Engagement Ring Help - 3ct Cushion

[London1996CFC]

Hi all,

I am in the process of finding an engagement ring (natural) and feel a little lost. I have no idea what good value looks like and what I should be paying.

I would like to find a fine quality 3-3.5ct cushion cut (elongated if budget allows) with trapezoid's on either side. I am speaking to two jewelers in London and one in Dubai. They are both friends of friends and so I am being told that the prices are very competitive but I can't really comment on that in a vacuum.

Options I have so far... this includes the setting and side stones apparently.. GIA certs for all of them.

1. 3.0ct J / SI1 - £24.3K incl. UK VAT (London) - square
2. 3.5ct J / VS2 - £23K incl. UAE VAT (Dubai) - square
3. 3.0ct J / VS2 - 23K incl. UAE VAT (Dubai) - elongated with ~1.2 L/w

Questions I have...
* Am I getting value for money? Understand there is some nuance around the quality and size of trapezoids. Apparently they will match the stone in mm and natural
* Thoughts on whether elongated looks nicer than square for this style? The GF has softly indicated she prefers it... It does seem like it comes at a material premium to the square! If anyone has any nice pictures / examples of this style that would be amazing
* Is J fine? I am trying to straddle the line between quality and size, the latter I know is important to the GF
* Any other advice or tips would be so welcome

I don't want to take up folks' time with any silly questions I have... I'd be very happy to send someone a gift voucher for a nice bottle of champagne if they would be so kind to help me through the next few weeks

Best wishes

 

[newtojewels]

First thing's first, there are three major kinds of faceting for cushion shaped diamonds. Do you know if your GF has a preference? Here's a video. All faceting styles come in both square and elongated:

One reason I ask is that the "crushed ice"/"modified brilliant" cushions in general cost less than the "brilliant" and "antique"/"old mine" cushions so you aren't comparing apples to apples if you aren't within the same family. I expect that the ones you're considering are all crushed ice which is the most common and generally the least expensive kind.

Additionally, fancy shapes like cushions can't be judged by the stats, we would need to see photos/videos and ideally an ASET image. Also, carat size doesn't necessarily translate to face-up size in cushions and you haven't given any information on inclusion types, fluorescence, etc., that can also impact appearance and pricing.

Lastly, J colors are kind of a tricky spot (and I have a 3.1 carat J/VS1 antique cushion and had to grapple a bit with the color so I feel reasonably qualified to comment on this). I see the warmth in my diamond, especially in artificial lighting, but was willing to make that compromise for the cut quality and rarity in my budget. Crushed ice cushions generally show more warmth than the other cushion kinds, so I expect most people would see one as a warm white/ivory in some lighting conditions. Are you trying to get this diamond to 'pass' as something colorless? Because then you would probably need to go higher in color. Do you just want it to not look yellow? Because a J won't look yellow so is probably fine, especially if the sides are color-matched. "Fine" means different things to different people and it would be good if your GF could see some in person in different lighting. My partner literally can't see the warmth in my diamond so I can't trust him on this one.

 

[TXwidow]

I took a look at what Brian Gavin offers; it is NOT in his stock, this is a 'virtual stone'. Higher price, better clarity and color: https://www.briangavindiamonds.com/...3-030-h-vs2-virtual-selection-cushion-diamond just to give you an idea of comparison.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Hi all,

I am in the process of finding an engagement ring (natural) and feel a little lost. I have no idea what good value looks like and what I should be paying.

I would like to find a fine quality 3-3.5ct cushion cut (elongated if budget allows) with trapezoid's on either side. I am speaking to two jewelers in London and one in Dubai. They are both friends of friends and so I am being told that the prices are very competitive but I can't really comment on that in a vacuum.

Options I have so far... this includes the setting and side stones apparently.. GIA certs for all of them.

1. 3.0ct J / SI1 - £24.3K incl. UK VAT (London) - square
2. 3.5ct J / VS2 - £23K incl. UAE VAT (Dubai) - square
3. 3.0ct J / VS2 - 23K incl. UAE VAT (Dubai) - elongated with ~1.2 L/w

Questions I have...
* Am I getting value for money? Understand there is some nuance around the quality and size of trapezoids. Apparently they will match the stone in mm and natural
* Thoughts on whether elongated looks nicer than square for this style? The GF has softly indicated she prefers it... It does seem like it comes at a material premium to the square! If anyone has any nice pictures / examples of this style that would be amazing
* Is J fine? I am trying to straddle the line between quality and size, the latter I know is important to the GF
* Any other advice or tips would be so welcome

I don't want to take up folks' time with any silly questions I have... I'd be very happy to send someone a gift voucher for a nice bottle of champagne if they would be so kind to help me through the next few weeks

Best wishes

"Fine Quality" is defined around here as superb cut quality. Without some supporting evidence we really can not advise you more than others already have.