Help!? RH concave cushion vs mixed brilliant cushion

[Gempassion]

I''m still on the search for a pink sapphire cushion. And, I''m trying to decide between one of Richard Homer''s concave cushion shapes or a mixed brilliant cushion from the NSC. Richard has been extremely patient and kind in helping me choose a pink sapphire from his inventory (I like them all, but I''m not sure how a concave brilliant will look in an antique-like setting). And, I''ve never seen a concave cut in person but on photos they seem too perfect or modern looking for an antique-like setting. Any advice on the quality of the NSC gem and/or how Richard''s work would look in an antique setting? Livia too, from the NSC, was kind enough to send me some pictures of the cushion in various lighting conditions. Here''s a daylight shot. Should I be worried about the dark areas in the image?

Thanks for the help...

 

[SB621]

just my .02 but I wouldn''t buy from NSC- I just think they are expensive for their product. Normally I would completely agree to go with Richard as i think his concave cutting is out of this world- however I do understand your concern with how it would look in a specific setting. For me i would buy from Richard and see it in person- he has an excellent return policy so if it doesn''t work just return it.

 

[Gempassion]

I don''t really understand why the NSC has a bad reputation on pricescope... Is it because you pay too much for a native cut rather than a precision gem? I thought that the NSC prices have to do with the fact that the sapphires are unheated?? Is that correct? I was a little disappointed in their photography (compared to wildfish, which seem very, very accurate) but Livia did sent me other photographs, which was nice of her.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated...

 

[chrono]

You can do a search here to read about NSC’s much debated customer service, photography and inventory. You can also look around and see that their pricing tends to be higher for similar sized, similar colour and similar treated/heated native cut sapphires from elsewhere. I do agree that a modern concave facet design might look out of place in an antique-like setting though. You mentioned that NSC provided other pictures; please post those as it is helpful to see other views of the sapphire (side view, upside down, etc).

 

[Gempassion]

Thanks Chrono, I did a search on the NSC and the main complaint is about pricing discrepancies, palladium, and photography. All the pictures I have a top views:

Here''s the fluorescent lighting...

 

[Gempassion]

And, incandescent light

 

[Gempassion]

Some of the specifications are:

1.07ct
vivid
6.65 x 5.49 x 3.68 mm
mixed brilliant cushion
clarity IF-VVS1
ceylon
no enhancement
depth 67%
cutlet off center 1.90%
L/W ratio 1.21

 

[LD]

If you don''t like the darker areas in the daylight picture then I would avoid this sapphire. In daylight some sapphires will darken "or black out". Those stones usually perform better in incandescent lighting. So, if you want a sapphire to either perform consistently well in all lighting or look good in daylight I''d shy away from this one.

I''ll also echo Chrono''s words. NSC are quite expensive and 9/10 times you can get something very very similar elsewhere for less. I don''t think the debate has ever been about native -v- precision cutting with NSC, as many of us coloured stoners don''t mind native cuts. The issue is price and most recently their deceptive photography (not to mention their CEO''s posts on here that did little to enhance NSC''s reputation).

I''m not a fan of concave cutting so I understand your reticence. Have you looked at www.simplysapphires.com?

 

[Gempassion]

Thanks LD,

No, I haven''t had a look at simply sapphires... Thank you for that bit of information re: the dark spots (I''m not an expert but I was wondering how those spots perform in different lighting conditions). I''m relying fairly heavily on pricescope to help me select an excellent quality cushion shape stone.

I will have a look at that site.

If anyone has any other advice, please let me know.
Thanks,