I got my EightStar today!!!

[quaeritur]

Wooohooooo!!! And I LOVE it! This is my (slightly early) anniversary gift from my sweetie. It was a custom job -recut by EightStar- with the wonderful intercession of Wink Jones. I can''t say enough good things about this dream team!

OK... here are the specs:
.48 ct D SI1 recut from a .59
34.7 crown
40.8 pavilion
56% table
60.5% total depth
5.06X5.09X3.07
and of course... strong blue fluorescence!!! Here it is in filtered sunlight

 

[MelanieC]

Congratulations on your early anniversary present. That stone looks beatiful and the numbers are fabulous!! How are you going to set it?

 

[quaeritur]

Thanks Melanie! It's going to become a bezel-set solitaire pendant in white gold. Very simple, and hopefully with interchangeable chains (I like switching styles/lengths).

 

[quaeritur]

Here's what EightStar cutters can do... amazing! The strange curved black line on the before photo is from where they'd just started cutting before I asked for the picture to be taken. And the little white dot right in the middle is the inclusion -I love it, because it's perfectly aligned with the culet (and invisible without magnification).

 

[Jennifer5973]

Whoa--cool!!!!

Congrats!

Maybe I should recut my original ering stone...that is some result!

PS Cool images too! good idea!

 

[cflutist]

Wow, that's absolutely beautiful.

I love "D" colorless diamonds!!!

 

[Gale]

WOW Q! What a difference in the IS images. What are you going to do with this beautiful stone?

 

[Rhino]

That is just awesome Q. I am so happy for you!!! Wink is a true gentleman and Richard is very gracious to accept stones for recutting. What a difference huh?

All the best,

 

[Lynn B]

OH Q!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would so LOVE to see that beauty in person! I am soooooo enthralled by 8*'s! It is just GORGEOUS! And what a great idea for a pendent with interchangable chains! Leave it to you, girlfriend!

Lynn

 

[Dancing Fire]

Q,

i told you, you will love those big flashs from an 8*. did you get an ex/ex out of this stone ?,i understand not all 8* hit's that mark. is the girdle med-stk ? what a beautiful stone.

congrats.

 

[Rank Amateur]

Great before and after pic. What a mess it was. It looked like a nice stone slapped up side the head. It took recut counseling to set it straight.



Please PM me with the recut $$. I promise not to tell a soul.

 

[WinkHPD]

LOL! I thought I would find a post or two here when I got the email from your loving husband this morning telling me that he could not hold back from giving you the stone as soon as it arrived!

It was a pleasure working with you on this project. As beautiful as your stone was when we found it, it is so much more beautiful now. There really is nothing like taking "good enough" and turning it into "the best there is" to make your day!

Wink

 

[noobie]

Wow Q, that's going to be one amazing pendant! Love to see it when finished. Speaking of which, did you ever post pics of your BN diamond ring?

 

[WinkHPD]

----------------
On 8/24/2004 5:56:18 PM Rank Amateur wrote:

Great before and after pic. What a mess it was. It looked like a nice stone slapped up side the head. It took recut counseling to set it straight.



Please PM me with the recut $$. I promise not to tell a soul.

----------------

We had EightStar find us the stone and they gave us an estimate on what the stone would weight and what it would cost after cutting. They were wrong, the stone finished at .02cts above the promised weight, but the price did not change. I think this probably was less expensive for Quaeritur than if she had bought the stone and then paid to have it recut. I know it was cheaper than buying a stone for recut and then finding out that the stone was not a good candidate. I did that to myself once, bought a stone that I though would recut well, and then found out it would not. Yech! Of course most of the time the stones I buy work just fine, but it is rarely as inexpensive as when EightStar finds them. They know exactly what they need for minimum weight loss.

Wink

 

[quaeritur]

Thanks everyone for the kind words! I can't wait till it gets dark to see how it looks with lower lighting too

.

Jennifer - I really love the idea of a re-cut. I think it's kind of romantic that it was "made for me" in a way

cflutist - i bet you could afford a 0.48 ct D color stone!

I sure can't afford a 3 ct any color anything

<--green with envy

Thanks Gale! It'll become a pendant, and soon, I hope. Of course, I couldn't want a stock setting, I had to make it complicated too

Jonathan - one gentleman will recognize another. I put you both in that league of extraordinary gentlemen!

Lynn - come on over! I'll show you mine if you show me yours

vtigger - and how right you were

Yep, this is one gorgeous stone, and did make the ex/ex!!! And you called it on the girdle. The only thing I didn't realize about EightStars is that the girdle is actually not polished. I don't mind it, just find it interesting.

Rank Amateur - I like your description

. It actually performed rather well for how that "before" IS image looked, but I don't see any room for improvement now! As for the recut, I suspect Wink can give you a better idea of cost... I don't know all the final details, since my husband didn't share all the info with me. I also believe it varies depending on the size of the stone to be recut.

Wink - thanks again, you've been a joy to work with and I hope to have the opportunity to do so again in the future! Oh, and I see you just posted more details about this experience -thanks also for saving me the typing!

noobie - thanks! I can't wait to be able to wear it (though I must confess I love playing with loose diamonds... there's something so liquid about them). As for the ring, I hadn't posted pics yet, I was still recovering from being blinded by Lynn and Jennifer's new beauties!!! Maybe I'll get some up this evening in SMTR...

 

[quaeritur]

Another great thing to add to Wink's post is that EightStar had originally found another stone for me with medium blue fluor. When they went to cut it, they found that one feather was likely to break the surface at the girdle after the recut. They immediately contacted Wink to tell him that they would not use that stone, and then continued searching until this one came up. I was impressed that they didn't simply cut it and not tell me about it, as once they start recutting I've agreed to the purchase. That speaks of high standards in my book. And also classy is the fact that they did not increase the price when the new stone recut slightly larger than the quote I had for the first one.

In the end, while I was originally disappointed that the first stone wouldn't work, it's really all turned out for the best. I'm thrilled with how BLUE this stone is in sunlight here at 5000 feet!

So again, thanks to Wink and to Dana and Richard at EightStar. It's been a great experience!

 

[reena]

wow Q--congrats! you've got a nice hubby!

 

[Patty]

Wow, it's beautiful, quaeritur!

 

[motcs]

Does anyone know if there is a price difference between having 8* pick a stone and then recut it versus buying an 8* diamond of similar characteristics directly?

 

[Dancing Fire]

Q
now that you're a 8* owner, you're sworn to live in a secret society.(like the mafia) so secret you can't even talk to yourself about it. now for your next project, you must find a FIC.

 

[quaeritur]

You got it, vtigger! Yeah, coz it wasn't hard enough finding a D-E .79 eye clean SI1 AGS0 GIAXX HCA XXXVG 1A cut with blue fluor for a right hand ring!!!

But, now that I'm officially penniless from these indulgences, I have lots and lots of time to search for the FIC

.

Let's see... a D-E SI1-reasonably clean I1, 35.6 degree crown, 40.5 pavilion, in... hmmmm... something around a 60 pointer with medium-strong blue fluor, to be set in a Ritani Endless Love setting. How's that?!

Actually, before that quest begins, I've decided to join the trend and acquire some smallish stud earrings. D-F, .64-.66ctw ideal cut H&As with some degree of blue fluor... yeah, ok (I've looked, and they ain't out there! Well, ok, one is

).

 

[WinkHPD]

----------------
On 8/24/2004 9:58:23 PM quaeritur wrote:

Actually, before that quest begins, I've decided to join the trend and acquire some smallish stud earrings. D-F, .64-.66ctw ideal cut H&As with some degree of blue fluor... yeah, ok (I've looked, and they ain't out there! Well, ok, one is

).----------------

You must be lookin for love in all the wrong places...

Okay, so I can't sing all that well...

 

[noobie]

----------------
On 8/24/2004 11:05:35 PM Wink wrote:






You must be lookin for love in all the wrong places...

Okay, so I can't sing all that well...

----------------

Actually, I think she found it today

. But it's OK to look for more!

 

[sevens one]

Oh Q, you lucky gal you.

 

[WinkHPD]

----------------
On 8/24/2004 8:32:28 PM quaeritur wrote:

Another great thing to add to Wink's post is that EightStar had originally found another stone for me with medium blue fluor. When they went to cut it, they found that one feather was likely to break the surface at the girdle after the recut. They immediately contacted Wink to tell him that they would not use that stone, and then continued searching until this one came up. I was impressed that they didn't simply cut it and not tell me about it, as once they start recutting I've agreed to the purchase. That speaks of high standards in my book. And also classy is the fact that they did not increase the price when the new stone recut slightly larger than the quote I had for the first one.

In the end, while I was originally disappointed that the first stone wouldn't work, it's really all turned out for the best. I'm thrilled with how BLUE this stone is in sunlight here at 5000 feet!

So again, thanks to Wink and to Dana and Richard at EightStar. It's been a great experience!

----------------

Richard rejects stones that would make other cutters jump for joy. He must be a very frustrating man to work for, but he has absolute regard for his stones and for their reputation. There is no way he would even have considered letting you keep that stone once he saw it would not be up to his standards. If you had gotten down on your knees and begged to keep it he would not have let you.

I am intensely blessed to work in an industry filled with extraordinary men and women, and I am honored to count Richard among my many wonderful friends in this business. I am pleased for you that you got a chance to see first hand the kind of personal dedication that makes this such an incredible way to enjoy making a living.

Wink

 

[KBerly]

wow, what a difference! can't wait to see the finished pendant

 

[quaeritur]

Thanks Reena, Patty, Nan and Kim! It's definitely a flashy lil' stone

And my husband is the best of the best -he's the real blessing in my life

. The diamonds are just some really nice icing on the cake!

 

[sevens one]

Did you post about the pendant setting?
Hmmmm, whatcha got planned??

 

[quaeritur]

Hey Nan- it's up a little ways in this thread. White gold, full bezel are the basics... the proportion on the bezel similar to the Elsa Peretti diamonds by the yard solitaire pendant at Tiffany & Co. But the bezel would run the full depth of the stone, and the chain would run freely through it. I want the bezel to be as minimal as possible, but accommodate the option of two different types of chain -one, a fine snake chain with extra length so it can be worn at 15.5, 16, or 16.5 inches, the other a stainless steel cable for more casual wear.

Dunno if it can be done, but I'm hanging my hopes on Wink!

 

[WinkHPD]

Got any pictures for me to work from, I have designers who can do almost anything!


Wink