Can an I color I1 clarity diamond be beautiful?

[FancyDiamond]

Thanks, sarap333 for the link and price info. I

love, love the diamond and purple sapphire combination that you have (everything , the metal design, the proportion, and etc.), but I wonder if sapphires sparkle as much as diamonds. Love the purple color (goes great with the two-tone, yellow and white gold combination), but I am not sure about the sparkling aspect. Please comment.

Your beautiful ring got me thinking real hard now.

 

[Laila619]

Beautiful! It looks icy white and I sure can''t see any inclusions!

 

[poshpepper]

Its so beautiful!!!!!

You mentioned a wedding band... is this your ering? If so are you thinking of doing a straight or curved band with it?

 

[princessplease]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[yssie]

It''s GORGEOUS Sara!!




I''m comparing with one of your old pics... it''s clearly different - it looks brighter, and bolder, even in pics, the difference IRL must be startling.




Beautiful!!!

 

[joflier]

Sure looks good to me!!!

 

[icekid]

What a lovely ring! Love the splash of color..

 

[oddoneout]

Another one of my favs. I love the halo being unique.

 

[Monnyjay]

Very pretty!

 

[Lorelei]

Its beautiful Sara!!!

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 2/4/2010 3:17:48 PM
Author: sarap333
Wow -- so many nice responses, thank you!!!

Bliss, vespergirl, kittybean -- thank you!!

Belle-mezzo and FancyDiamond -- Thank you! And if you decide you want one, Wink is but a phone call or e-mail away at High Performance Diamonds. I highly recommend him. I don''t mind at all saying what I paid. I can''t remember the exact figure, because there were a few changes from the orignal setting, which is called Bella on his website, www.winkjones.com, here''s the link for his ''rings'' page. Rings. Look under ''Fancy Solitaires'' for pricing on the Bella, which, if I remember right, is approximately $2000 in 18 kt. gold with a diamond melee halo and sidestones. Using the Bella design as a base, I added the purple sapphires, which Wink sourced. I have some extra sapphires left over for a wedding band/replacements. Then I customized the gallery and the prongs. But even with the sapphires and the customization of the metalwork, the final price for the ring was not significantly more than the cost of the original Bella design (gold is higher now, just FYI). I was really happy I went the custom route with Wink, because I looked at ''pre-made'' diamond halos in stores which were more expensive than custom from Wink, and the settings would have not been made to fit my finger and my stone. The fit of a custom ring is awesome -- so comfortable, even for a big halo with alot of metal in the gallery, like mine. Wink sent me a quote with the breakdown of all the components/special requests and a timeline. His quote and timeline were accurate, and even though he probably could have charged me more for the sappires (special order) and the gold (which was steadily rising while the ring was being made) he didn''t. And the ring is extremely well-made. I have had no trouble with the prongs or the melee, and I wear the ring every day and only take it off to shower or to work in the garden (or to move furniture, but I try to avoid that task where possible!). As you can tell, I can''t say enough good things about working with Wink on this ring. And, when I decided to change the center stone, he was very accomodating and made the change in less than two weeks. A great guy.

Thank you for stopping by wsbule, dianne, risingsun, catmom, Luckyshe, Burberrygirl, joelly, somethingshiny, natalie, lauren, cricket, and tyty -- and for your nice comments.

DiaDiva -- thank you! And what''s the story behind the beautiful necklaces in your avatar??? Is there a thread on them?

Dreamer and Maisie -- I''m getting a manicure (with paraffin wax) in a few days. It''s winter here. No one sees my hand shots until my hands get some help! It would be too scary. I need wedding band help, so I''ll post a new thread with handshots in exchange for your wedding band expertise

Thanks, SwedishBean -- believe me, I know I never would have chosen an I1 without seeing some awesome I1''s on PS and without Wink''s and Paul''s (Infinity) expertise.

Hope I didn''t forget anyone...thanks again!

Thank you for your many kind words Sara. You forgot to mention that you are an absolute joy to work with, very patient, always listening to my suggestions and then making a decision. This whole project felt like a collaboration, not only with you but with so many in the Pricescope community who offered you suggestions.

I had a LOT of fun working with you and appreciate very much that you enjoyed the process as well as the finished piece!

Wink

 

[DiaDiva]

Hi Sarap,
Those are some of my tahitians...I was wearing a bunch of them for fun. If you''re interested, here''s the thread.

I love love your new ring!

 

[Amethyste]

sara?
You changed the center stone?
Your ring is soooo lovely... I love every little bit of it

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Sara it''s beautiful!!!!

 

[lknvrb4]

I just love your ring and how unique your setting is.

 

[y2kitty]

Its very pretty and the purple sapphire halo is so unique. Congrats, I think its beautiful!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Congrats! That colour upgrade made a world of difference! Still absolutely love that purple halo!!!!

 

[Lula]

Thanks so much everyone -- I'm only able to surf PS about once a week these days, so I was shocked (and humbled and pleased) by your lovely comments.

Wink -- thanks again. You are so easy to work with that I can't help but be a happy customer. I just sent you an e-mail today about 2010 projects! More about those in another thread, fellow PS'ers!

y2kitty, brown.eyed.girl (love the beautiful cat in your avatar), Lorelei, monnyjay, icekid, Joflier, princessplease, purselover, lknvrb4, Laila -- thanks for the compliments and for checking out my thread.

Sweatpea&babycorn -- yes, thank you, your description of my ring as a combination of modern and vintage was exactly what I told Wink I wanted -- "a modern halo"! Sometimes I wonder what these vendors think of the crazy way we describe things to him, but I'm glad you think I pulled it off. I wanted the ring to look like an heirloom, but at the same time have a "kick" to it.

This setting, despite being quite large, is very comfortable and in real life has a very "lacy" openwork feel to it. I'll try to capture the laciness in some photos.

And FancyDiamond, I'll also try to capture the sparkle of the purple sapphires. Wink sourced diamond-cut purple sapphires, so they truly do sparkle. The color ranges from a medium purple to a lavendar to a raspberry color depending on the light. When I'm wearing the ring under spotlighting, the sapphires sparkle so much that anyone looking at my hand thinks I'm wearing a huge diamond, much larger than 1 carat, because the sparkle goes out to the edge of the halo. I don't mind this effect at all

obviously!!

LTP and yssie -- thank you! Yes, the color change made a world of difference. I loved my M, but with my skin tone, the I color is much more flattering. I also love the strong blue fluoro in this ring, though the light has to be just right to catch it, because the blue of the fluorescence compliments the purple of the sapphires so well.

Oddoneout, thank you for saying that my ring is one of your favorites! How nice of you to say that.

Amethyste, hello!! I will be over to check out your reset thread -- though I have to say I love the over-the-top look of your current setting, but consider the source -- I like a setting with some size to it!

About the color change, yup, after the holidays, I e-mailed Wink about changing out my Infinity M for an Infinity I, and like a flash it was done! I still love lower color diamonds, but they don't like me

or rather my skin tone! The funny thing was that Glitterata suggested this I I1 to me way back last summer when I was looking to upgrade the .53 Infinity J I had at the time. I was just lucky it was still on Wink's site because the price was a steal -- I guess it's because "I1" is still pretty scary to most people. But I met Paul Slegers in November at a Crafted by Infinity Meet the Cutter event in Chicago, and after learning more about the care and supervision each Infinity gets from Paul as it is cut, I knew I didn't have a thing to worry about. Paul knows how to cut diamonds and I think his skill is evidenced in his willingness to "go where no one has gone before" in that he cuts lower colors (M, N, O, and Glitterata's S!) in combinations with lower clarities! And in my experience, an SI2 or I1 from Paul is just not a problem. Of course, he cuts lovely D-F, high clarity stones, too, but I am a bargain hunter at heart, so I look for those "hidden gems" (pun intended) on Infinity's website

DiaDiva -- I love, love, love those Tahitians in your avatar. Thanks for the link...I can see a birthday present in my future....

poshpepper, thank you for the compliments on my ring. This is an anniversary present, so I wear this sometimes as my new engagement ring with my plain 2mm band, and sometimes as a right-hand ring on its own. But the more I think about it, the more I'd like a special wedding band designed to match this ring. I'm really undecided on what I want, though. Right now all I have is a file on my computer with a bunch of photos on it (most from PS people!). I'll start another thread about that to get your feedback. You all have such great ideas that of course I wouldn't order a ring without your input!

I'm getting a manicure on Thursday, so I promise to come back with some decent handshots!