BGD Princess Recut - From Ugly Duckling to Swan

[Echidna]

Suzy, I think your sentiments about your stone are what engagements are all about

Congratulations on your beautiful new stone and thanks for posting all the technical information for us.

 

[Tuckins1]

Oh wow, it looks fabulous!

 

[SuzyQZ]

Fantastic result! The technical aspects look wonderful - but I'm also curious about the visual difference. Can you describe them? I imagine it is much more sparkly...even though the original ASET looked as if it had a lot of reflection - if not a great cut. I've been wondering about recutting a stone - and this has put me one step closer to doing so. Congratulations

The stone will come back to Brian Gavin after recertification from AGS. Brian has agreed to take some pictures of the loose diamond when he gets it back. I will post here. Recertification can take up to two weeks (but I'm hoping it will be less).

I will not have a first hand review of the stone's performance until I get it back in its new setting which is still a ways off. You are right that the diamond as it was prior to the recut had a lot of reflection. It was very bright, no dark spot, but we could always see the off center "X" and that portion of the diamond where the "X" was always seemed to stand out from the rest of the stone, so it was noticeable, however not dark.

I hope you decide to do your recut, I vacillated for years, but now that it's over, I'm glad I did it.

 

[SuzyQZ]

Suzy, I think your sentiments about your stone are what engagements are all about

Congratulations on your beautiful new stone and thanks for posting all the technical information for us.

Thank you Echidna, I'm glad you concur.

We could have certainly replaced it with a bigger diamond and just put this in a jewelry box drawer to collect dust, but I could not.

 

[SuzyQZ]

Oh wow, it looks fabulous!

Thank you Tuckins!

 

[vbnet]

Incredible transformation! Wow!

 

[SuzyQZ]

And the results are in!

First, the GIA cert (Pre BGD Recut)

 

[SuzyQZ]

The AGS Cert (post BGD Recut)

 

[SuzyQZ]

Diamond improvements:

Color came up from an I to a G
Clarity came up from VVS2 to VVS1
Polish came up from GIA Good to AGS Excellent 1
Symmetry came WAY UP from GIA Fair to AGS Ideal 0
Light Performance not rated by GIA is now an AGS Ideal 0

Am I happy?
You betcha!

Brian has the diamond back and he will take pictures of it loose before setting, I will post here as soon as I get them.

 

[slg47]

awesome! can't wait to see pics/read about your opinions of how it looks now.

 

[MissGotRocks]

I'm sorry I've missed this story - wow! I cannot wait to see your 'new' diamond and ring! This is one of those stories that makes your heart feel good and really leaves you looking forward to the finished product.

I'm just happy for you!

 

[SuzyQZ]

awesome! can't wait to see pics/read about your opinions of how it looks now.

I'm looking forward to seeing Brian's pictures of the diamond. They will be better pictures than I could ever take! It will still be awhile before I actually lay eyes on it, so all I get are pictures for now.

 

[SuzyQZ]

I'm sorry I've missed this story - wow! I cannot wait to see your 'new' diamond and ring! This is one of those stories that makes your heart feel good and really leaves you looking forward to the finished product.

I'm just happy for you!

Awww, thank you MissGotRocks!
Yes, it's definitely a win win.

 

[Taylorbug!]

Diamond improvements:

Color came up from an I to a G
Clarity came up from VVS2 to VVS1
Polish came up from GIA Good to AGS Excellent 1
Symmetry came WAY UP from GIA Fair to AGS Ideal 0
Light Performance not rated by GIA is now an AGS Ideal 0

Am I happy?
You betcha!

Brian has the diamond back and he will take pictures of it loose before setting, I will post here as soon as I get them.

WOW...that is AWESOME....can't wait to see it. Are you resetting this into something new also???

 

[Dreamer_D]

That is a mighty fine improvement! Though not totally relevant, this new diamond would retail for so much more than it would in its original incarnation.

I am a little shocked by the color grading results. That is a massive jump. Since color grading is done face down, the cut should not have affected it that much. Makes me believe the rumours that GIA is stricter than AGS or that grade creep really is happening. This is not to malign your diamond at all, but it must be acknowledged that two color grades difference in grading, especially G to I which is a very pricey difference, is substantial!

I would be very curious to hear Brian's comments on color. He is very good at judging color. In his estimation, is the stone closer to a G or an I? If you can ask I would be very greatful

 

[SuzyQZ]

Diamond improvements:

Color came up from an I to a G
Clarity came up from VVS2 to VVS1
Polish came up from GIA Good to AGS Excellent 1
Symmetry came WAY UP from GIA Fair to AGS Ideal 0
Light Performance not rated by GIA is now an AGS Ideal 0

Am I happy?
You betcha!

Brian has the diamond back and he will take pictures of it loose before setting, I will post here as soon as I get them.

WOW...that is AWESOME....can't wait to see it. Are you resetting this into something new also???

Yes, new setting for the new improved look. BGD is making it, of course!

 

[slg47]

I am a little shocked by the color grading results. That is a massive jump. Since color grading is done face down, the cut should not have affected it that much. Makes me believe the rumours that GIA is stricter than AGS or that grade creep really is happening. This is not to malign your diamond at all, but it must be acknowledged that two color grades difference in grading, especially G to I which is a very pricey difference, is substantial!

I would be very curious to hear Brian's comments on color. He is very good at judging color. In his estimation, is the stone closer to a G or an I? If you can ask I would be very greatful

I was also curious about this...is it possible that the asymmetry in the cut caused the stone to appear more colored? (sort of how color is more noticeable at corners/edges?) I'd be really interested to see what Brian has to say! Either way it is going to be really stunning

 

[SuzyQZ]

That is a mighty fine improvement! Though not totally relevant, this new diamond would retail for so much more than it would in its original incarnation.

I am a little shocked by the color grading results. That is a massive jump. Since color grading is done face down, the cut should not have affected it that much. Makes me believe the rumours that GIA is stricter than AGS or that grade creep really is happening. This is not to malign your diamond at all, but it must be acknowledged that two color grades difference in grading, especially G to I which is a very pricey difference, is substantial!

I would be very curious to hear Brian's comments on color. He is very good at judging color. In his estimation, is the stone closer to a G or an I? If you can ask I would be very greatful

Dreamer:

I've forwarded your request to Brian via Jamie.

The price factor is something I actually have thought about. I believe it is now worth more than DH originally paid for it, even though it is smaller in ct weight. I've done a princess diamond search on BGD website and compared my diamond stats to other AGS graded premium princess diamonds and I must say, I am very pleasantly surprised! The difference in price between the purchase price 12 years ago and the current price of an equivalent diamond was quite substantial.

Regarding the color, to me, an untrained nonprofessional layperson, the "I" grade it got from GIA always seemed a little harsh. I actually was predicting the color grade would go up one level at recertification, but I never expected two. It will be interesting to see what Brian says, if he has time to respond. I actually spoke to him last night, it was 12:30am (his time) and he was STILL in the office. I don't know how he does it!

 

[SuzyQZ]

I am a little shocked by the color grading results. That is a massive jump. Since color grading is done face down, the cut should not have affected it that much. Makes me believe the rumours that GIA is stricter than AGS or that grade creep really is happening. This is not to malign your diamond at all, but it must be acknowledged that two color grades difference in grading, especially G to I which is a very pricey difference, is substantial!

I would be very curious to hear Brian's comments on color. He is very good at judging color. In his estimation, is the stone closer to a G or an I? If you can ask I would be very greatful

I was also curious about this...is it possible that the asymmetry in the cut caused the stone to appear more colored? (sort of how color is more noticeable at corners/edges?) I'd be really interested to see what Brian has to say! Either way it is going to be really stunning

I was thinking (again I am NOT an expert) that just losing all the bottom heavy ct weight in the recut actually gave it a higher whiter color. Kind of like when you stack several pieces of window glass together; when it's just a single sheet the glass appears clear, but if you continue to add more glass sheets, the color gets greener and greener the more glass sheets you add. FWIW, to my eye, it always faced up very white, never looked like an "I" in real life.

Brian is no doubt very busy tending to his clients. I hope he can post an answer, either himself or through Jamie. We'll see.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I am a little shocked by the color grading results. That is a massive jump. Since color grading is done face down, the cut should not have affected it that much. Makes me believe the rumours that GIA is stricter than AGS or that grade creep really is happening. This is not to malign your diamond at all, but it must be acknowledged that two color grades difference in grading, especially G to I which is a very pricey difference, is substantial!

I would be very curious to hear Brian's comments on color. He is very good at judging color. In his estimation, is the stone closer to a G or an I? If you can ask I would be very greatful

I was also curious about this...is it possible that the asymmetry in the cut caused the stone to appear more colored? (sort of how color is more noticeable at corners/edges?) I'd be really interested to see what Brian has to say! Either way it is going to be really stunning

I was thinking (again I am NOT an expert) that just losing all the bottom heavy ct weight in the recut actually gave it a higher whiter color. Kind of like when you stack several pieces of window glass together; when it's just a single sheet the glass appears clear, but if you continue to add more glass sheets, the color gets greener and greener the more glass sheets you add. FWIW, to my eye, it always faced up very white, never looked like an "I" in real life.

Brian is no doubt very busy tending to his clients. I hope he can post an answer, either himself or through Jamie. We'll see.

Hmmm, yes, I forgot that your stone lost a lot of junk in the trunk of recut... this is very possible and could account for one of the color grades if error/random variance accounts for the other.

 

[SuzyQZ]

I am a little shocked by the color grading results. That is a massive jump. Since color grading is done face down, the cut should not have affected it that much. Makes me believe the rumours that GIA is stricter than AGS or that grade creep really is happening. This is not to malign your diamond at all, but it must be acknowledged that two color grades difference in grading, especially G to I which is a very pricey difference, is substantial!

I would be very curious to hear Brian's comments on color. He is very good at judging color. In his estimation, is the stone closer to a G or an I? If you can ask I would be very greatful

I was also curious about this...is it possible that the asymmetry in the cut caused the stone to appear more colored? (sort of how color is more noticeable at corners/edges?) I'd be really interested to see what Brian has to say! Either way it is going to be really stunning

I was thinking (again I am NOT an expert) that just losing all the bottom heavy ct weight in the recut actually gave it a higher whiter color. Kind of like when you stack several pieces of window glass together; when it's just a single sheet the glass appears clear, but if you continue to add more glass sheets, the color gets greener and greener the more glass sheets you add. FWIW, to my eye, it always faced up very white, never looked like an "I" in real life.

Brian is no doubt very busy tending to his clients. I hope he can post an answer, either himself or through Jamie. We'll see.

Hmmm, yes, I forgot that your stone lost a lot of junk in the trunk of recut... this is very possible and could account for one of the color grades if error/random variance accounts for the other.

Yes, junk in the trunk it was!! A major liposuction of the bottom half, indeed!

 

[SuzyQZ]

Wow, what a difference! It's beautiful now Congrats!!

P.S. Great job Brian!

I call him the "diamond whisperer".
I thought a recut would just blow this diamond to smithereens because of the drastic corrections required.
But Brian came through for me with flying colors.
I left the entire recut process up to him.

Once again very cool I'd love to see a video of your stone. I looked for a BGD signature princess and can't seem to find any on his site.

I've since found out that the BGD website search engine wasn't picking up on the AGS 000 Princess cuts, it is now. If you do a search for princess cut, you will now get several results with the AGS 000's on top.

 

[cliqhere]

awesome

 

[SuzyQZ]

PICTURES!!!

Jamie/Brian were nice enough to take and email me some glamour shots of my diamond.
Per forum policy, I've removed their logo from the pictures.

Here we go...

 

[SuzyQZ]

Pic #2

 

[SuzyQZ]

Pic #3

 

[SuzyQZ]

Pic #4

 

[SuzyQZ]

Pic #5

 

[SuzyQZ]

Last one.
Pic #6

 

[stone-cold11]

Side note, you can place multiple images on the same post now, in case you do not know that.