advice needed on diamond studs

[daskitty]

I''ve spent a few weeks lurking around here, trying to soak up some knowledge and wanted to ask some advice for an upcoming xmas gift for my wife. I''m looking to get her a set of diamond stud earrings and shooting for 1.5 cttw with a budget of approx $5k.

My wife has very fair complexion, and my question is, all things being equal (ie, ideal cut), should I stick to the colorless range and trade down on clarity for a better match with her skin? For example, try to find eye clean F/SI1 (VS2 if I can swing the price)? Or does H/VS1 or 2 make more sense?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[oldminer]

SI2 for clarity and H color will get you where you want to go with some change to spare for a nice meal and a bottle of wine. Use the HCA to judge performance if you go outside the regular ideal range of cut. Make sure the stones physically match one another. You''ll be good to go.

 

[daskitty]

thanks for the advice! I ended up contacting WF to see about some stones - both ACA and expert selection options. Thoughts on these would be appreciated -

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/Compare_Diamonds.aspx?idnos=2113977,2141804,2145410,2113970

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/Compare_Diamonds.aspx?idnos=2228610,2228589

 

[Bosie]

You may want to ask WF or any of the other vendors you are looking at to come up with pairs for you. This will eliminate some of the legwork and guesswork on your part. I bought a pair from BGD, Leslie did the pairing up, very pleased. Good luck.

 

[swingirl]

Letting the vendor pair them up is a good ides. For earrings you can go to lower colors and clarity because they are viewed at a greater distance than a ring. Whiteflash and Brian Gavin have made some lovely studs lately and you will be in good hands with either of them.

The ones you pick look perfect! The ACAs all match very closely.

 

[daskitty]

just wanted to say thanks for the feedback - will get WF or Brian to match up some stones. Appreciate all the great info and advice here!

 

[daskitty]

a final follow-up question for the group - I have some good options from WF and BGD in my ballpark budget ($5k) but out of curiosity checked with James Allen who have the following for $1000 less. I realize in comparing to the WF Expert Selection and BGD these will be of a lower quality, but I''m wondering if anyone can offer some advice on if the tradeoff is worth the savings? I''m spending waaaay too much time searching around on various sites and just want to put this to bed, but keep wondering if I (or my wife) will notice the difference.

thanks in advance!
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/diamond-comparison.asp?p=1261795,1272352
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/diamond-comparison.asp?p=1261795,1272352