Dreamer's Reset - Project Thread

[Dreamer_D]

Hey, Dreamer!!! So happy I "found" you on that other thread! Our youngest daughter got engaged New Years weekend, so I have been immersed in wedding planning the last couple of months and just glancing in here occasionally!

Caysie has made several things for me and I think she is incredibly gifted in design. I can't think of anyone who could get the aesthetic you are describing better than her. The complaint I have heard most is that the projects sometime take longer than expected, and that usually happens when she has to source custom cut stones for the setting as she has no control over that. Other times her bench is swamped. She is wonderful, though, and I never care how long my pieces take because they are so awesome when they come! I got one for Christmas/anniversary and haven't posted it yet because I decided to send it back to get a different kind of clasp on my chain. Plus I just haven't had time to take pictures.

I love your idea to make your ring a three stone! And yes, since smaller stones are going to be harder to see the facet patterns, I feel sure you can access tranny's that would work with your George! It may take time, but I feel like that is possible. If not, Caysie could get Yoram to custom cut a pair for you, but that likely would be a bit more expensive. I know you prefer old cuts anyway, so I am sure eventually a pair can be matched! I have long wanted a three stone ring, but I already feel self-conscious about my 2.3 ct AVR and think side stones would just be too much bling for my extremely casual lifestyle. I hope to make one eventually even if it's with a sapphire center, or something. I'll be looking forward to following your thread!

@diamondseeker2006 I'm glad you found my thread! And a wedding in the family! Where has the time gone? It must be such an exciting time.

And thank you for your endorsement of Caysie. It carries a lot of weight with me, for sure! I have read all the threads and seen her work, and I think the fit will be good. I have not contacted her yet, I sort of want to have my diamonds first, but I will get in touch soon. I will drop your name if that's ok!

And I must say, you have collected just a... STUNNING collection of jewels in the last few years Honestly, just a sublime collection. I hope you are wearing them all and loving them.

And I hear you about feeling self conscious about sporting a three stone. If you recall, back in 2012 I did find an old cut three stone with a 7mm center and 5.8mm sides, and I felt very self-conscious wearing it. I am thinking that now as an older woman with much bigger fingers, and with smaller side stones, I will be okay with it And if not, I will just wear it anyway My lifestyle is also somewhat casual, but I do tend to wear dresses and big bold patterns, and as mentioned above, I am hoping to up my style game with bigger, bolder choices going forward, so I think I can pull it off. But most importantly, I am a big woman and big women need big jewels!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Reposting this image in case anyone joins on page 3... more info on this little guy on page 2

 

[Dreamer_D]

Hello Dreamer! Freshly-minted PSer here, but I have fallen quickly and hard for old cuts of all persuasions. Three stone? Yellow gold? Bog women and the Eagles? This seems like just my kind of thread

No recommendations here that are different from what has been mentioned previously, though I am sure if you let Caysie know that you are looking for side stones when you reach out to her, she would also be happy to work on sourcing something alongside your own efforts. You never know what she has in her networks...

If you are going for a "resemblance not twins" approach and are considering trannies as a sidestone option, I am wondering if a killer set of OECs is off the table? The proportions of a tranny may be closer to your (gorgeous!) stone, but, to me, it seems that the facet pattern is visually more similar to an OEC. Just a thought...

I will also have to learn your secrets for how to find hidden old cuts in the BN inventory.... :roll

Excited to follow along!

@elliefire99 “Bog Woman and the Eagles” sound like an amazing band name!!

I did toy with OECs. I am fortunate to have a five stone with 4.1mm classic OECs and so I know exactly what that combo would look like and the difference in light play just didn’t do it for me. I think also a combo like that would not be “mind clean” for me, similar to how MRB sides would not be, either. This new small transitional handles light much closer to the way George does, compared to the OECs, so I am either going to find another transitional or go in another direction. I’m going to give the search a good few months. I have found probable 6-8 stones already that could work, just color or clarity or size was not right, but with patience, I think it will be possible to find what I need.

New here too, but I can't help thinking your magnificent stone dressed up as a CVB "witch bog woman" is going to go straight to the "iconic pieces" thread. Can't wait to follow along!

One can dream, I guess! Lol. I’ve never had a setting made before. I think this will be a fun adventure.

Hey DD! Any more updates? have you decided to work with Caysie? I bet she'll come up with something so uniquely "you" for sure. Can't wait to see your development. I'm still kind of a plain jane with a little flair that hasn't changed in 2 decades... I'm always fascinated watching others.

Hey lady! Some diamond hunt updates on the previous page! I am planning to work with Caysie at this point, and will reach out soon, but I suppose nothing is final until we talk! But I love her designs. As you know I have wanted a three stone since the start, but I have always found the settings so boring, I could never pull the trigger. CVB is the first designer who has ever inspired me in this regard, so it seems like a sign.

And your style is anything but plain Jane I have always thought your pieces had a clear, modern aesthetic that is very unique and interesting!

 

[Rfisher]

I think they look great together.
I know you mentioned table % diff between the two, and it's not distracting at all IMO.
What about crown height between the two?

 

[OboeGal]

@dreamer_dachsie, I love the little guy - he looks to me like he would work! I agree that even in the small sizes, where it's difficult to see the actual facet pattern, there is still a real difference in the light play that makes them still worthwhile. Not to thread-jack, but do you have any tips for how you found these older cuts on Blue Nile - particular search parameters, etc.? I've had no such luck, and I'm looking for some little transitionals myself.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I think they look great together.
I know you mentioned table % diff between the two, and it's not distracting at all IMO.
What about crown height between the two?

I agree about the table. The crown is a bit shallower but it’s also not distracting to me. The new stone isn’t a pancake kind of transitional. I’ll try to post a profile picture tomorrow, and I’ll try to get a more “real life perspective” kind of shot, too.

I do have a nagging feeling that an MRB would “perform” better, but I recall back when I sent George for an aborted mission to EGL they wanted to grade her as a Good”” cut MRB too! And of course I am more than happy with her optical performance.

(This is all making me think I should take the opportunity to send George to GIA when she’s loose!)

Honestly, the color is my bigger concern bc I can’t compare the stones loose... (I want Caysie to unset the diamond bc my insurance won’t cover a loose diamond and I want it done right bc I want to sell the setting.) But once set, esp in yellow gold, I don’t think it will be noticeable.

Not to thread-jack, but do you have any tips for how you found these older cuts on Blue Nile - particular search parameters, etc.? I've had no such luck, and I'm looking for some little transitionals myself.

Keep asking questions like that and you’ll wind up in the bog! Witches love oboe music.

 

[D&T]

aww you are kind DD.. thank you wow, your comment fits me to a "T" what a great description of my style..ha!
I see you have a little guy in hand, looks like it definitely works with your big mama diamond and you have better eyes than all of us since you get to play with it in hand. You take some amazing pictures!

I know I owe you a family shot! I actually have one last 3 stone project in the works with AVCs myself, and will post the family pictures once I have that in hand in the next few weeks

 

[tyty333]

Oh my gosh, that little Georgie is so cute along side of big George! Now you need a little Georgette for the other side!

 

[Dreamer_D]

 

[junebug17]

@dreamer_dachsie, I think baby George matches well wih Big George, great find! And you do an amazing job taking pictures of your stones, wonderful photography

 

[missy]

@dreamer_dachsie I am impressed. Baby George looks perfectly at home with Big George. Gorgeous georges all around. Nicely done.

 

[AV_]

I kept noticing these rounds with a harlequin pattern for ages, & you are the only other one to do so here!

Happy to have 'met'!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

@diamondseeker2006 I'm glad you found my thread! And a wedding in the family! Where has the time gone? It must be such an exciting time.

And thank you for your endorsement of Caysie. It carries a lot of weight with me, for sure! I have read all the threads and seen her work, and I think the fit will be good. I have not contacted her yet, I sort of want to have my diamonds first, but I will get in touch soon. I will drop your name if that's ok!

And I must say, you have collected just a... STUNNING collection of jewels in the last few years Honestly, just a sublime collection. I hope you are wearing them all and loving them.

And I hear you about feeling self conscious about sporting a three stone. If you recall, back in 2012 I did find an old cut three stone with a 7mm center and 5.8mm sides, and I felt very self-conscious wearing it. I am thinking that now as an older woman with much bigger fingers, and with smaller side stones, I will be okay with it And if not, I will just wear it anyway My lifestyle is also somewhat casual, but I do tend to wear dresses and big bold patterns, and as mentioned above, I am hoping to up my style game with bigger, bolder choices going forward, so I think I can pull it off. But most importantly, I am a big woman and big women need big jewels!

Of course, by all means tell Caysie we are old friends! I will be excited to follow your project! Thanks for the sweet comments about my pieces! I honestly do not wear any of them often...yes, crazy! I think I just like having a project! My last one is one of my very favorites, and I will get around to posting it before long, hopefully! Taking good pics is NOT my strong point!

Oh, I think you'll be fine with George in a three stone ring! I am quite sure I will be in a total dilemma and want to try, too! But I will have the same problem with getting matching sides. I'd almost have to have custom cut side stones to work with the AVR, and I don't relish the cost of that idea! But we shall see! (And yes, of course I remember that three stone ring from the past!)

 

[Dreamer_D]

So after spending a couple of days playing with this contender side stone in different lighting environments, I have decided that I will return it.

Although its patterning is a decent match for George in macro photography -- and I do like the "harlequin" patterning in photos, as @AV_ called it , real life observation is far more important, obviously, since that is how I will relate to the diamond! And in real life, this diamond doesn't work for a couple reasons.

First, I think the optics are not good enough. Although it has a lot of white light return, it does not have much scintillation. So it is not very lively, and I would like my side diamonds to be more active so they can keep up with George.

And second, it is too white! My main diamond does not have a lab report and various people have claimed its color as anything between a G and an L. J-K seems to be the most common refrain. But anyway, I can see a noticeable difference between George and this diamond in some lighting, and I don't want that.

Soooo... my next step is to explore whether MRBs with the right flavour of cut can work for me. I spent about 6 hours in the past few days combing through the inventory at James Allen looking for K-L color diamonds that fit a very strict set of cut parameters, and I have ordered a pair that I think will work well with George! I'll tell you about them later today. Right now I have to run off and teach a class!

 

[Rfisher]

I admire your patience and keenness to stick to your original guidelines.

Edit
Not original guidelines, but what will be pleasing to your eye long term!

 

[Dreamer_D]

I admire your patience and keenness to stick to your original guidelines.

Edit
Not original guidelines, but what will be pleasing to your eye long term!

I am sort of sticking to my original "guidelines" in the sense that I had always planned to 1) reach out to vendors; 2) look on all the usual second hand sites; 3) examine this Blue Nile possibility; and assuming those options did not pan out -- none have so far -- 4) explore the possibility of finding MRBs that are acceptable to me. So that's where I am at now!

 

[Dreamer_D]

So I am exploring whether I can find MRBs that are acceptable to my eyes. I took some time to read up on GIA's parameters for their newer "circular brilliant" category.



So using these parameters as a starting point, I searched K/L, VS2/SI1 diamonds on James Allen for a pair of stones that met the following criteria:

1. GIA XXX and great looking photos/videos- no more messing around with sub-par optics.
2. Table size less than 55% - the lower end of the range for MRBs
3. Lower girdle facets of 75% on the lab report- again, the lower end of the range for MRBs. Because this number is rounded to the nearest 5% on the report, even among diamonds with this parameter, I looked for the fattest arrows I could find.
4. Star facets 50% or lower.

I found two diamonds that were eye clean and met these criteria! And I am pretty pleased with them.


For comparison, George has a table that appears to be only slightly smaller and LGFs that appear to be only slightly shorter.


So I should have them by Thursday! I am keeping the Blue Nile diamond until then so I can compare and be sure my perception of its optics is valid, and so I can compare the color differences.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Well my two little cuties arrived from James Allen! They are K/SI1 and L/VS2 and are really well matched to one another and to George in terms of color. So check! on that front. This was probably my number one concern when choosing sides. I cannot tolerate color differences in a suite of diamonds I am very color sensitive!

And the light play is exactly what I hoped. The fire off these little dudes is intense! Gotta love the small table + high crown combination I think in terms of overall liveliness and light play, these are a much better match than the small J color transitional I returned to Blue Nile. They are also a better compliment to George's optics than the small OECs I used to own, which were chunkier but less "flashy" and had slower scintillation. George is a very lively diamond and needs companions that are equally active.

Even though the proportions are nearly identical to George -- save LGFs that are a teensy bit longer (~5-10% longer I guess) -- the patterning in these little guys *is* more splintery than George. Part of that is the different proportions, but I think most of the difference is explained by the size. Facets can only get so big on a 4mm diamond! But just as I said that "little George" on the previous page was in the same cut "family" as George, so too are these little cutie MRBs. Just a different branch in the tree! The table sizes and crown heights are also nearly identical, which I do like.

Ideally, I would love to find a small old cut diamond with a nearly identical facet pattern to George so I could compare. But I have exhausted my avenues on that front. I have not found any vendors that have what I want in hand and all have expressed fairly strong reservations about the likelihood of finding small old cuts in this make (nor have any seemed very keen to take on the task of searching. I don't blame them). My color sensitivity and, frankly, lack of interest in "the hunt" make ebay a dead end too.

To my naked eyes, I am satisfied with the combination of George with this flavour of MRB. I'm going to take some photos when I get a chance to see how it looks in macro mode

 

[yennyfire]

Can’t wait to see the photos of the three together Yssie! Knowing your proclivity for perfection, I’ll bet they are stunning together!!

 

[junebug17]

Looking forward to pics @dreamer_dachsie. It's great that you are pleased with the color and the tables and depth are the same size. Sounds like they have a lot going for them!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Can’t wait to see the photos of the three together Yssie! Knowing your proclivity for perfection, I’ll bet they are stunning together!!

I do love me some Yssie, and I wish I was as young and beautiful as she is again! But when you start getting confuzzled like that it's time for bed @yennyfire!

They do look pretty together. It's not "perfect", but since I don't think it will be possible to find old cuts of this make that can live up to Georgie's optics (not to mention color and size requirements), I think I am ok with this compromise I'll enjoy playing with them while I sit with this decision. I admit, I get the warm and fuzzies just seeing them like this!

1.89ct K/L with .30ct L and .31ct K

(Sorry the diamonds are dirty! It's hard to handle them all in one shot!)



And a little bit more real life perspective showing lovely dispersion in the last moments of daylight!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Looking forward to pics @dreamer_dachsie. It's great that you are pleased with the color and the tables and depth are the same size. Sounds like they have a lot going for them!

I think the optics are a nice match too, with nice fire and active scintillation. The only way they don't match is the precise facet patterning, which frankly, I can't really see much of in the little guys in real life anyway!

 

[junebug17]

Wow! I think they match up very well with George! I agree with you, it's going to be so difficult to find the exact facet pattern, and the difference really isn't noticable because of the smaller size. I love them together.

 

[Laila619]

LOVE! I think they look terrific.

 

[missy]

I do love me some Yssie, and I wish I was as young and beautiful as she is again! But when you start getting confuzzled like that it's time for bed @yennyfire!

They do look pretty together. It's not "perfect", but since I don't think it will be possible to find old cuts of this make that can live up to Georgie's optics (not to mention color and size requirements), I think I am ok with this compromise I'll enjoy playing with them while I sit with this decision. I admit, I get the warm and fuzzies just seeing them like this!

1.89ct K/L with .30ct L and .31ct K

(Sorry the diamonds are dirty! It's hard to handle them all in one shot!)



And a little bit more real life perspective showing lovely dispersion in the last moments of daylight!

They look beautiful together. Perfection is the enemy of good enough and I agree if you love the combo even though it isn't "perfect" maybe it is the perfect combo for you. What you cannot see doesn't matter and FWIW I think they look together.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Honestly, finding two really well matched old cuts that also match George in cut and color would be next to impossible! I think these look good and the smaller size works since the facet pattern is smaller!

 

[dtnyc]

I am late to the welcome back party- but welcome back! This is an exciting project!

Something to think about is that if you have the side stones set differently than George, or set on an angle it can offset any differences.

I didn't have any choice in the stones in my e-ring, but when I had the whole thing finally reset, I had the side stones sort of sunk into the setting to downplay the fact that they are MRBs and probably I-J in color and have much less color than my main stone (transitional L.) In some pics the color difference is very apparent, but in others not so much and the difference is not really noticeable at all anymore in person, when before it was almost jarring.

Your antique setting was definitely an inspiration for my ring- (might seem like it wasn't w/ the side stones, etc) but I looked at so many pronged bezel settings and knew that was how I wanted my center stone and your setting is such a gorgeous example of it!

 

[yennyfire]

I do love me some Yssie, and I wish I was as young and beautiful as she is again! But when you start getting confuzzled like that it's time for bed @yennyfire!

They do look pretty together. It's not "perfect", but since I don't think it will be possible to find old cuts of this make that can live up to Georgie's optics (not to mention color and size requirements), I think I am ok with this compromise I'll enjoy playing with them while I sit with this decision. I admit, I get the warm and fuzzies just seeing them like this!

1.89ct K/L with .30ct L and .31ct K

(Sorry the diamonds are dirty! It's hard to handle them all in one shot!)



And a little bit more real life perspective showing lovely dispersion in the last moments of daylight!

Ugh! Pardon me @dreamer_dachsie. Clearly, I shouldn’t post after a couple of glasses of wine! I love the look of those stones together! I think they are keepers!

 

[Dreamer_D]

@yennyfire That is even better! From now on, you may ONLY post after a few glasses of wine! I will do the same and we will all have a grand old time!

 

[MissGotRocks]

I think you may really be on to something with those side stones. They are lively and the ends of the three stone will not drop off in performance due to poor faceting. Good job - can't wait to see how you plan to set this ring!