- Joined
- Feb 14, 2005
- Messages
- 4,122
So I got the bug... after seeing Mayk's beautiful 2ct K EC from JA, I started looking around, and found a few that caught my eye. My budget wasn't big, and I wanted to maximize size, so I chose to drop down in color a bit from my normal preferences, and considered I-J-K range stones. I chose 3 for a workup, and this one won! Which I was happy about, as it is the one I liked the shape of, the video of, and especially the size of! 
I called JA on the phone to reserve the diamonds, and Angelia was extremely nice to talk with, and she looked at a few options with me before we definitively decided which 3 to look into further. Then I was transferred to email contact with Garrett, who was also always polite and patient. The ASET images and gemologist's review were completed in 3 days as promised (the longest 3 days ever!), and I chose this one after reading the gemologist's comments and seeing the ASET. I chose a setting that had to be CAD rendered, as they don't carry it in stock for EC's, which was fine. So that took a week. Then I was out of town for a week, so it was a long time before I got to see the finished product.
The downside of JA's service was that despite my asking, I was not shown a picture or video of either the CAD or even the finished product before it shipped. And it didn't get a Sarin run on it either so I don't know the crown height. Had I seen the CAD's I would have asked them to lower the basket a bit if possible, as it sits a bit high, but I'm happy with the overall quality of the setting. I asked for the prongs to be as dainty as possible, and they look rather bulbous in magnified pictures, but in real life they are so small and uniform that they don't stand out or bother me at all.
I was nervous about the J color, as I'm rather color sensitive, but I have to say I am quite impressed with how white this stone faces up in real life. I can see that it has a slight tint, especially when I put it next to my D, but it holds it's own and looks fabulous! It is so sparkly and I'm really enjoying the step patterning, which I've never had before, as my other stones are round / cushion.
There are some black lines that show up in pictures and look terrible, but in real life they aren't there - the stone just has nice contrast. It is so hard to take good pictures of diamonds, and these pics do no justice, but I hope you get the idea!
The stone is:
1.04ct J VS1
6.68 x 5.43 x 3.39 mm
Polish / Symmetry = excellent / excellent
no fluorescence (bummer!)
T = 62%
D = 63.5%
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/emerald-cut/1.04-carat-j-color-vs1-clarity-sku-97520
I chose the twisted shank contemporary solitaire:
http://www.jamesallen.com/engagemen...wisted-shank-contemporary-solitaire-item-6854
This is the gemologist's comment:
"As I am sure you expected after reviewing the ASET images, the gemologist found the 1.04 carat-J-VS1 to be the top performer of the three. It has very good alternating steps of brilliance (white light return) and contrast (dark areas), and it has a great amount of fire (dispersion of color) and sparkle that is well balanced and symmetrical. It faces up a true "J" in color and has a very slight warmth to it face up, faces up completely "eye clean" and has a perfect rectangular shape."
So I'm very happy with this stone, and I think the setting really compliments it. I may reset it into a Ritani I have my eye on (that is a similar idea) sometime down the road, but for now I'm just going to enjoy it!
I called JA on the phone to reserve the diamonds, and Angelia was extremely nice to talk with, and she looked at a few options with me before we definitively decided which 3 to look into further. Then I was transferred to email contact with Garrett, who was also always polite and patient. The ASET images and gemologist's review were completed in 3 days as promised (the longest 3 days ever!), and I chose this one after reading the gemologist's comments and seeing the ASET. I chose a setting that had to be CAD rendered, as they don't carry it in stock for EC's, which was fine. So that took a week. Then I was out of town for a week, so it was a long time before I got to see the finished product.
The downside of JA's service was that despite my asking, I was not shown a picture or video of either the CAD or even the finished product before it shipped. And it didn't get a Sarin run on it either so I don't know the crown height. Had I seen the CAD's I would have asked them to lower the basket a bit if possible, as it sits a bit high, but I'm happy with the overall quality of the setting. I asked for the prongs to be as dainty as possible, and they look rather bulbous in magnified pictures, but in real life they are so small and uniform that they don't stand out or bother me at all.
I was nervous about the J color, as I'm rather color sensitive, but I have to say I am quite impressed with how white this stone faces up in real life. I can see that it has a slight tint, especially when I put it next to my D, but it holds it's own and looks fabulous! It is so sparkly and I'm really enjoying the step patterning, which I've never had before, as my other stones are round / cushion.
There are some black lines that show up in pictures and look terrible, but in real life they aren't there - the stone just has nice contrast. It is so hard to take good pictures of diamonds, and these pics do no justice, but I hope you get the idea!
The stone is:
1.04ct J VS1
6.68 x 5.43 x 3.39 mm
Polish / Symmetry = excellent / excellent
no fluorescence (bummer!)
T = 62%
D = 63.5%
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/emerald-cut/1.04-carat-j-color-vs1-clarity-sku-97520
I chose the twisted shank contemporary solitaire:
http://www.jamesallen.com/engagemen...wisted-shank-contemporary-solitaire-item-6854
This is the gemologist's comment:
"As I am sure you expected after reviewing the ASET images, the gemologist found the 1.04 carat-J-VS1 to be the top performer of the three. It has very good alternating steps of brilliance (white light return) and contrast (dark areas), and it has a great amount of fire (dispersion of color) and sparkle that is well balanced and symmetrical. It faces up a true "J" in color and has a very slight warmth to it face up, faces up completely "eye clean" and has a perfect rectangular shape."
So I'm very happy with this stone, and I think the setting really compliments it. I may reset it into a Ritani I have my eye on (that is a similar idea) sometime down the road, but for now I'm just going to enjoy it!
Glad I could help the bling bug! 
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