I meant to compliment the Stuller ring choice. I know from experience that Stuller rings wear like iron! Very high quality solitaire. This whole project has been so great to watch unfold!
Crazy how most of them willfully ignore the critical importance of cut quality and optics, isn't it?
A while back, JP was on there urging shoppers to focus on cut quality, but even then it was like they waded into shark infested waters because the trade "experts" there were arguing with them!
Usual replies from the bunch are along the lines of "GIA is the best...any 3X is worthwhile...if it looks good to you, then what does it matter?"
Problem is, most people *don't* know what a properly performing diamond looks like, so they have no frame of reference. Many a dud end up getting purchased.
Feels like I need this every visit...
Same for me!
Story time:
A long time ago in a mall not far, far away... my wife fell in love with a unique ring design from a jewelry store (can't remember which, and it may be one that no longer exists) that happened to come with a 0.25ish carat diamond, which was our first diamond.
Back then, we knew nothing about diamonds, other than some fuzzy knowledge about the 4Cs. Beautiful setting that just happened to come with a diamond! Ring shopping is easy, right? Ha! If I only knew (and seen) back then what I know (and see) now. Sure, it had some nice sparkle in intense lighting, but I just never thought about diamonds in such a way that I do now. Since then and up until about two years ago, I just didn't get what all the hubbub about diamonds was all about, because I had a severely poor point of reference.
So, what changed? Well, it was a happenstance encounter with a random diamond that caught my eye: it was being worn by a woman standing in line behind me at a boathouse while we were waiting for an attendant to outfit everyone with life jackets so that we could shove off in a rented boat. I was standing a bit off to the side in order to allow the family that was there first ample room to get fitted for their life jackets, and a husband and wife walked in... that's when I saw the diamond on her finger looking like pure magic: all that fire! "What the h*ll?!" I said to myself. Couldn't believe the difference between their diamond and ours.
That's when my journey down the rabbit hole of diamond cut quality, light return, cut analysis, and a much deeper understanding of the 4Cs began.
I lurked here at PS quite a bit...reading and learning as much as I could while reading many articles at the GIA, AGS, Whiteflash, Victor Canera, Brian Gavin, and some other websites.
So, so much info to try and understand and absorb!
After about 6 months, it was time to go start looking at ideally proportioned diamonds with my own eyes. Holy guacamole. Seeing such properly intense brilliance and sparkle is something that gets deep into the gray matter and becomes something that can't be unseen!
As far as Reddit goes, I get pinged almost daily by folks reaching out for help.
Here's one example of why I continue to do so:
Diamond | 0.674 ct J VS1 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round Cut Loose Diamond AGS Certified | 4472181
This Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE® super ideal cut hearts and arrows 0.674 carat J color VS1 clarity loose diamond is graded by the American Gem Society (AGS) Laboratories. | 4472181www.whiteflash.com
It is another place for folks to get help and that's why I'm there: to help by offering to educate and give a new perspective...I appreciate that aspect of it.
I see it differently. I've experienced it, first-hand. Plenty of terrible advice from trade folks (not all of them) there and nasty messages in my DM from a multitude of them...even one that was bashing on PS and essentially telling me to cease and desist with my PS approach of helping folks and recommending diamonds...this someone isn't in the trade but has a diamond info site that boils down to being a vessel for him being a paid affiliate to a rather high volume diamond seller (familiar to many).
My opinion about it is based on direct experience, not preconceived notions.
I have defended against every one of his anti-cut analysis points below, and I will happily continue to do so.
That's very similar to my story, except I had already joined PS but just stuck to the CS forum. Then one time I happened to see a diamond that really caught my eye on someone else and asked about it - and she said it was an ideal cut and that was why it sparkled like that! Why, just the thing PS kept talking about! Turns out they weren't blowing smoke after all
I know after helping my SIL get her ring, so many people have approached me asking me to help them find one that sparkles like that. It's really eye-catching in a way "regular" diamonds are not.
patents.justia.com
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