Diamonds that look like glass

[Imdanny]

Ok, here's the thing.

Women where I live don't have PS vendor level engagement rings (rural Hawaii, in the middle of nowhere).

I keep seeing women's engagement rings and meeting women working at the bank, post office, etc with engagement rings I know are real diamonds (they can't all be fakes, and I guess many of these rings came from stores in the mall, or something like that) but they don't sparkle at all.

I mean you can't seen any light/ color coming from them.

What's the deal with that?

Are there some diamonds that don't sparkle at all, that look just like glass?

How bad would the specs have to be/ how bad would the cut have to be to make a diamond have no light performance to speak of?

 

[missy]

I'm guessing that these diamonds are cut terribly and have awful clarity and therefore dull looking.
When my dh proposed he didn't know anything about diamonds (and neither did I) but he bought a beautiful stone because he did know a good looking diamond from a poor looking diamond so I just don't get how people (who are *not* PS educated) buy the dull lifeless diamonds. Doesn't make sense as you certainly do not have to be an expert to get a beautiful diamond. Even if you do not have much money you can buy a small diamond that is attractive. My thinking anyway.

 

[misssoph]

Is itpossible that they have never,ever been cleaned since the day the ring was first put on?

 

[Cehrabehra]

Some could be quartz too, I have a friend who thinks paying all that money for a diamond is silly when you can buy one that "looks exactly the same" made of quartz for a fraction of the cost. uh huh... she hasn't seen an amazing diamond methinks.

 

[maplefemme]

I see this phenomenon also, certainly cut can play a big factor, but more often than not their stones just don't look clean to me.
You have PSers who carry cleaning spray in their purse, and have all kinds of cleaning gadgets at home, but many people consider washing their hands to be cleaning their rings and anything more detailed than that is a rare "treat".

 

[iLander]

I saw a pair of earrings like this once at a jeweler. They were huge, but you could see right through them. I now suspect that they were heavily flawed and a great cut would have multiplied the flaws and made them really apparent. I think they were cut weird to keep the flaws from reflecting within the stone and looking worse. Bleah

 

[Lottie]

I see this phenomenon also, certainly cut can play a big factor, but more often than not their stones just don't look clean to me.
You have PSers who carry cleaning spray in their purse, and have all kinds of cleaning gadgets at home, but many people consider washing their hands to be cleaning their rings and anything more detailed than that is a rare "treat".

Absolutely,My friends ring is usually a pale grey opaque colour - she NEVER cleans her rings and does all sorts in them from gardening to cooking. Every now and again I force them off her and give them a good going over but she only lets me because I like cleaning jewellery, It's just not on her to do list . She is a very good gardener though - her garden is Immaculate!

 

[kelpie]

They are probably really dirty and covered in a film of grease and dust. I think PSers wouldn't be caught dead wearing a diamond that has gone more 10 days without cleaning. Cut matters too of course.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I think PSers wouldn't be caught dead wearing a diamond that has gone more 10 days without cleaning.

 

[missy]

I think PSers wouldn't be caught dead wearing a diamond that has gone more 10 days without cleaning.

+1

My aunt criticized me last time we saw her about my ring needing cleaning.
It's just I am so busy I sometimes forget, KWIM? I am a bad bad PSer
I definitely need to be better about that!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Missy, I used to be better but after having a kid and going back to school I guess my priorities changed. I DO always clean it before a GTG though.

 

[missy]

Missy, I used to be better but after having a kid and going back to school I guess my priorities changed. I DO always clean it before a GTG though.

LOL, I would definitely clean it before a GTG and I hope to go to one someday and meet everyone in person!
I really have no excuse for not cleaning my ring more frequently. I will try and do better.
As of now I usually hand my ring to my dh and ask him to clean it and he does a pretty good job

 

[maplefemme]

I see this phenomenon also, certainly cut can play a big factor, but more often than not their stones just don't look clean to me.
You have PSers who carry cleaning spray in their purse, and have all kinds of cleaning gadgets at home, but many people consider washing their hands to be cleaning their rings and anything more detailed than that is a rare "treat".

Absolutely,My friends ring is usually a pale grey opaque colour - she NEVER cleans her rings and does all sorts in them from gardening to cooking. Every now and again I force them off her and give them a good going over but she only lets me because I like cleaning jewellery, It's just not on her to do list . She is a very good gardener though - her garden is Immaculate!

I'm with you, give me a ring to clean any day. I can't grow anything except a great lawn, people knock on my door to ask what I'm using on it (believe it or not; coconuts) but anything that flowers is beyond my skill set. Shoot, I even killed my basil this year before I had chance to eat it, same with my chives...how do you even kill chives, they're prolific!?

 

[centralsquare]

I think that most diamonds purchased today have that glass look. I see them everyday. The stone is just there...it doesn't sparkle or anything. I know we sweat all the specific of the specs but honestly just having a great cut is enough to differentiate.

 

[luv2sparkle]

Most of my friends, never, I do mean never, clean their rings. I do not get it at all. They look at me like I have two heads when I ask
them about it. I think the general population never gives it a thought. Maybe that accounts for some of it.

 

[lyra]

I never see clean rings here either. I'd actually be shocked if I ever saw a ring as clean as mine are on a *bad* day. Also it's rare to see good cuts, that might contribute to the glass like effect. I do believe a good portion of it is non-diamond too.

 

[Amys Bling]

my thoughts are that 3 of the Cs are to blame here- cut, clarity, and cleanliness

 

[charbie]

I think PSers wouldn't be caught dead wearing a diamond that has gone more 10 days without cleaning.

+1

My aunt criticized me last time we saw her about my ring needing cleaning.
It's just I am so busy I sometimes forget, KWIM? I am a bad bad PSer
I definitely need to be better about that!

Right there with ya at the moment...gotta admit tho, brings an even bigger smile to my face when I do clean it and see how gorgeous it can sparkle! Its like, 'oh yeah! How pretty!'

 

[HollyS]

Lots of diamonds, on lots of fingers, look like crushed ice. Dull. Blurry. No sparkle.

Many people don't know a good diamond from a lousy one. Personally, I wouldn't accept one or buy one. Other people, outside of PS, are not so picky.

 

[Imdanny]

Or they just don't know and I feel so badly for them, not only because they're missing out, but because these rings at the malls around here, and what I've seen from Florida, are expensive, and I mean expensive. People aren't getting nearly what they are paying for in many cases, and I just wish they knew, because I think it's terrible what some of these non-PS level b and m chains seem to get away with by having the quality they do at the prices they charge.

My late grandmother used to let me clean her 1 ct diamond. I never said one word to her, but sadly it made no difference. And she tried. She bought her diamond from a small jeweler, and then had it set. This was in the '80's.

 

[Black Jade]

Are they RBs?
Even badly cut round brilliants that are not quite clean tend to have some degree of sparkle. Also marquise's--that's also a brilliant cut.
I think emerald cuts have that glassy look quite often (but they are not that common) and the average garden variety princess cut (not the ones P'scopers have) also doesn't have a lot of sparkle.
Maybe they all just go way bigger than they can really afford and get lousy stones? Around where I live, the small diamonds tend to look very very nice--while those one carat and up are definitely usually the frozen spit quality.
I have heard of people looking at good quality diamonds and saying they must be CZ because 'diamonds jsut don't sparkle like that", when they are used to bad stones.
Most people I know though would consider these speculations very silly and complete waste of time. to them, you get 'a' diamond because you are getting married and having a diamond shows the world that you're an engaged woman, none of them really care about diamonds, everyone oohs and aahs over their ring no matter what it looks like because the point is that they're engaged and that's reason for congratulation; there is a certain amount of competition between girlfriends and sisters as to who has the biggest rock, but its not very serious, and then they get married and literally never think about the diamond again. I mean, literally. Unless there's some reason to, like a divorce (still rather rare around here). Otherwise, when they die, their daughter gets it and maybe makes a pendant in their memory. It's a 'diamond' and that's good enough, pretty isn't necessary.
women might get other diamonds but they are markers for life transitions and only important for that. Few get upgrades. At a certain point (15, 20 year) they get anniversary rings, always eternity bands or half eternities. A nice husband might dole out a tennis bracelet, pendant or earrings for further anniversaries (definitely after number fifteen), when the kids are out of college and the budget allows. Again, the quality does not matter.And lots of women don't even want these things. They would rather have pop-ups to camp with or to redo their kitchen or something or get a really nice car. And these are not poor people. It's an affluent area but one where people don't respect Hollywood actors, don't pay much attention to advertising (many do not watch tv for reasons of principle) and think of New York as that place where you go once in a while to watch a Broadway show and buy a fake designer handbag to show off--and tell everyone its fake. It's a trophy that means that you went to NY. those who have real designer handbags are considered to be total fools who are wasting good monay for no reason, as are those who dress too stylishly.
Those with really nice diamonds tend to hide them or wear them only for special occasions. One friend has an amazing 1.5 which she wears only a the Christmas party each year. That was a rare upgrade. Otherwise she wears nothing but her wedding band--and her original e-ring diamond as one of a pair of earring she doesn't take off. Another is from a wealthy family and inherited a giant and gorgeous sapphire--for an e-ring which I've only seen once. It was a SUPER special occasion. Otherwise it's jsut a plain gold band for her. Actually a lot of people here only wear plain gold bands after marriage. They have a lot of kids, maybe that's why.