Plan of action for my cushion? (well, mine for now)...

[Jumpman22]

Steps to take... (i am anxiously waiting for my shipment to arrive--was supposed to be by 10:30am)

Anyways, here''s what i envision doing:

1. Receive LOOSE diamond fr. FedEx (no setting yet)
2. Call an independent appraiser (Done--Nancy Stacy Appt. tomorrow)
3. After appraisal, get insurance through Jeweler''s Mutual
4. Go find setting and set it
5. Propose
6. Re-appraise with setting

Anything else?

 

[pixley]

HURRAY! Did your cushion arrive yet? You seem pretty organized and I think it''s great that you are having the stone appraised before and after. You forgot to add: TAKE PICTURES and post them for PSrs to enjoy and revel in!

What kind of setting are you considering? I''m excited for you and hope it''s dy-no-mite in person!

 

[Jumpman22]

So, here goes... i don''t think this is looking too good! I purchased an ASET starter kit and took pictures of the new rock. Is this considered a POS?!?!?!?!

Or, am I not looking at it right??!? (i used the backlight it the kit came with)

 

[Jumpman22]

Just to make sure i got the picture colors right, i took a picture of the CZ stone that it came with (AGS 0) reference stone. Camera looks to capture most everything.

 

[Jumpman22]

Somebody please help... anybody?

I made an appointment with Nancy Stacy and need to know if I''m just wasting my time and effort going out to Walnut Creek from SF if the pictures above speak for itself... (ie. Just send it back to the Vendor)

I''m a little confused because on just looking at the stone it looks pretty nice, good sparkle under florescent bulbs and a halogen desk lamp (haven''t tried to look at it under daylight).

I''m concerned that that''s WAAYYY too much leakage though!

 

[pixley]

I''m just looking through the site for some cushion ASET images - I never used one on mine, I just knew that I liked what I saw, so try to keep that in mind. I''ll see what I can find, but in the mean time, bump this for Garry or DiaGem to see if they can chime in. Did a Gemologist at JA have a look at it for you before you ordered it? If so, did they rate it for fire, brightness and scintillation? Can you take a plain photo of the stone resting between your fingers in indirect light?

 

[purrfectpear]

Take this with a grain of salt ''cause I am by no means an expert. The pic of the diamond itself looked funky to me but I didn''t say anything because there are some vendors who couldn''t take a decent pic for the life of them. It looked like a ring of blandness just under the top of the stone.

Now based on your ASET it looks like there is major leakage in the same area. I don''t know what to say? You''ve got it in hand and are the best judge with your own eyes.

 

[Jumpman22]

Date: 7/25/2008 12:50:22 PM
Author: pixley
I''m just looking through the site for some cushion ASET images - I never used one on mine, I just knew that I liked what I saw, so try to keep that in mind. I''ll see what I can find, but in the mean time, bump this for Garry or DiaGem to see if they can chime in. Did a Gemologist at JA have a look at it for you before you ordered it? If so, did they rate it for fire, brightness and scintillation? Can you take a plain photo of the stone resting between your fingers in indirect light?

I live with my future fi... so i didn''t get a chance to thoroughly examine the stone.
JA gemologist said it was a great stone.
I looked at it briefly and thought it was pretty good, however, since I bought the ASET (like the geek i am), i decided to look at it under the ideal light and ASET.

However, when i did the tilt test, it showed a lot of red back and forth.
Just concerned mostly about the leakage in some serious places (esp. the Table)

 

[Jumpman22]

Date: 7/25/2008 12:50:59 PM
Author: purrfectpear
Take this with a grain of salt ''cause I am by no means an expert. The pic of the diamond itself looked funky to me but I didn''t say anything because there are some vendors who couldn''t take a decent pic for the life of them. It looked like a ring of blandness just under the top of the stone.


Now based on your ASET it looks like there is major leakage in the same area. I don''t know what to say? You''ve got it in hand and are the best judge with your own eyes.

Here is the picture of the actual diamond again.

I will have to look at the stone again today--I guess I''ll go ahead with the appraisal today. It would help with there were other ASET pictures on ideal-scope.com to reference what is good and bad.

 

[pixley]

I think if you are leaning towards keeping the stone, I''d go ahead with the appraisal, but if you already think you don''t like it - I''d call Nancy and discuss rescheduling. It does look like there is a lot of leakage going on in that photo, but the only other good ASET I could find was Chrono''s stone, and it has reds blues and greens, so it didn''t look the same...

 

[Jumpman22]

Date: 7/25/2008 1:21:45 PM
Author: pixley
I think if you are leaning towards keeping the stone, I''d go ahead with the appraisal, but if you already think you don''t like it - I''d call Nancy and discuss rescheduling. It does look like there is a lot of leakage going on in that photo, but the only other good ASET I could find was Chrono''s stone, and it has reds blues and greens, so it didn''t look the same...

Well, should i even keep the stone if it looks good, but I know it has a lot of leakage?
Wouldn''t that mean that the stone would also appear smaller and have less overall brilliance and fire?

 

[purrfectpear]

Date: 7/25/2008 1:51:53 PM
Author: Jumpman22

Date: 7/25/2008 1:21:45 PM
Author: pixley
I think if you are leaning towards keeping the stone, I''d go ahead with the appraisal, but if you already think you don''t like it - I''d call Nancy and discuss rescheduling. It does look like there is a lot of leakage going on in that photo, but the only other good ASET I could find was Chrono''s stone, and it has reds blues and greens, so it didn''t look the same...

Well, should i even keep the stone if it looks good, but I know it has a lot of leakage?
Wouldn''t that mean that the stone would also appear smaller and have less overall brilliance and fire?

What difference does it make what it should have, if it doesn''t seem that way to your eyes? If you don''t think it looks smaller or lacks, then it''s all moot right? You can''t buy fancies by paper, you have to let your eyes make the decision.

 

[pixley]

That''s really a personal call. I can tell you that, for myself, I sacrificed fire for brightness, spread and high color/clarity. To get the exact shape cushion that I wanted in a colorless, clean diamond at my carat weight, I was willing to give up some fire and perhaps accept a little leakage, but I really love the look of my stone, so the fact that it''s not a rainbow fireball doesn''t bother me since it''s still a lively and pretty stone in my eyes and to those who see it.

One thing you might want to do is take your stone to a trusted and experienced local jeweler - perhaps to "look at settings". Is there anyone near you who can give you a second opinion of the stone (without paying for an appraisal yet) before you go to the trouble and expense of sending it back? That''s the first step I would take if I liked the look of the stone but needed a bit more feedback.

 

[pixley]

Agreed - your eyes should be the best judge. If you like the way it looks, that should be enough. If you don't that's reason enough to send it back. That's why I didn't bother to buy a scope to look at my stone. I had seen enough to know what I did and didn't want, no matter what the tech stuff said.

Date: 7/25/2008 1:56:30 PM
Author: purrfectpear

Date: 7/25/2008 1:51:53 PM
Author: Jumpman22

Date: 7/25/2008 1:21:45 PM
Author: pixley
I think if you are leaning towards keeping the stone, I'd go ahead with the appraisal, but if you already think you don't like it - I'd call Nancy and discuss rescheduling. It does look like there is a lot of leakage going on in that photo, but the only other good ASET I could find was Chrono's stone, and it has reds blues and greens, so it didn't look the same...

Well, should i even keep the stone if it looks good, but I know it has a lot of leakage?
Wouldn't that mean that the stone would also appear smaller and have less overall brilliance and fire?

What difference does it make what it should have, if it doesn't seem that way to your eyes? If you don't think it looks smaller or lacks, then it's all moot right? You can't buy fancies by paper, you have to let your eyes make the decision.

 

[Jumpman22]

Date: 7/25/2008 2:08:21 PM
Author: pixley
That''s really a personal call. I can tell you that, for myself, I sacrificed fire for brightness, spread and high color/clarity. To get the exact shape cushion that I wanted in a colorless, clean diamond at my carat weight, I was willing to give up some fire and perhaps accept a little leakage, but I really love the look of my stone, so the fact that it''s not a rainbow fireball doesn''t bother me since it''s still a lively and pretty stone in my eyes and to those who see it.


One thing you might want to do is take your stone to a trusted and experienced local jeweler - perhaps to ''look at settings''. Is there anyone near you who can give you a second opinion of the stone (without paying for an appraisal yet) before you go to the trouble and expense of sending it back? That''s the first step I would take if I liked the look of the stone but needed a bit more feedback.

I do not have a good local jeweler that I trust to just give me an honest opinion. I would love to do that. I have the appt at 3pm today which is roughly going to cost about $160. I''m hoping that I get a solid okay and hope to get some more education if the stone doesn''t pan out.

I do like the way it looks, but I guess I''m a little old-fashioned in where if I pay enough money for which I have, I should get a quality product.

I think she would like it to have as much sparkle as possible, so I''ll assess that first and foremost. I really do like the shape, color, clarity combination.

 

[customcushion]

I have heard that some fancy shapes don''t perform on the ASET the same way a round does . . . hopefully someone can chime in and confirm this ?

 

[Jumpman22]

Date: 7/25/2008 3:22:36 PM
Author: customcushion
I have heard that some fancy shapes don''t perform on the ASET the same way a round does . . . hopefully someone can chime in and confirm this ?

I''m taking a look at this again right now... looks good, a lot of sparkle, under different lighting conditions... however, when just using the ideal light (light from under the stone), i can definitely see some of the facets are acting like windows...

I guess i''ll be back with the appraisal results, since I haven''t heard any ASET experts chime in.

 

[sunnyd]

If you want a comparison, here''s my aset taken by WF:
Cushions should have lots of reds and greens and some blue.

 

[Jumpman22]

well, does yours also have a lot of black? i can see in your pic from whiteflash that it has a black background... if mine were a black background, would mine be similar? its hard to tell from your picture...

thanks for posting it though!

i have been looking at GOG and their cushions with similar specs do not have much white/leakage.... looking at more ASETS does not comfort me when comparing...

 

[Jumpman22]

Came back from Nancy Stacy in Walnut Creek this past Friday... Very good person to deal with.

Anyways, I asked her to 1st take a look at the stone and tell me right away if it is "not the one".

Took it out of the wrapped cloth, and right away, with only seeing the pavilion side, said "Wow, look at that sparkle.."

She took it back to her station while i watched, matched it to the GIA cert, looked at it under microscope/other viewing devices, confirmed it was an "E" color, mapped out the inclusions, etc, etc.

After about 1/2 hour, she said "The stone is beautiful."

I got a chance to play around and look at the feather (which i barely could see after magnification), verified with her master stone set, and looked at it through Idealscope, Symmetry, and ASET (again).

Questioned her about leakage, and she stated, that the stone had great fire, and the leakage was not a cause for any concern.

Overall, I''ve stared at the stone again and again (under various lighting conditions), and I think this stone is the one.

I used my own ASET again, and did the tilt test, NOTHING BUT RED--exactly like the ideal-scope Reference charts state which = excellent.

 

[purrfectpear]

Congrats. Sounds like the search is over and the money for the appraisal was well spent

 

[pixley]

YAY!!! I was thinking about you this weekend and hoping everything went well! I''m so happy for you.

Sometimes, all you need is one experienced, impartial person to help you make sense of what you''re seeing. A fiery cushion is a beautiful thing indeed. It''s too bad James Allen''s web photos wash things out so much, but it is comforting to know that the JA gemologist''s positive read on that stone was echoed by Nancy. When I was looking at cushions, the JA gemologist (I think it was Juliana) reviewed one that I was interested in and she said that she just didn''t love it and couldn''t recommend it - and that she had seen MANY cushions along the way. I really appreciated her honesty. I didn''t end up purchasing it from them, but I was impressed by the way they conduct their business.

Please take pictures of it unset and post ''em if you can! Nekkid cushion photos are always welcome here!

Pix