advice on a smallish Asscher

[Ibrakeforpossums]

Looking for an Asscher to make a 3-stone ring with a couple princesses. The girls are about 4.4 x 4.10 so I'm looking at something from maybe 4.6 to 5mm, which is around .55 to .70 carats, depending. Color F thru I, clarity up for discussion (I'm old, don't see well). I'm looking all over but plan to work with B2C, since they can usually source anything if I have a report #.
I've been thru a number of the threads here reading Karl K.'s posts and old ones from Gypsy and I've picked stones that consistently go against their advice - how do I do it? That said, I tried going by big depths and small tables and really didn't do any better. My big insight was, It has to be pretty in the center. If the center is dull or flat, I move on.

While I admire the Octavia, it's not in my budget and the more modern ones appeal to me. Here are a couple:

0.60 Carat Diamond, Asscher, I Color, VS1, GIA, D112585538

This Asscher shape, I color,VS1 clarity, and Ideal make (cut) certified loose diamond comes with a report from the GIA

www.brilliance.com

0.60-Carat Asscher Cut Diamond | Blue Nile

www.bluenile.com

I would appreciate any comments/guidance.

 

[Karl_K]

Tough one, you did very good picking those.
The first has more contrast but not to much which in that size is a good thing.
In a 1ct+ I would tend towards the second one but at that size the more bold contrast of the first one is appealing.

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

OMG, I can't believe you said that. Thank you, Karl!!!
I'm going to post more links, some won't be good, I'm sure. I'm hoping to get lots of comments both pos. and neg. so I develop my eye.
In no hurry with this, I'm staring down another Wisconsin winter.

 

[Karl_K]

Your developing a good eye.
I do have to question the princess cuts next to an asscher, have you seen such a combo before?
The are different in the kinds of lighting they take off in so there will be times the princess cuts outdo the asscher and lighting that the asscher outdo them.

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

You have a point. While I see brilliant cut traps next to an Asscher, they're side stones. This would be Mr. Asscher flanked by those two dirty girls, the not even square princesses. (One is .20% white crystal and the other has brown carbon! Looks like poo). These were my mother's earrings, thought I might like them more in a ring.
If they don't get along, I can go another direction. But this is for a fun ring, and I really enjoy how different stones like different lighting conditions. It's as if each one has its own contract with light.

 

[molecule]

You have a point. While I see brilliant cut traps next to an Asscher, they're side stones. This would be Mr. Asscher flanked by those two dirty girls, the not even square princesses. (One is .20% white crystal and the other has brown carbon! Looks like poo). These were my mother's earrings, thought I might like them more in a ring.
If they don't get along, I can go another direction. But this is for a fun ring, and I really enjoy how different stones like different lighting conditions. It's as if each one has its own contract with light.

How about kite set into a bangle, sort of moi and toi style? (I might just be on a bangle roll from my own project ideas)

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

Ahhh, kite-set. You're giving me ideas! Have you seen such a bangle?

 

[molecule]

Not exactly, but
I'm envisioning something like this:

But also love the idea of the below in bangle form so that the two stones are slightly overlapped:

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

Love the overlap. And I have a cuff ring like the 1st bangle, with the negative space in the center. Really versatile for stacking.
Someone just posted a pear snugged up to a cushion for a moi et toi. ring. It was killer.

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

A few more:

0.70 Carat Diamond, Asscher, I Color, VS2, GIA, D112383958

This Asscher shape, I color,VS2 clarity, and Ideal make (cut) certified loose diamond comes with a report from the GIA

www.brilliance.com

I thought this BN is very lively:https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD13503104 It does have strong blue fluor, would have to ask about it. Most of my stuff fluoresces.

Another BN that I like a lot: https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD13502200

https://www.withclarity.com/diamonds/index/diamonddetail/id/1369161884/0.62-Asscher-F-VS1-Excellent Table % more than depth! But it gives nice spread.

 

[OoohShiny]

Big table, low crown on number 3, but it does perform well in the video! Might therefore not have much fire but look bright??

I'm not sure the video on 2 is actually head-on, so hard to tell any obstruction.

The other two videos are in different lighting and I find them hard to assess!

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

Yes, I really like the 3rd one. Your comment sounds very informed, thank you.
These rascals are really case by case, and the different lighting drives me nuts.

 

[OoohShiny]

The Fire aspect I feel somewhat uneducated on - I know that larger facets can produce more fire (because the rainbow fans are larger and therefore more likely to be 'clipped' by the eye, such that you only see one colour within the fan ) but I'm not sure how light return 'through the table' compares to 'through the upper facets', the latter of which aid dispersion...

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

See, you know what you don't know. I can't even say that.
Some lighting scenarios seem to enable fire, like BN, while the videos from Brilliance and B2C are very grey and you have to guess. And if they use imaging from different vendors, the situation changes again. I have an EC from B2C that showed a lot of rainbow in the video but I don't see it in the ring unless I'm making coffee under the kitchen halogens.

 

[diamondhoarder]

See, you know what you don't know. I can't even say that.
Some lighting scenarios seem to enable fire, like BN, while the videos from Brilliance and B2C are very grey and you have to guess. And if they use imaging from different vendors, the situation changes again. I have an EC from B2C that showed a lot of rainbow in the video but I don't see it in the ring unless I'm making coffee under the kitchen halogens.

Tell me about it! It seems particularly hard when in it comes to asscher videos.

Its ironic that James Allen decided to remove the GIA certificates from their listings and have been pushing the idea that the video tells you everything you need to know about how good the diamond will look.

The same diamond can look attractive in one vendor's video and poor in another. This not the best example but here are two videos of the same asscher:

1.51-Carat Asscher Cut Diamond | Blue Nile

www.bluenile.com

1.51 Carat asscher diamond

This asscher cut 1.51 carat H color vvs1 clarity has a diamond grading report from GIA

www.jamesallen.com

According to the JA video, this diamond looks really dark under the table due to excessive obstruction, whereas in the BN video the effect is not nearly so striking. I've come to the conclusion that when asscher shopping its best to do some detective work and try and track down other vendors who carry the same diamond in case they have different videos. Ive had a couple of times when I have found what I thought was a promising looking asscher on James Allen, only to find it looks bad based on the images offered by other vendors.

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

You're right, you're right. I would not have picked up the darkness under the table - thank you! That's why I'm here.
$1,200 difference, big savings from JA. But I can't do it, I can't give my money to JA, Signet is so big and that long-running discrimination suit filed by their female employees, no thanks. I like B2C a lot, their guys have given me tips I'd never hear anywhere else. I have purchased from Brilliance, and would even go back to Brian Gavin (maybe). But not JA. I asked them to send me a GIA report a while back. They emailed it with the number blanked out.

 

[diamondhoarder]

You're right, you're right. I would not have picked up the darkness under the table - thank you! That's why I'm here.
$1,200 difference, big savings from JA. But I can't do it, I can't give my money to JA, Signet is so big and that long-running discrimination suit filed by their female employees, no thanks. I like B2C a lot, their guys have given me tips I'd never hear anywhere else. I have purchased from Brilliance, and would even go back to Brian Gavin (maybe). But not JA. I asked them to send me a GIA report a while back. They emailed it with the number blanked out.

I agree that B2C are very good, and so are their prices too. I like how they provide a more personal service. If you see something you like and are prepared to pay for it they will call it in, do as many stills and videos as you like, along with ASET images and give you an honest viewpoint on the merits of the diamond.

I bought my ideal cut square radiant from them, and only B2C and Adiamor were carrying it. B2C only had a still photo of it in their listing, but they provided plenty more images once they called it in, and told me that it was an amazing diamond, and they weren't wrong. The performance rivals a super ideal round! I was a very happy customer, and the joke was on Adiamor who, when I asked about the diamond, told me that it was too deep and outside of their recommended parameters for a radiant, and that they would not be prepared to honour their upgrade policy if I bought this diamond from them because it was not a stone they would want to be "stuck with" !!!

Ive been searching asschers for years, waiting for "the one" in the size I'm looking for, and you do get a bit disillusioned after a while by how many rubbish ones there are compared to really good ones. But one thing I have noticed is that there is much more choice in the smaller sizes - especially the 1ct mark - and opportunities to get something with amazing performance. Hopefully that also holds true for the -0.5 -0 .8ct mark. It seems the higher the carat weight, the more "weight saving" poor cutting seems to go on.

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

That's a wonderful story! I'd love to see your ideal square cut radiant, don't think I've ever seen one.
I bought my only other Asscher 2 years ago on this basis: It's over 1.5 cts and it's an L so I can almost afford it AND the photo is so butt-ugly that it has to be much better than depicted. A very good goldsmith in Milwaukee set it for me, he said, "It's a very good make. You got lucky - most people get screwed." I'm on this forum because I know I won't get lucky again.

 

[diamondhoarder]

That's a wonderful story! I'd love to see your ideal square cut radiant, don't think I've ever seen one.
I bought my only other Asscher 2 years ago on this basis: It's over 1.5 cts and it's an L so I can almost afford it AND the photo is so butt-ugly that it has to be much better than depicted. A very good goldsmith in Milwaukee set it for me, he said, "It's a very good make. You got lucky - most people get screwed." I'm on this forum because I know I won't get lucky again.

Here is a link to my SMTB thread for the radiant:

Cut cornered square diamond rose gold ring

Hi all I spent a very long time searching for a fancy cut diamond that would fit my extensive list of criteria :lol: I wanted something square or rectangular with a very distinctive and defined symmetrical facet pattern, with contrast evenly distributed across the stone. I wanted excellent...

www.pricescope.com

Sounds like you got lucky with your L asscher! Is there a thread for it? I would love to see photos. How do you find the L colour? Do you notice the tint?

I got so frustrated looking for a natural asscher which fits my exacting specs that I ended up ordering a lab grown one, on the basis that the cutting might be less about weight saving and more about beauty (and the video looked very promising too). I have a thread about it on the MMD forum. It should arrive sometime this week.

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

No thread for the L. Honestly, I'm afraid of people telling me why it's not as good as I think it is, so I just love it while it lives in its crate like a show dog. Very little tint, tho, and with medium blue fluor it's icy white most of the time. Someone said it looks more like a J.
Your square ideal cut radiant just blew me away. I've never seen anything like that except in a super ideal round. Just as impressive is the knowledge you have to be so discerning and to find such a rare diamond. Thank you for the photos and the story. I can't wait to see the lab-grown you've picked out!