Long Overdue--Thanks PS and Whiteflash

[hypermom]

Hi All!


I discovered PS years ago when I was in the process of upgrading my 1 cttw uncerted H/Vs2 stud earrings at a local vendor, who had an upgrade policy. Unfortunately, I hadn’t spent enough time on the forum and well, you know what they say about a little knowledge . . .

So we went to the store and of course I insisted on certed diamonds, which I got. But I hadn’t yet learned how to read the certs and what all the angle information meant.

So as I continued to get my PS education, I learned about the HCA and learned I had purchased one diamond that was 1 on the HCA , but the other one was 5.4 .

But hey, the diamonds were Dvs2 (hca 1) and Evs1 (hca 5.4). I thought color and clarity were what determined a diamond’s beauty! Wrong!


I never planned to post, I had nothing to really share, but I wanted to see the Preloved forum. So I created an account.


Over the years I have appreciated the advice you all have shared about different vendors and the help you have given new posters. I especially love the guys who come on and want to get something really special for their soon to be fiancée. That you would spend so much time researching diamonds and engagement rings is just lovely.


I never really expected to have jewelry pieces that I could share here. But I enjoyed all of your pictures, posts and stories.


So this long winded post is a long winded way to say THANK YOU for all the things you shared that have helped me in my journey. And I do have some PS worthy jewels to share! And that is thanks to Whiteflash!

 

[hypermom]

Anyway the diamonds that I traded up to were 1.92 cttw and set in 3 prong martini settings with screw backs. For anyone thinking screwbacks are secure, well after traveling around to such an extent I could not possibly retrace my steps, my left ear had no earring in it. And I learned I lost the D better cut diamond!


So what do I do? Do I find a matching diamond online? The one I buy will be so much nicer than the one I had left. Or do I just trade in the remaining diamond, take the price hit, start all over with a vendor who is going to sell me gorgeous diamonds? Well, of course I selected option 2. I was hoping to be a PSer someday!


At the time Whiteflash took some certified diamonds as trade in. I believe you needed to spend 1.5 times the trade in amount on the Whiteflash diamond. I gave them the GIA number and they gave me an estimated dollar amount pending evaluation of the diamond for any damage. (They did confirm that this diamond was not suitable to keep in their inventory but that they could facilitate a sale.) The diamond checked out and I was now ready to select my very first pair of super ideal diamond studs. Yay!! I was so excited. I ended up choosing Fvs2 2.03 cttw diamonds and chose the 6 prong martini setting in platinum with jumbo backs and two notches in the post. They were just stunning and I enjoyed them for about 3 years.

 

[hypermom]

After a period of time, I found I wasn’t enjoying the 6 prong martini earring setting as much as I thought I would. They were beautiful settings! I just didn’t like how they sunk down into my ear. I wore them really tight, see paragraph 4 again. So I thought I’d be happier with a setting with a flat base so they would sit more perched up on the ear. I just loved the custom 6 prong crown setting on the Whiteflash website so I decided that’s what I would do.


Now it seemed silly to return earrings just to get a new setting. Shouldn’t I consider upgrading the diamonds? Yes but it had to be substantial, or why bother? I went up .5 mm and wow those new earrings were huge! I thought at first they were too big but DSS is real and they have shrunk over the past year. Unfortunately, my ear lobes aren’t huge (only part of my body that I deliberately wish was bigger). So I’m somewhat sure no more upgrading for me. I mean no more upgrading the earrings. Oh I’m definitely upgrading something. New thread to come…


I don’t have any ear shots of my first set of studs unfortunately. But I still have the glamour shots:

 

[hypermom]

Here are some pictures of my upgraded studs and obligatory ear shot. Those ear shots are very hard to take:

 

[hypermom]

Now before the upgrade of my earrings, it seemed like everyone on PS was getting a tennis bracelet. So now I wanted one. I went out to lunch with a friend who like me doesn’t have much jewelry but loves jewelry. I told her I really wanted a bracelet and she said, why don’t you plan to buy one when your daughter gets married? It’s something to look forward to.


That’s years away, I wailed. Well, it ended up not being years. She met a guy in Africa on an internship (He’s from Missouri), had a crazy courtship and married. I had to rush to get that bracelet in time for the wedding! Somehow I managed it with 6 months to spare. What a whirlwind!

 

[hypermom]

Well, I went back to Whiteflash and started looking at bracelet settings. And thinking about how big I wanted to go, of course.


I originally wanted the 3 prong bracelet. Well I showed it to my husband and he said Absolutely not! I’ve had issues with diamonds falling out of jewelry in the past and he insisted on 4 prongs for security. Now I know that 3 prongs are secure, but I wanted my bracelet and was willing to compromise to get it!


I didn’t care for the 4 prong bracelet that Whiteflash had on line, so I asked my Whiteflash representative if they had one that was set lower. She sent me a picture of one that was a semi custom order that was perfect. My last decision was the size of the diamonds. I had quotes for 12, 15, and 20 point diamonds. I decided to go with the 15 pointers because the 20 point bracelet was 7000 dollars more. And I selected a length of 7.25 inches.


And I wore the bracelet at my daughter’s wedding. It is just a lovely bracelet. Here’s a few glam pictures from Whiteflash.

 

[hypermom]

Now I can hear you thinking, why does that last picture look so familiar? Well, you have a good memory. Here’s why:



I’d say if my bracelet was named Miss June 2017, I learned something from PS. And my wedding anniversary is in June. 7.35 carats. That’s my bracelet.






So thanks so much for unknowingly educating me all these years. And I’ve never stolen a stone from another poster! Just wanted to let you know!

 

[Dancing Fire]

Beautiful pieces!, Congrats!

 

[bright ice]

Gorgeous staple pieces!

I’d love to know more about your ER upgrade you are waiting on. Can’t wait to see what you are getting!

 

[diamondnewbieny]

Thanks for sharing your stories! I actually really enjoyed it.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Well, you have certainly gathered some beautiful diamonds! Thanks for sharing your story and your gorgeous earrings and bracelet!

 

[Gussie]

Gorgeous pieces!!!!!

 

[marymm]

OP, this thread is why I love PS, and why I love WF - thank you for your story, your photos, and being a part of the PS community!

p.s. your WF bracelet is particular is magnificent!

 

[Dandi]

I really, really loved reading your story! And the pieces you have ended up with are absolute perfection. I especially love those studs, they look spectacular on you! The perfect size

 

[sep004]

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing!

 

[Lykame]

Really really enjoyed reading this! Looking forward to reading about your other upgrade and also looking forward to more pictures... Like wrist shots of that bracelet!!!

 

[tyty333]

Impressive! Love your pieces! Definitely worth showing off!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I am sorry I missed your thread, but I knew you had studs and a bracelet and I looked up your thread so I could see them! They are just gorgeous and a really nice size! That 4 prong setting is exactly what I would choose, as well. I think we like similar things! These along with your new ring are just perfect staple pieces!

 

[kmoro]

I really enjoyed reading your posts ... thank you for taking the time to write them!

My favourite was when you got the bracelet in the nick of time (my words) ... six months before the wedding hahaha ...priceless!

Enjoy your diamonds!

 

[MK Malone]

Fun posts to read!! And pretty pics of beautiful diamond goodies!! Congrats on those luscious gifts. I might have missed it, but did you do anything fun with the original diamond stud earrings (especially the “HCA 1”)?

 

[Tekate]

Beautiful pieces of WF diamonds, I understand how you feel, since I feel the same. I love that tennis bracelet!