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Radiant Cut Help Please

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sneakyp

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jun 24, 2003
Messages
19
Well i am back trolling the site for information after a nearly 10 year hiatus. Back then I was looking for a pair of diamond studs for a 25th anniversary present and ended up buying them thru one of the vendors suggested here on the forums. Thank you again. I had the "brilliant" idea of an anniversary ring this coming June. I thought no problem, a simple 3 stone ring, perhaps an eternity band or even a nice solitaire...the diamond picking would be easy. My main problem would be the setting but again she would help with that decision. You learn after 35 years to make these decisions together. My wife is just a bit different ( ok the engagement ring was a marquise cut, i don't know how many jewelry stores i trudged thru to find that stone). Now she wants a radiant cut, not square but rectangular. Am i back to trudging thru endless jewelry stores? There are no "numbers" to help me pick a couple promising stones to bring in. It sounds like you have to see these stones up close and personal, the old Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder routine. You have to trust your vendor to make a judgement call from their suppliers that they are finding you a wonderful stone. Are there any reputable (of course) PS vendors that carry more in house radiant cuts or specialize in them? I am looking for roughly a 1.5 carat diamond probably 10-12 K budget for this stone. Setting? I don't even want to go there now. any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated as I would like to make it to 36 years.
 
LOL!!!

Happy to help. Happy you are back.

Yes, they are tricky buggers to shop for, radiants. And especially rectangular ones.

Here is some advice, then I'll hunt.

Best idea is to have someone source some for you. GOG, ERD, BGD all have great eyes for fancies (well Jon, Mark and Brian at those stores do). They will provide you with their opinion (huge), ASET images and some will even show you videos.

I will look on JA to see if I see anything that catches the eye for you just now so you can explore that venue.

I would personally stick to G or better and SI-eyeclean. But H would be okay too. I would not go lower as radiants trap color.
 
Has she spent any time on PriceScope lately? Because there are so many beautiful cuts to consider. Antique cushions and rounds are extremely popular and there are others that I am sure she has never heard of. I think it would help her to spend a couple of months browsing through the Show Me the Bling forum just to develop some preferences. Maybe she'll end back up wanting a radiant, but she might have many more ideas about settings. If I were looking for a radiant, I would contact Jonathan at Good Old Gold about 12 weeks before the anniversary and have him call in stones for you. Then you'll have ample time even if you have a custom setting made.
 
Thanks Gypsy. Those are the areas of color (EFG) and clarity (VS1 thru SI1) I am concentrating on. I have made some preliminary inquiries with several vendors including several of those mentioned. Ultimately, I think my wife and I will need to travel and view the stones. But not until we are reasonably sure we have a stone we are likely to buy. DS2006, I have already started to see if she would consider another cut but seems set on a rectangular shape (looks better on her finger). She is actually pretty familiar with diamonds as she worked in a local jewelry store for several years when we were first married. She has over the years purchased, ahem, a few stones on her own. She is kind of a rock hound for all sorts of precious stones. But , I like your idea of her scrolling thru the Bling pages. God she might even find a setting! Thanks
 
sneaky your 'voice' cracks me up.

I personally love Emerald Cuts. But if she knows her mind, that's all that matters.
 
sneakyp|1355975055|3336237 said:
Thanks Gypsy. Those are the areas of color (EFG) and clarity (VS1 thru SI1) I am concentrating on. I have made some preliminary inquiries with several vendors including several of those mentioned. Ultimately, I think my wife and I will need to travel and view the stones. But not until we are reasonably sure we have a stone we are likely to buy. DS2006, I have already started to see if she would consider another cut but seems set on a rectangular shape (looks better on her finger). She is actually pretty familiar with diamonds as she worked in a local jewelry store for several years when we were first married. She has over the years purchased, ahem, a few stones on her own. She is kind of a rock hound for all sorts of precious stones. But , I like your idea of her scrolling thru the Bling pages. God she might even find a setting! Thanks
Click to expand...

Hey, it sounds like she belongs here! We have a colored stone section, too! Tell her we have invited her to join us! :))
 
Hey sneaky! Personally, I don't think radiant cut diamonds are that tricky to buy. Did you know that there is a branded radiant cut diamond?
 
Hey RockDiamond : If you are referrring to that "Original Radiant Cut" diamond site, yes i did go to that site based on a few of the threads i searched on this forum. Do you think that the ORC diamonds are superior in light performance to others i could find from the other vendors? Are some of the diamonds that other vendors would show me actually be ORC diamonds (aren't the laser inscribed?). I just feel a bit intimidated looking for these diamonds because if a vendor brings in two or three to compare that's the universe i am working from, whereas, if i were picking a round H&A ideal cut, i am sure many of the vendors would have many in stock to look at for comparative purposes and I would feel way better about my (her) choice. plus i think you can apply things like HCA, the different imaging technologies to help whittle the choices down when dealing with round stones. thanks
 
HI Sneaky,
As far as seeing a branded ORC stone by accident, I can't see that happening.

I think we need to define "light performance" to be able to answer this.
It's a term that describes the way a diamond handles light.
So, what anyone thinks is "superior" in this regard is totally opinion.

By using reflectors we can tell how a diamond is handling the light, and a case can be made that less and brighter reflections ( a'la RBC style faceting) is brighter.
But some observers will prefer a stone with no pattern, and a far greater number of reflections.
Even if each one is slightly less bright than the larger type reflections, the fact that there's so many- and it looks "bottomless" is considered superior light performance to some observers.

Although a simple "trust your eyes" does not really give us enough specifics to really be of help- the bottom line is, your eyes will need to be the final arbiter.
I might say that in my opinion, a really nice Radiant cut will have no discrenable pattern of sparkle- and few if any dark areas. That would also be my description of the branded ORC diamonds.

I can't speak for any vendor - or what they might have in stock. But I do advise consumers to buy what they want - it seems that there's so many choices out there which can indeed be daunting- yet it also means there's no need to feel intimidated asking to look at a few diamonds.
 
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