Another Cushion--What Do You Think?

[Haven]

That's crazy, Deco. Our Tallulah also goes by Lulee, Lupita, and Lula Mae (my little homage to the Holiday Golightly character in Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's.) We've also been known to refer to her as "The Beast" when she gets a wee bit stubborn on us. She definitely has that Border Collie intelligence going on. We don't call her Lulu because that was (unfortunately) one of my family's nicknames for ME when I was younger, and I haven't been able to shake it since. I love Tutu, so cute!

And, are you ready? Between the two of use BF and I have five cats. They are in two different households until we get married, two in mine, three in his. My avatar is BF's littlest guy Geddy wearing an unfortunate e-collar after some surgery. He was not as amused as we clearly were.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 7/29/2007 6:54:51 PM
Author: Haven
That''s crazy, Deco. Our Tallulah also goes by Lulee, Lupita, and Lula Mae (my little homage to the Holiday Golightly character in Capote''s Breakfast at Tiffany''s.)

SPOOOK-EEEEE

. Tallulah''s middle name is "Mae".

It says so right on her Dogster page.

I grew up with a collie/mini shepard mix & you''re so right about the smarts. Geez. My wee one is crafty too. And she dotes on her kitty friends (2 his, 2 mine). I am *so* not a cat person though ... I just got to 32ish & lived in an apt & it was the only pet my landlord would allow so pet-crazed, maternal instinct-overloaded me got a coupla kittens. Of course I love those feline ladies & the boy cats that came with the Hubby but it is an Animal Brady Bunch around here! And DH very much wants a "real dog"

-- so a Lab (his choice) or a Corgi (my choice & more suited toward co-mingling with a Toy breed) may join us in our next (larger) home.

I hope we''re not shutting down your CUSHION conversation -- eek!

 

[Haven]

Deco--If you hadn''t already posted thousands of posts on PS I would so think you were my conniving little sister trying to FREAK ME OUT by posting bizarre coincidences and trying to see my reaction. We do that type of thing to each other.

Anyway. . . MY Tallulah''s full name is Tallulah Mae (!!!!), and her little sister is Killian Rae. Says so on their doggie tags, or as we like to call them, their pendants.

Kinda creepy, huh?

I grew up with cats so I have loved them for as long as I can remember, sneaky little creatures. Labs are the sweetest dogs on the planet, my Killy Billy is just an enormous 95 lb BABY. I adore her.

As for the cushion conversation, I just made a new discovery . . .

This cushion''s cert is an EGL cert, but NOT an EGL-USA cert, it must be from some other country. I looked up the cert online at www.egl-labs.com, and it shows they have labs in many different places. I know our jeweler has family in Israel where he sources many stones--should I be concerned about this? I''ve read a few threads about the non-EGL-USA EGLs; insight, anyone? Is there any way to figure out where this stone was certified? Is this a red flag?

 

[decodelighted]

LOL ... do you call Killian "Killy Billy"?? We ALSO HAVE A "BILL". I am not kidding. Sometimes we call him "Billary" -- like a Clinton combo.

Date: 7/29/2007 8:04:07 PM
Author: Haven
This cushion''s cert is an EGL cert, but NOT an EGL-USA cert, it must be from some other country. I looked up the cert online at www.egl-labs.com, and it shows they have labs in many different places. Is this a red flag?

I dunno if its a red flag as in "don''t buy" even if it''s EGL-Isreal. Typically EGL-Isreal is 1-2 grades different than GIA or AGS ... so, perhaps your fave cushion would be a GIA "H"?? Or an AGS "SI2" ... but, if it''s eye clean and you''re happy with the whiteness (which --geez, the MB fluor should be helping with anyway) then all that matters is PRICE. You should just make sure you''re paying a fair PRICE for the stone (not a GIA "G" "SI1" price -- but a bit less). Though, perhaps the stone has other attributes that would make it "worth" more to you specifically .. in that case, it doesn''t matter!

I don''t know how to tell *which* EGL lab graded the stone .. maybe someone else does.

 

[Stone Hunter]

Thanks for the pictures! It does look like a cross between an Oval and a Cushion. I think you''ll like the MB Fluor.

As long as you''ve looked at other stones and this one pleases you go for it. It does look much sparklier than the inspiration stone your jeweler has.

Hope it looks as good to you when you visit it.

 

[Haven]

I got another picture of the set! It''s not quite ours yet, still waiting to hear from Mark T. to see what he found. The diamond is just sitting on top of a shared prong mounting, so it looks a bit crooked, and the bands are a size too big, but it still looks beautiful to me!!!!

Here''s some more eye candy . . .

 

[Haven]

This was my best shot of the profile of the stone, I love how pillowy it looks!

 

[winnie]

hi haven- if u like the look of a radiant, then this is ur stone- it looks more ''crushed'' in the faceting pattern...if u want a true antique cushion look, i would keep looking or go for a raidant...just my two cents..i am more of a fan of the more antique look of a cushjion- and this is egl which i am not a huge fan of (got burned ot that when i really conpared thee gia numbers and the stone side by side) - forgive because i have''t read all the posts but i think mark can get u something rreally nice...not that this isn''t but it all depends on what look you like- to me this looks like a radiant...

 

[dani13]

Hi Haven-

I agree with Deco and Winnie....to me, this stone looks like an oval....if that is the look you adore, and this stone speaks to you, then go for it! If not, see what Mark has lined up for you. He is awesome and if given the chance, will find you something really nice for sure.

Good luck!

 

[Haven]

Winnie and Dani--Thank you both for sharing your opinions. I love the look of this particular stone, I don''t like the chunkier facets that you get with a more traditional cushion. I know that several people on PS have gorgeous traditional-looking cushions, but they''re just not my taste. As for the EGL cert, we''ve already had this stone appraised by two outside appraisers, and one rated the color higher with all other stats the same, and the other rated the color the same and the clarity one grade higher, so I''m satisfied that we''re well aware of the stone''s rated characteristics.

At this point I just wanted to post some pictures to share with everyone.

I''m going to wait until Monday to see what Mark comes up with in case he found anything smashing. When I originally spoke to him he told me he would get back to me in 1 - 2 days, and when he didn''t get back to me for four days I contacted him and he said "tomorrow" which turned into another two days, and now he said he will contact me on Monday, which will be three weeks from our original phone conversation.

My BF and I decided that we''ll wait until Monday, and if Mark truly does get back to us with some stones we''ll take a look. I know that he has a wonderful reputation, and had our jeweler been unable to locate a good stone we would have relied completely on Mark to find one. However, our jeweler is outstanding, and he really pulled through for us with this stone. He''s also been incredibly patient with us because we''ve been pushing back for nearly three weeks now because we kept thinking Mark would get back to us with options, and then didn''t.

Anyway, I love this stone and I don''t have any doubts about it at all at this point. I was originally thinking about going with a lower color grade because of all the good PR I and J stones had been given on PS, but when I went out and looked at several I and J stones in person I realized they really weren''t my taste, which is how we ended up looking at this stone in the first place.

Okay, sorry for the ramble! Thanks again for looking, ladies, I don''t know how we would have even begun the search if I didn''t have Pricescope!