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Question for boston jeff

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cdt1101

Brilliant_Rock
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When you worked w/ mark for your stone, what parameters did you give him? I''m very interested in a stone like yours, and have asked mark to see what''s out there within our budget.

Any advise would be appreciated!
 

boston_jeff

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 30, 2007
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633
Date: 3/21/2007 1:12:31 PM
Author:cdt1101
When you worked w/ mark for your stone, what parameters did you give him? I''m very interested in a stone like yours, and have asked mark to see what''s out there within our budget.


Any advise would be appreciated!

Hey cdt,

My search "evolved" over time, so I cannot say for sure what I told him at the outset. Looking back on it, however, it probably would have been something like:

"I''m looking for an antique-style 8-pavillion main cushion with chunky facets and a lot of fire."

[if the 8-pavillion main thing does not make any sense to you yet, take a look at my thread, "cushion question for cehrabehra and others" and another thread called "paper tricks with culet size" where Cehra breaks it down using her own yet-to-be trademarked cushion "classification" system... although I think she should get some IP protection before Shreve & Co. start marketing modern cushions as the "quad-cut"
37.gif
]

Color: F-H (but if you are not color sensitive or like the warmer look in antique cushions, I would consider I/J stones as well, and might favor J over I because J looks like it is supposed to have warmth while I''s often look like you sacrificed color for size)
Clarity: VS2-SI1 (totally eyeclean... any distance/any angle) [but you could open this up to VS1 in order to expand your options]
Symmetry: G/VG (but VG should be strongly preferred)
Polish: G/VG (doesn''t really matter for the most part)
Culet: Pointed to slightly large [again, you may be looking for a more antiquey stone, in which case you could look at large culets as well]
Flourescence: any, and preferred in G/H if you want the stone to face up white, none if you are going for a warm I/J.

I might send him a picture of a stone you like here on PS, whether mine, Cehra''s, fatafelice''s (see "my icy white cushion") or silverlilly''s ("3.10 Cushion").

As far as table/depth/girdle specs, I just do not think you should be that picky based on the numbers. There just are not a lot of antique style stones available, and if you put too many numerical restrictions up front you might miss an outlier. I do believe that a depth in the mid 60s and and a smallish table (mid 50s) is going to give you a better stone maybe 8/10 times, but that does not mean you should immediately disqualify stones that fall outside that range. But feel free to express your preferences, just know that it may lead to a longer search.

Trust Mark that he will tell you if a stone is a good performer even if outside the ranges that often get floated around here (and then of course verify his endorsement with an independent appraiser), so that you can see some of these stones in person rather than use numbers... for example, you might fall in love with one that is a little shallower or has a bigger table than you anticipated.

I am more than willing to answer any other specific questions you have (or general questions, if I have failed to answer them here). Time for me to start giving back!
 

cdt1101

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Nov 9, 2005
Messages
1,160
Wow that''s was very thorough! Thanks! Ok, seems like I''m on the right track, I just wanted to make sure I was as clear as possible when I sent my parameters to Mark.

I will definitely send pictures as well, so that he has so he has visual ad
9.gif


Thanks again for the help!
 

Cehrabehra

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 29, 2006
Messages
11,071
Date: 3/21/2007 2:19:28 PM
Author: boston_jeff

Hey cdt,

My search ''evolved'' over time, so I cannot say for sure what I told him at the outset. Looking back on it, however, it probably would have been something like:

''I''m looking for an antique-style 8-pavillion main cushion with chunky facets and a lot of fire.''

[if the 8-pavillion main thing does not make any sense to you yet, take a look at my thread, ''cushion question for cehrabehra and others'' and another thread called ''paper tricks with culet size'' where Cehra breaks it down using her own yet-to-be trademarked cushion ''classification'' system... although I think she should get some IP protection before Shreve & Co. start marketing modern cushions as the ''quad-cut''
37.gif
]

Color: F-H (but if you are not color sensitive or like the warmer look in antique cushions, I would consider I/J stones as well, and might favor J over I because J looks like it is supposed to have warmth while I''s often look like you sacrificed color for size)
Clarity: VS2-SI1 (totally eyeclean... any distance/any angle) [but you could open this up to VS1 in order to expand your options]
Symmetry: G/VG (but VG should be strongly preferred)
Polish: G/VG (doesn''t really matter for the most part)
Culet: Pointed to slightly large [again, you may be looking for a more antiquey stone, in which case you could look at large culets as well]
Flourescence: any, and preferred in G/H if you want the stone to face up white, none if you are going for a warm I/J.

I might send him a picture of a stone you like here on PS, whether mine, Cehra''s, fatafelice''s (see ''my icy white cushion'') or silverlilly''s (''3.10 Cushion'').

As far as table/depth/girdle specs, I just do not think you should be that picky based on the numbers. There just are not a lot of antique style stones available, and if you put too many numerical restrictions up front you might miss an outlier. I do believe that a depth in the mid 60s and and a smallish table (mid 50s) is going to give you a better stone maybe 8/10 times, but that does not mean you should immediately disqualify stones that fall outside that range. But feel free to express your preferences, just know that it may lead to a longer search.

Trust Mark that he will tell you if a stone is a good performer even if outside the ranges that often get floated around here (and then of course verify his endorsement with an independent appraiser), so that you can see some of these stones in person rather than use numbers... for example, you might fall in love with one that is a little shallower or has a bigger table than you anticipated.

I am more than willing to answer any other specific questions you have (or general questions, if I have failed to answer them here). Time for me to start giving back!
I agree with all of this except I''d (and this is me of course lol) either stay above a G or drop to KLM because even my J seems a bit not enough to look intentional (even though it was lol) You could even specify that you want the cert to say "old mine brilliant" instead of "cushion brilliant" because it seems to have a more antique balance of big crown, larger culet. And tell him you want a large culet because even slightly large might be too small if you like them.

In order from square to long would be fatafelice, Jeff, silverlilly, then me... I should go back over them all and see what the ratios are... but they''re all definitely antique cushions! Fata''s has longer LGF and a bigger table I think, silverlilly''s is almost like mine but just fatter.

The more I know my stone the more I love it. Plain and simple. Never boring....
 

boston_jeff

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 30, 2007
Messages
633
I'm pretty sure (G-d I'm sick in the head doing this off of memory):

fatafelice: 1.06
me: 1.10
silverlilly: 1.17
Cehra: 1.24

Like Cehra said, make sure in the warmer colors you actually see the warmth as a bonus, not a sacrifice (this is what I meant by staying away from 'I'... Cehra seems to think you should stay away from Js, too, but I'm not sure I buy that, especially in a bigger stone, as her stone has lovely warmth, even if she wants more
2.gif
... I'd say you were better off looking at Js on a case-by-case basis, if you are interested in color...

Culet is a very personal thing, as well, and depends on the exact look you want...
 

Cehrabehra

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 29, 2006
Messages
11,071
Date: 3/21/2007 3:22:30 PM
Author: boston_jeff
I''m pretty sure (G-d I''m sick in the head doing this off of memory):

fatafelice: 1.06
me: 1.10
silverlilly: 1.17
Cehra: 1.24

Like Cehra said, make sure in the warmer colors you actually see the warmth as a bonus, not a sacrifice (this is what I meant by staying away from ''I''... Cehra seems to think you should stay away from Js, too, but I''m not sure I buy that, especially in a bigger stone, as her stone has lovely warmth, even if she wants more
2.gif
... I''d say you were better off looking at Js on a case-by-case basis, if you are interested in color...

Culet is a very personal thing, as well, and depends on the exact look you want...
mine is 1.26 ;-)
 

cdt1101

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Nov 9, 2005
Messages
1,160
Thanks Jeff and Cehra for the info. I''m undecided about color. I definitely wouldnt'' mind it some warmth, but I''m not sure how much if that makes sense. The good thing is that I live near NYC so I will be going to Mark''s office once he has some options. At that point I guess I''ll find out how much color I want in a stone
2.gif
 
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