The search for my Cushion is finally over!! (with pics!)

[MrsChil]

...and my patience has paid off! After a few months and a few frogs I have finally found my prince... to go with my REAL prince (my finacee If anyone is interested here is the thread on the other cushions I looked at.

My Cushion search

So we ended up having our local B & M jeweler in S.F. look for cushions in our price range and he found us TWO fabulous ones! GOG had some beautiful stones and I LLOOOVEE how we were able to view them online next to other cushions but they were a little out of our pricerange for the size I wanted. We also tried to purchase online from another vendor and they were great and had great prices, however cushions were just too hard to shop for with them because they didn't have video or comparison pictures (only 8x or 10x close-ups).

The cushion that we didn't end up going with was about a thousand dollars more but was BEAUTIFUL, square shaped and had an 8 pavillion main! They are both baby diamonds that were just graded by GIA last month! If anyone is interested, the second one is also listed on Blue Nile and is gorgeous and chunky in person (also faced up beautifully white). Here is the link to that one. 1.60 I VS1 Cushion We ended up going with mine because it had a little bit more of a cushiony shape and I really didn't want to go completely square. I was really torn though because I LOOOVED the chunky look of it!

Anyway, here are the specs of my cushion

GIA 1.72 laser inscripted
Cushion Brilliant
I VS2
7.19x6.81x4.65
Polish: Excellent
Symetry: Excellent
Culet: None
Flour: None
Table: 58%
Depth: 68.3%
slightly thick to very thick, faceted

 

[MrsChil]

...

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Wow that''s beautiful!

 

[Lorelei]

GORGEOUS Veronica - many congrats!!!

 

[DiamondFlame]

Heyyy....that''s a beauty. I love the shape too. Post hand pics once you got it set..

 

[atroop711]

I LOVE IT! So beautiful! Can''t wait to see it set and on your hand

 

[tyty333]

Its beautiful! And I so love a pretty cushion...in my next life I''m going to own one

.

 

[MrsChil]

Thanks everyone for your sweet comments! Pictures just do not do it justice. It's beautiful and sparkles like crazy in person. My jeweler is currently working on the setting for us. It's going to be prong set in a halo that has half pointers and milgraining. It's going to be 3-sided and have surprise pink sapphires on the side by the pavillion (my fiance proposed to me with a pink sapphire

He said he should have it done by next weekend! I'm so nervous but can't wait to see it! Until then here are a couple more pics

 

[icekid]

beautiful stone! congrats Veronica

 

[MrsChil]

Even with the terrible lighting that my jeweler has in his office you can still see some of the different colors it gives off

 

[mrscushion]

Beautiful stone! Congratulations!

 

[Catmom]

Oh it''s beautiful. Congratulations!!

 

[pixley]

YAY! What a beauty! Congratulations on finding your gorgeous cushion!

 

[MrsChil]

Thanks Icekid, MsCushion, Michelle and Pixley! I learned so much from this site and am SO glad I found it before we made our purchase! If we had not loved our jeweler so much I would have definately gone with Mark at ERD to help us find our cushion! Our jeweler REALLY wanted to help us find the perfect stone and knew he could if just given the time. He had his assitant constantly checking for new stones that met our requirements and were still within our budget. It was not easy because we wanted between 1.6 to 1.8 with Very good cut for under $8,000 and he did it! As soon as this one became available they snatched it up so I could see it first It had just been graded from GIA two weeks before! I truly love it and knew it had to be mine as soon as we saw it in his shop

 

[Gayletmom]

Veronica, your stone is just gorgeous! Congratulations on finding just the right one and on having the patience to let it come to you!

 

[pixley]

vgirl,

It would be great if you could share the name of your jeweler for future cushion-seekers in the Bay Area if and when you''re ready. It is such a luxury to get to see and compare cushions in person, and it''s often difficult to find jewelers who understand the different types of cushion varieties out there.

 

[MrsChil]

Thanks Gayletmom! I am REALLY glad I waited

Pixley, I will definately provide his info once I get my ring (hopefully this weekend and post pics) and all is well with it (don't want to jinx it ya know?...LOL) I know how hard it was for me to find a jeweler who I liked and trusted so would be more than happy to share the information. He is not the pushy type like so many others out there and WANTS and encourages you to shop around because he knows you'll be coming back to him

 

[CrookedRock]

Very Very nice! I can''t wait to see it in that setting, it sounds beautiful! Congrats on finding the perfect stone for you!

 

[MrsChil]

Date: 3/9/2009 6:50:29 PM
Author: CrookedRock
Very Very nice! I can't wait to see it in that setting, it sounds beautiful! Congrats on finding the perfect stone for you!

Thanks crooked!

I can't wait to get some better pictures! After looking at these compared to other PS cushion pictures I wish I would have had my good camera to capture lighting and the facets better! I was hoping to get an 8 pavillion main stone, but the one he had was too square for me

This one was so beautiful and in our price range so I couldn't pass it up (the other was $1,000 over anyway). It sparkles like mad and doesn't have any shadows or dead spots like so many others that I've seen in person

 

[Tuckins1]

Wow!

 

[MrsChil]

OK, so I''m a little dissapointed and not sure what to do at this point. We went to the jewelers this past weekend and looked at my ring. Althought at first sight it is GORGEOUS and the cushion sparkles like crazy (and you can''t even tell it''s an I color) but upon closer inspection I am not at all pleased with the level of detail of the ring (or should I say LACK of detail). I am a self admitted perfectionist and don''t think my jeweler will be able to get this ring up to my standards if he was happy with this ring being his final product to give me. I immediately noticed that two of the prongs holding the center stone in were longer than the other two prongs. I am also not happy at all with the sloppy milgrain work throughout various parts of the ring. He was amazing at getting us a great price on a loose stone and a really nice guy but I''m starting to wish that I went elsewhere to have the custom work done

To the average person it looks like an amazing sparkly ring, but me being a Pricescoper who knows what a good ring should look like and having seen extreme closeups of good milgrain and ring details, etc. it''s just not good enough. I don''t have the ring right now but will have it by Thursday so I''ll take more pics when I get it, but I do have the closeups that they took at his shop and some that my fiance took with his Blackberry (since we forgot the flash card to our camera) It is beautiful at a glance but when I scrutinize the details it irritates me every time

We are going back to see the jeweler with the ring this Saturday and I''m trying to think of a way to let him know I''m not happy with the level of detail of the ring. I''m not sure whereto go from there though. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Here is a nice pic of how much it sparkles:

 

[MrsChil]

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[MrsChil]

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[princessplease]

Lovely stone! Lets see more hand shots!

 

[MrsChil]

Here''s one that shows the milgrain around the pink sapphire

along with uneven milgrain.

 

[MrsChil]

Here''s another one with the blackberry that shows the pretty sparkle

 

[MrsChil]

Another one from the side. Sorry they''re so blurry! I will be sure to take better ones once I get the ring back
BTW my ring size is 6 3/4.

 

[MrsChil]

I think there is too much metal showing on shank. Maybe he should have used bigger diamonds there???? And WHY does my diamond look blue???? Maybe the lighting in his shop???

 

[MrsChil]

Do you think I''m just being too picky????

 

[DiamondFlame]

Great choice for setting, Veronica. But I have to agree with you on the quality of the detail work. Not every jeweler is good at finely wrought details like milgrains and micropave. Chunky or lumpy metal beads would be one of those things I find distracting in a micropave. Short of having it reset, I''m not sure if you have any other options... But seriously, most people would be transfixed by the stone too much to even notice the minor shortcomings of the setting. I know it can be tough being a perfectionist...