So are Mara and AlJ at WF right now!?!!

[mrssalvo]

Date: 9/18/2005 4:02:52 PM
Author: aljdewey

Date: 9/18/2005 3:34:21 PM

Author: mrssalvo

Those Texans sure do know how to be hospital.

LMAO - this is SO cute, Mrs. S!

it would have been cuter if I could spell "hospitable"

 

[Mara]

Okay so here is the rest of the tale. On Friday we visited yet one last time...this time to say goodbye to everyone and thank them for their time with us..and for making us so welcome! We visited the production office yet again and this time spent another 2.5 hours with Brian looking at more diamonds!! Also we got to see a PS'er come in and pick up his ring for his fiance (stunning 3 stone custom ring) and also another family come and pick up their ring.

Then the fun started yet again! We got to see Stefan's ring with the amazing 2.12 I SI stone...oh my god that thing was just LIT UP. We took pictures too but I don't feel right posting them until Stefan gets to see his ring with his own two eyes. I think he is picking it up today. He will LOVE IT...we certainly did. It's stunning and the arrows were just flying all over the place in the light. Great job Stefan!!!!

We also got to see Stefan's old 3c K asscher. Let me just say OH MY WORD. I hate to seep saying the same words over and over like stunning and beautiful and fabulous and great but this asscher encapsulates all of those words into one big open mouthed 'O'. The pattern in this thing was fantabulous (there you go, new word!)...and it photographed so well! It's actually already been re-sold and they are in the midst of making a custom setting for it...we were lucky to be able to see it before it gets set and sent off. The color in this K was visible but not in a bad way. aka when you put it up next to my J stone you could see a visible color difference in a huge way, the asscher seemed to show alot more color but it was a very romantic way of showing color. Hands down if I had the $$ I would have considered that stone in a serious way. It was just ridiculous how beautiful and crisp the pattern was. It also solidifed for me that I want an asscher big time and it has to be a big one. That pattern in the size of the 3c was 50miles deep. It was definitely 'storm worthy'.

In our last hour or so with Brian we finally got to do the Pepsi taste test challenge. We left the room for our umpteenth bathroom trip (must have been all the excitement) of the afternoon and when we came back, there were 6 stones laid out for us. All 2 caraters of course, I figured it was a great time to do some research...hee hee. Brian asked us which ones were which, aka to reel off color, if we could clarity, things like cut (aka which ones were ES and which ones were ACA) and also if they were ACA, which were classic and which were new line etc.

First off let me say that for the first 3 minutes all I could do was STARE at the row of diamonds with my mouth hanging open. Forget trying to decide which was the D or the J etc. A row of sparkly 2c-3c diamonds was in my hand and I was gape-jawed and speechless at the same time (a feat I know and probably the first time ever!

). Finally I could focus in on the individual diamonds and try to see each one with it's own characteristics instead of a sparkly blurry row of beauty. Eventually I picked out what looked like the largest one to me as a J since it had a different look to it. And this is the interesting thing. I could pick out the D/E stone and the J stone on each end but in between I could in no way shape or form really figure out color between the colorless D/E and the J. The rest all looked pretty much the same and even the D/E and J looked pretty close. Just a slightly different way of sparkling. Picked out the ACA vs Classic on 80% of them. Brian surprised us when he showed us the ES stone out of the ACA's..they all looked the same to my naked eye with their lovely sparkles. Then he told us what was what. Sneaky little Brian had lined them up in order of color! E, F, G, H, I, J. Interestingly enough I found the J to be the most beautiful and look bigger than the others, but in reality it was only a 2.13 J. Surprising. I had chosen the colorless stone as a D and it was really an E. Okay. It was a great way to see how your eye distributes and picks up color and size and all that. In reality all the stones were just stunning and I would take any one of them in a heartbeat.

Last but not least, Brian set things up for us to do the 40.6 pav angle taste test. There's alot of discussion on here about 40.6 pav angle and what it means in real life viewing. He gave us three diamonds to look at...all similar in size etc...and asked us which one looked most beautiful for a ring. Both Alj and I picked this larger center one as the most stunning to us. It was a 40.6 pav angle and 34.4 crown angle. It looked like a firecracker, white light and fire galore. There was another 40.6 with a 34.9 crown angle that didn't seem AS lively to us. That 40.6 and 34.4 could go in a ring anytime for my viewing pleasure.

One of the things I told Alj was that it was so amazing to have been on PS all these years and read about alot of this speculation in terms of things like color and clarity, cut and the whole 40.6 pav angle and other discussions. And then to finally be able to get to see it all in person was just beyond words amazing. It really made it all come together for me. I could see if I was a newbie and had just started learning about diamonds and then went and had these 5 hours with a guru like Brian I would feel totally overwhelmed and freaked out. Overload of information. But after learning about all of these nuances for the last few years and preaching about cut and all of that other stuff, it was so great to see it all in person and have what was before only on paper come to life in front of me. That was one of the best parts of the trip and I highly recommend that anyone in the vicinity of their favorite vendor go in and sit with them and get that face to face tutorial and touching and feeling of diamonds to really have it all gel in your mind. I feel so much more edumacated now in general about all things sparkly.

After we stumbled out yet again from the building after saying our goodbyes and passing hugs around like candy, it was off to Brasil to meet up with some of the Houston PS'ers courtesy of Renee inviting us to her happy hour girlfriend time. It was great to meet HouMedGal and GingerB and her fiance and gab about diamonds and Renee's wedding pictures etc. Fabulous time. It was then that we talked JohnQ into missing his flight that night and coming out with us yet again and having some great steak and wine at Pappas Bros (recommendation courtesy of the fab Jorman), we had a harrowing cab ride which cost us far more than it should have, Renee joined us for dinner as well and much fun was had by all. It was great to be able tol chat with John and Renee about everything we had seen as well as have this last-supper before we took off!

The next morning after sleeping in...Alj and I met for one last breakfast then shuttled our way to the airport and said our goodbyes. The whole trip was just a dream but it felt good to be going home again. Though we are already planning our return next spring in time for...my next upgrade!!! Oh yeah.

Oh and the burning question in everyone's mind...did Mara buy anything? Well I went there thinking I would either upgrade my earrings or buy a diamond pendant, but the stone I wanted for the pendant had been sold a few days earlier (I forgot to put it on hold..darn) so I went with the earrings. I'm going to be upgrading from .38 J SI1's to .49 J VS2's to get a bit more size for now. The size I really want is more in the ~.60's but pickins are so slim that I am tired of waiting and the J's were stunning in person and not too much more $$. HOWEVER...we did try on a pair of 1.50c pre-set expert selections that were just breathtaking! I was tempted to take those home with me and budget be damned. So after this .49 jump...I'm saving up for those next year. They were set in a new hand-made style that has not been released yet. I can't wait til I work on my darling hubby a bit more to get the approval for those puppies. They were calling my name. I did try to get Alj to succumb to buying them on the spot so that I could then get her .57 J's for my earrings, but she was onto my wily ways and resisted the temptation. DAMN! Gotta work on my convincing skills I guess.

A big thanks to JohnQ for showing us around and taking time out of his busy schedule, hope we didn't monopolize too much...

and to all the people at WF for being so welcoming to us and making us feel right at home.

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 9/18/2005 4:20:35 PM
Author: mrssalvo

Date: 9/18/2005 4:02:52 PM
Author: aljdewey

Date: 9/18/2005 3:34:21 PM

Author: mrssalvo

Those Texans sure do know how to be hospital.

LMAO - this is SO cute, Mrs. S!

it would have been cuter if I could spell ''hospitable''

EH - we knew what you meant.

It''s a common curse on here - mind faster than the hands -

 

[MissGotRocks]

Well, congrats to Mara on the new earrings. Can''t wait to see them. . .

And Alj, I see that you may wait for another diamond for the pendant - could they tell you why the stone you currently have appears ''darker'' to you? Is it truly the stone or the bezel setting? Just curious. . .

Sounds like a good time was had by all. Thanks for the detailed story of your trip. . . you guys surely didn''t disappoint us!

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 9/18/2005 4:25:14 PM
Author: Mara

Last but not least, Brian set things up for us to do the 40.6 pav angle taste test. There''s alot of discussion on here about 40.6 pav angle and what it means in real life viewing. He gave us three diamonds to look at...all similar in size etc...and asked us which one looked most beautiful for a ring. Both Alj and I picked this larger center one as the most stunning to us. It was a 40.6 pav angle and 34.4 crown angle. It looked like a firecracker, white light and fire galore. There was another 40.6 with a 34.9 crown angle that didn''t seem AS lively to us. That 40.6 and 34.4 could go in a ring anytime for my viewing pleasure.

Oh, a funny thing about this. Two of the diamonds had a 40.6 pav angle; the other had a 40.9. We both picked as our top pick the 34.4/40.6 stone.....the 40.9 pav angle stone was our second pick. I thought that was truly interesting given the recent debate over the flatness or lack of contrast at 40.6.

I came away with an important message.....dismissing a stone based on ONE number is a bit rash. I think it''s more the combination of numbers and how they play together that make the ultimate difference.

On the Pepsi challenge, from E-J, I selected the H as my top pick. That was interesting because it was one of the two stones that were "new line"....the rest were classic.
Stephan, I think I''m beginning to realize why my pendant seems a bit "dark" when photographed a certain way - similar to 8*s, they can have a slightly dark look in certain viewing conditions. Still, the arrows on that baby.....I may have to keep it! LOL

I could not see ANY difference between the ACAs and the ES stones put out.....not even slightly. ALL of them were gorgeous, and I''d take any of them in a minute.

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 9/18/2005 4:37:00 PM
Author: MissGotRocks
Well, congrats to Mara on the new earrings. Can''t wait to see them. . .

And Alj, I see that you may wait for another diamond for the pendant - could they tell you why the stone you currently have appears ''darker'' to you? Is it truly the stone or the bezel setting? Just curious. . .

Sounds like a good time was had by all. Thanks for the detailed story of your trip. . . you guys surely didn''t disappoint us!

As I mentioned to Stephan, I think I understand WHY it looks a bit "dark" sometimes. It''s the same syndrome that 8-stars go through. Both 8*s and the New Line are cut with the objective being to minimize light leakage around the girdle, and this can results in bolder flashes in light return, but a slightly dark look when viewing the diamond head-on.

After seeing the bezel set ring (which I think had a classic cut stone in it), I don''t think it''s the bezel setting. Although now I''m torn on what to do! I liked the prong set better.....but I''m so damn fickle about it, hard to say! LOL

 

[Patty]

I love hearing all your details, ladies.

Thank you!

 

[aljdewey]

OH......I almost forgot to commend you super-sleuths! Yes, Mara and I were indeed the two "discriminating customers" who saw the EGL SI2 brokered stone.

I was STUNNED at how nasty the plot looked; the diamond looked NOTHING like that in person. We actually saw the diamond first, and then John told us to turn around and look at the plot on his monitor......we seriously didn''t believe it was that same stone at first. We could make out only one or two of the inclusions, and that was only after staring at it for close to a full minute. And that was with the benefit of the stone being unmounted.

What we DID notice is that is didn''t have the same pop that a completely well-cut stone would have.....it matched the idealscope, I guess, is the best way to put it. It sparkled nicely ok, but it didn''t have the MAD MAD arrows that we''ve come to expect from truly well-cut goods.

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 9/18/2005 4:48:23 PM
Author: Patty
I love hearing all your details, ladies.

Thank you!

No, thank you......thanks for being so indulgent in listening to us babble! So FUN to share all the details with similarly smitten diamond-o-philes!

 

[Kaleigh]

We are eating this stuff up, keep''em coming please!!!!! Oh and congrats on the earrings Mara!!!

 

[aljdewey]

In the interest of fairness, I have to say that we bullied poor Brian to extract that kind of time out of him, and I want to again thank him for being so completely indulgent.

It was such a rare opportunity, and we didn't want to miss anything. We lobbied for more time with every lame excuse in the book....."but there's TWO of us, so we should get DOUBLE the time"....."we came 1500 MILES to see them"......."we are REPEAT customers several times over"....."WHINE, WHINE, WHINE, WHINE, WHINE!". (I think it was that last one that was successful, by the way.

).

I wouldn't normally expect to get that much time with him, so I'm just grateful beyond words for how MANY stones he showed us. Leaving, I felt like the kid who ate too many Snickers bars......a little queasy, but satisfied that I got my fair share!

 

[Mara]

and more pictures!

This is Stefan''s old asscher, 3c K VVS2...fabulous fabulous stone. The pattern was just mesmerizing!

 

[Mara]

and another one...*swoon*

 

[Mara]

The Pepsi Taste Test with 2 carater stones...yummo. The one on the far left is the 2.13 J and the one to the far right is a E color with a med blue fluor I think (but don't remember size!) The middle one is the H that Al liked. I liked the J the best.

 

[Mara]

and then Brian put them all on my hand...oh my. I almost passed out but then the diamonds would have gone flying. Lots of responsibility on the hand here!

 

[moremoremore]

................... sigh.................

 

[aljdewey]

OK...ladies.....round two of pics! Here are some of the settings we got to see.....

 

[aljdewey]

Mara LOVED this champagne done in gold........because you KNOW how she despises my TACKY YELLOW GOLD....

.....but it was beautiful.

 

[aljdewey]

.....the profile to that ring is just SWOONABLE!

 

[Kaleigh]

All I can say is WOW!!!! They are all gorgeous!!!!!

 

[aljdewey]

These are my rings on Mara.......she said they felt like a more romantic line. I got a little nervous - thought I was gonna have to pry them off her cold, dead hands to get them back!

 

[AGBF]

Date: 9/18/2005 5:28:45 PM
Author: aljdewey
.....the profile to that ring is just SWOONABLE!

Yikes! I have an unset stone. I tried to get Gurhan to put it in a ring of his I loved, but he felt it wouldn't be safe. What is the name of this setting!!!!???? What is it like from the top? (Never mind. I just figured out which shot was of that from the top. But do tell me the name of it.) Is it by a designer or is it Whiteflash's own?

Deb

 

[aljdewey]

Reading Mara's comments more closely above, I feel like I need to make a confession.

For the record.....*I* am the yutz who knocked over the box of diamonds. Mara was kind enough not to identify me. I felt bad that John had to take the flack for ME and ask Vera to put them back in order. He was gracious enough not to tell her "can you put together this stuff that AL knocked over?"

A true professional. Thanks for not making me feel like a complete imbecile over it, John and Brian.

 

[hlmr]

Date: 9/18/2005 5:19:01 PM
Author: Mara
and then Brian put them all on my hand...oh my. I almost passed out but then the diamonds would have gone flying. Lots of responsibility on the hand here!

Wow, what great fun! I am loving the second one down....is it also the second from the left in the row of stones?

Heather

 

[Mara]

Heather I think that is the I stone...but I''m not entirely sure. I think they were laid on my hand from top down aka J I H G F E with the E closest to the apex of my fingers.

That gold matte champagne pave setting was really beautiful and NO I am not a fan of YG at all but that was a stunner. A nice twist on a regular gold setting with the matte look.

Oh and Al''s rings on my fingers, fun fun fun! My rings definitely are more masculine with more metal and hers feel more romantic. The play from the other stones on her ring (aka the sidestones) was just a bling bling knockout..my solitaire looked lonely!

 

[belle]

Date: 9/18/2005 4:25:14 PM
Author: Mara
Last but not least, Brian set things up for us to do the 40.6 pav angle taste test. There''s alot of discussion on here about 40.6 pav angle and what it means in real life viewing. He gave us three diamonds to look at...all similar in size etc...and asked us which one looked most beautiful for a ring. Both Alj and I picked this larger center one as the most stunning to us. It was a 40.6 pav angle and 34.4 crown angle. It looked like a firecracker, white light and fire galore. There was another 40.6 with a 34.9 crown angle that didn''t seem AS lively to us. That 40.6 and 34.4 could go in a ring anytime for my viewing pleasure.

just wanted to hear you say that again...it was worth repeating

thanks mara, for taking the time to share your fun with us. keep the stories and the pics coming!

 

[belle]

Date: 9/18/2005 4:38:21 PM
Author: aljdewey

Date: 9/18/2005 4:25:14 PM
Author: Mara

Last but not least, Brian set things up for us to do the 40.6 pav angle taste test. There''s alot of discussion on here about 40.6 pav angle and what it means in real life viewing. He gave us three diamonds to look at...all similar in size etc...and asked us which one looked most beautiful for a ring. Both Alj and I picked this larger center one as the most stunning to us. It was a 40.6 pav angle and 34.4 crown angle. It looked like a firecracker, white light and fire galore. There was another 40.6 with a 34.9 crown angle that didn''t seem AS lively to us. That 40.6 and 34.4 could go in a ring anytime for my viewing pleasure.

Oh, a funny thing about this. Two of the diamonds had a 40.6 pav angle; the other had a 40.9. We both picked as our top pick the 34.4/40.6 stone.....the 40.9 pav angle stone was our second pick. I thought that was truly interesting given the recent debate over the flatness or lack of contrast at 40.6.

I came away with an important message.....dismissing a stone based on ONE number is a bit rash. I think it''s more the combination of numbers and how they play together that make the ultimate difference.

hehehehehe...i just quoted mara on this above.....
i think it is an important message as well

let''s see more pics!

 

[LadyluvsLuxury]

Date: 9/18/2005 5:28:11 PM
Author: aljdewey
Mara LOVED this champagne done in gold........because you KNOW how she despises my TACKY YELLOW GOLD....

.....but it was beautiful.

Oh my GOODNESS!!! I know as a yellow gold lover I am in the minority, but this absolutely fantastic!!!! I LOVE the way it looks in yellow gold.

 

[Patty]

I didn''t know that they made the U prong Champagne Pave in YELLOW GOLD! They need to get this baby on their web page!

Wowza!

 

[aljdewey]

OK.....sorry. Phone rang!

Another shot of my rings on Mara.