Ready to go....
Will You....?
...........
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Bruted vs Faceted
I haven't updated this blog for a while... at least not with this kind of info.
If you pay close attention to your stone's certificate, you will see 2 pieces of information that relates to the Girdle. They are the thickness and the 'type' of girdle. In this post, I'm going to explain the 'type'.
Girdle
Girdle is the thin line between the top half of your diamond and the bottom half when viewed from the side. If you refer back to this simple diamond diagram, you can see where it is:
It is the widest part of the diamond and divides the top from the bottom. (It doesn't divide equally of course with the bottom being longer than the top) After being set, the girdle is usually visible unless it is purposely covered by the setting or band like the famous Tiffany Bezet line =P
There are primarily 2 types of girdles:
1. Faceted
2. Bruted
Faceted
Bruted
If you pay close attention to your stone's certificate, you will see 2 pieces of information that relates to the Girdle. They are the thickness and the 'type' of girdle. In this post, I'm going to explain the 'type'.
Girdle
Girdle is the thin line between the top half of your diamond and the bottom half when viewed from the side. If you refer back to this simple diamond diagram, you can see where it is:
It is the widest part of the diamond and divides the top from the bottom. (It doesn't divide equally of course with the bottom being longer than the top) After being set, the girdle is usually visible unless it is purposely covered by the setting or band like the famous Tiffany Bezet line =P
There are primarily 2 types of girdles:
1. Faceted
2. Bruted
Faceted
Nowadays, this is probably the most common girdle type. Faceted means that the girdle is finished with a faceted feel. Even without a microscope, if you look carefully, you'll see numerous facets along the girdle as you turn the ring. It gives the ring a more 'clean' look. Faceting is done after bruting a diamond. These are the last and final steps in diamond cutting.
Bruted
Bruted was more common many years ago and 1 of the reasons why it was common was to prove that the stone was a real diamond. Bruted girdle is achieved by grinding 2 stones together. The appeareance is like a sugarly/frosted look.
Pros & Cons & Facts
-Faceted girdles take an extra step and are considered to be "better" than bruted girdles
-Although there are some out there who argue otherwise
-Faceted girdles cost a bit more as an extra step is involved in the cutting process
-Most diamonds today are faceted
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Keep Waiting...
After getting the ring, sometimes I find it pretty hard to keep hiding it and not proposing it... There are different occassions where I want to present the ring. Sometimes those occassions are not so pleasant, others are better.
The not-so-good occassions are when I keep hearing complaints about how we've been together for so long and I have no plans, no progress, nothing. It's just so hard to put all this effort behind the scenes and keep holding off just to have the perfect proposal. Complaints turn into agruments and there has been several times where I just want to get the ring and present it and tell her all the time and effort I have put into this. There was once or twice when I was really that close to doing it. But I was able to control my emotions and hold back. Sometimes I think to myself, if I had presented it, it wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe that's memorable and the spontaneous nature of it would've made it special. Still I wanted to go with my plan of doing it in a somewhat public and beautiful place =)
Then there are those pleasant occassions where I just feel it's about time and don't want to wait any longer. Trust me, if I could, I would've already done it. It's just I put so much time and effort that I don't want it to happen somewhere and sometime that I didn't plan on having it. But sometimes I think, good things are not meant to be waited for and put on hold for. That's why I really can't wait sometimes and just want to give her the ring....
Well, we'll just wait and see how it goes...
The not-so-good occassions are when I keep hearing complaints about how we've been together for so long and I have no plans, no progress, nothing. It's just so hard to put all this effort behind the scenes and keep holding off just to have the perfect proposal. Complaints turn into agruments and there has been several times where I just want to get the ring and present it and tell her all the time and effort I have put into this. There was once or twice when I was really that close to doing it. But I was able to control my emotions and hold back. Sometimes I think to myself, if I had presented it, it wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe that's memorable and the spontaneous nature of it would've made it special. Still I wanted to go with my plan of doing it in a somewhat public and beautiful place =)
Then there are those pleasant occassions where I just feel it's about time and don't want to wait any longer. Trust me, if I could, I would've already done it. It's just I put so much time and effort that I don't want it to happen somewhere and sometime that I didn't plan on having it. But sometimes I think, good things are not meant to be waited for and put on hold for. That's why I really can't wait sometimes and just want to give her the ring....
Well, we'll just wait and see how it goes...
Monday, May 31, 2010
Microscope Update
Well, finally got the chance to view the Perfect Ring under the microscope today.
Tiffany Toronto was awfully quiet today, which I actually liked. I was only 1 of 2 customers when I got there. I went to find the gemologist who had briefly helped me last time. I actually like her a lot since she's very knowledgeable about diamonds and did not hesistate to get into "technical" talks with me about it. She's also the type that cuts the BS doesn't try to be a fancy sales. That doesn't mean she doesn't have good customer service, it's just her style is more passive which is similar to mine.
Anyway, enough about the nice sales, on to the microscope experience. I had emailed my sales lady the night before and she replied saying that they would be expecting me. So when I went to find the gemologist, she asked another sales to "bring it out" (the microscope) and "get it ready". It sounded so cool lol. However, I was a little surprised since I expected it to be in a nice little private viewing room. I believe even the Tiffany Yorkdale store has this semi-private room with a microscope inside. That's actually where I got the idea thinking if the Yorkdale store has a microscope, then the prestigious Tiffany Toronto store must have it. Well, I was pretty disappointed when the guy the gemologist instructed came out carrying this rather pre-2000s looking microscope out in his nice fancy suit.
They plug it in, turned it on and the gemologist got to work. She said she would need to set it up and calibrate it correctly for me. She played around with this clip that could not hold the ring. Then she explained that it was for loose diamonds only. That struck me odd since, aren't all Tiffany diamonds set and they don't sell/have loose diamonds? If so, then why would they have a microscope that can only hold loose diamonds?
Anyway, I had to hold the diamond with my fingers and that was inconvenient for several reasons. Under such magnifications, moving the diamond a little would cause it to be blurry and out of focus. Therefore, you had to keep your hand and fingers really steady to keep it in focus.
There are basically 2 knobs on their microscope. One was for focusing. So it what you're seeing in the lens is blurry, just turn it. If it gets worse... well turn it the other way =P There's a small knob that you would turn to zoom in or out. Fully zoomed out, the diamond would take up about 1/3 of what you see through the lens. Fully zoomed in, I believe you can only see like 1/2 of the diamond.
Finally, I had to say I'm a tad disappointed with the diamond, despite it's good specs. I think I saw about 2-3 black pinpoint conclusion, as well as, a cloud of clear inclusions. These clouds are kinda like teeny-weeny air bubbles trapped in the diamond during the growth process. They're called clouds because they come in clusters. So there we go, 2 black pinpoints and a cloud that I could not see even under the loupe. That's pretty disappointing. I did get the opportunity to verify the serial number that I cleverly spotted the other day under the loop. I thought it was a big inclusion, which was odd because it was so nicely parallel to the table. The gemologist looked and laughed and said that's the serial number that is etched near the table. She complimented saying that I have a very good eye and majority of their customers would not even see it if she told them where it was.
After the microscope, I insisted that we look again using the loupe and I realized that what I thought were dust particles before were actually the cloud themselves. And by tilting the diamond at the right angle where the entire table has light reflecting off it directly, you can see all the inclusions actually. I found a great way to view inclusions using this method that I learned today. Hands-on experience!
After this whole ordeal, the gemologist kept emphasizing that this is a really, really good ring and that I picked a really good one. As I mentioned before, it seems she cuts the BS and since I'm technically not her client, there is really no point for her to sugarcoat everything. She said that I'm getting the best bang for the buck by getting a G, VS2 and the triple excellent, no fluorescence, faceted medium girdle. She said the numbers (proportions) are really nice too! I said that's exactly why I picked this diamond and asked if she knew about the HCA tool. She said she's not particularly aware of that tool, but she knows such tools exist. But to her, with her background and knowledge as a gemologist, she knows right off the bat which numbers and ranges are good and which aren't. That was pretty impressive since I always have to resort to the HCA tool. To her, it's like picking some nice, sweet oranges or picking fresh fish at the supermarket.
In conclusion, I was rather disappointed after finally seeing the inclusions. I guess I can't expect too much since it's a VS2 after all, not IF or F. However, having a decent eye and being really picky, I couldn't see much with the loupe. And now that I learned how a cloud really looks like (not dust particles!), I realized I have that too on the diamond. But I'm not going to turn around. I think this is still a really good diamond and I'm getting a great deal on it (well subjective I know lol)... I hope it's worth it and I'll have no regrets....
Tiffany Toronto was awfully quiet today, which I actually liked. I was only 1 of 2 customers when I got there. I went to find the gemologist who had briefly helped me last time. I actually like her a lot since she's very knowledgeable about diamonds and did not hesistate to get into "technical" talks with me about it. She's also the type that cuts the BS doesn't try to be a fancy sales. That doesn't mean she doesn't have good customer service, it's just her style is more passive which is similar to mine.
Anyway, enough about the nice sales, on to the microscope experience. I had emailed my sales lady the night before and she replied saying that they would be expecting me. So when I went to find the gemologist, she asked another sales to "bring it out" (the microscope) and "get it ready". It sounded so cool lol. However, I was a little surprised since I expected it to be in a nice little private viewing room. I believe even the Tiffany Yorkdale store has this semi-private room with a microscope inside. That's actually where I got the idea thinking if the Yorkdale store has a microscope, then the prestigious Tiffany Toronto store must have it. Well, I was pretty disappointed when the guy the gemologist instructed came out carrying this rather pre-2000s looking microscope out in his nice fancy suit.
They plug it in, turned it on and the gemologist got to work. She said she would need to set it up and calibrate it correctly for me. She played around with this clip that could not hold the ring. Then she explained that it was for loose diamonds only. That struck me odd since, aren't all Tiffany diamonds set and they don't sell/have loose diamonds? If so, then why would they have a microscope that can only hold loose diamonds?
Anyway, I had to hold the diamond with my fingers and that was inconvenient for several reasons. Under such magnifications, moving the diamond a little would cause it to be blurry and out of focus. Therefore, you had to keep your hand and fingers really steady to keep it in focus.
There are basically 2 knobs on their microscope. One was for focusing. So it what you're seeing in the lens is blurry, just turn it. If it gets worse... well turn it the other way =P There's a small knob that you would turn to zoom in or out. Fully zoomed out, the diamond would take up about 1/3 of what you see through the lens. Fully zoomed in, I believe you can only see like 1/2 of the diamond.
Finally, I had to say I'm a tad disappointed with the diamond, despite it's good specs. I think I saw about 2-3 black pinpoint conclusion, as well as, a cloud of clear inclusions. These clouds are kinda like teeny-weeny air bubbles trapped in the diamond during the growth process. They're called clouds because they come in clusters. So there we go, 2 black pinpoints and a cloud that I could not see even under the loupe. That's pretty disappointing. I did get the opportunity to verify the serial number that I cleverly spotted the other day under the loop. I thought it was a big inclusion, which was odd because it was so nicely parallel to the table. The gemologist looked and laughed and said that's the serial number that is etched near the table. She complimented saying that I have a very good eye and majority of their customers would not even see it if she told them where it was.
After the microscope, I insisted that we look again using the loupe and I realized that what I thought were dust particles before were actually the cloud themselves. And by tilting the diamond at the right angle where the entire table has light reflecting off it directly, you can see all the inclusions actually. I found a great way to view inclusions using this method that I learned today. Hands-on experience!
After this whole ordeal, the gemologist kept emphasizing that this is a really, really good ring and that I picked a really good one. As I mentioned before, it seems she cuts the BS and since I'm technically not her client, there is really no point for her to sugarcoat everything. She said that I'm getting the best bang for the buck by getting a G, VS2 and the triple excellent, no fluorescence, faceted medium girdle. She said the numbers (proportions) are really nice too! I said that's exactly why I picked this diamond and asked if she knew about the HCA tool. She said she's not particularly aware of that tool, but she knows such tools exist. But to her, with her background and knowledge as a gemologist, she knows right off the bat which numbers and ranges are good and which aren't. That was pretty impressive since I always have to resort to the HCA tool. To her, it's like picking some nice, sweet oranges or picking fresh fish at the supermarket.
In conclusion, I was rather disappointed after finally seeing the inclusions. I guess I can't expect too much since it's a VS2 after all, not IF or F. However, having a decent eye and being really picky, I couldn't see much with the loupe. And now that I learned how a cloud really looks like (not dust particles!), I realized I have that too on the diamond. But I'm not going to turn around. I think this is still a really good diamond and I'm getting a great deal on it (well subjective I know lol)... I hope it's worth it and I'll have no regrets....
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Microscope...
Going to see the ring under a microscope tomorrow.... hopefully...
First time looking at a diamond under the microscope. I wonder how it's going to be. I'll definitely update after the experience =P
I wonder if it's going to be shocking or pleasant or both. It'll probably be pretty cool seeing it under such great magnification, but at the same time all the inclusions that I missed even with a loupe will show up. I hope it doesn't turn me off lol.
First time looking at a diamond under the microscope. I wonder how it's going to be. I'll definitely update after the experience =P
I wonder if it's going to be shocking or pleasant or both. It'll probably be pretty cool seeing it under such great magnification, but at the same time all the inclusions that I missed even with a loupe will show up. I hope it doesn't turn me off lol.
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