Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

Is this 1.51ct I SI2 Cushion a great cut or not?

K

katealt

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 16, 2005
Messages
66
I hope some cushion cut experts will give me some advice. I'm considering going with a cushion vs. round and want a very good cut for lots of fire but can't afford the super duper cushions like GOG sells. So going by 'ideal' cut guidelines I found for cushions this one fit the bill but may differ from other cushion guidelines I'm sure. Any feedback on the cut would be much appreciated. The inclusions are pretty much off the table and look like white feathers which I'm thinking would be ok but thoughts on them would help as well. I want a bigger stone for my money and this one is within budget.

I hope the link works for the GIA cert:

http://www.b2cjewels.com/Certificate.aspx?StockNo=2019560

cushion.jpg
 
Have you seen it - the inclusions could be a negative.
Can you post an ASET?
There are no experts who would buy based on proportions only, and no dfined ideal cut cushions.
 
Hi Garry. I am so glad you chimed in because I used your HCA and advice in buying my round brilliant some years ago (AGS 000 and CHA 1.1 score- great fire). With cushions it is so daunting without such a tool and it seems like there are so many duds to avoid. This is one of the reasons why I went for a RB the first time around and this time I'm still undecided. One temptation is to go with a light yellow cushion with higher clarity, like this M VS1 (link below) and then also go with a nicer whiter excellent cut round (using HCA of course ;) ) instead of just one diamond.

I am just doing the old pricecope diamond search and haven't noticed ASET results ... it seems the vendors with the bells and whistles like this charge so much more for the stone that it feels like it isn't worth the stone with such big price differences, if you know what I mean. I don't mind doing all the legwork of sifting through all the countless diamonds but I guess when dealing with cuhions these extra tools become more important... or is it all important?!

This diamond's certificate isn't online so I've requested it but when I looked it up on GIA it was only a one page simple report with the info below, no chart or anything- it there any more useful info on the certificate like measuements/angles that would help in figuring out if it is a great cut?

Diamond Information:
Item Number: KDNYC/5638
Report: GIA
Shape: Cushion
Carat: 1.55
Color: M
Clarity: VS1
Regular Price: $2,943
Wire Transfer Price: $2,885
Ratio: 1.15
Diamond Proportions:
Measurements: 7.52x6.56x4.18
Depth Percentage: 63.70
Table Percentage: 57.00
Girdle: Thin to Very Thick
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Good
Fluorescence:
Culet: None
Certificate #: 1102999041
 
most cushions face up 1 to 3 grades lower in color - it could be like a not quite yellow fancy?
 
Yes, nice and warm- I checked out Diamonds by Lauren's color chart to see the M in a fancy shape but of course it is hard to really know from a photo. But I love the warm color flashes and even love brown diamonds which I would love to get my hands on if I could find a nice cushion at a fair price... but only as that bonus second ring and not as the 'main event' ring! I love white diamonds, too, but I think that it is such a socially constructed thing to have a white diamond- which my husband prefers. I am going with an antique style halo setting no matter what and I think the warmer colors look great in similar settings.

http://diamondsbylauren.com/DBL_White_diamond_grading.shtml

Here is a DBL M cushion in a halo that was sold to see what this one may look like:
 
katealt said:
Yes, nice and warm- I checked out Diamonds by Lauren's color chart to see the M in a fancy shape but of course it is hard to really know from a photo. But I love the warm color flashes and even love brown diamonds which I would love to get my hands on if I could find a nice cushion at a fair price... but only as that bonus second ring and not as the 'main event' ring! I love white diamonds, too, but I think that it is such a socially constructed thing to have a white diamond- which my husband prefers. I am going with an antique style halo setting no matter what and I think the warmer colors look great in similar settings.

http://diamondsbylauren.com/DBL_White_diamond_grading.shtml

Here is a DBL M cushion in a halo that was sold to see what this one may look like:
Click to expand...

Katealt my point is that cushions can show very different colours.
Take the stone from DBL - parts will look like the one I posted on the top left. Other parts will look like the very bright cushion on the right or the round below.

I made each model with the same 9.09ct wt and exact same colored material (about M-N when graded through the side).

So you need to know what face up color - not the color the way the labs grade it.

crushed vs bright cushion colorsame.jpg
 
Holy Smokes! That is a huge difference in color, isn't it? So are you saying it is the cut that effects the color so much because of the way the light is returned through the diamond? So how would I be able to judge the color with GIA certs- there is no way, is there? Most vendors just don't have photos and then there is the trouble with photos being true to life (I just posted a thread asking which vendors had photos and sparked a discussion on that point). So what info do you need to run these pictures? What tool is that - the diamond calculator up in the tools drop down menu that I looked at and wished I had but didn't even 'get it', I imagine...?

Is it possible to get an ASET for diamonds from PS vendors (the ones that are in the PS loose diamond search)? :?:
 
katealt said:
Holy Smokes! That is a huge difference in color, isn't it? So are you saying it is the cut that effects the color so much because of the way the light is returned through the diamond? So how would I be able to judge the color with GIA certs- there is no way, is there? Most vendors just don't have photos and then there is the trouble with photos being true to life (I just posted a thread asking which vendors had photos and sparked a discussion on that point). So what info do you need to run these pictures? What tool is that - the diamond calculator up in the tools drop down menu that I looked at and wished I had but didn't even 'get it', I imagine...?

Is it possible to get an ASET for diamonds from PS vendors (the ones that are in the PS loose diamond search)? :?:
Click to expand...

By George, you've got it ;))
From the ASET's we can predict the effect on color.
One way for photo's to work is ask that a colorless diamond is sitting beside the colored one.
Its a problem!
 
Garry,thanks so much for your time and input. It is much appreciated! :))

I have a couple of questions, though. What tool are you using and what info do you need? I saw that EGL certed diamonds had info on pavillion and crown angles/% so I wondered if that is helpful as it is with the HCA and RB. I wish you could invent a HCA for cushions!! :D

As a consumer shopping online for a cushion cut diamond, how can I do what you did with these photo images or is that not possible? :confused:
 
katealt said:
Garry,thanks so much for your time and input. It is much appreciated! :))

I have a couple of questions, though. What tool are you using and what info do you need? I saw that EGL certed diamonds had info on pavillion and crown angles/% so I wondered if that is helpful as it is with the HCA and RB. I wish you could invent a HCA for cushions!! :D

As a consumer shopping online for a cushion cut diamond, how can I do what you did with these photo images or is that not possible? :confused:
Click to expand...

KateAlt,

It appears you value size over (cut, color and clarity).

As a result I would suggest you first shop locally and view many cushions in person to educate your eyes.
I think this diamond is really cheap for its 4Cs if that is the kind of thing you are looking for it would be best to view choices in person to decide on which tradeoffs work best for you.

As for the diamond you posted, most of the diamonds that have this facet structure would have an appearance similar to the bottom right hand corner cushion in this video.

http://www.vimeo.com/15185665

Cushion Modified Brilliants (like the one in your link) are most often cheaper than Cushion Brilliants as more weight is saved in their production making them significantly cheaper per carat.

My signature line has a link to a guide which provides examples of the most common cushion cutting styles.
 
Thanks so much for the video links- I checked them out & many more but.... I have to say I find the cushion cut so overwhelming when looking for a 'great cut' as there are so many variations. I value size & cut the most, don't get me wrong. I just need some basic guidelines in how to avoid the bad ones- like the 'crushed ice' everyone goes on about. Are all modified brilliants a no no for cut quality? I used the guidelines I could find for depth and table size for very good- ideal cushions to do my search but maybe I need to then check certs to avoid the 'modified ' brilliants. ???? :confused:

I am sure there are some great cushions on the PS list to be found if one knew what to look for! :wink2:
 
Katealt ignoring everything else that you might want and thinking only about cut and beuty, in the video link that CCL posted, which style of cushion looks most beautiful to you? That is the best place to start.

Second , $3000 for a 1.5c diamond of any shape is really really really ridiculously low. I would expect that for a well cut diamond over the 1.5ct mark you would pay at least $10k, maybe $7-$8k if you look at much lower colors. You need to be realistic about what you can afford. Diamonds are priced based on what the market will pay for them, and there are few true deals in the sense that a stone is priced below what it is worth. Instead, you ar better looking for the best *value* and part of that means being realistic about your budget and what that can get you on the market.

If you want a bigger diamond than you can afford, then one method is to buy from a vendor who does tradeups and to increase the diamond ct. over time. It is what I did.
 
Dreamer_D said:
Katealt ignoring everything else that you might want and thinking only about cut and beuty, in the video link that CCL posted, which style of cushion looks most beautiful to you? That is the best place to start.

Second , $3000 for a 1.5c diamond of any shape is really really really ridiculously low. I would expect that for a well cut diamond over the 1.5ct mark you would pay at least $10k, maybe $7-$8k if you look at much lower colors. You need to be realistic about what you can afford. Diamonds are priced based on what the market will pay for them, and there are few true deals in the sense that a stone is priced below what it is worth. Instead, you ar better looking for the best *value* and part of that means being realistic about your budget and what that can get you on the market.

If you want a bigger diamond than you can afford, then one method is to buy from a vendor who does tradeups and to increase the diamond ct. over time. It is what I did.
Click to expand...


Well, first of all I feel overwhelmed by all the different types of cushions and looking at that video I like them all, but that last one down on the right not so much. The August Vintage stood out but I'm truly not willing to pay a fortune and lose all that top width in look. I have about $8000 to play with but was considering getting the white round brilliant (excellent cut) AND a warm- light yellow cushion but really only if it was rediculously cheap and a low color but good cut. When I look at getting just one big cushion the whole thing just puts me right off how complicated it is and how expensive the good ones are in comparison to a simple to shop for excellent cut round, which hides color better, is bigger for the carat size, etc. etc. I dont' think I can commit to one big cushion because it just seems like such a giant task and I do need a big one for the ring I am going to use which needs at 6.8mm square minimum.

My thought process was that I could sift through the PS vendors for a very good cut cushion and save big $$$ on the designer cushions from places like GOG or the nice ones that Diamonds by Lauren gets in the warm colors, just like I did years ago in choosing and buying my round brilliant... but that one was so easy with the HCA to find that excellent cut (and an AGS 000 helped, too). But maybe that is impossible to do with cushions. Sigh. I am open to possibilities so we will see where this leads.
 
Thanks for finding this one- I am leaning towards a square and I am still playing with the idea of getting two diamonds and the lesser value being the cushion. The price is not laughable for a stone this size when I do my searches for low color, low clarity a LOT come up and when I narrow the search for the table and depth guidelines there are still quite a few to look at but of course I can't really narrow it down further without help to see if these few are bad cuts.

Here is a square one that I wondered what you guys would think- I know it is EGL so the grading is going to be a lot worse than it says but I don't mind the color and the clarity may be ok. EGL is good in that they provide the crown and pavillion measurements but does this help figure out if it is a good cut? They don't say if it is a modified cushion or not. This one is quite deep but the table seems ok.?? Just for fun I thought I would put it out there... who knows? I am still trying to figure out this whole cushon cut variations thing so it is a learning exercise at the very least. Thanks!
 
Yes its a modified cushion extra facets on the pavilion.
See the article I wrote here https://www.pricescope.com/communit...-conventions-for-cushion-cut-diamonds.147789/

No its not too deep at all Depth in the range of 64 - 70% are most ideal for most cushion facet structures. But that information cannot be used for selection without a full sarin report and knowing many other proportions not available on any grading reports.
 
Hello!
I see that your having issues finding the perfect cushion! Don't worry, anyone that started out wanting a cushion finds that out the hard way :tongue:

I'd check with JBEG and see if they can source a vintage stone for you. I'm going to link you to a stone that's right under 8k, but its an OEC (an antique style round, it has chunky facets like a cushion) but this baby is HUGE (2.23 N-O color, but faces up like a K) and also they have a 1.43 OEC ring that is in your budget as well.

Keep in mind the big one can be reset, but it's pretty low in color, but that doesn't make it any less beautiful!
http://jewelsbyericagrace.smugmug.com/Jewelry/Loose-Diamonds/223ct-Old-European-Diamond/12118762_pEzdt#861862384_LXGmL

http://jewelsbyericagrace.smugmug.com/Jewelry/Rings-Antique-diamonds/143ct-Old-European-Cut-Diamond/11839065_MxqBM#836970288_NUDcR

The only cushion in your price range had already been sold, but it never hurts to ask! Again I realize these are OEC and not cushion cuts, but I thought I'd at least link you to a few nice rings that JBEG already have.

Also, contact Ari at www.singlestone.com you might find a beautiful vintage cushion in the size you are looking for if you check out estate pieces

And here are 2 AVC outside your budget (I know you said you weren't interested in a special cut cushion but I'm going to post them anyways because they are pretty!)
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/7543/
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/7549/

Good luck! :bigsmile:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top