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My New(ish) 4.28 OMC (Old Mine Cut) Men's Diamond Ring

pkanawha

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
Messages
49
My New(ish) 4.28 ct. OMC (Old Mine Cut) Men’s Diamond Ring

A couple of months ago I started a thread with the title, “Faceting an Old Mine Cut to Reduce Fish Eye?” on the Antique and Vintage Jewelry blog. Here’s the link: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/faceting-an-old-mine-cut-to-reduce-fish-eye.159777/..']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/faceting-an-old-mine-cut-to-reduce-fish-eye.159777/....[/URL]. I asked for advice on whether I should have the stone recut because of a yellow, hazy appearance that often appeared under the table. After I got a lot of good information and opinions from you ladies and gents on PriceScope, also a great reference (SingleStone in Los Angeles) I decided to take the plunge: I sent my men’s diamond ring off to SingleStone to evaluate whether they thought it could be improved by a minor recutting. I got the ring back today and I’m happy to report that the recut made a dramatic improvement in its appearance. It looks better in all lights, but especially when viewing the ring from a slight angle and the direct sun is coming from the side. Where I used to see an awful, hazy, yellowish “fish-eye” under the table, I now see numerous golden glints that sparkle and perfectly match the gold setting. Instead of making the diamond look dull, they make it look bright and lively. By the way, under most light (especially indirect light) the stone continues to look clean, white and beautiful, though even more so now. There was only the slightest loss of material: the diamond was reduced from 4.35 to 4.28 carats in size. The OMC shape was maintained but the bruted girdle and a couple of nasty chips on the girdle were polished off. It made all the difference in the world and I’m just thrilled with the results!

The staff at SingleStone were a real treat to work with. We emailed back and forth and I spoke on the phone a number of times with Heather & with Ari. They were rather conservative in their promises, never promising me that there would be any significant improvement by recutting the stone. In fact I had initially decided against having the stone recut since it seemed likely that it wouldn’t help very much. But after I took another good look at my stone one day with my trusty 10x loupe I became convinced that the poor performance of the stone was in fact caused by the reflections of the bruted girdle and of the chips on the girdle. (It’s a rather shallow stone at 54% depth, and therefore the girdle tends to reflect through the top of the diamond, its table.) I spoke with them again and we decided to send it to SingleStone so that they could see it in person before we made any decisions. Ultimately Ari assured me that while it might make only a minimal improvement in the stone, that it might improve it a fair amount and that it certainly wouldn’t hurt it any. So with that I decided to take the plunge. And boy, am I glad I did! It was gorgeous before, but now it’s even gorgeouser!!!

I should add that SingleStone thought of every detail. They created new, longer prongs to set the stone a bit higher since the culet used to protrude down into the ring just a little. The new prongs are also sturdier than the old ones to ensure I never lose my stone. They look great and look right on the antique (1890's) setting, as if they'd always been there. They sent the diamond to GIA for me to get an appraisal, also to have a serial number laser inscribed on the girdle facets while the stone was out of its mounting. They even thought to ask me whether I would prefer to have the ring setting buffed to a bright new finish when they were done, or to only minimally clean it in order to maintain the antique appearance. I chose the latter in order to keep the beautiful old rose gold patina. And after returning the ring to me, they phoned & emailed to follow up that the ring had arrived and that I was pleased with the results. Of course the answer was a resounding, YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay. Enough gab. Here are some photos:

4.28%20carat%20OMC%20Men's%20Ring.jpg

4.28%20ct%20OMC%20with%20lessened%20fisheye.jpg

4.28%20ct%20OMC%20hand%20shot.jpg

The first shot is of the ring on a piece of paper in diffused sunlight. The second is a photo of the remaining "fisheye"; much reduced from the earlier fisheye that existed. (You can see photos of this by reading the earlier blog, url listed above.) The third is that good old hand shot.

Thanks to everyone for your advice on this stone, also for your referal to Single Stone (singlestone.com) in L.A. Hope you enjoy looking at these photos!
 
Greatgoshalmighty... W :love: W! That rock ROCKS. Gotta love Single Stone! :appl:
 
It looks fabulous! Yeah for Single Stone :appl:
 
nice one....
 
Yes Yes Yes! I knew Faceting the girdle would go a long way! Looks great! What specs did Gia come up with?
 
OMG! Great job! Fantastic! What a gorgeous ring now! Congratulations! :appl: :appl:
 
breathtaking! I love SingleStone. Ari is fabulous over there. Enjoy your BEAUTIFUL ring!
 
It is gorgeous! Ari did an awesome job and I love that you were able to keep the original setting! Great job!
 
Alright; here are the specs from GIA: 4.28 ct, VS1, O/P color. The depth remains 54% of the width, rather shallow. For this reason the table still tends to reflect the girdle. The difference however is that before it reflected the hazy girdle and the chips, resulting in a hazy, yellow, broken up appearance. Now when the faceted girdle is reflected, it looks instead like a bunch of golden glints bouncing around - as if the gold from the yellow gold mounting had been picked up somehow. It's rather attractive really! Of course a deeper, whiter diamond of ideal proportions would be preferable, but I'll never be able to afford a 4.28 carat ideal cut D colored diamond! Also, this effect works well with yellow (and in this case rose-yellow) colored gold. It probably wouldn't look good in white gold or platinum. But it's fine for an OMC and perfect for this beautiful old setting (that I got at a thrift store for, no kidding $8!!!) In all events this recut would have been a major improvement in all events.

Below are some of the "before" photos. Note the hazy appearance of the first photo, also the chips on the top of the photo at the girdle; and of the reflected girdle & chips on #2 & #3:

cloudy%20center;%20chips%20at%20top.jpg

reflections%20of%20chips%20&%20girdle.jpg

reflections%20of%20chips%20&%20girdle%202.jpg

Now here are some "after" photos. Note that the top one is the diamond at its worst. Much better than the before photo (though it's hard to capture this with a camera!) The second photo is what it looks like in most light, especially in the shade when the sun is shining brightly:

4.28%20ct%20OMC%20with%20lessened%20fisheye.jpg

4.28%20carat%20OMC%20Men's%20Ring.jpg
 
Wow, they did a fantastic job! It looks great!
 
My gosh, that looks fantastic!! They did a great job, you made the right call in having this done! Congrats!
 
Impressive stone!!!
 
You have such a beautiful and unique diamond. The after shots are stunning. Wear it in good health.
 
Thanks, everyone for the complements & for the kind words. I look at it dozens of times a day and enjoy its beauty. I think of it as a beautiful creation of the earth and as a beautiful creation of countless laborors and artisans. I'm very lucky to have it!
 
Magnificent ring and congratulations on obviously making the right decisions!

Do you ever run into negativity about the idea of men wearing diamonds? To my surprise, many times women who are against it are very aware of / against sexism when the source of it is a man. It seems hypocritical to me. I have heard things like "Diamonds on men are just wrong." isn't that sexist? Isn't that analagous to a man saying something like, "Pants on women are just wrong"?

I love diamond jewelry and I have and wear a lot of it. Luckily I live in Los Angeles where most things outside "the norm" don't receive the negativity they do in less liberal parts of the country. (May I ask where you live?)

Generally my response is to just ignore critics. If anyone is going to say anything back, it's usually my wife who does. She's my hero! :love: It's interesting to watch -- kind of like a mother bear defending her cubs. I'd rather see another woman criticizing the one who made the statement. Controversy doesn't bother me, but confrontations (over something like this) do, when the critic is a woman. Men may think things like that, but they very seldom say them. (I'm big and often told I'm intimidating.)

I've thought of, and used, a few comebacks over the years, but I thought I would see what you say, do, etc.

And lastly, here's a quote from board user SonomaCounty: "Regarding men and jewelry - I've known/worked for a lot of very educated men in important positions that usually wear a ring and it goes great on them. I think it can convey - educated, smart, accomplished and some polish/sophistication while still being masculine."

I wish all women (and men) thought that way!



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