) With my budget (and of course I don''t mind spending less), how much of it should I allot to diamond and how much to setting?

2) Can I find the cushion I want? I know the search process for a square cushion brilliant of high cut quality is challenging.

3) If my designer has stones for me to look at (she is out of the country until later this week), what are the main things I should ask her or look for when we are face to face? Any tricks I should look out for?


Thank you so much for taking the time to help me (and my naked finger) get a beautiful stone for my ring.




Wendy

Roxie,

Why not stick with a round? You put 4 prongs on a square cushion HA and it starts looking like a round. Plus you have a lot more choices with rounds than Square Cushion HA and will probably get larger faceup size for the same money.

If you want a complete novo replica we could easily help you do it but it seems thats not what you want so why do you want the cushion to have hearts and arrows and look much like a round, that restricts you to only one type of cushion and narrows your choices and faceup size.

If you do want a square modern cushion (not a square cushion HA which can only be bought online from Jogia or GOG) (or a vintage one) I can search for you, but seriously consider a round and not reinventing the wheel with that setting.




First decide if you want a round or cushion?, then if you decide on a cushion I can find you a square modern one you might like to put in that setting like this one/



Why not stick with a round? You put 4 prongs on a square cushion HA and it starts looking like a round. Plus you have a lot more choices with rounds than Square Cushion HA and will probably get larger faceup size for the same money and other specs.

 

[Lorelei]

Hi Roxie

So sorry to hear what happened....We can definitely help you, if you are considering a cushion and you haven''t seen this video I would definitely suggest you watch it;

Consumers Guide to buying a Cushion Cut Diamond