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Off to NYC!

gracieloufreebush

gracieloufreebush

Rough_Rock
Joined
Nov 16, 2012
Messages
92
My boyfriend and I are finally going to NYC to see some antique style cushion cuts in person! Hopefully we will find the perfect diamond; after months of looking online, we are ready to pick a stone.

We have appointments at GOG, ERD, and JA. I'm super excited :)

I'll be sure to come back and post about our shopping experiences!
 
You should also call Perry Chen in Leon Mege's office. He is right there near ERD and was a delight to work with last year. I HIGHLY recommend him, as will many others on this board, for his knowledge, no pressure and great product/prices. Good luck!!
 
I would meet with Old World Diamonds too!
 
So fun!! Can't wait to hear!
 
stargurl78 said:
I would meet with Old World Diamonds too!
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Definitely!
 
Oh man I forgot about Perry! Probably too late to set an appointment now. I was considering Old World Diamonds but I think I want to go with a modern diamond but with an antique cut, instead of a real antique.
 
I had a great time at IDJ and DBL! DBL has some modern diamonds cut to look like old cuts and David is very approachable to visit. I'd suggest just calling him up and seeing what he may have on hand for you to check out. IDJ is just on the street level a few buildings down from DBL - both are very easy to get to on 47th st.

Enjoy your trip and take a lot of pics --- so you can hopefully share them with us!!! :appl:
 
I am not 100% sure, but I am thinking Perry and ERD have the same source of antique cushions, so it may not matter. I think your trip sounds wonderful and I can't wait to hear about it! :appl:
 
Oh wow, a diamond-buying trip :appl: Sounds like so much fun, and very exciting! Have a great time!
 
wow! shopping trip of my dreams!!!Take pics and can't wait to hear ALL about the trip!!!!
 
Eek, did you go today? Or? :appl: Can't wait to see your pics!
 
I think you are correct for the most part, but I enjoyed my experience with Perry a little more and his prices were slightly more competitive, at least on the stone. Gracielou, I would at least try to give Perry a call! You never know!

diamondseeker2006|1355370882|3329991 said:
I am not 100% sure, but I am thinking Perry and ERD have the same source of antique cushions, so it may not matter. I think your trip sounds wonderful and I can't wait to hear about it! :appl:
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Sooo jealous! Have fun and take pictures!
 
You lucky thing! Please take lots of pictures so I can live vicariously. And drool. :D
 
Well, we're back!

I went to all three appointments and had a look at some really nice diamonds.

Sorry in advance for the lack of a lot of pictures. I only had my cell phone or my HUGE canon camera, and I would have felt silly taking that out. So I didn't take too many pics - just enough so that I could reference the different things later on.

So first up was GOG. They showed me four stones (only one in our price range) but it was very small. Too small for me. I did love a 1.11 AVC I color. It was super pretty in person and gave off so much sparkle and fire, it was really a great stone. If our budget allowed, we would have went with that one but it was $8100 - our TOTAL budget is $8500. So we just couldn't make it happen.

I also tried on the "Perfect Halo" setting, and while it was nice, I thought it was much more round looking, rather than looking like the shape of a cushion. So we decided we will not be purchasing a stone or a setting from GOG. If the AVCs were a little less expensive, I would love one.

Here is the 1.11 in the Perfect Halo:



Next up was ERD. My boyfriend and I met with Mark and he extremely nice and helpful. He wanted to make sure we understood a lot about cushions and the variations amongst the different types. So that was nice. He also let us look at the diamonds using a loupe (GOG did not offer). He had about four diamonds for us as well. Now this whole time I was thinking I would be perfectly fine with an I color -well, seeing it in person, it looked tinted to me. I could tell right away. But the AVC I color looked white to me. So I'm really confused about color.

Anyways, I did like one of his stones, but I didn't love it. It was an H color 1.01ct. It was really pretty but like I said, it just didn't give me that feeling. Here it is in the Ada Halo setting - which I absolutely LOVED. Definitely want to go with this setting! I love that it has the curved struts (GOGs does not - also, the man we were working with at GOG did not know what I meant by curved struts. Didn't know what struts were...) So I really loved the Ada - much more of a cushion look.




Lastly, we went to JA. Now we were going to look at a 1.24 I color and a 1.82 K color. Since I really did not like the I color stone I saw at ERD, I was thinking there was no way I would like either of these stones. I ended up not liking the 1.24 at all. It looked dull in the center to me and just did nothing for me. Then I tried on the 1.82 - looooved it. Made me smile a lot and I just kept staring at it. Not sure if it was size factoring in (probably) but I really loved the faceting. The woman we were working with said it is a perfect representation of that antique style cushion cut. Here's the thing - it's a K. But I really didn't see any tint. I'm not sure if it's because it wasn't next to a G color or something, but it faced up white looking IMO (and my boyfriend's). This stone is a bit over budget but not by so much that it would blow us out of the water I don't think. Waiting on the ASET for the stone.

Here it is, what do you think about it?



Not sure where to proceed from here. Mark said he does have other stones but we would have to up the budget. Or should we just go with the 1.82? I was thinking of ordering the 1.82 and taking it to some random jewelry store around here, and having them place it in a halo setting (just to try on while we're sitting there) to see if the contrast between the stones would bother me. I think that's the only way I'll know for sure because I can't buy and set it and then have no real choice.

Sorry this was soooo long. It was a fabulous trip and seeing everything in person was SO SO helpful!

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great post

I say go with the one you love if you can push your budget. I just bought a diamond and thought I was hung up on the color"j"...at then end I couldnt tell. If you can wrap your head around it and it wont bother you....I say go for it.

Congrats
 
Buy the diamond you love but if you are considering going to a K .. you should let Mark know and see what else he can find.

My friend recently went to NYC for a cushion - he visited with OWD, ERD, Steven Kirsch, Perry Chen and IDJ. He didn't want to go out to Rhode Island to see GOG. Anyways, after day 1 (Friday) - he was disappointed because he didn't see any diamonds he loved. He was going to settle and I urged him not to ... to wait until there was the perfect one. On Monday, he went back to see ERD and Steven Kirsch (his two picks from the batch) ... he called me excited saying "Mark, bought it!" He was so happy with what Mark found for him. He was glad he didn't settle.

So I guess what I am trying to say .. if you love the bigger stone .. go for it but no regrets on the color. Also, if you are significantly changing the parameters ... you should go back to Mark and give him a chance to find your something.
 
Sounds like a wonderful trip!

I say if a stone makes your heart a flutter, it's the one! And it would look fantastic (and awesomely big!) in the ERD setting.
 
khal80|1355597153|3332111 said:
great post

I say go with the one you love if you can push your budget. I just bought a diamond and thought I was hung up on the color"j"...at then end I couldnt tell. If you can wrap your head around it and it wont bother you....I say go for it.

Congrats
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I would agree with this, as this is exactly what FI and I did when buying my ring. We saw a diamond we both loved in person, and though our budget went over by $500, the ring met several of both our expectations: we got a ring that gave me the coverage I wanted and my FI got to see the diamond he would be buying with his own eyes (we were considering an OEC from GoG for more $, but the drive was too long and my FI did not want to buy a stone unseen). I was also hung up on the "L" color and it even looked quite warm in the store, but when he proposed and I got to see the diamond in other lightings, it looks much whiter. You may even appreciate any warmth it might show, and older cuts tend to throw off colors like you've never seen.

If your first impression was loving it, especially after trying on several other diamonds, I'd say you're onto something! Plus, like you said, you could always order it, and return it after spending some time with it. Win-win!
 
That's why I love this forum..so glad I found it. Everyone has been so helpful, thanks for your replies. We are most likely going to order the diamond but also email Mark and see if he can find anything else since we increased the budget. We have 60 days to return the stone so that's great.

What do you guys think of the stone in the pic? Do you think it's a good idea to bring it to a store and try it in a setting?
 
Here is the ASET for the 1.82. Looks like it has some leakage (the black, right?) I noticed that a little in the picture but not so much in person.

1538539.jpg
 
Some black is okay. An ASET is an image of a still stone. The diamond on your hand is not still, it's in movement with the facets turn off and on. I would trust your eyes on this, and I would not have any issue buying that stone, if it were me. What you don't want is dead facets that do not turn on, and it doesn't sound like you say that in this stone... so you are good.

I love the plan you have. It's perfect. Get it in, at home. Spend time with it. Take it to jewelry stores (don't tell them you bought it online, don't let them talk you out of it. Don't tell them the color. Just tell them very FIRMLY: 'I am only here to see if I like your settings for it, please understand that I am not looking for input or advice about the stone.) and give it shot in different settings.

Keep in mind that you WILL see color contrast with a halo and your center. Even with lower color melee in your setting you are going to note the halo is whiter, NOT because of color but because of performance. I think you'll be okay if you keep in mind that performance of the full cuts will give off white light and a lot of it. So if there is a contrast with your center, keep in mind that it's a performance contrast not a color contrast so much. It's just the way a 57 facet diamond measuring 1mm or 1.5mm is going to reflect light in contrast with the larger facets of your center.
 
Wanted to update this. My boyfriend bought the 1.82 cushion and it should be arriving tomorrow ! Excited to see it again and try it in some settings!
 
It's pretty amazing you are able to get a 1.8 ct for less than the 1.1 you were looking at origianlly. I think it faces up white. Since JA does carry some antique cut stones, you can always "upgrade" later to a high color. But, I think you found a lovely stone.
 
Woo Hoo Gracie Lou!!! Sorry but I had too! I really love the cushion your BF ended up getting. Honestly there is nothing wrong with having size being the thing that swayed you. I also find that I can negotiate on color, clarity and cut to some extent but size is just one of those things that I just can't bend on. I would definitely follow Gypsy and Charmy's advise.

Goodluck on setting shopping!
 
I think that stone looks insane and I don't see any warmth or rather anything offensive about it at all. I actually REALLY like the way that looks. Now you need to see it in person with settings around you. You might not like that with a halo and that might change everything but man that is magnificent. If whoever you go with for the setting can use lower color ideal cut melee it won't be such a bad contrast though. I would think that would be something they could get.
 
Yay thanks for the positive feedback. There was a little delay so we will be picking up the diamond tomorrow; I can't wait! I'll take some mor pictures to show you all if interested!
 
That stone looks great! what are the measurements? Well cut GIA K's can face up very white. Also K color can give the diamond more dimension and depth than an icy white stone. Great choice.
 
ariel144|1356284008|3338576 said:
That stone looks great! what are the measurements? Well cut GIA K's can face up very white. Also K color can give the diamond more dimension and depth than an icy white stone. Great choice.
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Hi Ariel, I actually have to thank you because I believe you are the one who posted about my diamond (recommending it to someone) in another thread awhile back. It is from JA. The measurements are 7.6x7.5. :)
 
Gypsy|1355626439|3332438 said:
Some black is okay. An ASET is an image of a still stone. The diamond on your hand is not still, it's in movement with the facets turn off and on. I would trust your eyes on this, and I would not have any issue buying that stone, if it were me. What you don't want is dead facets that do not turn on, and it doesn't sound like you say that in this stone... so you are good.

I love the plan you have. It's perfect. Get it in, at home. Spend time with it. Take it to jewelry stores (don't tell them you bought it online, don't let them talk you out of it. Don't tell them the color. Just tell them very FIRMLY: 'I am only here to see if I like your settings for it, please understand that I am not looking for input or advice about the stone.) and give it shot in different settings.

Keep in mind that you WILL see color contrast with a halo and your center. Even with lower color melee in your setting you are going to note the halo is whiter, NOT because of color but because of performance. I think you'll be okay if you keep in mind that performance of the full cuts will give off white light and a lot of it. So if there is a contrast with your center, keep in mind that it's a performance contrast not a color contrast so much. It's just the way a 57 facet diamond measuring 1mm or 1.5mm is going to reflect light in contrast with the larger facets of your center.
Click to expand...


Gypsy- i honestly LOVE your work!!!! You are just the best! i enjoying reading your post....
 
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