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[Upgradable]

It thrills me to see so many old cut questions being asked in this forum and their corresponding beauties being added to the SMTR and Jewelry forums.

I''''d love for us to come together and declare our love publicly, while sharing which type of cut is our favorite and why.

I''''ll start: My initial engagement ring was a .60 H VS2 late oec my husband inherited from his great aunt. It was given to me in 1986 and reset into a modern mounting. I was always getting compliments on the diamond because of the great sparkle it had. I had no idea why it sparkled more than its modern counterparts, but I was thrilled that it did.

In 2004 we started searching for an upgrade stone and I found Pricescope. My new stone ended up being a modern round brilliant but on the FIC side of GIA excellent parameters. It is HRD certified 1.40 I SI2.

But my quest for an upgrade stone had opened the floodgates and I began searching and researching older cuts and their nature. Since then I''''ve been on a kind of unofficial rescue mission to adopt all of the unloved old cuts I come across.

I started with loving the regularity of the patterns in transitional and oec cuts, their flower petal/snowflake look was mesmerizing! Since then I''''ve started to love the more inconsistently random beauty of early oecs and omcs with their larger culets and giant flashes of light. Consequently, my collection consists of all of the vintage cuts, and I don''''t see my hoarding ending any time soon!

 

[Miscka]

What a tough question! I love them all, of course, but I put OEC. I love the more irregularity that old mines can have, and I love the patterns in transitionals (like Surfgirls famous ring) but something about the OECs makes my heart sing! I love the patterns, and I love a smallish to medium sized cutlet. Yum!!

I think we should put some pics in here!

 

[arjunajane]

You know what, its too hard! can I vote twice?
I ended putting transitional after going back and forth between that and OEC - but only mainly because the best vintage stone I own/have bought is my transitional.
However, if I had one of the lovely flowery OEC's from JBEG, the story may be different..

I found that the earlier OEC's and mine cuts weren't for me in person, also I still love them in pics/on others. I think at the end of the day I appreciate the more uniform patterns just that tad more..
And I need to have a wonderfully chunky, chubby cushion at some stage

 

[emeraldlover1]

i am OMC first then OEC. Hopefully one day I can own one.

 

[oldmancoyote]

Transitional - but only because of the great jewellery designs in which they are normally found. Looking at loose stones, a Mazarin or Peruzzi cut is really great.

 

[Upgradable]

I have pictures. They aren''t the greatest. These are all taken without flash because my flash washes things out too much so you cannot see the patterns. So, be aware that none of the stones look as dark in reality as they do in these pictures. Also, if you are ebay shopping take this into consideration regarding pictures that sellers post.

First up, a two stone transitional cut pendant that I had made using findings from Stuller. The top stone is about 8 points, and the bottom is about 35 points.

 

[Upgradable]

Here are my transitional cut earrings. One is .34 and the other .35 set in Stuller martini mountings.

 

[Upgradable]

Here is my newest piece, a .65 transitional cut stone (with one visible piece of carbon) in a gorgeously detailed white gold setting. This piece is stunning on the hand!

 

[Upgradable]

Now, on to old european cuts. This is the stone that started my whole obsession. It is a .60 later oec. This means that it is on the line between transitional and oec. The culet is tiny and cannot be seen without my 30x loupe. The sparkles on this little stone shoot across the room, and that''s one of the reasons I set it in a very plain mounting. Stone is center stage!

 

[Upgradable]

My oec five stone ring. I collected these stones separately and then worked with Wink Jones on the mounting. I LOVE IT!!! I''m also adding a video Wink just did on this piece for a new website he will be launching soon. Winfield''s video

 

[CharmyPoo]

I love the OEC.

 

[Upgradable]

My light yellow oec one carat stone. I''m currently considering remounting this. Lots of money to save first though, in order to do it justice.

 

[Upgradable]

A great vintage pendant I stumbled across on ebay. It holds three old mine cut stones that total about 1 carat. They are mounted upon a black enamel clover.

 

[Upgradable]

Here is a single earring my jeweler had. It holds three omcs. I'm trying to collect three comparable stones so I can have a pair reproduced. I wish I knew what these type of claw mountings were called. I'm having no luck finding similar ones.

 

[Upgradable]

Again, these are by no means the best examples of old cut stones. They are just my current collection. Here are some compilation shots. First, on my hand....

 

[Upgradable]

And here''s a shot lying in their beds....

 

[lyra]

Oh MY!!!

Your collection is just stunning. It makes my heart flutter. I so wish I could have just one OEC or Transitional. (heavy sigh)

 

[princesss]

Where''s my "All of the above" option?

I adore them all. OMCs and their beautiful shape and chunky faceting. Early Europeans and their more random facets. Transitionals and the emerging patterns you see in them. But mostly OECs...smaller culets, chunky facets, bursts of light, and pattern. Beautiful.

 

[kimkaler]

Beautiful stuff!

 

[2Artists]

I agree all of the above.

Your collection is stunning.

I love old cuts. I like their character, history, and sparkle.


Mrs.2Artists

 

[tulip928]

I love your collection! What''s the color of your latest oec in the ring?

I voted oec, but I really like them all.

So far I''ve collected a little oec that I set into an antique replica ring by Kim Wheeler. I have a little omc that he''s making a ring for right now. I just dropped off my little transitional .44 champagne/brown to be set into a Whiteflash four corners pendant. The jeweler said "it''s got some color" - (maybe not in a complimenary way) - but that''s what I like about it - it''s firey and warm brown!

 

[kcoursolle]

I love them all!! I don''t own any, but someday I hope to own an OMC or an antique cushion!

 

[Upgradable]

Date: 1/9/2009 12:38:06 PM
Author: tulip928
I love your collection! What''s the color of your latest oec in the ring?

I voted oec, but I really like them all.

So far I''ve collected a little oec that I set into an antique replica ring by Kim Wheeler. I have a little omc that he''s making a ring for right now. I just dropped off my little transitional .44 champagne/brown to be set into a Whiteflash four corners pendant. The jeweler said ''it''s got some color'' - (maybe not in a complimenary way) - but that''s what I like about it - it''s firey and warm brown!

Here is a current thread about possible resets for this stone.

 

[Burk]

I can't pick. I love them all! I love all of your pieces Upgradable and am envious every time you post another beauty!

I currently have a 2.1 ct OEC ering (late OEC I THINK) and OEC earrings (martini settings). I am on the lookout for an oec for a bezel pendant (with milgrain) as well as bezel earrings with milgrain. And some day I will have myself a 3 ctish antique cushion!

 

[Steel]

I voted OMC but Transitional was a super close second!

 

[Rhea]

I like either transitional or OEC.

You have a great looking collection!

 

[LGK]

What a fabulous collection! Thanks for sharing pics... yummy!

There''s nothing going on here today at work- all the roads into town are flooded, so it''s just us chickens- so I''ll share. I got hooked on old cuts maybe five years ago... I''d always loved vintage jewelry, but I''d never learned much about diamonds. I just loved the vintage settings.

I work at an antique mall that has some vintage jewelry. Sadly over 95% of the original Deco & Edwardian gorgeous settings have new, cruddy round brilliants reset in them. So, when I was e-ring shopping (at work, of course) about 7 or 8 years ago, I had NO clue that the diamonds in the settings I admired were not original to them. I eventually settled on a very modest .20 ct center stone in a pretty Art Deco wedding set, because I wasn''t impressed with any of the bigger ones, not realizing that they were all badly cut RBs... and that''s what I had too!

Finally, one of the dealers at our mall brought in the Most Fabulous Ring I''d Ever Seen. It was a 1 ct or so Old European Cut in a beautiful lacy Edwardian filigree setting. I''d never seen anything like that thing. Sparkled like a freaking lightbulb, those huge chunky flashes of fire we all know and love. I visited that ring on a daily basis in it''s showcase! Of course it started me wondering WHY it was so different and so much more beautiful; and what on earth was an Old European Cut like it said on the cert?

It definitely made a huge impact on me, as I quickly realised that almost all the other vintage settings I''d seen had crap RBs in them and that the original OECs were wayyyy different looking. I still think of that setting and stone. Of course it sold finally (not to me!) but the seed had been planted. I started getting much more into the estate jewelry around me, and educating myself more on it. (It also, of course, helps sell it when I can explain to customers better what they''re looking at; most of them are like the way I had been- they just want a pretty setting and don''t care so much about the diamond as long as it isn''t included... it helps that most of the pieces w/ RBs are priced mostly like Free Ick Diamond With Beautiful Setting, YKWIM?)

Anyway, I didn''t actually own an antique diamond until my original wedding set disappeared- didn''t fit anyway so I couldn''t wear it, and it was falling apart to boot. So my DH told me to go ahead and get an antique diamond to replace it... that was about a year ago, a little more. My goal was to find something that I was as excited about as the original Most Fabulous Ring. It took awhile, but I did find an antique setting & stone that I do like as much. That was my 1.22 ct N colored OEC.

Then I basically tripped over a huge 3.55ct OEC, that was vastly underpriced, and I knew it was a once in a lifetime find; and talked the DH into that one too. Heh. Originally I was planning to resell it- I have more avenues to do that, since I know a number of estate jewelry dealers- but parting with it once I''d put it on was SO NOT HAPPENING.

 

[HeartingDiamonds]

GREAT collection, Uppy! LURVE the enamel pendant best!!!

What about antique cushions? Or are you considering that part of the Old Mine Cut family?

BTW, its a tie between OEC and transitional for me, although my current diamond is a cushion cut.

 

[swingirl]

What is an early European cut?

Do we have any close ups on PS of nice transitional cuts?

My favorite is OEC but I might be missing something by not being familiar with all there is out there.

 

[oldmancoyote]

Date: 1/9/2009 3:28:52 PM
Author: LittleGreyKitten
[snip]

Then I basically tripped over a huge 3.55ct OEC, that was vastly underpriced, and I knew it was a once in a lifetime find; and talked the DH into that one too. Heh. Originally I was planning to resell it- I have more avenues to do that, since I know a number of estate jewelry dealers- but parting with it once I''d put it on was SO NOT HAPPENING.

Yes, they don''t make glue like that anymore, do they? My DW has the same chemistry on her fingers. Rings slip on easily, they never come out.