How would you go about buying earrings?

[Rebemdee]

I am almost 99% sure that I''m going to use my tax return to pay some of my school loan (a small itty bitty token amount) and use the rest for diamond earrings! I need a present for me! That gives me a budget of around $1500, maybe a bit more. If you had this budget, and wanted as big as you could get, but not sacrifice sparkle, what would you do? I''ve read a lot of the posts, and it seems going down to I/J, and SI1 is fairly typical. How about SI2, if I called the vendor and asked them to eyeball the stones first? I want ACA, so I know that will limit my search somewhat.

Also, what would you do for the setting? Is platinum recommended above white gold? Would platinum make them heavier and more likely to droop? My mom pierced my ears when I was about ten, so they are a little off kilter (the earring holes, not my ears!). Is there a setting that would be less likely to show that?

Any advice you can give would be appreciated. I want something I''ll be happy with for a long time.

 

[Lorelei]

Definitely try an S12 clarity to maximise bang for the buck, a vendor will tell you if they are eyeclean and this would be a good way to go, also with the colour you suggest too! Platinum could be heavier than WG and would cost more too, have you seen the Martini settings that are popular here?

Do a search and take a look but it seems wearers find they are comfortable and sit well in the ears so they might be worth considering. Good luck and how nice you can get yourself a reward!

PS- if well cut I1''s could be found, these could be an option for earrings too, but these might be hard to find.

 

[aljdewey]

I''d wouldn''t go ACA for these. Their ES diamonds are equally beautiful and you can get 25% more weight for the same money.

I''d try these:

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/Matching_Compare.aspx?oldID=1955214&newID=1955215

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/Matching_Compare.aspx?oldID=1955221&newID=1955217

 

[Sundial]

I received new diamond stud earrings for Christmas that are H SI2 and I would highly recommend this combination for earrings as long as the stones are relatively eye clean and well cut. White gold is perfectly fine for earrings and if you go with the martini setting you won''t have to worry about sagging. Many on this forum have purchased the Whiteflash expert selection stones for studs and seem to be very happy with them, so I would agree with Aljdewey that you ought to at least give those a look.

 

[belle]

if you don''t have any aca''s yet and want some, i think earrings is a great way to go about it. going that route allows you to upgrade later if you should choose to as well. definitely get i/j si2 quality if you can. don''t worry about eye clean at all. at this size you won''t see any inclusions, especially on the ears!
if you just want really well cut stones and don''t *have* to have aca''s, then go the es route that alj suggested. you will get great stones at a great price.

best of luck!

 

[coda72]

The two pairs that aljdewey picked out look like very good diamonds, and even though they aren''t ACA they should be beautiful. These also would be upgradeble; only the Ready Set Go earrings are not.

 

[Rebemdee]

Thank you for the input! I don''t have to get ACA...I just thought it''s my chance, since my E-ring isn''t ACA and I always drool over the ones I see here. But, if I''ll get more carat for my money without ACA, I''ll do that. And I do feel comfortable going down on clarity and color. As I learned on PS, the real estate of diamonds is CUT, CUT, and CUT, and I''m not going to sacrifice on that! I''m going to start looking at the vendor websites for some diamonds, make a few calls, and I hope when that tax return comes in, I''ll be ready to go. Now...where did I put that W-2????