Help me choose Tiffany e-ring!

TPF may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others

#16
For me, having the closest one wasn't really that important. I don't care if it fools Tiffany (though, so far, in two stores, they've been convinced enough to offer to clean it and then saw the marking and said "oh that isn't ours, we're sorry.") I like the style of the original but what matters more to me is getting my stone set the way I want it set. I want it set high enough that I can see my culet from the side, and Tiffany does not do that. I've also had prior experience with Vatche, the setting this replaced was a different Vatche design, in fact, and I KNOW they will not set it the way I wanted it set, because they don't "modify their designs."

MINE is really narrow in the shank, much narrower than the real thing. Just FYI.

I can PM you some stones if you would like, and then you can see what you think.
 
#18
Feel free to ask me anything you need to know, want to know about a stone or how a setting is handled. I will say that if you go outside of T&Co, stay with one vendor. Don't buy a stone from one and a setting from another. Keep the transaction in one place. It's safer all around--ie shipping issues don't come up, and setting issues don't come up.

When we get into specific diamonds--especially if you opt to go outside the brand name, it's probably smart that we keep those in PMs, I can explain the angles and details in here for educational reasons, but links need to go in PMs. The reason being that people who are looking for similar stuff will pay attention to "vetted stones" on here and swoop in and buy that stone out from under you. I don't want to pre-vet a stone for a regular on here only to have some jerkwad lurker without an account benefit from that.

If you quote me on here, I will know to check this subforum, or obviously PM. I suck at remembering to check the subs now that they're split off.
 
#19
Dear ame,

As you can see, i'm new to this thread and am currently shopping for my proposal ring. I know Tiffany's will brighten up my other half's day but I have this nagging feeling that Tiffany's diamonds aren't backed by GIA or AGS but in-house certifications.

i recently shortlisted a gem of the following specs:

0.66 G VS2 triple E
no enhancements, no fluorescence
depth 60.8%
table 58%
CA 34.0deg
PA 40.7deg
Girdle thk: medium to slightly thick
Girdle finish: faceted
cutlet 0%
HCA 0.9

All of the numbers fit into your checklist except the table %. Do you think you could offer me some advice on this gem?

I am satisfied with the carat, colour & clarity grades. As for cut, I would have to give the in-house certification the benefit of the doubt that it is truly triple excellent (i saw the report).

Many thanks in advance for my long-winded post!
 
#20
I wish you were able to start a new thread, but I will give you a response in here. I know you're new and unable.

You are correct that they do in-house certifications on their stones, and they are not backed by those from a reputable lab. There are a few instances where a stone will have a GIA report, though. The lack of a GIA or AGS report would be something you have to be ok with if your intended really wants a Tiffany branded ring. I don't take that "triple excellent" thing seriously when it's not a reputable lab saying so, and even then, it doesn't mean much when the numbers don't add up.

This stone would be absolutely perfect if the table number was not a 58%. I would not be ok with it on paper because I personally cannot get past that 58%. It meets every other criteria except that one for me. If you personally love it, and you say you're satisfied with it and think your intended would be delighted, that is your decision to make. Don't settle on something you're not thrilled with. But you say you're satisfied, so that tells me you're pretty pleased.

A 58% table just means that it will be slightly less "firey" than a stone with say a 55% table would have. It will be a whiter brighter light return, vs a more colorful "firey" light return. Have you taken it into other lighting conditions than JUST the store lights? Say by a window in sunlight, natural day light, etc.? Please do, so you can see how it performs. Also "cup" your hand around it a little so that it gets "ambient" light vs direct light. See if it "lights up" and if the brightness is literally edge to edge, or if it goes dark in any spot or around the edges. That's a big hint on how it will perform.
 
#21
Dear ame,


I agree with you totally, being a statistics and "paper" person myself. I went down to examine the stone again and found it satisfactory. of course, I was limited to visual inspection for fire & scintillations and viewing in different lighting backgrounds (under a desk, beside the window etc.). I wish I had an ideal or ASET scope with which I could check the light return.


Having satisfied myself (albeit visually) and with the HCA tool, the next barrier was the price. It was actually almost twice as much as a Lazare and with somewhat lower specs in terms of clarity and colour. I had to remind myself that I still had the wedding bands to purchase!


Its off-topic in this thread, but let me start a new one in the jewellery forum for the Lazare.


Cheers
 
#22
Dear ame,

Sad that I still cannot post a new thread despite reaching 5 posts. I think this would be a good topic for discussion...Lazare vs. Tiffany (based on the technical details & not emotional preferences).

To cut the story short, I selected a couple of Lazare stones and as expected, the rocks were within the ideal cut tolerances (table 57%, crown angle 35o, pavilion angle 41o, pavilion depth was btw 42.2-43.8%). However, I was concerned that the depth was 62.1% which I figured, seems to be a deeply cut diamond.


The HCA value is 2.4 with Very Goods for Light Return, Fire, Scintillation & Spread. Although the HCA tool is not to be used for selection but for filtering possible bad choices, do you think I should be put off by the HCA score? In my view, the diamond talked less to me than the Tiffany which I described above.

I do not think that the store would do a manual search for stones with HCA < 2 for me but I can try. I managed to find 3 stones within my budget and the depth % were consistently > 62%. I understand that a deep cut translates into a smaller diameter stone after setting.

Comments please?


Cheers
 
#23
Just tell the store the cheat sheet info, don't get into HCA info. But you will find that many of these brands are not selling stones for cut quality. They are consistently selecting stones based more on color/clarity/size because that's basically how they rank overall saleability and really, that's how customers rank beauty. 95% of their customers are not concerned with cut quality. They care about the color and clarity and size in relation to their budgets.

It is POSSIBLE to get a branded stone that falls into the numbers, it's not going to happen quickly. So if you're on a strict timeline, and the numbers are very important, it's probably not a good idea to go branded.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top