Diamond Earring shopping has burnt out my brain...

[AxelG]

I want to buy my wife a nice pair of round diamond earrings for her graduation from Nursing school. I''ve been doing all my homework, visiting all the web sites I can find and reading the tutorial and as many posts here on Pricescope as I can. After all this I must admit I am more confused than ever!

Here is what I have finally decided...

I would like to pick out my own diamonds for the earrings and I would like them certified.

Cut does matter to me because I want these diamond to "shine," so I would like a well cut diamond.

Color I feel I can downgrade some on, G or H, probably H.

Clarity, VS2 or SI1, most likely SI1.

I have also been using the Holloway Cut Adviser to rate some of my final choices.

Am I on the right track here? Any opinions or advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Brian Knox]

Hi Axel,

Everyone is different with regard to reaching ones comfort level in the process of diamond buying.

I think you are on the right track in finding your comfort level, with concentrating on well cut stones as well as stones with lab reports.

One thing you might try, is talk to a few vendors about finding a nice matching pair.

It is easy for a vendor to find nice matching pairs, and that way you can concentrate on the details of the stones and not concern yourself with the logistics of finding one here and one there.

 

[pqcollectibles]

If you post your preferred shape, carat weight goal, and budget, folks will be more than glad to help you find so pairs of diamonds.

 

[rothko]

It sounds like you're doing the right thing.

At this point, you should start calling the vendors and chatting with them a bit. They will be able to help you find matching stones and they may be able to suggest ways to stretch your budget. For example an eye clean SI1 is just as good as a VS1 (in my book). More over, a really light I is probably just as good as a G, and a J/K with the right florescence and cut may well look just as good as an H ("just as good" is subjective). Good luck

 

[diamondsman]

It really all depends on your budget, and what kind of metal you are looking for,platinum, white or yellow?
if you were looking to mount the stones in yellow gold, I would recommend going with the lower j-k colors as these colors tend to face up whiter when mounted in yellow metal.
If you were to go with white metals,I would recommend going with the better colors as they don't draw any color.
it is also recommended that you get it from the same vendor ,so that they can visually see that the stones match.
Call around and compare.

good luck

 

[Hest88]

I agree with many of the others. Now that you know what you want, contact a few vendors with your parameters, including your budget, and see who has what you need.

 

[sunseeker]

Glad I found this because I am considering buying myself a pair of diamond studs to celebrate my recent birthday.

AG, did you decide on the size yet?

If you don't mind, please keep posting as this will save me the same footwork you are doing. Thanks and good luck!

~Sunseeker

 

[jennysue]

I just purchased two of Dirtcheapdimamonds signature ideal series stones for earrings. .817 and .811 both G in color and SI2 in clarity, very eye clean. I had them set in 14kt. white gold martini settings. They are beautiful, I just received them on Saturday. If I could take decent pictures with my digital camera I would attach a picture of them.

 

[aljdewey]

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On 4/19/2004 10:58:06 AM fire&ice wrote:

Yes, trying to find matching stones yourself is a receipe for disaster.

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I'm not sure I agree with this. As long as you're talking about stones with lots of information on crown/pav angles, tables, etc. that also list dimensions, it's really not that hard to put together matches.

I'm not sure I'd want to take the time to do that with multiple vendors....i.e. stone A from one vendor and stone B from another.....that would be a pain.

I quite successfully put together two matching stones recently with DI, and I asked them to visually confirm that my choices were a good match.

 

[fire&ice]

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On 4/19/2004 2:16:54 PM aljdewey wrote:

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On 4/19/2004 10:58:06 AM fire&ice wrote:

Yes, trying to find matching stones yourself is a receipe for disaster.

----------------

I'm not sure I agree with this. As long as you're talking about stones with lots of information on crown/pav angles, tables, etc. that also list dimensions, it's really not that hard to put together matches.

I'm not sure I'd want to take the time to do that with multiple vendors....i.e. stone A from one vendor and stone B from another.....that would be a pain.

I quite successfully put together two matching stones recently with DI, and I asked them to visually confirm that my choices were a good match.
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DI does a good job of having matching pairs. It's quite easy from their site. Some other sites do as well. And, I meant trying to match a stone off the list from vendor a to vendor b. That is a recipe for disaster & entirely would cause undo stress. I would never recommend it. Also, I would rely on a professional eye to match the stones in house.