Show me -- light beams! (performance/return)

[N-jo]

So, I''m deleting outtakes of the week''s ring photos, and the fiance stopped me suddenly as I was examining this one. I pointed out that the facets appear blurry, no need to keep -- and he said "but your ring...is beaming.." Now, I''m crazy about this photo that demonstrates the light return, it looks like rays from the sun.

Someone the other day posted their ring on the toilet, I think, showing a rainbow in the reflection, I thought that was cool. My toilet tank is too poorly-lit for that, so I had put the ring on our horrific Formica (that is on our replacement list, among other house things)

Sure worked nicely with natural light to show off the light "beaming" from the cut, so I thought I''d ask for others to show their sparkles this way.

another one slightly darkened up next...

N-jo

 

[N-jo]

another enhanced one, more contrasty, less bright...

all this time I had been concentrating on the diamond itself, getting closer, clearer photos all the time, and didn''t even play with trying to capture the light performance, really.


fun!

 

[aljdewey]

The facets do appear blurry, but it looks like the stone is a bit dirty.

Try cleaning it, and I''m sure you''ll get even MORE light beams!

 

[N-jo]

Date: 9/22/2006 11:19:47 AM
Author: aljdewey
The facets do appear blurry, but it looks like the stone is a bit dirty.

!

thanks for noticing.

Actually other photos from the same session were quite sharp....I think it was the angle here, or trying to hold still my old 2 megapixel camera or something...

But, we do live in a very hard water area, so keeping the hard water spots off the bottom of the ring is a constant trial, that''s why I need to invent ring-floss (patent pending, and only kidding just a little bit!) to saw back and forth underneath. Or, i just need to wash it only with bottled water. I usually think about a serious washing only AFTER taking photos! In this case, I just had taken it off while at the computer and stuck it on the kitchen counter to my left for a few quick shots.

But in any case, when I advocate getting the best Cut to those who are dithering between purchasing one diamond or another, this is why. If you have to give somewhere, I''d rather go down in Color than Cut. (Mine''s an H.) I''ve seen some dead, dull rocks (especially emerald cuts) around this town and my own family with only fair Cuts, purchased from mall retailers. Theirs were more expensive, but mine is more radiant, small as it is. Tickles me inside when I see my niece''s $8000 emerald cut ring from Zales next to my Internet ring that cost 1/3 as much. Looks like she''s wearing gravel on her hand, mine looks like a flashlight by comparison!

N-jo

 

[Ellen]

N-jo, I can SO relate to hard water problems. Ours is terrible, and I''m in the process of trying to find a solution, short of getting a softening system for the house, which I''ve actually been trying to talk hubby into for years. I just bought distilled water for my US cleaner, but I''m still battling what to do beforehand, as I heat the DW, so I don''t want to shock the rings by dumping them in almost boiling water, so I run them under the tap, gradually getting it hotter. And then there''s the problem of rinsing afterward....

It''s really driving me mad, even with the US, I can''t get them to look like new, close, but no cigar. One other thing I do about every two weeks is scrub the diamond with vinegar water, it helps. I also blow dry them. Hope this helps.

 

[N-jo]

I gently scrub mine daily with Miracle Clean (shopping channel item) and have used various other things.... rubbing alcohol, ammonia etc. My ring looks gorgeous after washing dishes or shampooing my hair. I polish it with a sponge eye shadow applicator...but getting underneath to dry it off before it spots is a problem... I need a very skinny little eye shadow applicator to get inside the bottom of the setting.

hey! Rain-X! The stuff for making water run off windshields! haven''t tried that one yet... something to make the water "sheet" off.

Sometimes blow-drying helps....

 

[Ellen]

Well, I don't have a problem getting it clean, as far as dirt and oil, it's the building up of minerals in the water. I know that's what's keeping me from the total new look. You can practically chip our water out of the faucet, unreal.

lol at rainex

 

[Lorelei]

Guys, have you tried canned air to dry your diamonds? I too live in a very hard water area and canned air really helps blast away the water and prevent spots etc.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 9/22/2006 12:51:12 PM
Author: Lorelei
Guys, have you tried canned air to dry your diamonds? I too live in a very hard water area and canned air really helps blast away the water and prevent spots etc.

No, I haven''t. What I do, do, is after I rinse it, I get my mouthreal dry and blow the excess out, then blow dry it. You think it''s worth it to get the canned air?

I can just hear hubby now, ring, US cleaner, distilled water, NOW canned air??

 

[Mara]

my ring gets dirty literally 5 minutes after i clean it in the US...it sucks.

with those emerald cuts and minimal faceted cuts keeping it clean is even more important!!! i don''t envy that task, keeping my RB clean already drives me nuts. hehee.

 

[N-jo]

Date: 9/22/2006 1:10:24 PM
Author: Mara
my ring gets dirty literally 5 minutes after i clean it in the US...it sucks.

with those emerald cuts and minimal faceted cuts keeping it clean is even more important!!! i don't envy that task, keeping my RB clean already drives me nuts. hehee.

it is so important to keep an emerald cut clean, yep. I just refuse to let it build up. And the handwashing or dishwashing seems to work just fine for the top, especially after I wipe it quickly with the makeup sponge stick. But those darned water spots underneath. The bane of my existence! Going to try using a spray of distilled water on it. We buy water here because no one drinks from the tap (tastes like fishy dirt) so we have all varieties of bottled water in the house. Hmm, club soda, another possibility... hadn't thought of that one.

and yes, I have used spray air on it! The first time i did, I gasped and nearly swallowed my tongue. I was so close with the can, and used so much, the diamond was all frosted over. I could picture it like a frozen cartoon thing, frozen over, cracking and then "plink, plink, plink" breaking into little bits.

Seems to work pretty well, though, but it makes me sort of nervous, I haven't seen it mentioned much here... don't want to blow my diamond out of its setting, which was laughed at by the fiance, but how do I know how my pressure is in pressurized air, for all I know, it could blow a hole in the diamond!

(i'm kind of an alarmist...)

this has turned into the cleaning thread, though very helpful, I'm wondering...where are your refraction pics!

ETA: it's not the light reflections from the middle, it's the ones spread in an arc that are so cute to me. Like a little piece of sunshine.

 

[Scintillating]

Date: 9/22/2006 1:10:24 PM
Author: Mara
my ring gets dirty literally 5 minutes after i clean it in the US...it sucks.


with those emerald cuts and minimal faceted cuts keeping it clean is even more important!!! i don''t envy that task, keeping my RB clean already drives me nuts. hehee.

You know what''s funny.

My Mother hardly ever cleans her EC and it always looks perfect - and my RB (which I clean obsessively) always looks dirty, sparkly, but dirty. Shrug, what''s a girl to do?

Scintillating...

 

[N-jo]

Date: 9/22/2006 3:15:35 PM
Author: Scintillating

Date: 9/22/2006 1:10:24 PM



My Mother hardly ever cleans her EC and it always looks perfect - and my RB (which I clean obsessively) always looks dirty, sparkly, but dirty. Shrug, what's a girl to do?

your mother must not have a kissy-dog like mine, I've often got doggie-juice or nose smudges on my ring, Biscuit loves the ring as much as I do, I guess.

I'm glad it cleans up so easily, just wish the water spots weren't so tricky to rinse off the bottom. (and yes, we can chip our water off our faucets here!)

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I love my canned air! I use the little straw that comes with it to get under the stone. Works great.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

N-Jo, those pictures are awesome! I love seeing how light returns from step cuts!

Hope you don''t mind me posting this, but I have a small variation on the theme.

 

[kcoursolle]

Date: 9/22/2006 9:41:04 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier
N-Jo, those pictures are awesome! I love seeing how light returns from step cuts!


Hope you don''t mind me posting this, but I have a small variation on the theme.



Wow, Lauren whan amazing picture!! Is that a laser pointer you are using??

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 9/23/2006 1:29:34 AM
Author: kcoursolle

Date: 9/22/2006 9:41:04 PM

Wow, Lauren whan amazing picture!! Is that a laser pointer you are using??

Yeah, we were actually playing with the cats, and realized that the laser pointer through the diamond showed some fabulous light return.

Thanks for the kind words!

 

[N-jo]

Date: 9/22/2006 9:41:04 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier

Hope you don''t mind me posting this, but I have a small variation on the theme.

now that''s what I''m talking about! I love that. got to get myself a laser pointer. thanks for posting, that is really an unusual display of light return. Very cool!

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 9/22/2006 11:41:26 AM
Author: N-jo

Date: 9/22/2006 11:19:47 AM
Author: aljdewey
The facets do appear blurry, but it looks like the stone is a bit dirty.

!

thanks for noticing.

Actually other photos from the same session were quite sharp....I think it was the angle here, or trying to hold still my old 2 megapixel camera or something...

what I saw was the *reflection* of the wavy lines on the counter back on the face of the stone...

I''m not sure what you''re looking for... shots where the light is coming from underneath the stone? or where it might be coming off the top but it is reflected onto something else? I have several shots of light reflected off of my stone onto something else...

 

[Rosebud8506]

Date: 9/22/2006 9:41:04 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier
N-Jo, those pictures are awesome! I love seeing how light returns from step cuts!

Hope you don''t mind me posting this, but I have a small variation on the theme.

This is such a cool shot!! WOW!!

 

[TPOX]

Here''s mine... (less exciting than the others!)

 

[Cehrabehra]

I wasn''t sure how to do this, it''s kinda bright in that window... don''t mind my old window sills LOL

 

[N-jo]

Date: 9/25/2006 2:09:26 PM
Author: Cehrabehra

Date: 9/22/2006 11:41:26 AM

Not showing the stone necessarily, but how the cut of it reflects the light onto something else...for example, I was not taking photos of the light radiance of my ring when I had it sitting on the Formica counter. I was just taking a photo in a new place...and as we were deleting photos, we noticed the ring itself in the photo was not a good shot, but the light refraction was cool!

Looks like a cartoon or a stylized image of a diamond with "sparkle lines" coming out from it, spread in an arc. It was unexpected -- and taking other photos yesterday, I noticed it''s the bumpy dull Formica that causes the reflection to look blurry.

So, it''s really not the main reflection that I thought was fun, but the arc of light rays, the "fan" of radiance... do you remember the artist Keith Haring''s "radiant baby" drawings? That''s what it made me think of. Last night I took photos of my radiant baby on a ceramic surface. The "rays of light" still show up on the dull Formica, but are especially noticeable when reflected on a smooth surface...

just a fun way to look at what your diamond does, I thought!

 

[N-jo]

My radiant baby on the toilet tank (sharper "beams" than from the Formica reflection) I just love the light fanning out in that arc!


Once again, not the best photo of the diamond itself, just how its cut performs....