Diamond Earrings

[Smo]

Hi there,

I am hoping someone can help. I am looking to buy a pair of diamond earrings for my birthday. I am in Australia so the options are limited here therefore I have been looking online. I think I want a pair of antique diamond studs or pave diamond huggies. I found these studs on fay cullen but they seem expensive?

http://www.faycullen.com/earrings/400/b617e6d.html

The other thing I am kind of thinking of is some diamond cluster earrings in a flower shape? Does that make sense? I love antique jewellery so anything in this style would be great.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I really want a pretty pair of everyday earrings and this is a big purchase for me.

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/3/2008 6:58:51 AM
Author:Smo
Hi there,

I am hoping someone can help. I am looking to buy a pair of diamond earrings for my birthday. I am in Australia so the options are limited here therefore I have been looking online. I think I want a pair of antique diamond studs or pave diamond huggies. I found these studs on fay cullen but they seem expensive?

http://www.faycullen.com/earrings/400/b617e6d.html

The other thing I am kind of thinking of is some diamond cluster earrings in a flower shape? Does that make sense? I love antique jewellery so anything in this style would be great.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I really want a pretty pair of everyday earrings and this is a big purchase for me.

Thanks for any help you can give.

I think those FC earrings don't include actual centre diamonds, they are set with a simulant, so you would have to pay for the diamonds separately. It appears to be saying that the 0.8ct I VS diamonds are the tiny ones set around the stud settings.

Have a look through these pages, Whiteflash are a highly regarded vendor and might have something you like.

http://www.whiteflash.com/Fine-jewelry/Diamond_Studs/1.htm

 

[gailrmv]

I bought diamond studs from Whiteflash - they are wonderful to work with and great prices too. Do you like the pave hoops that they have? I really like those! I bet they could add milgrain to look more antiquey. They seem a little pricey but I bet they are beautiful. Let me find you the link.

whiteflash huggies

I was looking for some hoops a while back and was not able to find what I wanted pre-made without going custom and in my price range, so I didn't end up getting them.

Blue Nile had nice selection and pretty good prices, but they didnt have exactly what I wanted. Sometimes they run 10% off specials, in case they have what you want.

I loved the ones from Memoire but could not find somewhere to try them on. If I do get hoops in the future these are what I hope to get, but I don't think they make the antique style that you want.

You also said cluster in a flower - do you like these from whiteflash? I believe Ellen has a necklace in this style, you can do a search to see her pics!

whiteflash cluster earrings

I do like these, but personally I think that studs or hoops are more classic.

What is your budget?

 

[RxTechRN2b]

Those Fay Cullen studs are unique but that price is only for the mounting. And for a stud, only you will know that they have such a nice antique side view because I doubt anyone would be able to see much from the side. They might droop as well because they seem to stick out more than traditional basket settings. As for the choice between studs, hoops, or cluster style, I am all for studs because you can put them on and then never take them off except to clean them. They go with daytime jeans or work clothes and also dress for nights out. They are discreet (if you don''t get huge ones) and elegant and refined all at the same time. You can''t go wrong with a good pair of studs, and because the mounting is not really visible, you can get something simple and put most of your budget into the stones.

I got a pair of 1 carat total weight round studs G color SI clarity that are white and eye clean and sparkle like there''s no tomorrow. I get compliments on them all the time and I never take them off. They are in a basic platinum 4 prong basket screw back mounting which I loosen slightly at night and then tighten in the morning, and once a week I take them off and clean them in a sonic little wallmart thingy with 10 parts warm tap water, 1 part ammonia and 1 tsp Dawn dish liquid. The other days I keep them in my ears and brush them with jewelry cleaner just before getting in the shower.

I''m lucky because I have small earlobes so 1/2 carat per ear is just right. They are big enough to look substantial but not so big that they are heavy and droop. I''ve read over plenty of threads about earrings and see that lots of people go lower in clarity and color but concentrate on cut so they can maximize the size for their budget. People don''t really get that close to your ear. I got my daughter a cheap pair of 1 carat studs at a maul store, they were near colorless but I clarity. They were not eye clean but you could not tell unless you put your eyes around 10 inches from her ear, and they sparkled plenty and were clear and white. Definitely not the dreaded frozen spit so often found at department stores. But I''m glad I didn''t invest in a good pair for her because she lost one after only wearing them around a month!

 

[AGBF]

I know nothing about antique stye earring settings, but I checked out this thread since I like diamond earrings. I have looked at the set described as Edwardian style sold by Fay Cullen and the two sets tradergirl found and I absolutely love them. I think the rose gold are my favorites! I am sorry I cannot be helpful, but at least I am being educated so that I may be able to help someone else someday!

Deborah

 

[AGBF]

Date: 7/3/2008 10:55:25 PM

Author: AGBF

I know nothing about antique stye earring settings, but I checked out this thread since I like diamond earrings. I have looked at the set described as Edwardian style sold by Fay Cullen and the two sets tradergirl found and I absolutely love them. I think the rose gold are my favorites! I am sorry I cannot be helpful, but at least I am being educated so that I may be able to help someone else someday!

Having looked further, I think that although the earrings are gorgeous, I would steer clear of them. I really do not want to have to buy my settings with simulants in them; have the smulants removed; buy diamonds; and have the diamonds set where the simulants were. I had known that the Fay Cullen earrings were set with simulants, but I thought that on the other website tradergirl had found a jeweler who sold real diamond earrings in antique-looking settings! Since those are simulants, too, I think I would keep looking until I found real diamonds in a setting I liked. Pearlman's often has estate jewelry. Have you tried Bill Pearlman's website yet?


Deb

 

[Elegant]

Hello!

Just thought I would add something I just found while searching the web! They are antique style stud earrings in solid platinum with 18K yellow gold sections. There are 2 round Brilliant cut diamonds, approx. 0.85 cttw, Graded G-H color, VS-SI clarity, The earrings feature screw backings!
Art Deco Diamond Stud Earrings

I thought they were pretty.

 

[Smo]

Wow, you guys are so helpful, firstly thank you very much for all of your responses.

Thanks for confirming the fay cullen earrings are overpriced and not worth buying. This was my gut feeling but I was hooked by how pretty they looked!

tradergirl, I love studs you posted. They are even prettier than the fay cullen ones. I have emailed them to find out how much they are but I suspect they will be out of my budget which is $2000 or less. I am also concerned that I would be paying a lot for them and as RxTechRN2b said, they might droop or I wouldn''t be able to see the detail because they are studs?

TanDogMom, I do like the flower earings and they are a great price. I am just not sure whether I should go for something more classic like studs. Has anyone bought these earrings? Do you think I would be able to get a picture of someone wearing them?

I am also considering the whiteflash huggies (also a great price and they do seem pretty and a lot easier to wear than studs). Does anyone have any experience with these? I have small earlobes so I would want them to sit very close to my earlobe with a small to no gap in between. Again it would be good to see a picture of someone wearing them.

Gosh, so much to consider! But I love researching things like this, it is so much fun! Thanks again for everyones replies I would love to hear some more based on my response above.

 

[tradergirl]

I am going to just order the settings and have the diamonds put in them because I have my own. I didn''t know those were stimulants until you told me.

 

[Smo]

Wow I didn''t realise they were simulants either. Do you think it would be difficult to set diamonds in them?

 

[tradergirl]

No, I don''t think it would be difficult. Jewelers do that all the time. I am going to buy both the rose gold and the antique settings if she will sell them to me w/o stones.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 7/4/2008 5:54:07 AM

Author: tradergirl

I didn''t know those were stimulants until you told me.

I only found out through the link you provided, tradergirl. I followed it to read more about them because I was so taken with them! That is what led me to find that they were being advertized on the website of a simulant called, "SparkingLizzies". I think that the red gold earring settings are stunning. I feel like putting a link to that site into my favorite gold thread in Jewlery Pieces so that other gold lovers can learn about them because, like you, I think they are something one might want to special order. Good find!

Deb

 

[Smo]

Hi everyone,

I have some more choices that I would love some help on:

1. These James Allen diamond pave frame earrings

http://www.jamesallen.com/products/item_76-2337.asp

However, I am not certain about the quality of the diamonds which are only H-I colour and SI1 clarity. I want my earrings to be as sparkly as possible but I am not sure I will get this with these diamonds? However, I really like this setting and it is a good price.

2. Blue Nile diamond pave frame earrings

I can build my own earrings and select better quality diamonds.

http://www.bluenile.com/earring_design.asp?filter_id=6&track=design_additem&shape=rd


Then the other thought I had is, as this is my first proper pair of earrings I should just get plain studs in a bezel setting which I have tried on and look good in my earlobe. But these just seem so boring and modern. I can definately get these at a good price at either JA, BN or WF. Not sure which vendor to pick if I go down this route.

I would love to hear other peoples thoughts, I am so confused on what to do!

Thanks again

p.s. I have decided not to go with the LizC studs because I am worried that they wouldn''t sit correctly in my earlobe.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I would recommend WF for the diamond studs. My choice for what you are looking at now would be the plain studs with the separate earring jackets. That way you have two different looks, and you can also wear other gemstone studs with the jackets.

http://www.whiteflash.com/golden-wardrobe/Gold_Details.aspx?ItemCode=WF-4054&CategID=54