New to PS... what do you consider a "big" diamond??

For me a round starts to look "big" at 7mm.

Written by Dreamer_D » May 28th, 2012, 10:00 pm:For me a round starts to look "big" at 7mm.

Ditto, that's about 1.20ct

Written by kelpie » May 28th, 2012, 10:10 pm:

Written by Dreamer_D » May 28th, 2012, 10:00 pm:For me a round starts to look "big" at 7mm.

Ditto, that's about 1.20ct

Or maybe even 1.4 if its an old cut!

It depends on whose finger the stone is

On *my* finger, about an 8 or 9 mm is "perfect" size. On other people's fingers, I think 7.5 mm is "biiiiiig"!

For me probably around 1.5c but it really depends on the stone, the ring, their finger size etc.

Used to be 7 mm but now it is 8 mm.

For me, around 7-8mm depending on shape.

exactly 4.59876412 mm. End.

This has been discussed a great deal and it is clear that what constitutes a "big" diamond varies a great deal with location.

What is considered big in the midwest or in Europe will not be considered big in Manhattan, NY or more affluent areas of California.

Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts. My experience with diamonds is limited to suburban wives, mall jewelry stores, online research, and celebrity spreads in People.

And Kenny, like I said, I am new to PS so I haven't read "a great deal" of anything yet. That being said, I am more interested in the opinions of PS'ers rather than geographical "norms". But it is interesting information nonetheless. I wonder where Portland, Oregon falls on that scale??

I recently purchased a 1.87ct cushion (AVC) that is 7.57mm x 7.11mm... and to me it seems HUGE! It's a beautiful, massive, blingy ROCK and I'm so excited!! And it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks, but I guess I was just wondering if my thoughts/reaction is normal or if I'm just really sheltered because my former "keystone" was .25ct.

Either way, I love my new diamond and I can't wait to get the setting finished so I can wear it all the time! But I am still interested to hear from the PS "experts" to learn what they see and value in a quality stone.

Thanks again! I truly appreciate all I am learning from this forum!

Dougsgirl,

I'm from the Pacific Northwest too....and I love Portland, one of my fav cities! I don't notice many big rocks here (1.25-1.5ct+ for me). If I saw your avc in person, I would think it was huge! I think people here tend to have a simpler style-I see many eternity bands or modern, sleek solitaires. However, when I visit family in CA, I see huge rocks everywhere with more ornate settings.

I grew up in a small town - a carat was large and anything over was huge.

Living on the west coast of Australia now, I would say that a carat is still a pretty standard/large-ish size. The cost of diamonds is much higher here, but there is also a very strong "keeping up with the Jones" aspect of the culture, so you will find people struggle to afford a (rubbish quality) large stone in order to one-up each other (especially among peers of my age to slightly younger).

To me personally, after looking at stones on here for years? Probably 8mm before I would say it was large, 9mm would be awesomely big, larger is a rock.

If you hang around here too long... 9mm starts to look small It's called DSS "Diamond Shrinkage Syndrome"..... there's no cure.. just larger and larger diamonds...that eventually begin to look small...

Mayk pretty much summed it up. When you first start wearing your stone it will seem hugh to you but after a couple of years it
will seem "normal" and to some folks a few years later it will seem small and they will want to upgrade.

Your stone sounds lovely...please post picks when your stone gets set!

I started with .94 E VVS2 from Tiffany. It looked so big (until I found PS a d learned that being a steep deep stone it faces up too small for it's size)

Still stones that measure around .95-.97 considered to be big in my book. And of course from there up.

Written by Mayk » May 29th, 2012, 4:58 am:If you hang around here too long... 9mm starts to look small It's called DSS "Diamond Shrinkage Syndrome"..... there's no cure.. just larger and larger diamonds...that eventually begin to look small...

the avg diamond shrinks .10ct per yr...

I wonder how many people are using pictures on PS to judge what is "big" in their subjective impressions.

If I judge by photos on PS I might sat 8mm+.

In person on my own hand I find 7mm is where the size of a diamond starts to seem big, and any larger and I feel self-conscious in my social circle (also pacific north west). This is one reason I sold my 7.7mm diamond; it was just too large! And too expensive, but that is another story

Probably around 7.5 mm in a round.

ETA: I find square/rectangular stones to look bigger than rounds. The corners fill out the look more.

It totally depends on the center stone. I would go along with most that for a round or rectangular shape it is around 7mm, for an rb that about 1.25 but for most fancies that are square that's around 2cts. Rectangular cuts are a whole different ball game. My ER measures a nice 9x9ish with it's halo, makes the 1.06 asscher center feel pretty big to me! I'm def a size girl, halos or three stones are the only way for me, I don't think I would ever be happy with a plain pronged solitaire. Unless of course, it covered my whole finger!

From Cali (LA) and it doesn't look big to me unless it's over 2 carats.

Bigger than mine

5.5 mm looks big to me! Not sure what size that it, maybe about 0.66 - 0.75.

In our social circle there is one woman whose ring is well known for its size (the biggest of the bunch) - it's just under 2 carats (round brilliant - so probably somewhere in the 7.5-8 mm range?). I'm with Dreamer - certainly around 7 mm it starts to look quite sizeable. Even when I had a 1.28 ct fakey, I was asked a couple of times if it was real, by people I know.

I'm in Oregon, too. Anything around 1 carat and larger seems large. .75 carat center stone for e-ring is much bigger than most from my observation. I live in a rural area and a small city, not too familiar with Portland except for occasional visits.

Oregon is definitely a less "blingy" place than NY and CA. It's laid-back jeans country. My friends consider me a "bling monster" with my center stones which range from .91 carat to 1.30. It's a whole another world here.

Enjoy your beautiful AVC!

Written by Mayk » May 29th, 2012, 4:58 am:If you hang around here too long... 9mm starts to look small It's called DSS "Diamond Shrinkage Syndrome"..... there's no cure.. just larger and larger diamonds...that eventually begin to look small...

this. when I first got my 8.93mm cushion I thought it looked large, now it looks "average sized" on me! Won't say no to a 4 carat pear or 5 carat cushion that's for sure

Relative to where I stay, I think 8mm is when I start giving the ring a "wow that's a nice size" 2nd look.

My stone is 8.1 mm by 7.9 mm. It looked really big to me when I first started wearing it. Now it looks normal. So, like Yssie, my answer is: Bigger than mine!

You guys are great! And funny!! "Diamond Shrinkage Syndrome... "
That's the thing about forums, education, and "comparisons"... isn't it?? We end up knowing more, seeing more then WANTING more.

Here is another funny example...
I have a friend who spent a lot of time on a "breast augmentation" forum as she was considering getting implants. She told me the women on the forum were always saying "go bigger!" and they were often saving money for a "revision" because their DD's were beginning to look small!! They called it "Booby Greed"!!

Sounds like diamonds and boobs are in the same category!

You girls are also right about the Pacific Northwest. For the most part simple rings. Several of my friends have just bands. And I don't know any of my friends who have "upgraded". They have the same ring they were married with 20 years ago.

I tend to be known for my love of bling. One of my favorite mottos is "If it doesn't sparkle... why bother??"
My husband knows this about me and he is loving that I keep staring at this diamond and that it makes my heart go pitter-patter!! It does seem HUGE on my finger (I also have a 4.5 ring size, so that might add to the look of it), and I know it's going to be even bigger once it gets a halo, some filigree, and a partial split shank.
I wonder if it will make me feel self-conscious at all?? I kind of feel like after 18 years of marriage, and raising 3 kids (who are now 20, almost 18 and 16) I don't have to apologize or hide the fact that my husband thinks I'm worth it! Love that man!!
But it will definitely be the blingy-est wedding ring of anyone I know!

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts!!
It's fun to get different perspectives.

Kenny's observation in an earlier thread along the lines of this one struck me as very wise: most people think of diamonds that are a carat bigger than their own are big. I mean, I'm sure we could get more precise if we tried to math it out to say that most people perceive any stone X% bigger than their own as huge ... and given the astronomical (and diminishing) divide as sizes increase, it'd probably be an inverse relationship.

But I'm an English major, and happy to keep things vague.

For me, personally? Anything as wide or wider than the nailbed of the finger it is being worn on reads as visually big. For me, that's 8 mm. For somebody with smaller hands? Who knows?

I've upgraded three times in the last 4 years and still have one more to go! Thanks Pricescope! My DH affectionately refers to it as his boat! I agree with the everyone else that at 7mm the stone starts to appear large, at least on my finger. But I think that I will max out at 8mm, anything larger will start to feel too fake looking for me. At 7mm my stone is the largest that I've seen in my area, besides maybe on some much older women and their styles appear to be more cocktail style than solitaire.

Written by Dougsgirl » May 29th, 2012, 1:18 pm:

Here is another funny example...
I have a friend who spent a lot of time on a "breast augmentation" forum as she was considering getting implants. She told me the women on the forum were always saying "go bigger!" and they were often saving money for a "revision" because their DD's were beginning to look small!! They called it "Booby Greed"!!

Sounds like diamonds and boobs are in the same category!

that's the reason why we have a "Show Me The Boobs" forum...