Oval recut??

[Owies Nana]

After two months of wearing her grandmother's 5+ct HVVS1 OMC (which her father gave her after her mother died two years ago), my client came in this morning wearing her original engagement band, a 1+ct oval with triple baguettes on either side of the stone. She told me it was her "spider ring", named "affectionately" by her college friends. (aside) With friends like that, who needs enemies?!

She, knowing that I enjoy diamonds, expressed great dismay that her stone was so dark and lifeless compared to her grandmother's diamond. She asked me if I thought that recutting it would improve its performance...and after seeing her grandmother's stone, I can certainly understand her desire for improvement!!!!! (If I were in her shoes, I'd be wearing that OMC all of the time!!!!!!!!!! But she only wears it over the holidays and then returns it to its place in her safety deposit box.) She believes that her oval is too deep (not sure where she got that information) and that if it could be recut to be more shallow, the performance of the stone would improve.

I have seen threads about recutting RBs and older cuts, but not on ovals (unless I have missed something,which is definitely possible).

So,
Has anyone here had an oval stone recut?
What was your experience?
Were you satisfied with the improvement?
Where (or to whom) do I direct her to get more information about having her stone re-cut?

And for the experts (tradespeople feel free to chime in on these two questions) :
Is an oval recut substantially different than a RB recut? If so, how?
What factors will determine how much improvement she can get if she opts to recut it?
How much carat weight might she expect to lose?

Thanks so much!

 

[orbaya]

I just had my round recut by Brian Gavin Diamond....fantastic job! I don't know about fancy shapes, so I'd have your client contact Brian and talk with him.

 

[Karl_K]

And for the experts (tradespeople feel free to chime in on these two questions) :
Is an oval recut substantially different than a RB recut? If so, how?
There are many different faceting patterns for ovals, not so for an RB
What factors will determine how much improvement she can get if she opts to recut it?
Material they have to work with and skill of the cutter.
How much carat weight might she expect to lose?
Impossible to tell without a complete 3d scan and a master cutter looking at it
Thanks so much!

Finding someone to recut it will also be much harder.
The above recommendation to start with Brian is a good one.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I had a family 1 ct stone recut by BG and it ended up at .80 which will be in a pendant. That is the biggest issue with recutting a 1 ct. stone...it is hard to give up any size if you plan to wear it as a ring.

 

[Owies Nana]

Thank you, orbaya, Karl and DS for your prompt replies. I will pass the BG contact information on to her this evening after work. Maybe she will even post her "before" and "after" shots in SMTB.

 

[Christina...]

I agree with contacting BGD. I've heard that if an oval or marquise are cut too deeply than it is much more likely to have a strong bow tie, maybe this is what she was referring to? If that is true and the re-cut can be limited predominately toward the depth of the stone, then maybe she won't lose as much of the face up size?