Color or Carat?

[pyramid]

I know it costs more but in my mind, if I want a diamond I want it to have higher specs, to me that is what a diamond is, if I am going for a J SI2 to me it may as well be an amethyst or a more common stone as it is a more common priced item and there are more of them available or bought due to cost it seems.

What diamond does have is that a lot of its qualities are invisible to the naked eye.

And I would not be happy to have a D VS1. I would be so pissed to know I overpaid. I'd take a J SI2 any day! Different strokes and all that...

I know it is different strokes, I would like to know why I feel the way I do, I can't say I want a J SI2 but don't know why, honestly!

 

[dk168]

If I were to get a RB, I would get one with the best cut, clarity as low as SI1 providing it is eye clean, colour in G/H, and the biggest that I can afford.

DK

 

[pyramid]

If I am snobbish I WOULD like to know why, I am very open to improving myself. I realise this is the OP's thread.
If there are any psychologist people here though feel free to tell me because I would like to know why I feel like this if it
is wrong. It would also save me money in the long run.

 

[Candygrl]

Just want to add that I adore my I color RB

 

[DiamondsNPearls]

Ha, I just made a thread about this. I say get what you like & nothing wrong with a J SI2, that's what I have

 

[pyramid]

Some people said on another thread that if they could have got a free D Flawless think it was 3 carat they would have taken it and then sold it and bought their stone and kept the profit others would have kept the free stone intact as it was. Suppose some
would sell it and buy something other than diamond.

 

[distracts]

When I was helping my brother shop for diamonds, he didn't read D/E diamonds as "whiter" than H/I, he read them as "bluer." So he was seeing the absence of yellow tint, but not interpreting it as whiter. I thought that was super interesting.

 

[Daisyoz]

I know it is different strokes, I would like to know why I feel the way I do, I can't say I want a J SI2 but don't know why, honestly!

I don't think there's anything wrong with the way you feel. Some people can see the difference between I/J and a colourless stone.

And like Kenny said, people vary. Some people prefer branded shoes and bags, I guess because those things can be seen as well? I have never owned a branded bag or even a pair of shoes for that matter and don't see that I will buy them any time soon because those product brands are not that important to me, but owning a branded H and A diamond is. I like the fact I have an ACA. Just like some people love the idea of having an LV bag or a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes. There's nothing wrong with that.

 

[DiamondsNPearls]

What is an ACA?

 

[Niel]

What is an ACA?

ACA means A Cut Above. Its a branded cut from whiteflash. Go to whiteflash.com you can look at it

 

[DiamondsNPearls]

Thanks Niel

 

[Niel]

I know it costs more but in my mind, if I want a diamond I want it to have higher specs, to me that is what a diamond is, if I am going for a J SI2 to me it may as well be an amethyst or a more common stone as it is a more common priced item and there are more of them available or bought due to cost it seems.

What diamond does have is that a lot of its qualities are invisible to the naked eye.

This is just silly. Amethyst does not sparkle like a diamond, look like a diamond, or have the everyday durability of a diamond. And the idea that somehow if a diamond a particular grade in color and clarity that somehow doesnt count as a diamond is what makes this sound elitist.


In different cultures different aspects are valued. In Asian cultures the highest color and clarity are valued. Where many US buys would consider a D IF 1 ct a waste of money when considering the alternative

In the US size is valued.

If the OP is from the US, and whats a stone that looks white and doesnt have any visible inclusions and is big... look at an I SI1 and get as big as you can. If you have time time to look around at diamonds with her, look at Js and Ks. As they will face up "white" and might be satisfying to the eye. D does not mean better it means less tint. You are sold by diamond companies that D is prettiest and it goes down from there. Some people dont like Ds. Many prefer the more colorless "water" feel of a G/H rather than a stark D/E color.

It took me a long time time realize this, as its something that isnt always easily obvious even on a diamond education forum like this.

this diamond is you and our fiance's. no one elses. Get educated, figure out what you guys like then buy what you like. because this is way too much money to spend on something just because some people on a forum say "dont go below an H"

 

[dk168]

Some peeps have this "mind clean" mentality, myself included, in that I know I have a good EC that is 1.19ct E VS1, even though it may not be obvious to other peeps.

It was a very significant and sentimental purchase, and I wanted the best I could afford at the time. I could have dropped the colour and clarity and went for a bigger stone. However, it felt right when I placed it on my finger and fell in love with it.

It was and still is, my most important piece of jewellery, and I have no intention of parting with it, even if I have the means to do so in future. It gives me enormous pride and joy, as well as a hint of sadness whenever I wear it.

I have other diamond-only pieces that are lower in colour and clarity grades, including a smaller EC, that do not have as much sentimental value attached to them.

At the end of the day, one needs to follow one's heart and get the diamond that he/she would love and appreciate for him/herself. If that means a bigger stone in lower colour and clarity, who am I to say that is wrong?

Happy shopping to the OP!

DK

 

[dk168]

I believe colour preference may have something to do with skin tone, as that much is true for me, and I am Chinese.

I do not wear yellow gold as it does not suit me, and do not like prong settings.

Therefore, it is unlikely for me to buy a diamond that would show too much contrast in colour when bezel-set in platinum or white gold.

Hence my colour preference not to go below G/H.

DK

 

[FirstTimeBuyer128]

That's a sweet post DK!

Thank you all for your comments I am very glad I found this community during this special time in my life.

I will need to do some more thinking about all of this - but, I will be proposing this Saturday with the ring I have and then me and her can collectively decide if she wants something else (knowing her she won't and will love the one that I picked out for her).

Some peeps have this "mind clean" mentality, myself included, in that I know I have a good EC that is 1.19ct E VS1, even though it may not be obvious to other peeps.

It was a very significant and sentimental purchase, and I wanted the best I could afford at the time. I could have dropped the colour and clarity and went for a bigger stone. However, it felt right when I placed it on my finger and fell in love with it.

It was and still is, my most important piece of jewellery, and I have no intention of parting with it, even if I have the means to do so in future. It gives me enormous pride and joy, as well as a hint of sadness whenever I wear it.

I have other diamond-only pieces that are lower in colour and clarity grades, including a smaller EC, that do not have as much sentimental value attached to them.

At the end of the day, one needs to follow one's heart and get the diamond that he/she would love and appreciate for him/herself. If that means a bigger stone in lower colour and clarity, who am I to say that is wrong?

Happy shopping to the OP!

DK

 

[dk168]

Awww, your OH is a very lucky lady!

One of the many reasons why my ex is an ex, is because he would never have thought about surprising me with a piece of jewellery.

I dropped enough hints about wishing I could have a larger EC/upgrade my 3-stone EC engagement ring for years without success.

Hence when I decided to part with him, I spent the money I saved for five years that was meant for a grand holiday for us to celebrate my 40th birthday on a EC instead. That's the hint of sadness I was referring to in my previous post.

Good luck, and I wish you both much happiness in the future.

DK

 

[pyramid]

I know it costs more but in my mind, if I want a diamond I want it to have higher specs, to me that is what a diamond is, if I am going for a J SI2 to me it may as well be an amethyst or a more common stone as it is a more common priced item and there are more of them available or bought due to cost it seems.

What diamond does have is that a lot of its qualities are invisible to the naked eye.

This is just silly. Amethyst does not sparkle like a diamond, look like a diamond, or have the everyday durability of a diamond. And the idea that somehow if a diamond a particular grade in color and clarity that somehow doesnt count as a diamond is what makes this sound elitist.


In different cultures different aspects are valued. In Asian cultures the highest color and clarity are valued. Where many US buys would consider a D IF 1 ct a waste of money when considering the alternative

In the US size is valued.

Niel

I hope I am not sounding elitist but can see where it is sounding like that. I didn't mean it didn't count as a diamond, I just didn't see it as the type I had heard about in my 'little' life in the little UK.

Yes in the US size is valued, and it always was when I came to this board in 2002 but then size was 1 carat with some very few maybe getting a 1.7 carat, you can see that in the show me the bling, now size has increased greatly and it did about 10 years ago when all of a sudden people on here went from getting a 0.90 to 1 carat F VS2/SI1 to getting an upgrade to a 1.50 J SI1, these were the people that stuck around, others went away and got on with their life and their 1 carat. Now it has changed again and people want a 2.00 J SI1 or with the popularity of old cut a 3.4 carat M SI1 or a 5 carat U SI1. I know carat is far bigger than in the UK but it is also far bigger in the USA now than it was. Most people back then got D-G and we seemed to have a lot of pilots and medical doctors but they still went for 1 carat. I remember one man who was a 747 pilot who stuck around for a bit.

My view is not the normal I know because diamonds in the UK don't have certificates although a very few are available, and they are maybe 1/4 carat but house prices are maybe £200,000 for a 3 or 4 bedroom and more in London and big cities. So diamonds to me are for the very rich, ie. royalty or Brad Pitt and obviously D flawless or some such. I think this is why also I was told diamonds are very expensive, so if a D flawless is more than a J SI1 obviously I think better diamond because more expensive means better that is what diamonds are as opposed to other affordable jewellery say - rather than saying amethyst. (I knew that was wrong as I said before your reply). It is just my view, I know it is wrong and different, and I know that.

I believe the difference is for me growing up as a 20 year old to get a diamond is something to aspire to whereas for people in the USA to get a 1 carat was something to aspire to, over here then only an older doctor or some such could have afforded that. The diamonds I would have seen would have no color or clarity or size on them and forget cut. There would have been lots of clusters and maybe 8 solitaires all this in the windows from £120 to £800 unless you went into the jeweller and all you would see would be couples really dressed sitting in there and maybe looking at a 0.60 diamond for ages and ages and it had no cert or details either.

A half carat on a 20 year old was usually, is it real or fake and if it was white - must be fake, no more questions asked and you believed it, that is what it was like for most people, these are office working people not professional doctors etc but just what diamonds were thought of in the UK and still are to an extent.

 

[TC1987]

I am surprised to hear AGS might be softer on grading color as I hadn't read this before and it makes me more concerned. I don't want to buy an AGS I if it's really even lower than that...

I didn't mean to panic you or anything. But the first H&A diamond that I bought was a GIA graded G. I traded it in on an AGS graded F. The AGS F is a bit larger than that GIA G, but not that much more. But what I did notice is that GIA G was almost colorless from the side. I once accidentally mixed it up with a very well-cut colorless H&A cz, and I actually could not see any color difference in them except in natural daylight. The AGS F that I upgraded to has a bit of warmth that the GIA G didn't have. Part of that, I attribute to it being a bit larger diamond that concentrates the tint more. But really, I think that GIA would not call it an F.

 

[DiamondsNPearls]

I know it costs more but in my mind, if I want a diamond I want it to have higher specs, to me that is what a diamond is, if I am going for a J SI2 to me it may as well be an amethyst or a more common stone as it is a more common priced item and there are more of them available or bought due to cost it seems.

What diamond does have is that a lot of its qualities are invisible to the naked eye.

This is just silly. Amethyst does not sparkle like a diamond, look like a diamond, or have the everyday durability of a diamond. And the idea that somehow if a diamond a particular grade in color and clarity that somehow doesnt count as a diamond is what makes this sound elitist.


In different cultures different aspects are valued. In Asian cultures the highest color and clarity are valued. Where many US buys would consider a D IF 1 ct a waste of money when considering the alternative

In the US size is valued.

If the OP is from the US, and whats a stone that looks white and doesnt have any visible inclusions and is big... look at an I SI1 and get as big as you can. If you have time time to look around at diamonds with her, look at Js and Ks. As they will face up "white" and might be satisfying to the eye. D does not mean better it means less tint. You are sold by diamond companies that D is prettiest and it goes down from there. Some people dont like Ds. Many prefer the more colorless "water" feel of a G/H rather than a stark D/E color.

It took me a long time time realize this, as its something that isnt always easily obvious even on a diamond education forum like this.

this diamond is you and our fiance's. no one elses. Get educated, figure out what you guys like then buy what you like. because this is way too much money to spend on something just because some people on a forum say "dont go below an H"

SO TRUE. Different cultures value different things!!! Thank you Niel for clarifying this.

 

[insured]

Taste is personal - and as others have pointed out, to some degree cultural.

Swimming against the stream... I would take the F VS2 hands down, every day of the week. To me, there is a point beyond which bigger is definitely NOT better, and I'm very sensitive to color. Not meant to put down anyone else's preference, just to give voice to the fact that size over color is not a universal preference. ...And to let poor Pyramid know she's not alone in her taste, that having a different opinion is not wrong, it's just different .

OP, you would know your girl best - What do her friends have and seem to value?

 

[arkieb1]

Colour is a really subjective thing and there are no right or wrong answers. If a slightly lower colour will drive you nuts and or bug you then obviously that is important to YOU, for other people this might also be the case and for others having a lower coloured diamond doesn't bother them at all.

I do however agree that I would be trying to get the best possible size within that budget with a colour you can live with. This might mean that you need to go and see or send back a forth a few diamonds before you find the right balance for you.

 

[Rhea]

When I was helping my brother shop for diamonds, he didn't read D/E diamonds as "whiter" than H/I, he read them as "bluer." So he was seeing the absence of yellow tint, but not interpreting it as whiter. I thought that was super interesting.

This is exactly how my husband sees them. We were looking at a GIA E a bit ago and he immediately said that he could tell it was higher up the colour chart than my near colourless diamond because it was bluer.

 

[Rhea]

My view is not the normal I know because diamonds in the UK don't have certificates although a very few are available, and they are maybe 1/4 carat but house prices are maybe £200,000 for a 3 or 4 bedroom and more in London and big cities. So diamonds to me are for the very rich, ie. royalty or Brad Pitt and obviously D flawless or some such.

I'd love to know where this house is in London! I live in a 2 bed leasehold flat in an up and coming area, or so we're told, that was valued at over £450,000. Houses (and flats!) are pricey!

I think this is why also I was told diamonds are very expensive, so if a D flawless is more than a J SI1 obviously I think better diamond because more expensive means better that is what diamonds are as opposed to other affordable jewellery say - rather than saying amethyst. (I knew that was wrong as I said before your reply). It is just my view, I know it is wrong and different, and I know that.

I believe the difference is for me growing up as a 20 year old to get a diamond is something to aspire to whereas for people in the USA to get a 1 carat was something to aspire to, over here then only an older doctor or some such could have afforded that. The diamonds I would have seen would have no color or clarity or size on them and forget cut. There would have been lots of clusters and maybe 8 solitaires all this in the windows from £120 to £800 unless you went into the jeweller and all you would see would be couples really dressed sitting in there and maybe looking at a 0.60 diamond for ages and ages and it had no cert or details either.

A half carat on a 20 year old was usually, is it real or fake and if it was white - must be fake, no more questions asked and you believed it, that is what it was like for most people, these are office working people not professional doctors etc but just what diamonds were thought of in the UK and still are to an extent.

There's a really great thread about diamonds in the UK v US here which gets into it in more detail [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/are-diamonds-in-the-uk-smaller-than-in-the-us.164666/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/are-diamonds-in-the-uk-smaller-than-in-the-us.164666/[/URL]

In general I think things in the UK, or at least London, are changing a bit. Bigger is becoming better to a point. I have a 0.47 I received from my then in his early 20s boyfriend. His friend's wives wear a 1 carat family stone, 1/2 ct with pear sides, 1/2 ct with round sides, 1 wears only a band. In going to wedding fairs with these women on a couple of occasions they didn't wear the biggest rock in the room by far! I know that's not a representative sample though.

Your view isn't wrong and different, it's just your view. It's a mind clean thing, isn't it? And for most of us that's a balance of price, carat, colour, and clarity. Price being equal I'm sure a lot of us would go for higher colour diamonds, but it's not. If I wore a D / IF I'd be wearing a 1/5 carat diamond rather than the 1/2 carat I wear. I can't think of any situation where I'd chose to buy a D / IF in that size. I've never been asked about the stats of my ring and very few people, if any, get close enough to study it and determine the colour and clarity. Now being in the UK if someone were spending $30K and insisted on that price I'd chose a smaller diamond with a lower colour and clarity. 2 carats in the UK is huge! This guy is in the US though where size reigns king, after cut, of course!

 

[TC1987]

re. tint in smaller diamonds: It simply doesn't show as much. Larger stones concentrate the tint increasingly with their increasing mass. I wear a J .8ct as my daily ring, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about a J or K in a 2ct size. I actually have an estate diamond ring that is 7.8mm diameter RB that is supposed to be a J but the ring can't be resized enough to fit me. I haven't ever worn or done anything with that J because a) it's too big of a rock for my tiny town especially for a single woman to wear, and b) I planned to remount it into a halo setting, but then ran across the F SI2 H&A that I bought from GOG and just ended up never wearing the big J.

 

[HappilyEngaged2014]

2 carat ideal cut G or H.... SI1 totally eye clean. tthat's what my GIA 3.66 stone is and couldn't see the one inclusion unless you had it under a microscope

I second everything written here. Personally, G or H, VS2 or Si (1-2) is the lowest I would go.
Again, you have to see each diamond to truly judge.

 

[dk168]

Before I had my E VS1 EC, I thought the colour (G/H) of the carre cut stones in my mum's band was very good. And they were very good when compared to the diamond pieces that she had bought for me when I was about 14, which turned out to be J or below.

I have decided to re-size the carre band so that I can wear it with my EC, even though I could see the difference in colour, as it is a very nice ring and will compliment my EC beautifully.

DK

 

[chrono]

Preferring a certain colour isn't necessarily because a person wants more size. Colour is very personal; even if a person can see the tint, perhaps they like and want it. In this case, I don't know where the OP's tolerance lies.

 

[dk168]

I am in the UK and believe more and more younger people aspire to buying jewelleries for themselves, rather than to wait for them to be bought by other people.

The high streets are not the only outlets for diamonds, and peeps are getting more and more savvy with regard to shopping around on the internet in order to get the best prices.

PS certainly helps to broaden one's knowledge in getting more bling for one's money.

More and more peeps are prepared to import jewellery from abroad rather than to pay for the high UK prices.

There must be sufficient peeps who watch the Jewellery Channel etc. and buy from them, otherwise they would not be in business.

Peeps may buy CZ/fakes, however, I believe that's because they aspire to owning the real thing one day.

DK

 

[Tourmaline]

This is a totally personal thing. I go for carat over color.

 

[Tekate]

++1

Awww, your OH is a very lucky lady!

One of the many reasons why my ex is an ex, is because he would never have thought about surprising me with a piece of jewellery.

I dropped enough hints about wishing I could have a larger EC/upgrade my 3-stone EC engagement ring for years without success.

Hence when I decided to part with him, I spent the money I saved for five years that was meant for a grand holiday for us to celebrate my 40th birthday on a EC instead. That's the hint of sadness I was referring to in my previous post.

Good luck, and I wish you both much happiness in the future.

DK