Antique cut lovers - OMC thoughts please!

[Allison D.]

Date: 12/2/2008 2:07:05 PM
Author: xiao

Allison, price is also a constraint for us. What were the prices like in NYC? The prices quoted to me by Ari at Singlestone, for example, is already above my budget...this is in part due to the fact that I want a platinum halo micropave setting.

I''m not sure what your budget number is, but I can tell you that we were looking at stones in the .70 to .95 range.
More toward the .70-.85 mark, you could likely land a stone for about $1500 if you are willing to go into the low colors (K-M). I will say that I was AMAZED how many of the K-M stones looked gorgeous face-up....they were warmer than my modern RB H-colored stone, but I think the warmth actually works well in older stones.

I saw a .72 L, SI2 (EGL) OEC for $1260. We also saw a nice .85 M, VS2 for about $1450-ish.

I''d agree with several others...the platinum setting is going to eat a good portion of your budget, and I''d recommend perhaps setting the stone in a simple setting to begin with (which would let you put more of your budget into the stone) and then upgrade the setting down the line.

 

[LGK]

I had to ditch the super expensive setting idea when I was OEC shopping at first because I decided I''d muuuuch rather have slightly over a carat (and low color). I *could* have done it, but when the settings were more pricey than the diamond I just couldn''t do it. However I hated simple solitaires on me. So, I got a cheap-but-pretty temp setting from the seller Oxford Diamond Co on eBay; it was around $200, and was very ornate and antiquey looking with over a half carat of (rather included) melee. I kept it and set a non-diamond in it for travelling after I finally got a platinum antique setting. It''s very pretty for the price and was a great option for me, since I didn''t want to shell out for a pricey setting at the same time as the stone. Dunno if you''d be up for considering an option like that, but it definitely enabled me to get a larger stone by far.

Lord of Gem Rings on eBay carries similar settings.

Kim Wheeling at JewelryRings.com as some great filigree recast settings, which are even cheaper and very pretty for temp settings, he will customize in various gold colors and for different center stones upon request too.

Just a thought, of course. I''m attaching a pic of the temp setting I used, when it was still set w/ my RHR diamond.

 

[Allison D.]

Xiao, this should help to give you an idea of what to expect.

This is a .86 M, VS2 OEC....

 

[Allison D.]

Same stone. It really doesn''t show much color.....I think older cuts do lend themselves to a slightly warmer color without detriment.

 

[arjunajane]

Wow, gorgeous stone Alj! Is this one of the ones you saw on your trip.?

 

[Allison D.]

Date: 12/3/2008 12:52:43 AM
Author: arjunajane
Wow, gorgeous stone Alj! Is this one of the ones you saw on your trip.?

It''s one of the many, yes. I was just stunned at how little body color actually showed in these older cuts.

Here is another we saw.....it''s a transitional cut (like Surfgirl''s). L color according to EGL.

 

[xiao]

Yep, i agree..that''s a nice stone!

I am so very grateful to everyone for all the suggestions on how to stretch my budget out. You guys are SO patient!
I will head to the jeweler soon and look into some other simpler settings.

To be honest, our budget is about $3.5-4k
The halo setting is $1650 in plat and we could possibly try to bargain a little bit more. (white gold is $1k)
So that leaves me with a limit of about $2300 for the stone.
I''m not too fussy with the specs..would just like to have large bold flashes of color.
I also don''t really fancy yellowish stones...so probably nothing lower than an I-J for me.
I like the transition cut I posted on pg 1..but it''s $3k for just over a carat w/ a 30-day return policy. Is that a good deal?

After all this talk I am really tempted to make the trip down to NYC next week!
Can''t wait to find the perfect ering and show it off on PS!

 

[xiao]

Under what kind of lighting were those photos taken?
They look so bright and sparkly!

 

[Allison D.]

All of the earlier photos were taken in outdoor afternoon light.

This photo was taken in a dark setting with only a dim overhead *incandescent* light. As it typically with 'camera' shots, the camera captures more of the body color than my eye can; this stone didn't look this warm in person during this photo.

 

[Allison D.]

And this one was taken in an indoor setting emulating restaurant lighting.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 12/3/2008 1:05:41 AM
Author: Allison D.

Date: 12/3/2008 12:52:43 AM
Author: arjunajane
Wow, gorgeous stone Alj! Is this one of the ones you saw on your trip.?

It''s one of the many, yes. I was just stunned at how little body color actually showed in these older cuts.

Here is another we saw.....it''s a transitional cut (like Surfgirl''s). L color according to EGL.

What a stunner! I hope my new transitionals are as nice when they finally come...

 

[Allison D.]

Date: 12/3/2008 1:29:04 AM
Author: arjunajane

Date: 12/3/2008 1:05:41 AM
Author: Allison D.

Date: 12/3/2008 12:52:43 AM
Author: arjunajane
Wow, gorgeous stone Alj! Is this one of the ones you saw on your trip.?

It''s one of the many, yes. I was just stunned at how little body color actually showed in these older cuts.

Here is another we saw.....it''s a transitional cut (like Surfgirl''s). L color according to EGL.

What a stunner! I hope my new transitionals are as nice when they finally come...

Oddly enough, this one had what I felt was a huge table at 63.....but for some reason, the facet arrangement on this stone really worked.

It didn''t put out nearly as much disco-ball fire as the smaller OEC did with the small table, but the chunkier facets were quite lively and easy to make out.

 

[Allison D.]

Date: 12/3/2008 1:29:04 AM
Author: arjunajane

Date: 12/3/2008 1:05:41 AM
Author: Allison D.

Date: 12/3/2008 12:52:43 AM
Author: arjunajane
Wow, gorgeous stone Alj! Is this one of the ones you saw on your trip.?

It''s one of the many, yes. I was just stunned at how little body color actually showed in these older cuts.

Here is another we saw.....it''s a transitional cut (like Surfgirl''s). L color according to EGL.

What a stunner! I hope my new transitionals are as nice when they finally come...

Arjuna, I missed that you were expecting more. (I seem to recall you getting and returning an older cut stone?)

Can I ask where you got the new ones from?

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 12/3/2008 1:31:31 AM
Author: Allison D.

Date: 12/3/2008 1:29:04 AM
Author: arjunajane

Date: 12/3/2008 1:05:41 AM
Author: Allison D.

Date: 12/3/2008 12:52:43 AM
Author: arjunajane
Wow, gorgeous stone Alj! Is this one of the ones you saw on your trip.?

It''s one of the many, yes. I was just stunned at how little body color actually showed in these older cuts.

Here is another we saw.....it''s a transitional cut (like Surfgirl''s). L color according to EGL.

What a stunner! I hope my new transitionals are as nice when they finally come...

Oddly enough, this one had what I felt was a huge table at 63.....but for some reason, the facet arrangement on this stone really worked.

It didn''t put out nearly as much disco-ball fire as the smaller OEC did with the small table, but the chunkier facets were quite lively and easy to make out.

I only just noticed the large table actually - I was too impressed by the facets!
May I ask Alj, did you and friend end up buying anything? I wasn''t sure from what you mentioned before..