Seeking advice on oval diamond

[diamondseeker2006]

@rockysalamander You and I are on the same page 99.9% of the time and I am so thankful you are here giving newcomers great advice! So I don't want to sound like I am disagreeing, but I need to add that Good Old Gold is not the same without Jonathan there. He was the one so passionate about cut. So that's probably not where I'd personally go for a fancy these days. Their selection is just not what it used to be, either. DBL has not historically been very interested in cut quality, unless you specifically ask for Karl! The only thing is, he is not present in the NY store so he isn't physically looking at the stones called in. So that's not great, either. I pretty much feel that the experienced people here are about as good as choosing stones as the vendors, and in some cases, better!

 

[rockysalamander]

@rockysalamander You and I are on the same page 99.9% of the time and I am so thankful you are here giving newcomers great advice! So I don't want to sound like I am disagreeing, but I need to add that Good Old Gold is not the same without Jonathan there. He was the one so passionate about cut. So that's probably not where I'd personally go for a fancy these days. Their selection is just not what it used to be, either. DBL has not historically been very interested in cut quality, unless you specifically ask for Karl! The only thing is, he is not present in the NY store so he isn't physically looking at the stones called in. So that's not great, either. I pretty much feel that the experienced people here are about as good as choosing stones as the vendors, and in some cases, better!

Fair enough. I don't take it as disagreement! You have better knowledge of the "insides" of those two vendors. I wish we had more vendors as passionate about cut as we are.

Maybe of the vintage cuts will appeal to the OP. With some patience, a moval with a small culet would be my choice. I wonder if Adam at OldWorldDiamonds might have some? I find their website hard to navigate but I know many folks call him.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Good, thank you for understanding! I vastly prefer antique ovals/movals to modern ovals! Grace seems to have the most of any vendor I have seen, but I haven't checked lately to see what she has in stock. My only qualm about OWD is that some PSers have wanted to use their upgrade policy and were told they wouldn't honor it due to the decline in diamond prices, and I find that totally unacceptable since the people bought with the understanding they had the policy. I don't think they are telling people they have an upgrade policy now, though, and almost no old cut vendor offers a full upgrade policy anyway.

 

[JDDN]

So is this one a bad choice? I am confused lol @JDDN
https://www.yadavjewelry.com/diamond/oval-diamond-1.53-carat-g-vs2-yd1887156

Ovals are so hard as you are probably discovering, lol. The ASET leaves a lot to be desired but in the video it looks decent. Really you would need to order it and check it out in a variety of lighting. Unfortunately I haven't seen anything great, but that doesn't mean a great oval in your budget isn't out there. It takes a lot of sleuthing but it can be done.

 

[three staplers]

Not to threadjack, but I feel bad for starting an elongated cushion thread, even though now I've decided on oval too. I'm also a bit confused as to what a decent ASET is supposed to look like on the oval though.
For instance, is this a decent option?

https://enchanteddiamonds.com/v/019575320

I'm looking for a 1.65-1.8 $13k max oval if that matters. I can't justify the opulent oval pricing right now.

 

[rockysalamander]

Fancy diamonds are hard to select and it takes time and patience.

Here are some examples of GOOD oval aset and video.
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/oval-aset-please-advise.201767/#post-3668784
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/opinions-on-two-oval-aset-images-please.214497/ {the first of these two posted}
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/thoughts-on-this-oval-please.223119/ {solid band of blue in the middle indicates a negative bowtie, more clear on the IS image}

Bad ASETs
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/oval-aset-pictures-help.210989/
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/opinions-on-two-oval-aset-images-please.214497/ {the second of these two posted}

Good comment on reading oval ASET in context with video and other information (this post and the couple following}
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...e-on-hold-for-short-time.233320/#post-4205538

Nice drawing by @tyty333 to show areas of the oval and description of light return
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/thoughts-on-this-oval-please.223119/#post-4035835

Personally, I weigh how it looks in a video pretty heavily. The ASET on fancies, to me, is mostly to make sure that the lighting in the video is not misleading my eyes.

 

[rockysalamander]

Not to threadjack, but I feel bad for starting an elongated cushion thread, even though now I've decided on oval too. I'm also a bit confused as to what a decent ASET is supposed to look like on the oval though.
For instance, is this a decent option?

https://enchanteddiamonds.com/v/019575320

I'm looking for a 1.65-1.8 $13k max oval if that matters. I can't justify the opulent oval pricing right now.

There is a lot of mush with poor light return visible in the video (which is crazy fast) and the above image.

Borrowing @tyty333 drawing style, can you see how these area correspond to the white on the ASET? So, these areas have poor light return and are mostly mushy. So, this is not great either in the video or ASET. Not awful either. I like to see red and green distributed throughout.

 

[tyty333]

You're giving good advice rocky...
This stone looks very nice through the center...the next thing to look for is how the stone reacts as it moves (turns)...do the distinct facets in the middle
flow out towards the ends. They do somewhat in this stone but not right down the center going north/south.

Red area missing well defined facets...well defined facets in blue area.


As far as modern oval I would consider this one pretty decent. Not top of the line but not too shabby either. Let me say, top of the line are VERY
difficult to find (unless you want to go with an Opulent Oval).
This is what a stone looks like that has nice faceting going all the way through the center if you want to understand what I'm talking about. Thie
whole center of this stone lit as the stone turned.

 

[SparklenHue123]

wow i just want to thank @tyty333 and @rockysalamander for these in depth descriptions. there really is so much to learn here. @three staplers and @TSR120 you may want to pop on over to my thread so you can get a glimpse of what a "negative bowtie" is - the belly is super reflective but the stone is dead everywhere else - this is something i really didnt understand until i saw in person. i can't wait until we all have our perfect oval ! Check out post #83 specifically...

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/opinions-on-ja-oval.238516/page-3#post-4305536