- Joined
- Nov 28, 2011
- Messages
- 2,419
Hey guys, meet my new OEC!
(long story of how I got the stone below. Feel free to skip down to the last line for the full specs, and then a ton of pics!!!
)
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Some of you may know that I've rapidly gone through several OECs in the last year, it's been a pretty intense journey to find an upgrade that felt right. I went from 1.01-J to 1.75-L to 1.54-K to 1.22-J to 1.50-J (the last two I never posted here because I only had them for a very short time before returning). Finally, I decided to spend my entire budget (and more) on something that would be the "next step" kind of upgrade. I bought a stone on ebay that was listed as approximately 2.38cts (actual weight 2.55cts), appraised K, VVS2. I had some reservations about the color (there was no cert), but the faceting looked extremely promising.
I got the ring and fell totally in love with the stone. I even named it within an hour (which is unusual for me) -- Audrey for Audrey Hepburn, because of her slender and graceful facets. I had only one reservation about the whole thing -- the color. It was pretty clear that Audrey was not a GIA-level K, she was much warmer. But how much? I figured that if the stone was in the L-M... even N range, the price I paid was still pretty good (especially considering the beautiful platinum setting she came in).
I got the ring on Friday, and on Monday I had the stone taken out by my local jeweler. I knew before I bought it that I would want to re-set the OEC into my standard 6-prong yellow gold setting. When the stone came out, I was shocked by how warm it was. I panicked, and wrote the seller about this, asking if a return would be possible. To my dismay, the seller replied with a "firm no" because the stone had been unset. To be honest, I was really taken aback, because she had been so sweet and personable with me before. We discussed how we are both jewelry aficionados, we talked about the difference between GIA and EGL...
Anyway, I decided to send the stone to GIA to see what the color actually was. I paid for 1-day service, and after a nail-biting wait, I was told the stone was S-T, VS2. I was speechless, I admit. I wrote the seller again, asked for a partial or full refund (I would pay for the GIA myself, and re-set the stone back -- sending it back to her in the original condition with the GIA cert). The seller said no again. At this point I considered filing a case with ebay, but I had been dumb enough to pay via bank wire transfer instead of Paypal, so I didn't quality for buyer protection. I will probably leave the seller negative feedback (I hate to do this), but she pretty much told me -- "Tough luck for you, send it to EGL for a softer grade and try to sell it if you want your money back."
Luckily for me, Audrey is a beautiful stone and I didn't really want to return her (though a partial refund would have been so nice!). I've decided to put the negative seller experience behind me and enjoy this beauty. Audrey has lovely coloring, and I finally get it what people mean when they talk about the color of vintage lace. I've tried to capture that in the million pics I've taken. I plan to wear her for a good long while! Whether she's looking golden, lacey, white, silver, or bluish in the sun from the fluoro -- faceting like Audrey's just can't be beat!
As a friend of mine said, she is "a checkerboard flower hybrid," which I think just about nails it.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
OEC stats -- 2.55cts, 8.44-8.50x5.63mm, S-T range, VS2, 66.5% depth, 47% table, faint fluorescence.
I'll post the pics chronologically -- first in the original setting, then loose, then in the new setting.
(long story of how I got the stone below. Feel free to skip down to the last line for the full specs, and then a ton of pics!!!
)~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Some of you may know that I've rapidly gone through several OECs in the last year, it's been a pretty intense journey to find an upgrade that felt right. I went from 1.01-J to 1.75-L to 1.54-K to 1.22-J to 1.50-J (the last two I never posted here because I only had them for a very short time before returning). Finally, I decided to spend my entire budget (and more) on something that would be the "next step" kind of upgrade. I bought a stone on ebay that was listed as approximately 2.38cts (actual weight 2.55cts), appraised K, VVS2. I had some reservations about the color (there was no cert), but the faceting looked extremely promising.
I got the ring and fell totally in love with the stone. I even named it within an hour (which is unusual for me) -- Audrey for Audrey Hepburn, because of her slender and graceful facets.
I had only one reservation about the whole thing -- the color. It was pretty clear that Audrey was not a GIA-level K, she was much warmer. But how much? I figured that if the stone was in the L-M... even N range, the price I paid was still pretty good (especially considering the beautiful platinum setting she came in). I got the ring on Friday, and on Monday I had the stone taken out by my local jeweler. I knew before I bought it that I would want to re-set the OEC into my standard 6-prong yellow gold setting. When the stone came out, I was shocked by how warm it was. I panicked, and wrote the seller about this, asking if a return would be possible. To my dismay, the seller replied with a "firm no" because the stone had been unset. To be honest, I was really taken aback, because she had been so sweet and personable with me before. We discussed how we are both jewelry aficionados, we talked about the difference between GIA and EGL...
Anyway, I decided to send the stone to GIA to see what the color actually was. I paid for 1-day service, and after a nail-biting wait, I was told the stone was S-T, VS2. I was speechless, I admit. I wrote the seller again, asked for a partial or full refund (I would pay for the GIA myself, and re-set the stone back -- sending it back to her in the original condition with the GIA cert). The seller said no again. At this point I considered filing a case with ebay, but I had been dumb enough to pay via bank wire transfer instead of Paypal, so I didn't quality for buyer protection. I will probably leave the seller negative feedback (I hate to do this), but she pretty much told me -- "Tough luck for you, send it to EGL for a softer grade and try to sell it if you want your money back."
Luckily for me, Audrey is a beautiful stone and I didn't really want to return her (though a partial refund would have been so nice!). I've decided to put the negative seller experience behind me and enjoy this beauty. Audrey has lovely coloring, and I finally get it what people mean when they talk about the color of vintage lace. I've tried to capture that in the million pics I've taken. I plan to wear her for a good long while! Whether she's looking golden, lacey, white, silver, or bluish in the sun from the fluoro -- faceting like Audrey's just can't be beat!
As a friend of mine said, she is "a checkerboard flower hybrid," which I think just about nails it. ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
OEC stats -- 2.55cts, 8.44-8.50x5.63mm, S-T range, VS2, 66.5% depth, 47% table, faint fluorescence.
I'll post the pics chronologically -- first in the original setting, then loose, then in the new setting.
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