My New Ring! Oops I mean Rings. :)

[MichelleCarmen]

----------------
>Stephan, ask Brian why it's not an ACA! Everything looked spot on to me! The only thing that seemed possibly out of line was they sent me some hearts and arrows images, and while this stone is technically not a H&A because it's not branded ACA....---------------

Ooops, I didn't even read your post eariler, just looked at the pictures since my son was climbing all over the desk here (lol) and thought this WAS a ACA based on the ideal scope photo. Sure is a breathtaking stone regardless of what it's catagorized at!

Michelle (who's now going to go over and check out that expert selection part at WF

)

 

[baltneu]

Mara
The 2 rings together are just beautiful, enjoy and wear them in the best of health. I have always enjoyed and learned alot from your posts, you deserve a beautiful diamond to wear! Bill

 

[caratgirl]

Ah hah! I knew you just couldn't stand not having a H&A new stone! It was the last few posts that I zeroed in on. Congratulations, it's great to see a picture with all that fire just leaping out. You must just be in love with it now. And...the prongs were pretty clunky before. Now they look just great. Take a side shot, too, okay?

 

[valeria101]

See!

That's what one should expect from the ring of someone who almost wrote a BOOK (6k posts?) on ideal cut diamonds

.

I love your pics Mara. very professional !

All the best

 

[valeria101]

The small star is quite amazing

I am so glad you had that setting fixed. It did need intesive care, by all means. I didn't even know how to put it diplomatically when I saw the posts with the first version of the ring. Now I can. Very good job

 

[KittyTiger]

Mara!!

Beautiful! Congradulations on the new stone! It's stunning~~ And I love what they've done with the prongs. I can only imagine how happy and exciting this is for you. Can't stop staring at it huh?

More pics when you get a chance please~~

 

[Kamuelamom]

Congratulations Mara, your set is stunning! Can you show me a link to some older pics? I don't remember what they looked like before......

 

[Patty]

Yes, I'd also like to see more side shots. I found an old picture of your ring taken from the top and the prongs looked fatter but I need more input!

Thanks for answering my questions, Mara. I'm so excited about this for you! I wanted to tell people about it last night, but my husband and daughters don't know you and don't realize how exciting this is.

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

Hey Mara,

Congrats on the new rocks..

Very lovely...

 

[Mara]

Here is the link to my old ring picture collages. You can see huge differences mostly in the symmetry of the stone compared to this new one. Also in a few of the original pictures, the somewhat darker area under the table (only visible at random times) is in the picture as well.




https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/maras-ring-x20.10236/




The big prongs are mostly visible in some of the last pictures posted on that thread, very square and chunky. Mr. Le shaved those down for me and they are much smaller than before. Even Greg noticed.

BTW the first thing he said last nite when he came home and I showed him everything (in the entryway, he didn't even get to come in the house first!) was that this new stone throws off larger flashes of sparkle and more color. Then at dinner we were playing around with the ring in the lighting, definitely a huge obvious difference in terms of FIRE and scintillation. And this stone doesn't look overall 'white' brilliant like the old one did. Something to get used to but we love the variety!

I have more pictures from last nite...but I have to edit, upload etc. Later this morning!

 

[heart prongs]

Mara - I had the feeling you'd get a new e-ring stone before the wedding! The two rings together are simply stunning. That's great that you were able to get a fair deal on the original. I'm curious, with your old stone, you had a bigger spread, right? Does this one look like a 1.35 as well? Do you notice any color or clarity differences? Anyway, I'm so happy for you, I bet it was like getting engaged all over again!!! kl

 

[ClownFishFunk]

The two rings are beautiful and really look great together! They compliment each other so well. Enjoy them!

 

[Mara]

Okay here are some new pictures, yummy! I love the sparkly arrows shot in the black background and the actual arrows shot isn't anything to sneeze at either.

My amateur IdealScope image isn't half bad!!

Oh and I included the dark hand picture to show what kind of sparkles it throws off even with hardly any light around!

HP...this new stone is 7.10mm and my old spready one was 7.15mm average. So in essence this stone is the tiniest bit smaller, but I don't see the difference at all. Considering that the ring was not with me for 3 weeks, I noticed that my idea of 'size' is completely out of wack right now, everything looks big.

It's a good thing because it keeps me from obsessing over the lost .05mm. Hehee..




As for color/clarity difference, I do see the tiniest bit of color difference, partially because my old stone was pretty darn white looking, it probably was more like an F than a G due to the white brilliance of the cut, so this H looks slightly warmer, but not yellow or anything remotely close to that. The clarity is top notch. Both Greg and I strained with the loupe for 5 minutes each and couldn't find a darn thing in the stone. So either our eyes are really bad or it's a really nice wispy, white inclusioned stone with strict grading.

Overall, super happy with the switch, to me this looks just like a VS and that's all that matters...and the color is not significant at all. Don't know that I would go I or J in the future, interesting to note that H is probably my comfort threshhold, but you never know!

 

[luvmysparklies]

Mara-
Your rings are most beautiful! I love how they line up and sit flush and all that sparkle must be blinding! They look delicate yet substantial together. Congratulations on such lovely choices, you wear them well!

 

[noobie]

Mara,




Those are absolutely beautiful. You and Greg will never regret this. I just recently turned my wife's e-ring into a pendant and it will be replaced by the anniversary ring we are having made. I would have done things differently 11 years ago if I had of known what I know now.




If I'm not mistaken, I clicked on that stone several times while searching for my diamonds and it came up sold. I remember thinking, boy, whoever bought that got a really nice diamond at a great price..And I missed it! It was you !

Wear it in good health, and best wishes to you and Greg. You deserve it for all of the help you provide people here.

 

[ringbling17]

Hi Mara,
Congratulations on the new e-ring stone and the new eternity band.
The cut really does make a difference, doesn't it? I still can't get over the sparkle and flashes of color that come out of my stone!

I am truly happy for you and hope that this stone will satisfy you until the next upgrade.

I wonder who will upgrade first, me or you? HA, ha!!!

Anyway, I am now thinking about changing my tag line. I am not the only brat on Pricescope anymore

.

Again, congratulations on the new rings. That eternity band is really beautiful.

 

[caratgirl]

I really like how it looks more 'interesting' than your old stone. How great that you got most of your money back from the jeweler!

 

[pyramid]

I like the new diamond look better. The old one looked okay though. So pleased you got what you want and did not lose any money in the process. This must be a unique situation as usually a jeweller would want you to trade up with them although I know you said that you had sent business his way before. It's great that this has all happened before the wedding too.

 

[Beansy]

Wow, I know I've been away for awhile when I see a post like this!! Contratulations from the bottom of my heart. You truely deserve the best.

I have had so much fun emailing you about my woes, and am truely grateful for all your help with my Whiteflash custom. You, Denise, and Bob have a special place in my heart, and when I finally get mine, and look at it on the way home in the florida sun, I will not be able to avoid thinking about how glad I am that I found this site.

I wondered how long it would take you to do the ACA? After you got Greg's, I knew it was just a matter of time. It was YOUR excitement that made me look closer into going custom with Whiteflash, and I don't regret a thing!

I am so beyond excited for you. It is breathtaking. I have the picture of the Michael B settings you posted so long ago, and hold it par to settings I've looked at. But now, after seeing your new settings, move over Michael B, hello Mara's. Your perfect little ACA's. How tantalizing.

I can't wait to keep seeing picture. Congratulation, again. Beautiful.

 

[Giangi]

Wow Mara, now everyone knows!

It's a really beautiful set and the 1.29 is simply amazing! You found a great bargain, that's for sure!

 

[Jennifer5973]

You know, I was waiting for this thread... I mean, how long could Mara go without getting an H&A!

I think you did the right thing and your rings are absolutely gorgeous... Serious sparkle but an elegant and classic setting...they will be exceptionally beautiful when you wear them together.

It bothers me that my ering stone is cut a bit shallow and is not an H&A, but I got engaged--yikes--10 years ago... Too much time has passed to replace it, so I will get an anniversary stone some day. But I think you did the right thing by acting NOW... If it were me and we knew better (and had the cash) 10 years ago, I would have done excatly the same thing shortly after getting the stone.

Congrats & enjoy!!!

 

[Patty]

Mara, I love the new pictures. Good work! My favorite is the one from the side. I love the head of your ring.

I know what you mean about the new stone not being super white. I was surprised when I first got mine that it often looked silvery/steely.

 

[pqcollectibles]

----------------
On 3/28/2004 7:42:53 PM Patty wrote:

Mara, I love the new pictures. Good work! My favorite is the one from the side. I love the head of your ring.

I know what you mean about the new stone not being super white. I was surprised when I first got mine that it often looked silvery/steely. ----------------

Since both Mara and Patty mentioned the same thing, I thought I'd post something I came across while researching old threads. A Newbie had inquired about how low in color he/she could go and ALJDewey posted 3 pics of I color diamonds from SMTR. One diamond was darker and one was whiter. Rhino explained how Cut impacts the appearance of a well cut diamond in direct and diffuse light.

"The pic taken in direct lighting will make a diamond appear dark yet the flashes within the diamond will be the most intense. This is the SAME way a super ideal cut will appear in direct light conditions. Direct light conditions (ie. sunlight, halogens, etc.) will make a diamond with high internal reflections appear dark but the fire, when compared to other diamonds with more light leakage, more intense (ie. look at the intense relfections of light coming out of the stone. Diamonds with high amounts of leakage will appear "lighter" under direct light conditions often fooling the observer to believe that it may indeed be a more brilliant stone when in fact they are observing the phenomena of leakage of light coming from behind the stone! Typicallly from the jewelry store showcase with light in it shining behind the loose diamond. Direct light conditions emphasize *fire* and *scintillation* and is dependant upon the diamonds ability to reflect back light at the high angles (ie. in your face).

This next pic is taken in the softer light. Softer light emphasizes white light return rather than colored light return. It also emphasizes contrast brilliance and scintillation which is dependant upon the depth of contrast and the amount of contrast that exists within reflective surfaces on the pavilion. You will not observe the intense reflections of light that you will in direct light conditions but in diamonds with high optical symmetry you will observe a beauty that puts it in a class all by itself. This lighting condition also flatters color and makes the stone appear whiter rather than darker. So if you take careful observartion one pic makes the diamond appear lighter/whiter with no intense refelctions within while the other darker with more intense reflections."

Here's a link to the thread. https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/mara-diamonbob-and-other-experts-please-help.9629/ Rhino's complete post is a ways down on the page.

Awesome pics, Mara!!

 

[Mara]

noobie...haha funny you should mention the 1.29 being sold...I saw you were considering it in your original post, when I was looking behind the scenes, so I immediately called Lesley and said 'PUT THAT ON HOLD NOW!!!'.




There was precious little in terms of those sizes/specs at that time and that really made me pull the trigger...seeing that you were considering it. So in essence, THANKS for forcing my hand.

And your new stone is a looker as well....you did a great job!

The funniest part was watching people comment on the 1.29c stone in your post, they were all favorable! hehe.

 

[dbgaap]

Mara,


Your rings are just breath-taking.


I am quite a stickler for detail & perfection, so I am enjoying your posts.


Quality endures!


Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.....

 

[Hest88]

Mara, you're such a brat!

Gorgeous rings and gorgeous new stone. If it weren't for the "gap" issue in my rings I'd also seriously consider upgrading my stone. However, I don't know how much difference it would make with an EC.

Wear them in good health!

 

[noobie]

----------------
On 3/29/2004 7:34:24 PM Mara wrote:







noobie...haha funny you should mention the 1.29 being sold...I saw you were considering it in your original post, when I was looking behind the scenes, so I immediately called Lesley and said 'PUT THAT ON HOLD NOW!!!'.




There was precious little in terms of those sizes/specs at that time and that really made me pull the trigger...seeing that you were considering it. So in essence, THANKS for forcing my hand.

And your new stone is a looker as well....you did a great job!

The funniest part was watching people comment on the 1.29c stone in your post, they were all favorable! hehe.

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

That is pretty funny.....although Denise never even let me know that stone was available when I spoke to her, I found it myself through the Pricescope search ... hmmmm .... conspiracy ???

You're absolutely right about slim pickings in that carat, spec range. When I first posted, I was unsure of what to buy (can't you tell, I posted ten stones

). If you had not pounced on it, there is a good chance that it would be waiting at my custom jeweler's now

I don't know, maybe I should think twice about asking you guys for your expert opinions in the future .... don't want any of my future candidates to end up here before I can decide

 

[solange]

Mara-


Your rings are stunning. You have excellent taste.It is interesting that you learned so much after you got your first ring. If you did not get your full amount back, you got a great deal by having it to compare with other stones and determine what you really wanted.


You have learned so much and shared your knowledge with others. You really should consider going into the diamond business.I hope you do someday. Best of luck.

 

[jenibear]

Mara - I just found your post about your new ring - er rings and had to tell you how gorgeous they are.

I always thought your original stone was a looker - but the difference is so amazing.

And WF did a great job matching your band to your e-ring, pretty impressive.


I actually may need your help - and help from those other RB girls - because I want to buy my FI diamond studs as a wedding gift. Yup, you heard it right. He wears small silver hoops now and I think it's time for an upgrade!

Anyway, back to your gorgeous rings. Wear them in happiness and health - and post more photos of the honker on your hand!

 

[Mara]

Oooh JB how fun...let us know what we can do to help.

There's lots of small stones out there in H&A fashion!! Yummy!