L-M color baguette?

[TBjumper]

Hey guys,

I need your opinions... I LOVE old antique jewelery, OMC, OEC, chunky warm facets etc. The older the piece the more history it has the more I like it. Love deco pieces etc. I am telling you this so you know that I am OK with warm stones.

That being said, I have the chance to buy a 4.2ct channel set eternity band from an estate (local auction house, not ebay or anything) with a return policy at a sale that is coming up at the end of the week. The return policy is only if the item is damaged or not as represented, i.e. you take to your appriaser and the in house apprasial was WAY off.

I saw the piece at a preview of the jewelery this weekend. It STUNNING IMHO. Its 6.3mm wide, needless to say it takes up a ton of finger coverage and its a very stand out piece. The auction house has appraisers on site, and have graded it being VS-1 stones but L-M in color, set in PLT and dated back (mind you this is all a guess from the licensed appraiser) to the 1920-1930. The reserve is very low, and it really is a once and a life time piece. AND ITS MY SIZE!!!!!!!!!!! 5.5 Fate, right??

My question is, I love the warm colors, and under the lights I saw the piece at, the diamonds didn''t look that warm... Has anyone see this kind of cut, Baguette stones that warm? I am wondering if I am going to hate it in normal daylight as it doesn''t have the faceting of a OEC or an OMC that I am used to in that color range in normal lighting.

Can any one shed some light, or have any advice/pictures/.02ct about it??

Thanks everyone.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/8/2010 11:36:52 AM
Author:TBjumper
Hey guys,

I need your opinions... I LOVE old antique jewelery, OMC, OEC, chunky warm facets etc. The older the piece the more history it has the more I like it. Love deco pieces etc. I am telling you this so you know that I am OK with warm stones.

That being said, I have the chance to buy a 4.2ct channel set eternity band from an estate (local auction house, not ebay or anything) with a return policy at a sale that is coming up at the end of the week. The return policy is only if the item is damaged or not as represented, i.e. you take to your appriaser and the in house apprasial was WAY off.

I saw the piece at a preview of the jewelery this weekend. It STUNNING IMHO. Its 6.3mm wide, needless to say it takes up a ton of finger coverage and its a very stand out piece. The auction house has appraisers on site, and have graded it being VS-1 stones but L-M in color, set in PLT and dated back (mind you this is all a guess from the licensed appraiser) to the 1920-1930. The reserve is very low, and it really is a once and a life time piece. AND ITS MY SIZE!!!!!!!!!!! 5.5 Fate, right??

My question is, I love the warm colors, and under the lights I saw the piece at, the diamonds didn't look that warm... Has anyone see this kind of cut, Baguette stones that warm? I am wondering if I am going to hate it in normal daylight as it doesn't have the faceting of a OEC or an OMC that I am used to in that color range in normal lighting.

Can any one shed some light, or have any advice/pictures/.02ct about it??

Thanks everyone.

This is a tricky one as to me some L/M stones don't look all that warm...But this is difficult as we really have no way of knowing the true colour of the diamonds as we don't know the skill and experience of the person who assigned the colour grades....Is there any way you can check the ring out in plain daylight to see if these stones are warm enough for you? I haven't personally seen bags in these colours but I have with rounds of various sizes and to me the warmth was fairly slight. If you could love the ring as it is and be ok with it perhaps showing more delicate warmth in some lights more than others then thats fine but if you really want distinctly tinted stones and you don't think these are tinted enough, keep looking.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Will they let you see it in daylight during the preview period??

 

[TBjumper]

Date: 2/8/2010 11:48:01 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 2/8/2010 11:36:52 AM
Author:TBjumper
Hey guys,

I need your opinions... I LOVE old antique jewelery, OMC, OEC, chunky warm facets etc. The older the piece the more history it has the more I like it. Love deco pieces etc. I am telling you this so you know that I am OK with warm stones.

That being said, I have the chance to buy a 4.2ct channel set eternity band from an estate (local auction house, not ebay or anything) with a return policy at a sale that is coming up at the end of the week. The return policy is only if the item is damaged or not as represented, i.e. you take to your appriaser and the in house apprasial was WAY off.

I saw the piece at a preview of the jewelery this weekend. It STUNNING IMHO. Its 6.3mm wide, needless to say it takes up a ton of finger coverage and its a very stand out piece. The auction house has appraisers on site, and have graded it being VS-1 stones but L-M in color, set in PLT and dated back (mind you this is all a guess from the licensed appraiser) to the 1920-1930. The reserve is very low, and it really is a once and a life time piece. AND ITS MY SIZE!!!!!!!!!!! 5.5 Fate, right??

My question is, I love the warm colors, and under the lights I saw the piece at, the diamonds didn''t look that warm... Has anyone see this kind of cut, Baguette stones that warm? I am wondering if I am going to hate it in normal daylight as it doesn''t have the faceting of a OEC or an OMC that I am used to in that color range in normal lighting.

Can any one shed some light, or have any advice/pictures/.02ct about it??

Thanks everyone.

This is a tricky one as to me some L/M stones don''t look all that warm...But this is difficult as we really have no way of knowing the true color of the diamonds as we don''t know the skill and experience of the person who assigned the color grades....Is there any way you can check the ring out in plain daylight to see if these stones are warm enough for you? I haven''t personally seen bags in these colors but I have with rounds of various sizes and to me the warmth was fairly slight. If you could love the ring as it is and be OK with it perhaps showing more delicate warmth in some lights more than others then thats fine but if you really want distinctly tinted stones and you don''t think these are tinted enough, keep looking.

Hi Lorelei,

Its pretty warm under the indoor lights. Next to my OEC L they look pretty close, the color doesn''t bother me at all. Someone on PS put is that the warmer colors were like a creamy vanilla, rather than an Ice white. I love that description, and I am OK with the stones as is in the indoor lighting... I am just wondering if because they are baguettes they wont have the same light play due to being a step cut. The only stones I had had exposure to that were in that color ranger were antique cuts with tons of chunky facets. I am wondering if the color is going to be magnified because the step cut is a "flatter" ( I know this isn''t the right term...) cut.

The auction house won''t allow any of the jewelry to leave the floor.

All of the appraisers are certified appraisers, but I kind of look at that like mechanics. They are all certified to look at cars, but aren''t really specialist in any one auction item. I have no doubt the man knows what he is looking at but I am uncertain he really is an expert in jewelry grading if YKWIM?

 

[TBjumper]

Date: 2/8/2010 12:27:55 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
Will they let you see it in daylight during the preview period??

Hi Dreamer;
Unfortunately not... they wont let you take any of their pieces off the floor. Liability, insurance yadda yadda....

I am not so worried about the ring showing the color, I should have phrased my question better. I am more concerned with the fact I am unaware if a step cut is going to show MORE or LESS color than a faceted stone. I am OK with warmth to even a little yellow, I just hate the brown undertones.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/8/2010 1:44:35 PM
Author: TBjumper

Date: 2/8/2010 12:27:55 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
Will they let you see it in daylight during the preview period??

Hi Dreamer;
Unfortunately not... they wont let you take any of their pieces off the floor. Liability, insurance yadda yadda....

I am not so worried about the ring showing the color, I should have phrased my question better. I am more concerned with the fact I am unaware if a step cut is going to show MORE or LESS color than a faceted stone. I am OK with warmth to even a little yellow, I just hate the brown undertones.

Maybe one of the experts will have some advice concerning warmth in baguette shapes, if I had to guess I would * think* that these shapes would show more warmth than faceted shapes but perhaps one of the experts will have actual experience of viewing some similar stones.

 

[TBjumper]

Thx Lorelei! Let''s hope someone with some step cut knowledge chimes in for me!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/8/2010 2:41:36 PM
Author: TBjumper
Thx Lorelei! Let''s hope someone with some step cut knowledge chimes in for me!

Just had a thought, maybe Karl might have seen some similar, I will let him know about this thread.

 

[D&T]

Hi thumper. I have seen a pretty warm K color 2 carat asscher cut in person GIA cert and it was VERY warm next to my Modern RB K (no fluoro) the difference was really apparent, however it was BEAUTIFUL! different personal perference, I would have loved to have that beauty on my finger, the other thing was that K color asscher was put in Yellow gold prongs so it also took on more of warmth of the gold/rich tone than it probably would have if it was set in white metal color. If there is a return period, then can you not get it and return it if is not what you envisioned?
I have also had a S-T colr (smaller RB) and still the asscher had more of a golden tone for me, my S-T with fluoro had more of a sunshiny yellow instead. I'm not sure if I'm describing where you can visiualize it or not, but

just from my experience of what I have seen

ETA: I also wanted to mention that the 2carat was pretty large in comparison to what you have in mind, which may be less tinted in the smaller sizes.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 2/8/2010 2:28:42 PM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 2/8/2010 1:44:35 PM
Author: TBjumper

Date: 2/8/2010 12:27:55 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
Will they let you see it in daylight during the preview period??

Hi Dreamer;
Unfortunately not... they wont let you take any of their pieces off the floor. Liability, insurance yadda yadda....

I am not so worried about the ring showing the color, I should have phrased my question better. I am more concerned with the fact I am unaware if a step cut is going to show MORE or LESS color than a faceted stone. I am OK with warmth to even a little yellow, I just hate the brown undertones.

Maybe one of the experts will have some advice concerning warmth in baguette shapes, if I had to guess I would * think* that these shapes would show more warmth than faceted shapes but perhaps one of the experts will have actual experience of viewing some similar stones.

This would be my guess too, since generally step cuts show more warmth.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

Hi!

I have a L color asscher as my ering bezel set in a halo, I don''t notice much tint to it unless I''m in direct sunlight. Even with the tint, I love warmer stones so it doesn''t bother me at all. I also think it helps that I can''t see the body color because of the halo, the body color is much more apparent than the face up color. I would assume that the same is true for this band.

If you decide to get it post pics!

 

[ericad]

If properly graded, I think L/M colored baguettes will show a lovely amount of warmth. Maybe this will help - my asscher is a GIA L and the traps and bullets are K''s. My bullets were actually cut down from baguettes, and here are 2 pics that show them prior to recut. Not the best pics, but these show that the baguettes are as warm as my asscher, which does have noticeable warmth to it.

 

[ericad]

One more

 

[Karl_K]

The range of cut with Baguettes range from good to absolutely awful. (never seen one id call excellent but they are possible and I know of at least one company that cuts them with proper angles.)
With decent cutting they should be creamy whitish but if the cut is bad then they will be really darkish.
Try this, take a piece of white writing paper and use it as a filter for the lights and see how it looks.
That will give you more diffused lighting.
I like l-m step cuts if cut well.

 

[ericad]

And after cutting them into bullets (you can see they are warm, not stark white). They are really pretty and perform well under all lighting, but as Karl says, it all depends on how they are cut. But as for the color, I really like my warm step cuts all the time!

 

[TBjumper]

Date: 2/8/2010 2:59:18 PM
Author: D&T
Hi thumper. I have seen a pretty warm K color 2 carat asscher cut in person GIA cert and it was VERY warm next to my Modern RB K (no fluoro) the difference was really apparent, however it was BEAUTIFUL! different personal perference, I would have loved to have that beauty on my finger, the other thing was that K color asscher was put in Yellow gold prongs so it also took on more of warmth of the gold/rich tone than it probably would have if it was set in white metal color. If there is a return period, then can you not get it and return it if is not what you envisioned?
I have also had a S-T colr (smaller RB) and still the asscher had more of a golden tone for me, my S-T with fluoro had more of a sunshiny yellow instead. I''m not sure if I''m describing where you can visiualize it or not, but

just from my experience of what I have seen

ETA: I also wanted to mention that the 2carat was pretty large in comparison to what you have in mind, which may be less tinted in the smaller sizes.

Hi D&T,
Thanks for the reply! Sunshiny yellow is a good description, under the floor lighting ( i would equate this to home depot lighting, big auction house in VA, they have cars, furniture to jewelry, so BIG space...just trying to give you guys an idea what I saw) they were certainly warm...faint soft yellow tones... but everyone knows that store lighting and inside lighting isn''t what we see everyday. I have no idea about Flouro as they aren''t cert. stones and this was just an appraisal done in house. So it may be that these stones were more like that s-t RB you are referring to. Again these stones are in PLT so maybe that is masking how warm they really are???

2ct is a stunner for sure, the baguettes are decent size sent vertically... they are fairly wide, I''ll see if I can get a mm measurement on each stone for width. The band is fairly substantial, the band is 6.3mm wide and just a hair over 4 ct... so they aren''t tiny baguettes you see in rb baguette alternating bands....

 

[TBjumper]

Date: 2/8/2010 4:19:34 PM
Author: ericad
If properly graded, I think L/M colored baguettes will show a lovely amount of warmth. Maybe this will help - my asscher is a GIA L and the traps and bullets are K''s. My bullets were actually cut down from baguettes, and here are 2 pics that show them prior to recut. Not the best pics, but these show that the baguettes are as warm as my asscher, which does have noticeable warmth to it.

Hi Erica! Thanks for taking the time to help me, the pictures are fantastic and your asscher

. swoon. enough said.

I think this ring''s stones are warmer than your stone if I had to guess. Looking at your stones, even the bullets look to be whiter than this ring. I really think the lighting has something to do with it. Again I am OK with the warmth, creamy yellow warmth. It makes me think Victorian lace with age on it... just not of with a brown undertone. I am sure your stones are of much better quality than this ring. I wouldn''t kick this ring outta bed for eating crackers if you know what I mean...

but still not the show stopper you have!

Do you see a noticeable difference in color indoors and out with your ring? Specifically the step cuts?

 

[TBjumper]

Date: 2/8/2010 4:22:09 PM
Author: Karl_K
The range of cut with Baguettes range from good to absolutely awful. (never seen one id call excellent but they are possible and I know of at least one company that cuts them with proper angles.)
With decent cutting they should be creamy whitish but if the cut is bad then they will be really darkish.
Try this, take a piece of white writing paper and use it as a filter for the lights and see how it looks.
That will give you more diffused lighting.
I like l-m step cuts if cut well.

Hi Karl!!

The cut is uncertain at this point as its an estate piece, but they are of good clarity... lets hope who ever made the ring some 90 some years ago had a PS mentality CUT and Clarity! The stones did not look dark, just not icey!

 

[ericad]

Yes, they do take on different tones indoors vs. outdoors and depending on the lighting. Depending on the lighting, the ring you''re considering could look even more amazing or less. If you''re not able to look at it outdoors, is the price compelling enough to be worth the risk that it won''t perform as well outside of the showroom?

 

[TBjumper]

Date: 2/8/2010 6:36:35 PM
Author: ericad
Yes, they do take on different tones indoors vs. outdoors and depending on the lighting. Depending on the lighting, the ring you''re considering could look even more amazing or less. If you''re not able to look at it outdoors, is the price compelling enough to be worth the risk that it won''t perform as well outside of the showroom?

Hey there again,

I do feel the price is good enough I am OK with it... LOL the have a reserve on it of 1k! I mean 4.2 ct eternity band for 1k seems worth it . I preregistered for this piece and have offered at least reserve. I plan on going to the auction since its only on site, they don''t have an on line department. I am hoping since it is a fairly large auction house, but a relatively small auction there wont be many there that know what they are looking at. This auction house does a lot with industrial sales, like if a company goes out of business they sell all the equipment and just dabbles in estate sales... since their estate sales aren''t as well advertised I am hoping to get the ring at a steal... I would be comfortable paying a few k for it, knowing what I do about diamonds.

Hopefully I can snake some cool furniture pieces I have been eyeballing too!