Pendant stone-smaller high color or larger low color?

[Boom]

I am considering a simple solitaire pendant that I can wear casually.

With my budget, I can go below 2cts and get a DEF stone, or HI if above 2cts.

My current ering stone in a solitaire setting is a 5.58ct HVS2 ACA and my ear studs are approx 6.6ctw (I forget the exact weights) IVS1 CBIs. I am totally happy with them.

I am intrigued by the idea of a colorless diamond. My original ering was a half carat E VVS2 but since then, my diamonds have been G to J colors.

My worry is that if I go below 2cts, the pendant might look disproportionate in size to my ering and earrings when I wear them all together. Also, the color difference might be noticeable and that might bother me. And yet I really love the idea of a colorless stone ...

I’ve been to a B&M store but with the lighting, everything just looked sparkly and the smaller size seemed ok but I can’t quite decide.

I’d love to hear any opinions please.

 

[Boom]

For reference, these are the ering and earrings.
I don’t know why but the photo makes them look much larger than IRL.

 

[MissGotRocks]

I think I would keep to the same color range as the rest of your diamonds - which are beautiful by the way! While I understand the intrigue of a colorless stone, I think keeping things in the same color range makes for a more cohesive look.

 

[Missie1]

Simply stunning set. I would go with larger solitaire necklace as your other items have large presence and you want necklace to balance.

 

[AV_]

.

How about colour? FIY?

 

[tyty333]

Can you do G and get close to 2 carats? I wonder if that will give you that whiteness you are craving? Of course, once its on your neck you
dont really get to see it much.

Edit...your current jewelry is on the larger side and I fear that if you go too small you wont be happy
with it.

 

[Boom]

@MissGotRocks and @Missie1
In terms of color and size, a larger H/I stone definitely makes more sense.
It’s just that I have some VCA jewelry with DEF pave diamonds which are super white that made me wonder...
@av
I feel a white diamond is easier to match with outfits. But a FIY is something to dream about!
@tyty333
A G is a good compromise but it’s neither here nor there for me. I am perfectly happy with my H/I stones, so if I’m not going colorless, then I would stick to those colors.

 

[Missie1]

.

How about colour? FIY?

I would go low as I as it’s going to face up white.

The pave from VCA doesn’t count imo as your main pieces are H/I and they all need to be in balance. Smaller solitaire isn’t going to work

 

[AV_]

@av
I feel a white diamond is easier to match with outfits. But a FIY is something to dream about!

I tend to see yellow diamonds as kin to gold that goes with everything.

 

[LLJsmom]

Based on your current items I would go bigger to be in sync with the size of your other pieces. I don’t think you’ll be able to see much difference between H and D-E when work on neck and ears.

 

[lambskin]

I am a color snob. But if is only for a pendant I would go for the bigger stone. H is my bottom limit!

 

[prs]

To have any presence a pendant needs to be as big as possible. People are normally viewing a pendant from a distance of at least three feet, so slight color differences and any inclusions are much less apparent. Personally I'd go for BIG with a well cut, eye clean J.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

My advice will seem strange.
1. look for a GIA Very Good shallow cut with HCA under 1.0. (some people in the trade reading this will remember the experiment I did with Drena at the Vegas trade show a decade or so ago. They would prefer to forget it as it dispelled their beliefs. I swapped one of Drena's Tolkowsky H&A's earrings diamonds for a shallow stone of the same diameter and at various social functions asked the trade experts (including John Pollard and Peter Yantzer (then cheif of AGS Lab). All thought the shallow stone was bigger looking and brighter.
2. You can easily get away with an SI2 with hard to see eye visible inclusions (do not find an eye clean as it will have deleterious hazy or clouds).
3. if you follow step 1 you can probably get away with a lower color (but I am not a fan - I stock Rounds D-H up to 2ct and then G as a minimum).

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Oh, and pendants should be quite a bit bigger than earrings.
1ct ER to 1.5ct pendant etc
So I would be looking for a 2.5ct pendant if I were you

 

[acted]

I have 5.5ct GIA H VVS1 ring,
Just bought 3ct I/IF GIA for pendant. Simple setting, love it! ( I am not sacrificed clarity for bigger size, and never willing to).

Go big for pendant. It will sing well with your ring.

 

[dk168]

Lower spec on colour and clarity to maximise on size for me.

DK

 

[TreeScientist]

Agree with everyone else. I'm also a lover of high color stones, but you should try to match the set as much as possible. This is especially important for the earrings, as they are seen "in the same frame" as a pendant when someone is looking at your face. A super colorless (think D-E) pendant may make the I color earrings appear somewhat yellow by comparison.

F is probably the highest you should go for your pendant. I like Garry's suggestion of going with a slightly shallow stone to maximize brightness. Also, you may be better off looking for a well cut un-branded stone. If you've been looking only at WF and HPD, then you may be able to get what you want in the size you want on the open market.

Here's a nice stone worth considering. Slightly shallow crown, which can work well with pendants, and it's an F color over 2 carats for $23k. Need to check the medium blue fluor in this stone to make sure it's not causing any transparency issues (which is shouldn't), but if it checks out this would make a wonderful pendant stone.

https://www.withclarity.com/diamond/1843464491

 

[whatamilookingat]

Would you ever upgrade this pendant? Since you're interested in a colorless diamond, maybe just get a smaller diamond in the colorless range with whiteflash or a cbi. That way, you can decide if you really like the bright white look, and you can eventually upgrade the size if you choose. You already know you like diamonds in the H or I colors, so if you get another large diamond in that color range you may always still be curious. Also, if you decide the DEF color is not all that you thought it'd be, you could easily swap it out with a bigger diamond in the H-I range since you have a good upgrade policy.

 

[LLJsmom]

If within our budget I’d still go with as well cut as possible because who knows what you might want to do with this stone in the future. It’s a substantial stone. Sell reset give to children or heirs. Retaining in the flexibility with WF or CBI may be smarter in the long run.

 

[Karl_K]

Butter yellow in the m-z range and rock the size.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

@m-2-b has an ACA just under 5 cts and studs that are maybe 2.5 each and her ACA pendant is 2.8 cts. I personally like the pendant size to be equal or larger than a single stud stone and smaller than the e-ring. So I'd be looking at 3 cts for your pendant and no higher than G-H color to blend in with your other diamonds. Ironically I am kind of looking for a pendant stone, as well, but on a smaller scale. I am looking for one in between the size of my e-ring and studs.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

My advice will seem strange.
1. look for a GIA Very Good shallow cut with HCA under 1.0. (some people in the trade reading this will remember the experiment I did with Drena at the Vegas trade show a decade or so ago. They would prefer to forget it as it dispelled their beliefs. I swapped one of Drena's Tolkowsky H&A's earrings diamonds for a shallow stone of the same diameter and at various social functions asked the trade experts (including John Pollard and Peter Yantzer (then cheif of AGS Lab). All thought the shallow stone was bigger looking and brighter.
2. You can easily get away with an SI2 with hard to see eye visible inclusions (do not find an eye clean as it will have deleterious hazy or clouds).
3. if you follow step 1 you can probably get away with a lower color (but I am not a fan - I stock Rounds D-H up to 2ct and then G as a minimum).

Garry, I was JUST thinking about this! I couldn't remember the measurement range! Please tell me number ranges for table, depth, crown and pav angles! Do you just mean a lower crown angle than 34???

(I like VS and just can't help that!)

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Okay, just found m-2-b's thread with her pendant and there are pics with her other pieces! Ring is 4.7 cts, studs 2.4cts each, pendant 2.8 cts. All are I color and ACAs.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-new-whiteflash-2-8-ct-aca-diamond-pendant.242363/

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Here are a couple close to 3 cts that would be nice:

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4109827.htm

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4054989.htm

 

[Dreamer_D]

I think your pendant needs to be much larger to fit with your other diamonds. I would try to go over the 2.5ct mark and would aim for IJ color and an eye clean SI2.

 

[TreeScientist]

Here are a couple close to 3 cts that would be nice:

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4109827.htm

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4054989.htm

These are nice, but given that she originally said she can hit 2 carats with her budget, I'm going to go ahead and guess that $41k is slightly over her budget haha.

@Boom can you post your budget? If under $30k, this stone might be appropriate. Would match the earrings well (about the same size as each or your individual studs) and has a nice ivory yellow color:
https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/2.81-ct-I-VS2-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond/D43400545?

 

[TreeScientist]

Also promising. Very nice proportions for a pendant stone:
https://www.yadavjewelry.com/diamond/round-diamond-2.83-carat-i-vs2-yd7070936

 

[diamondseeker2006]

@TreeScientist Yes, I am sure those H stones are higher than what she was thinking, but ultimately, considering the rest of her collection, I am thinking she'd be willing to wait and get a superideal in the right size.

There are some excellent I color ACAs just under the 3 ct mark which are unusual to find. I'd personally just ask which of these is the whitest.

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4135232.htm

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4135238.htm

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4135233.htm

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4129359.htm

over 3 cts

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4129363.htm

 

[prs]

DW once looked at acquiring a diamond solitaire pendant, but gave up when we got to 4ct and it still looked lost on her. DW is barely 5'0" and very petite so she's not that big, this is how she prefers to rock 4.9tcw very sparkly diamonds.

View attachment 702075

Another of her favorites, 5.1tcw.