Tiffany Novo + Pear Diamond

[Toasterthief]

Hi there,

I'm currently shopping for an engagement ring. My girlfriend and I stepped in to a Tiffany's this past weekend, with her favorite ring being a Tiffany Novo setting with a Pear shaped diamond (1.3 carats). I'm not exactly sure of the other specifics of the diamond, but $39k seems a bit excessive for the blue box.

I've been looking at Blue Nile/James allen as possible alternatives. What's the closest setting to the Tiffany Novo at each place? I think I found it on Blue Nile (https://www.bluenile.com/build-your...inum_9917?elem=img&track=product&vtype=sample) but I'm curious if anyone has seen something even closer. Also, does anyone have any suggestions/thoughts on buying a similar sized diamond? I understand that round cut diamonds are very easy to compare/standardize, but it seems like comparing pears is more difficult.

 

[Wmiod]

I can't speak to your question about the pear shape, but I have a Tiffany Novo band and I think from an engagement ring POV the closest to the Novo would be https://www.jamesallen.com/engageme...ite-pave-cathedral-engagement-ring-item-49519 however I would also suggest https://www.jamesallen.com/engageme...ite-pave-engagement-ring-flush-fit-item-56252. Neither have the basket aspect of the Novo but just overall offer a similar appearance. The JA settings that have the basket don't have a flush fit. The the prongs for a pear look different so keep that in mind.

You are smart for second guessing that 39K price tag. So many wonderful diamonds to choose from elsewhere. You could get the exact ring you are looking for at like 9K. Best of luck!

 

[Toasterthief]

That first setting looks very similar to the Blue Nile setting I linked, right? Is there a reason to choose one over the other?

 

[ac117]

Yes, because we recommend shopping on JA over BN for fancy cut shapes likes pears since the videos are better and they will provide idealscope or ASET images on stones here in NY, which is very helpful. It would be easier to one stop shop and get both the setting and stone from the same vendor.

 

[Wmiod]

I agree with ac117, I would never buy a diamond from blue nile. There is just so much variation you want to see what you are buying.

Edited to clarify that while some people are very happy with their BN purchase for me its outside of my comfort zone.

 

[Toasterthief]

Thanks for the suggestions. Bluenile is going to send me some in-depth videos of the diamonds in question. If I posted those here would those be helpful?

 

[Toasterthief]

In addition, does anyone have any thoughts on this stone at JA? 2247471

I'd like to keep it around 10k for the ring/setting, but this is the stone that the James Allen representative suggested.

 

[ac117]

Sorry, here's the link: https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/pear-shaped/1.13-carat-f-color-vs1-clarity-sku-2247471

Looks very promising...it's bright with nice reflection of light throughout the center. Could JA provide you with an ASET? Looks to be a minimal bowtie that reflects on/off so I'm not too concerned about it.

 

[Toasterthief]

Is the lack of responses due to the fact that pears are just tougher to buy? Would I be better off purchasing a diamond/setting from a place like ERD/BE?

 

[ac117]

Sorry you're not getting more responses! I would suggest starting a new thread and putting something like "help needed selecting a 1-1.2 ct pear" with your budget, desired specs in your post so more people could weigh in.

Of the 3 you've posted, I still prefer the first 1.13. I can't get the video of the 1.3 to work but the tip looks to have more mush and the 1.2 has a more noticeable bowtie that I don't love. I'll try to have a look at what I could find.

 

[fox81]

not to hijack the thread, but have people got recommendations of who has a good range of pear settings, or who is recommended to custom design a pear setting?

 

[StayFancy]

Hi there, I just purchased a setting similar to this but with larger diamonds https://www.bluenile.com/build-your...e-diamond-engagement-ring-14k-white-gol_53075
with this diamond https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD06270252?track=Detlink2
I like a "spready" diamond so I kept the depth around 58% to get the largest face up diamond I could get while still keeping it brilliant and eye clean. The diamond specialist was very patient and never pushy. I received photos of several diamonds that I was interested in. Blue Nile is an excellent e-tailer you just have to research a little harder.

 

[mrs-b]

Hi Toasterthief -

Here's a few thoughts from someone who regularly buys from Blue Nile, and who has bought dozens and dozens of diamonds from them.

BN is great for round diamonds, because the cut statistics on rounds are standardized. Consequently, you can learn most of what you need to know from a piece of paper. This is not true of fancy cuts - of which pears are one. You will find you are told over and over again on these boards by people with experience in this that you really need to SEE a fancy cut to work out how it will look. As well as that, you need an ASET. You must not buy a pear shaped diamond, sight unseen. This is your starting point.

Things at BN have improved greatly, since they started offering video of their product. But ASET technology is not wide-spread, and, while it's the best information, in my opinion, when buying a fancy cut, most large diamond retailers won't offer it, or even know what it is. JA might give you this info - BN won't. If you're happy to proceed without this info, and IF BN is willing to send you video of the stone in which you're interested, BN might work for you. But - and I say this as a lover and long time, prolific user of BN - you can do better when buying a pear-shaped diamond.

One reason you're not getting many responses is because your BN links don't work. They take you to the generic front page. This is the case for anyone linking to a specific page on BN. The people who are making it to the pieces you're trying to show them are picking the relevant info out of the link and inserting it into the BN search box. You'll get more responses if you put the BN home page link in your posts, and then the stock number, so people can c&p one into the other. By the way - they DO link for you, because your computer has the cookies stored from when you've previously visited those specific pages. Won't work for the rest of us, tho. You'll notice this is also the case with StayFancy's links.

For a pear-shaped diamond, JA is not a bad option. But Good Old Gold in NY is really where you want to be. They'll sort out the best available for the money, run ASETS, make you videos, and basically navigate all the deep water associated with buying a pear. I don't mind the 1.13 F VS1 stone you posted, tho I'd definitely want an ASET to see what its light return will look like. If you're going to choose from video alone, then the BN stones are worth looking at. But, as I said, GOG in NY is the way to go for a pear. Looking good in a video, and paper stats, won't tell you much about how a pear will perform in real life, and a dead looking pear is a dead stone indeed!

Re settings, can you give us the name of the setting you're considering? I would definitely NOT go with BN for a setting; their melee quality is not good enough for my liking, and their prong work is horrible. You don't have to pay Tiffany prices, but it would pay you to go with a really good setter. The advantages of a great stone can be wiped out by a bad setting.

Given the way color is concentrated in the tip of a pear, I would consider going even whiter than F. Pears, on the other hand, are very forgiving of certain types of inclusions. And while I think your JA pear is a nice stone, I'm not thrilled with the shape of it. I'm not fond of the way it tapers from its widest point to its tip as it's uneven and slightly bulbous in the bottom third, which makes it a less elegant looking stone. I found this stone on the JA site and like it a lot; it has no bowtie in the middle, almost no mush on either end, and I'm a sucker for a fat pear. But again, I wouldn't be buying a pear without an ASET:

2600718

The stone above has a nice balance to it, though, and that's hard to find in pears, which tend to show different colors and different concentrations of faceting within the one stone, often giving them an uneven appearance.

I suspect you've bought that 1.13ct JA pear. But if you haven't already bought a setting, how about you give us your budget and let us see how we can help you?

 

[tyty333]

Ditto mrs-b...working with BN stinks because the links dont work and it takes twice the work to bring up one of their stones.

I own a pear engagement ring and will be happy to check out JA for you. Here is my take on ASETS. Pear asets are ugly. They give you 1 static
view of the stone which doesnt work well for pears. You can really tell more from videos and seeing how the facets "light up" or not as the stone
moves. An aset cant tell you this.

What you want to see is clear, well defined (not fuzy, not mushy gray) facets come into view as the stone turns. The best stones have a faceting
where the rounded end looks a lot like a round brilliant. Look for stones that have clear facets reaching down towards the pointed end. Pears like
I just described are hard to find but look for these attributes in a well cut pear.

I think for your budget you should be able to find a stone that is least 9mm. Pay more attention to the size (LxW) than the carat weight. The same
carat weight stone can vary greatly in size.

To be honest, not finding much at JA...
I do like the 1.13 F that was posted earlier. Cant see the price because its reserved.
A nice D
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/pear-shaped/1.12-carat-d-color-vvs1-clarity-sku-2348000

Here is a H that I like...may be bigger than you want.
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/pear-shaped/1.50-carat-h-color-si1-clarity-sku-2644683

Let me check Enchanted Diamonds to see what they might have.

 

[tyty333]

Enchanted Diamonds
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view/P121-015248374?
This looks nice but has inclusion on the table. Would need to ask if its eye clean.
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view/P123-7138Z012Z?
This is the same stone at JA
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/pear-shaped/1.23-carat-f-color-vs2-clarity-sku-2760153

https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view/P120-78Z484382?

This stone is nice (at JA and ED). You do see some black in it when it is turned at a far angle from you.
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/pear-shaped/1.40-carat-d-color-vvs1-clarity-sku-2759983
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view/P140-064545812?

Here is a link to all the ED pears that are in your specs. I feel like ED has a better selection right now. a little
harder to evaluate the videos though.
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamo...deal,Excellent&shape=Pear&wire_price_max=9200

 

[tyty333]

You can look at all the stones posted and narrow it down to your top 2 or 3. Post the links and we can look at them
again and re-evaluate them.

 

[Toasterthief]

Hi Guys,

I figured I'd post an update. I actually ended up taking a detour to NY on a trip and ended up going with Mark Turnowski/Brilliantly Engaged. Ended up with this, and I couldn't be happier!

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Video186views3comments

 

[whitewave]

Really pretty!!

 

[bmfang]

Congrats. The setting and stone work well with each other!

 

[Austina]

It's gorgeous