Diamond Earrings

[jchi18]

I want to buy a pair of diamond earrings but I don''t know what standards I should use. For instance, what are the minimum of each of the Cs that I need to consider? Do I need to still buy an ideal or H&A cut for earrings which are substantially smaller than engagement rings? And so forth. I would appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

[Leanne]

I'm only a consumer but when looking for diamond earrings I was told that only the clarity isn't as important as the earrings won't be seen as close as a ring. I would assume that you'd still want a good cut because that's what makes the sparkle. I have a pair of round 1/2 carat SI1-G in color set in white gold & a pair of princess cut 1 carat VVS1-F in color set in yellow gold. I don't know if it's the difference in cuts as round brilliants are known to give off the most sparkle but they are prettier than the princess cuts. My sister-in-law has a pair of 1 carat rounds that are SI2-I in color & they are beautiful! So my opinion, for what it's worth, is you don't have to go the absolute best clarity while I would still stay with a good cut & near colorless. Good luck. Hope this helps.

 

[Mara]

I agree with Leanne...the earrings are worn on your head, and most people don't get up to your ear within a certain range not to mention with a loupe! I would suggest H color and SI clarity if the SI is pretty eye clean. It may also be your preference to get something a little higher, VS2 for example. The funny thing is that you would think that cut would make a huge difference as would color in earrings, but if you have nothing to compare those earrings to, they look pretty good regardless.

I say this because we bought some earrings about 2 years ago, 1ctw H VS1/2. They weren't certified but we had a connection, etc. Anyway, these things sparkled SO WELL, and we loved them. Everyone loved them. Then on a whim while taking my diamond stone in to be appraised after we purchased it, we took the earrings in too because finally we wanted to get them insured since we were doing the stone/ring. The appraiser tells us these earrings are really N color and one is VS and one is SI! Not only that, but the cut is pretty atrocious as far as eyeballing the numbers. Tables were large, depth was even larger, I think one was 63% table and 64% depth, yikes! I would not buy a large diamond with those specs, so we were kind of shocked to hear the appraisers view. She appraised them at $400 LESS than we paid 2 years ago.

We took them back etc and the jeweler (who we still work with) was appalled, and offered to exhange them for the right thing ASAP. So that is what is happening, and my SO saw the new earrings when he picked up my ring, and he said the difference between our old stones and the new stones is so noticeable he was shocked. I guess the jeweler was too, but who actually knows what happened. Jeff has always been very good to us and my best friend does alot of her family biz with him, so I know he is not the 'type' to intentionally screw someone, but the whole situ is just ODD. We are going to get the new earrings appraised again and expect them to be well over what we paid 2 years ago.

Anyway, the point of this post is to let you know to be sure what you are getting AND to let you know that for 2 years I thought my N colored, too deep diamond earrings were the hottest thing in town! Little did I know! So until you have something to compare them to, you will not even know the difference between color, cut and clarity, plus again they are on your head so that makes them harder to see unless you have short hair etc. The smaller the stone also..the harder to view inclusions etc. They catch the light, they sparkle, end of story..for earrings at least! But I would still suggest to go H SI and you will be fine with both budget and looks.

Good luck!

 

[DiamondExpert]

You're getting good advice...go for G-I, VS1-SI2 (Yes, there are some good SI2's out there, just as long as they are eye clean.). Pay some attention to the ear lobe shape...some may not look good with too large a stone, and they may droop too.

Regards,

 

[Leanne]

Wow Gary, I never thought of the SHAPE of the earlobe. Good advice. I just recently got my ears double pierced so that I could wear my PC & RB's together. If you can believe it, they look great! It's fun to get old! You can do anything you want to!!

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Yeah, I like Gary's advice. SI2 or better, I color or better, with nice makes. Maybe even drift into the J color, top I1-SI3 neighborhood if you're looking for the largest look you can get at the lowest price.