shape
carat
color
clarity

#JOTW My antique jewellery shop find - tycoon and french cut diamond ring

diamondhoarder

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 5, 2012
Messages
995
Just when I thought my collection was complete, my interest was piqued by a gorgeous ring I saw by chance in an antique jewellery shop. I had long ago promised myself that having discovered the joys of buying well-priced loose diamonds online I would never pay a "retail" price for a ring in a shop window. But of course that doesn't stop me browsing jewellery shop windows everywhere I go, I love looking at all the beautiful things (even if some of them are quite over-priced or not always the quality I would look for).

So a couple of weeks ago I came across this ring in an antique jewellers window, being sold as en emerald cut diamond for a really good price. It was so bright and really stood out from the various others it was hiding in amongst. On closer inspection I noticed that it had square corners and an interesting facet pattern, and couldn't resist going inside to ask about it. It was being sold uncertified as a 1 carat centre diamond in a handmade platinum ring.

As soon as I put it on I was mesmerised, it has so much flash and movement, and a lot of fire, plus it looked a really substantial size on my (size 6.25) finger. I commented to the shop owner that for a 1 carat diamond it faced up quite large but he just put it down to the fact that "all emerald cuts face up large". I could see that this looked a lot more like a Tycoon Cut or french cut diamond than an emerald cut but he continued to insist it was an emerald cut. He explained how he had had the ring made himself in an antique style and had personally picked out the "princess cut" diamonds for the shoulders to compliment the centre stone. A quick look with a loupe confirmed that the shoulder diamonds are french cut, not princess cut so it seems that the shop owner is not as clued up about what he sells as he thinks, in spite of reassuring me of his expertise based on "30 years in the trade" :confused:

I was already considering breaking my "no shop bought rings" rule for this ring but then he offered me a substantial discount and that was the clincher. So I went against all of my usual precautions, and bought a finished ring with an uncertified diamond, without the benefit of a 30 day home inspection or ASET image from a vendor with questionable diamond knowledge and a slightly patronising attitude. And now its been sized and I have it home with me to subject to all my usual investigations and scrutiny it is one of the nicest rings in my collection. :kiss2: In fact (whisper it) I think I may even prefer it to my new asscher, which was the culmination of years of searching for the perfect stone. :roll:

The best surprise of all was that when I was finally able to look at it with my loupe in the right lighting environment I discovered an inscription on the girdle!!! 2 in fact - a GIA number and the Tycoon brand and serial number :D:appl: And having looked up the GIA certificate I discovered the diamond is a quarter of a carat larger than the jeweller thought, its a 1.27ct, G VS2! :dance:

Anyway, on to the important part - here are a couple of pics of my new treasure:

20210918_202121.jpg 20210918_174033.jpg 20210918_172008.jpg 20210918_173704.jpg 20210918_174026.jpg
20210918_173038.jpg
 

junebug17

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 17, 2009
Messages
14,127
Oh my goodness, what a find and what a story! How wonderful it turned out to be inscribed with that info :dance: And french cuts, yay! It is a gorgeous ring and I'm so glad it all worked out so well for you.

It is kind of interesting that there are some jewelers who think they know a lot but turn out to not know as much as they think lol.
 

blingmeupscotty

Brilliant_Rock
Trade
Joined
Dec 12, 2016
Messages
960
shut the front door...SHUT IT..!!!!! love <3 love LOVEEEEEE <3
 

nala

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
Messages
7,045
Wow! I had already told you and and I’ll say it again, this is such an awesome ring and How lucky you are to have come upon it! Happy for you and not all jealous (Hahhaha)
 

Sprinkles&Stones

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
May 19, 2020
Messages
1,992
Omg!!! What an amazing story, and what a killer find! That is an amazing cut! I am so jealous. Good scouting work!
 

stracci2000

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 26, 2007
Messages
8,345
Truly gorgeous!
What an exciting find!!!
 

the_mother_thing

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Mar 2, 2013
Messages
6,306
:love: OMG!! It’s beautiful & such a great find! Congrats! I would love to see a video of it if you’re so inclined. How do you feel the french cuts play with the center? They always seemed (to me) to be an ideal pairing.

And of course I’m also thrilled there’s another Tycoon cut in the PS family! :appl:I’m pretty firm now on how I want to (finally) set mine (link to thread here) though I haven’t shared the plan on PS yet; just need to decide on who/where to do it.
 

mwilliamanderson

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
1,221
Wow. It’s so bright and so beautiful! Does it have a diamond shaped table? Such an interesting cut!
 

diamondhoarder

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 5, 2012
Messages
995
Oh my goodness, what a find and what a story! How wonderful it turned out to be inscribed with that info :dance: And french cuts, yay! It is a gorgeous ring and I'm so glad it all worked out so well for you.

It is kind of interesting that there are some jewelers who think they know a lot but turn out to not know as much as they think lol.

Thank you, and yes you are so right about the jewellers (some of them, anyway). Sometimes when I go into a shop to look at something that has caught my eye I really have to bite my tongue with some of the stuff they come up with :eek-2: But in this case it worked in my favour so I can't really complain.....
 

diamondhoarder

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 5, 2012
Messages
995
I love and envy stories like this!!!! I am tagging @stracci2000 and @YadaYadaYada bc I am sure they too will appreciate it. What an amazing find and a beautiful ring!
Thank you. I always remember a thread on PS where a lady found an amazing Ashoka cut diamond ring being sold for some ridiculously low price and I remember thinking "I could never get that lucky" so I am having to pinch myself a bit with this tycoon cut ring.
Man alive, that is SO pretty! :kiss2:

Absolutely the find of the year! I adore everything about it & looks stunning on you! What a gorgeous stone!
Thank you =)2
Congratulations on a great find! It's gorgeous.
Thanks!
shut the front door...SHUT IT..!!!!! love <3 love LOVEEEEEE <3
:lol: Thank you
Wow! I had already told you and and I’ll say it again, this is such an awesome ring and How lucky you are to have come upon it! Happy for you and not all jealous (Hahhaha)
Thank you Nala, I know that you are the queen of amazing finds, I always love seeing your posts about your pawnbroker discoveries.
Omg!!! What an amazing story, and what a killer find! That is an amazing cut! I am so jealous. Good scouting work!
Thank you. Considering how much time I have devoted to scouring jewellery shops over the years it was about time I made a lucky find :D
What an awesome find❤️ Congrats, @diamondhoarder !
Thanks
Truly gorgeous!
What an exciting find!!!
Thank you, I still havent calmed down since finding the inscription and discovering my diamond had a size bump before I had had it a day! :lol:
GREEEEEEEN WITH ENVY!!!!!!!!!!!! Love it! Such a lucky ducky!! Quick! go buy a lottery ticket!!
Hmmm, I doubt I will be this lucky again for quite a while. I may quit while I'm ahead :D
Gorgeous, gorgeous find!

Thank you.
 

junebug17

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 17, 2009
Messages
14,127
Yes, it did work in your favor lol! And I don't mean to be overly critical in my comment, and it's good for the customer to educate themselves like you did.
 

diamondhoarder

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 5, 2012
Messages
995
:love: OMG!! It’s beautiful & such a great find! Congrats! I would love to see a video of it if you’re so inclined. How do you feel the french cuts play with the center? They always seemed (to me) to be an ideal pairing.
Thanks, I will see what I can do about getting a video. I absolutely love the french cuts with this tycoon, it really works well. The faceting is similar and of course the table shape of the french cuts mirrors the tycoon which is a lovely detail. The french cuts still allow the tycoon to be the star whilst also adding some additional sparkle. They are quite glowy and a lot brighter than I expected too.
And of course I’m also thrilled there’s another Tycoon cut in the PS family! :appl:I’m pretty firm now on how I want to (finally) set mine (link to thread here) though I haven’t shared the plan on PS yet; just need to decide on who/where to do it.
Ah yes, your beautiful asscher shaped tycoon cut - I'm a huge fan and have been all over your posts on that gorgeous stone. I keep checking back to see if you have set it yet! We will need pages and pages of photos now that we have had to wait so long :D I wonder if there are any other tycoon owners lurking on PS who could be encouraged to post theirs too. Maybe we should start a "post your tycoon cuts here" thread. They do seem to be quite a rarity here on PS, although I believe that the company is still cutting them and selling them now?
Oh wow, go play lotto too
:lol: I couldnt be that lucky twice!
 

the_mother_thing

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Mar 2, 2013
Messages
6,306
@diamondhoarder I’m not sure if it’s the same (original) company cutting/selling them today as was when they first came on the market. I’ve tried to follow the path from over the years, but it’s not clear - I think a company in Australia bought the brand, but could be wrong.

And I agree - the brand/cut is a rarity on PS; last I could even find discussion of them was like a decade ago or so. I think they were considered a “boutique-y/trendy” type cut by many on here. I just know that when I laid my eyes on mine, it was complete love … as I’m sure is the case with you & your beauty. :love:
 

diamondhoarder

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 5, 2012
Messages
995
Wow. It’s so bright and so beautiful! Does it have a diamond shaped table? Such an interesting cut!

Thank you. Yes it does have the diamond shaped table. Hopefully this photo captures it:

20210919_091458.jpg

According to the GIA report the table % is 78, however I can only assume that they calculated this including the 4 triangular facets that are angled down away from the diamond shaped table as well as the diamond shaped table itself. To me the triangular facets act more like crown facets because they seem to reflect back a lot of fire in large chunky flashes. I wonder what the table % would be if it was just calculated based on the diamond shape on its own.

The diamond is extremely bright and I was curious as to what kind of ASET image it would produce. It was a very fiddly job trying to get an image using my handheld scope, back lighting, and my phone camera:

20210919_180153.jpg

Its a little bit out of focus but it reflects the brightness and contrasty patterns I see when the diamond is in motion.
 

diamondhoarder

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 5, 2012
Messages
995
Yes, it did work in your favor lol! And I don't mean to be overly critical in my comment, and it's good for the customer to educate themselves like you did.

Its ironic really because I asked him if the diamond was certified and he gave me a spiel about how certification doesnt matter and whats more important is to buy from someone like him who really knows his stuff :wall: I also asked him if he could tell me the approx measurements of the centre diamond but he said it wasnt possible and anyway "we don't sell diamonds by the mm"!?! :snooty: I was trying not to get really annoyed, because I knew I wanted the ring, in spite of the fact that a few alarm bells were ringing by this point!
 

diamondhoarder

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 5, 2012
Messages
995
@diamondhoarder I’m not sure if it’s the same (original) company cutting/selling them today as was when they first came on the market. I’ve tried to follow the path from over the years, but it’s not clear - I think a company in Australia bought the brand, but could be wrong.

And I agree - the brand/cut is a rarity on PS; last I could even find discussion of them was like a decade ago or so. I think they were considered a “boutique-y/trendy” type cut by many on here. I just know that when I laid my eyes on mine, it was complete love … as I’m sure is the case with you & your beauty. :love:
Its a shame if they were dismissed as being a passing trend (even if they became less available over time) because I think that they were really onto something with the facet arrangement and the proportions, they seem to produce an incredibly bright and fiery stone with consistent performance right across the diamond. Plus they seem to face up quite large for the carat weigh too, which is always welcome =)2 And with the popularity of old cuts so strong at the moment I think they do fit with that aesthetic really well, especially with the similarities to the french cuts.
 

LilAlex

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Mar 3, 2018
Messages
3,589
He explained how he had had the ring made himself in an antique style and had personally picked out the "princess cut" diamonds for the shoulders to compliment the centre stone.

I assume this part of the story is all made up then? As in his personally making the ring would somehow inspire more confidence than a walk-in selling it to him?

Lovely ring and stone!
 

lovedogs

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jul 31, 2014
Messages
18,027
Omg its incredible!!! What an epic find
 

the_mother_thing

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Mar 2, 2013
Messages
6,306
Its a shame if they were dismissed as being a passing trend (even if they became less available over time) because I think that they were really onto something with the facet arrangement and the proportions, they seem to produce an incredibly bright and fiery stone with consistent performance right across the diamond. Plus they seem to face up quite large for the carat weigh too, which is always welcome =)2 And with the popularity of old cuts so strong at the moment I think they do fit with that aesthetic really well, especially with the similarities to the french cuts.

Agreed on all fronts! Mine is shallow but spready (T: 79; D: 61.6), making it face up much larger than an asscher of same ct weight would be … no complaints from me on that, especially b/c the chunky flashes & fire are really quite a show to see in person. You’re very lucky to have found one & gotten a great deal on it; I’ve discovered they’re hard to find, especially online because they’re mis-identified a lot, as it sounds like yours was.
 

the_mother_thing

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Mar 2, 2013
Messages
6,306
@diamondhoarder Thank you for the video! It’s gorgeous & elegant; again, congrats on your fantastic find! :dance:
 
Be a part of the community Get 3 HCA Results
Top