Spread Cut Cushion - Did I buy a dud?

[BAS2348]

Hello everyone,

I'm a newbie around here - so this is my first post, unfortunately it's not a good one. My girlfriend showed me this forum a few months back to help me when I was ready to buy a ring. A couple of weeks ago I bought a cushion cut diamond from Brian Gavin Diamonds, and failed to realize cushions and round brilliants don't exactly measure up with the same specs. I found an article after the fact, on [no affiliate links] that spoke about spread cut diamonds. Of course, my worse nightmare was realized when I plugged in the numbers on my new cushion into the Diamond Database website. This is what came up:



From what I can gather, spread cut diamonds impact the light return and overall "sparkle" factor of a stone. I'm having a mini-panic attack at this point, since my first and foremost criteria when I bought the stone was performance. I went with BGD since they have wonderful reviews and I have seen other stones on this site from them that are phenomenal.

Should I return this stone and find something different? Or am I worrying too much? I can post photos of the stone tomorrow out in daylight if that helps. Any comments, good or bad, are more than welcome.

 

[AdaBeta27]

Does it look like a dud? If not, then don't worry. Most cushions are very deep and face up small for the carat weight. The Brian Gavin cushions are H&A cushions that are not deep like regular cushions. That calculator might not work for BG cushions but that doesn't mean the stones are faulty. I'll take a look at it later when I can get to my computer.


This thread discusses the way the dimensions are presented for the BG cushions. Maybe that doesn't match how regular cushions' dimensions are calculated and stated, another reason to suspect that the calculator you used may not be suitable.
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-line-of-brian-gavin-signature-cushion-cuts.191403/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-line-of-brian-gavin-signature-cushion-cuts.191403/[/URL]

 

[DiamondXXX]

Hi, can you please post more information on the cushion?

Is it their signature H&A cushion or a regular type of modern cushion? I think with cushions it is more tricky than with rounds, so give us more input (and like you mentioned photos) first. Also (this might not be relevant, I do not know yet what type of cushion did you buy) the measurements of signature H&A cushions are interpreted differently than other cushions and therefore the computer calculator might not work for you anyway (plus IF IT IS the signature cushion I would not worry about it being a dud - I own some and they are just like said H&A cushions with AGS000)...

Anyway before I confuse you even with more information please post some details

Are you still within the return period? How did the communication with BGD go - did they recommend you this particular cushion cut diamond?

 

[tyty333]

I agree with the above poster. Somethings not right. If it's a cushion H&A its measurements are not lxwxd. One of the measurementsame is the diagonal so you can not enter the numbers straight into that
Website (the one that muSt not be named).

Can you give us a bgd link to your stone?

 

[BAS2348]

Thank you for the reassurance everyone. Yes, this is a signature BGD diamond, I honestly had no idea BGD cushions were measured in a different way, I always assumed L x W. The dimensions on the stone are very misleading, without the thread posted above I would have never known those were not meant to be L x W but rather on the diagonal from tip to tip. Here's the link to the stone:

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.698-f-si1-cushion-diamond-ags-bl-104079637016

And here's some photos and a short video I took outside, pardon the bad quality photos, iPhones don't make for professional cameras:









https://youtu.be/dmNQuI9NMDY

Thank you again, I feel so much better with the additional information.

 

[DiamondXXX]

Congratulations. You made the right choice and your diamond is the equivalent of a h&a round. I own three of those they are cut to perfection. It was the measuring of the diamond that was confusing.

 

[BAS2348]

Congratulations. You made the right choice and your diamond is the equivalent of a h&a round. I own three of those they are cut to perfection. It was the measuring of the diamond that was confusing.

Thank you for both of your replies! I should have really done more research before just buying the stone, and then I probably wouldn't have had this dilemma. Thankfully it's got plenty of fire and I couldn't be happier.

 

[UrsTx]

Please allow me to confirm that the dimensions BG provides on his cushions are different than what you'd think. Brian told me back in April when I was researching cushions that his H&A line is measured "longest diagonal line" x "longest diameter line" which is diff than the industry. He also said GIA (or is it AGS?) agreed to list those dimensions that way but only because BG owns his trademark/patent.

Here's more info, about half way down the page. http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/cushion-the-science-behind-the-sparkle

So yes, if you use BG's dimensions as a regular user would think to use them, you'll get poor computer results.

 

[AdaBeta27]

That diamond looks awesome.

 

[telephone89]

IT looks great! The dimensions are probably closer to 5.19 x 5.19, which when typed into the website comes up as

Adequate
This diamond LOOKS its weight!

So you're good!

 

[BAS2348]

Thank you everyone! All of your feedback, plus having taken the stone out to really see what it could do earlier eased my fears completely. When I received the stone the weather around here was terrible, so I just put it away. I am so impressed with the quality of BGD's stones. I had to look away a couple of times while I was taking the photos because it was so blinding . We agreed on a cushion because I was leaning more towards princess cuts, and she liked round brilliants. This cut was a compromise that we both loved, add the fluorescence and I was sold. However our lack of knowledge about cushion cuts led me to this dilemma. I know she's going to absolutely love it once it's set - just have to find the right setting. Once again, thank you all, without your help I would still be panicking.