shape
carat
color
clarity

Which of these elongated cushions has more light leakage? Deciding TODAY - pls help!

sansevieria

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 8, 2020
Messages
10
Is nobody replying because both diamonds are awful? I'm a total rookie, please help!
 

foxinsox

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jul 18, 2015
Messages
4,061
You probably don’t have any replies yet because a lot of the more prolific posters are based in the US and it’s still night there.
I’m not a cushion expert but they don’t look too mushy from the pictures and videos posted. Which one do you like the most?
I would be a little suspicious of the specific weight they’ve managed to achieve - bang on 1.5ct makes me think that the cutters for each stone may have compromised on the cut quality to achieve that magic half carat mark. I really don’t know cushions tho to say for sure.
When you look at them, do the facets turn on and off as they rotate? Are there any areas of persistent darkness or facets that never turn on?

Are there specific reasons you’ve chosen such high colour and clarity?
What are your top priorities for this? Size, colour, clarity, cut?
 

sansevieria

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 8, 2020
Messages
10
You probably don’t have any replies yet because a lot of the more prolific posters are based in the US and it’s still night there.
I’m not a cushion expert but they don’t look too mushy from the pictures and videos posted. Which one do you like the most?
I would be a little suspicious of the specific weight they’ve managed to achieve - bang on 1.5ct makes me think that the cutters for each stone may have compromised on the cut quality to achieve that magic half carat mark. I really don’t know cushions tho to say for sure.
When you look at them, do the facets turn on and off as they rotate? Are there any areas of persistent darkness or facets that never turn on?

Are there specific reasons you’ve chosen such high colour and clarity?
What are your top priorities for this? Size, colour, clarity, cut?

Thanks for your reply! That makes sense :)

I personally am not noticing any facets that remain dark, when the stone rotates, they seem to light up. For that reason, I am edging toward the VVS2 to be on the safe side.

We've gone through a pretty long process with our ring designer to narrow these two stones down, as it's the right combination of size and good cut proportions. My partner is pretty keen on specs too, so he doesn't want to compromise on clarity.

Our budget isn't that flexible so I know we can't achieve the most beautiful cut, but as long as there isn't something glaringly obviously wrong with the stones, and there's no significant light leakage, I'm happy. I was just worried that I'd be buying the stone based on great specs alone and that there'd be a risk it's unimpressive in person...
 

sansevieria

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 8, 2020
Messages
10
Such videos are useless to grade leakage difference . This type video is for clarity demonstration .

Thanks Serg, is there any other way I can try to understand which stone would be most sparkly and have more fire? The VVS2 is Ex/Ex which is another plus.
 

sansevieria

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 8, 2020
Messages
10
Based on specs and appearance, which stone would you lean towards?
 

stonehunter20

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jun 7, 2020
Messages
418
Thanks Serg, is there any other way I can try to understand which stone would be most sparkly and have more fire? The VVS2 is Ex/Ex which is another plus.

imho, if you want to assess which stone is more sparky and has more fire, you may need aset and idealscope images to make sure. or can you ask the vendor to put both stones side by side and show them to you under different light settings to help you assess?
 

stonehunter20

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jun 7, 2020
Messages
418
Thanks for your reply! That makes sense :)

I personally am not noticing any facets that remain dark, when the stone rotates, they seem to light up. For that reason, I am edging toward the VVS2 to be on the safe side.

We've gone through a pretty long process with our ring designer to narrow these two stones down, as it's the right combination of size and good cut proportions. My partner is pretty keen on specs too, so he doesn't want to compromise on clarity.

Our budget isn't that flexible so I know we can't achieve the most beautiful cut, but as long as there isn't something glaringly obviously wrong with the stones, and there's no significant light leakage, I'm happy. I was just worried that I'd be buying the stone based on great specs alone and that there'd be a risk it's unimpressive in person...

since your budget is not flexible AND if you want to have the most sparkle and fire, then you should not compromise on cut i think? because cut determines its light performance. "cut is king" and if i were you i would compromise on color and clarity and go for the best cut i can get within my budget. that's my 2 cents though.
 

sansevieria

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 8, 2020
Messages
10
imho, if you want to assess which stone is more sparky and has more fire, you may need aset and idealscope images to make sure. or can you ask the vendor to put both stones side by side and show them to you under different light settings to help you assess?

Sadly not an option as we are buying online :(
 

sansevieria

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 8, 2020
Messages
10
since your budget is not flexible AND if you want to have the most sparkle and fire, then you should not compromise on cut i think? because cut determines its light performance. "cut is king" and if i were you i would compromise on color and clarity and go for the best cut i can get within my budget. that's my 2 cents though.

Hmm, that does make sense, but the "cut" specs of those two stones are both pretty good, so I'm hoping we can still get a beautiful ring out of one of them! Do either of them look particularly worrying to you, or is there one that stands out more? I am leaning towards the VVS2.
 

lovedogs

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jul 31, 2014
Messages
18,033
Hmm, that does make sense, but the "cut" specs of those two stones are both pretty good, so I'm hoping we can still get a beautiful ring out of one of them! Do either of them look particularly worrying to you, or is there one that stands out more? I am leaning towards the VVS2.

GIA does not grade cut of fancy shapes. The polish and symmetry are both EX, but that is not the cut itself.
 

lovedogs

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jul 31, 2014
Messages
18,033
Thanks for your reply! That makes sense :)

I personally am not noticing any facets that remain dark, when the stone rotates, they seem to light up. For that reason, I am edging toward the VVS2 to be on the safe side.

We've gone through a pretty long process with our ring designer to narrow these two stones down, as it's the right combination of size and good cut proportions. My partner is pretty keen on specs too, so he doesn't want to compromise on clarity.

Our budget isn't that flexible so I know we can't achieve the most beautiful cut, but as long as there isn't something glaringly obviously wrong with the stones, and there's no significant light leakage, I'm happy. I was just worried that I'd be buying the stone based on great specs alone and that there'd be a risk it's unimpressive in person...
facets going dark is not related to clarity, it's related to the cut itself. Just FYI that you don't need VVS2 in order for facets not to go dark.
 

sansevieria

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 8, 2020
Messages
10
GIA does not grade cut of fancy shapes. The polish and symmetry are both EX, but that is not the cut itself.

I guess there's no way to gauge from the video either? Seeing in person is not an option :(
 

diamondseeker2006

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
58,547
It's very hard to judge anything but the facet patterns, and those are nice for cushions. Since the VS1 is only graded very good for symmetry, I'd go with the VVS2. That's about the only thing that I can use to choose one over the other.
 

sansevieria

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 8, 2020
Messages
10
It's very hard to judge anything but the facet patterns, and those are nice for cushions. Since the VS1 is only graded very good for symmetry, I'd go with the VVS2. That's about the only thing that I can use to choose one over the other.

Thank you. I know it's tricky. I thought the same about the VS1.
 
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