My dream stud size has always been around 2.5ctw. I had been wearing a pair of BGD 1.65ctw studs for a few years, and while I loved the diamonds, I really wished they were bigger (familiar story, right?). They were also K colored stones, and I had decided that AGS K stones were more tinted than I was really happy with. As I was playing around on PS one day, I thought I'd see what kind of cost I'd be looking at to get some studs closer to my ideal parameters - J (with fluor would be a bonus), eye clean, and well cut. I happened upon the first stone and inquired with IDJ about it - it was a 1.19 J I1 with MB fluor and GIA excellent cut. They brought it in, gave it the stamp of approval and then Yekutiel said he would look for a match and call me. The very next day, I got a call saying that he'd found a good match and had sent someone to get the stone. The second stone was a 1.22 J I1 with SB fluor and GIA excellent cut. While I was on the phone with him, the stone arrived and he was able to assess the two diamonds side by side. He said they were a perfect match in specs, both J I1 stones that were mostly eye clean, one with MB fluor and one with SB fluor. Everything happened so fast, and I wanted to make sure I was making the right decision, so I asked Yekutiel if he could hold the stones for me for a couple weeks so I could arrange my finances. He graciously agreed, and I sold my 1.65ctw studs as well as a few other items to raise funds for these studs. I also traded in my 2ctw huggies that I purchased from IDJ last year. I have discovered that I'm really a one staple pair of earrings gal, and I preferred my studs over the huggies (especially studs that were close to my dream size).
The certs are already in the safe deposit box, so I don't have the exact specs on each of the diamonds, but they are both in the 6.8mm range. The cut is fantastic - both scored under 2 on the HCA. I'm pretty pleased with the clarity. My biggest trade-off in getting affordable studs in this size was to go down in clarity. After owning many diamonds, I have decided that of the 4 C's, I am least clarity sensitive. As long as the diamond is eye-cleanish, I'm good to go. While both diamonds are I1s, all inclusions are white and are very hard to see unless you are closely inspecting the stones. Since they're on my ears, I wasn't worried about inclusions, especially since they were white inclusions. The color of the diamonds - J with medium and strong blue fluor is probably my favorite part of these diamonds. These diamonds easily face up like GIA H colored diamonds. I have a GIA I side stone in my three stone ring, and these diamonds appear whiter than that I colored diamond. I have decided that J with SBF is my sweet spot. While I did have to make a little trade-off with the clarity of these diamonds, I'm thrilled with the result. I absolutely LOVE wearing these studs, and I think I'll be happy with them for a long time. While I could always go bigger (3ctw anyone?), these feel very substantial and I don't feel the burning need to keep shopping for something bigger or better.
The settings I chose were 14k white gold four prongs with jumbo backs. After having 3 prong and 6 prong settings, I decided that I prefered the classic look of 4 prongs (I like the symmetry of four prongs). I was planning to get a standard basket setting until Yekutiel suggested I get these instead. He said they were a new setting and that they were more delicate than the standard stock settings. He said he had recently set some diamonds in these settings for Bliss (Bliss - are you out there? If so, post those earrings!), and she loved them. I agreed to try them, and he was right. These are beautiful settings. Yekutiel said the settings were similar to the Tiffany novo setting, but I think these are more beautiful. They sort of remind me of tulips, and IDJ did a fantastic job with the claw prong tips.
All in all, I'm really thrilled with my new studs. The size is great, the clarity trade-off worked out really well since these really are 95% eye clean, and the settings are beautiful and delicate. Without further ado, here are the pics!
The certs are already in the safe deposit box, so I don't have the exact specs on each of the diamonds, but they are both in the 6.8mm range. The cut is fantastic - both scored under 2 on the HCA. I'm pretty pleased with the clarity. My biggest trade-off in getting affordable studs in this size was to go down in clarity. After owning many diamonds, I have decided that of the 4 C's, I am least clarity sensitive. As long as the diamond is eye-cleanish, I'm good to go. While both diamonds are I1s, all inclusions are white and are very hard to see unless you are closely inspecting the stones. Since they're on my ears, I wasn't worried about inclusions, especially since they were white inclusions. The color of the diamonds - J with medium and strong blue fluor is probably my favorite part of these diamonds. These diamonds easily face up like GIA H colored diamonds. I have a GIA I side stone in my three stone ring, and these diamonds appear whiter than that I colored diamond. I have decided that J with SBF is my sweet spot. While I did have to make a little trade-off with the clarity of these diamonds, I'm thrilled with the result. I absolutely LOVE wearing these studs, and I think I'll be happy with them for a long time. While I could always go bigger (3ctw anyone?), these feel very substantial and I don't feel the burning need to keep shopping for something bigger or better.
The settings I chose were 14k white gold four prongs with jumbo backs. After having 3 prong and 6 prong settings, I decided that I prefered the classic look of 4 prongs (I like the symmetry of four prongs). I was planning to get a standard basket setting until Yekutiel suggested I get these instead. He said they were a new setting and that they were more delicate than the standard stock settings. He said he had recently set some diamonds in these settings for Bliss (Bliss - are you out there? If so, post those earrings!), and she loved them. I agreed to try them, and he was right. These are beautiful settings. Yekutiel said the settings were similar to the Tiffany novo setting, but I think these are more beautiful. They sort of remind me of tulips, and IDJ did a fantastic job with the claw prong tips.
All in all, I'm really thrilled with my new studs. The size is great, the clarity trade-off worked out really well since these really are 95% eye clean, and the settings are beautiful and delicate. Without further ado, here are the pics!
They look lovely in your ears!
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