vintageinjune
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2012
- Messages
- 1,088
Greetings to one and all, and a heart felt thank you in advance for your honest insight and opinions.
TL,DR: I went to purchase a pair of TAKARA lab diamonds directly through Better Than Diamond for a pair of stud earrings, only to be informed due to inventory issues they had already sold, tried to buy a different matched pair through Distinctive Gems (same issue since they rely on BTD for virtual inventory), and Johnathan searched out a pair that would be "as good or better", F, VS1, and meet AGS ideal optics standards. The diamonds are amazing on paper but the videos show very strong/distinct stria and look "fuzzy" to me, but I've been assured it cannot be noticed in real life by the naked eye. The setting I want is a 3 prong I have on a cheap pair of earrings from a mall jeweler and used to be offered by WhiteFlash, but no stock version has been found, and the custom option was quoted at a price point that feels high enough I am now reconsidering this entire thing due to already being a little wary of what I've seen in the videos. Do I just set them in a standard martini with large, heavy backs and hope they will be comfortable enough and not droop? Return the diamonds and start over elsewhere? Pay the price for the settings and keep the stones since I don't plan on upgrading so it is fine if the cost was more than I expected? If I really cannot see any fuzziness/issues with the stones with the naked eye I am okay with the stria. But... can ideal optics actually overcome that issue? Help a girl out if you can please!
1 - Would you buy these diamonds? Why or why not?
2- Would 18k white gold/palladium be better since it is lighter weight? (For martini settings, I don't want drooping!)
Long version:
Earring History: I had 5.5mm 14k white gold martini moissanite earrings purchased roughly a decade ago that I wore and loved for a long time with regular sized backs that were comfortable and did not droop. They were the original yellow/green tinted ones though, so a few years back I had 6.5mm colorless stones put in to platinum 6 prong martini settings with regular backs. Drooping galore, not particularly comfortable, but they sparkled and I loved the look of the settings. I believe the extra metal and heft of the platinum is what caused the majority of the drooping issue, and could have been fixed by obtaining large platinum butterfly backs, but I never got around to it, I added some plastic discs and lived with that. They would still be my daily wear if I had not lost one last year. My style is fairly minimalistic, so I went without anything for a while but ultimately purchased a cheap pair of 14k yellow gold lab emerald studs from a mall jeweler, which are a modified 3 prong that are "U" shaped against the ear instead of "V" shaped, and incredibly comfortable. This is the style I hope to have for my future diamond earrings.
Journey's Start: We have reached a point where I'm comfortable spending a larger amount of money on luxury items (as is my partner), and we agreed I could get a pair of lab grown diamond studs made as it has been a dream of mine for years. Once I was given a green light, I immediately went to BTD's website and ordered two diamonds (.83 and .86 F/VS1) that I had been eyeing for a long time. My 6.5mm moissy studs always felt a little too big, so these 6.1mm- ish diamonds felt like just the right size! They failed to ship the next day and I figured no big deal, Covid is a thing, etc. 2 or 3 days later (cannot recall precisely) they email me to let me know one of the diamonds I had tried to purchase had been sold, they were(and maybe still are) having inventory issues on their server, and did offer up 3 other pairs, two smaller, one slightly larger, but only gave me pricing for the 2 smaller pairs. I knew Distinctive Gem sold the Takara diamonds too, and found a matched pair on their website and tried to buy those, with the same result. Johnathan however reached out the next day and apologized for the inconvenience and offered to find me a pair the same as or better for specs, and I told him I could be patient to find great diamonds.
Where We Are: I know just enough about diamonds to know I don't know all that much. Browsing here for years has always been a "more for fun" with a little education thrown in. Johnathan has been so kind and helpful and seemed so excited about the pair he found me, .91 F/VVS2 and .93 F/VS1 with amazing cut, hearts and arrows... and stria. Strong, fuzzy looking stria. Logically I know the videos are zoomed in SO much larger than these are in real life, and he assures me it does not detract from the performance whatsoever, and I want to believe that and was happy to go along.While the diamonds were their own issues, the setting is the other. What I want neither he nor I could find as a stock setting, and the quote for the custom version came back today and.... brought forward all the insecurities I have about everything! Just because we have the money to spend doesn't mean I have to (or should), the matched pairs of lab grown diamonds on James Allen don't look fuzzy but also don't have Idealscope/ASET/grading reports handy. I've seen a TAKARA in person and it was breathtakingly beautiful, and that is admittedly the standard I'm holding these too (none of their diamonds have stria as one of their selling points).
My rough budget is $6k, which can be higher according to my husband " if that is what will make you happy", but I get anxiety over buying things for myself. There are a pair of 1.01 ct, G/VS1 6.45x6.5mm TAKARAs listed, but brings me back to "being a little bigger than I imagined", but "maybe with a 3 prong they will look smaller than in a 6 prong?" running through my head. My 5.5mm were lovely for daily wear.
www.distinctivegem.com
www.distinctivegem.com
Thoughts?
TL,DR: I went to purchase a pair of TAKARA lab diamonds directly through Better Than Diamond for a pair of stud earrings, only to be informed due to inventory issues they had already sold, tried to buy a different matched pair through Distinctive Gems (same issue since they rely on BTD for virtual inventory), and Johnathan searched out a pair that would be "as good or better", F, VS1, and meet AGS ideal optics standards. The diamonds are amazing on paper but the videos show very strong/distinct stria and look "fuzzy" to me, but I've been assured it cannot be noticed in real life by the naked eye. The setting I want is a 3 prong I have on a cheap pair of earrings from a mall jeweler and used to be offered by WhiteFlash, but no stock version has been found, and the custom option was quoted at a price point that feels high enough I am now reconsidering this entire thing due to already being a little wary of what I've seen in the videos. Do I just set them in a standard martini with large, heavy backs and hope they will be comfortable enough and not droop? Return the diamonds and start over elsewhere? Pay the price for the settings and keep the stones since I don't plan on upgrading so it is fine if the cost was more than I expected? If I really cannot see any fuzziness/issues with the stones with the naked eye I am okay with the stria. But... can ideal optics actually overcome that issue? Help a girl out if you can please!
1 - Would you buy these diamonds? Why or why not?
2- Would 18k white gold/palladium be better since it is lighter weight? (For martini settings, I don't want drooping!)
Long version:
Earring History: I had 5.5mm 14k white gold martini moissanite earrings purchased roughly a decade ago that I wore and loved for a long time with regular sized backs that were comfortable and did not droop. They were the original yellow/green tinted ones though, so a few years back I had 6.5mm colorless stones put in to platinum 6 prong martini settings with regular backs. Drooping galore, not particularly comfortable, but they sparkled and I loved the look of the settings. I believe the extra metal and heft of the platinum is what caused the majority of the drooping issue, and could have been fixed by obtaining large platinum butterfly backs, but I never got around to it, I added some plastic discs and lived with that. They would still be my daily wear if I had not lost one last year. My style is fairly minimalistic, so I went without anything for a while but ultimately purchased a cheap pair of 14k yellow gold lab emerald studs from a mall jeweler, which are a modified 3 prong that are "U" shaped against the ear instead of "V" shaped, and incredibly comfortable. This is the style I hope to have for my future diamond earrings.
Journey's Start: We have reached a point where I'm comfortable spending a larger amount of money on luxury items (as is my partner), and we agreed I could get a pair of lab grown diamond studs made as it has been a dream of mine for years. Once I was given a green light, I immediately went to BTD's website and ordered two diamonds (.83 and .86 F/VS1) that I had been eyeing for a long time. My 6.5mm moissy studs always felt a little too big, so these 6.1mm- ish diamonds felt like just the right size! They failed to ship the next day and I figured no big deal, Covid is a thing, etc. 2 or 3 days later (cannot recall precisely) they email me to let me know one of the diamonds I had tried to purchase had been sold, they were(and maybe still are) having inventory issues on their server, and did offer up 3 other pairs, two smaller, one slightly larger, but only gave me pricing for the 2 smaller pairs. I knew Distinctive Gem sold the Takara diamonds too, and found a matched pair on their website and tried to buy those, with the same result. Johnathan however reached out the next day and apologized for the inconvenience and offered to find me a pair the same as or better for specs, and I told him I could be patient to find great diamonds.
Where We Are: I know just enough about diamonds to know I don't know all that much. Browsing here for years has always been a "more for fun" with a little education thrown in. Johnathan has been so kind and helpful and seemed so excited about the pair he found me, .91 F/VVS2 and .93 F/VS1 with amazing cut, hearts and arrows... and stria. Strong, fuzzy looking stria. Logically I know the videos are zoomed in SO much larger than these are in real life, and he assures me it does not detract from the performance whatsoever, and I want to believe that and was happy to go along.While the diamonds were their own issues, the setting is the other. What I want neither he nor I could find as a stock setting, and the quote for the custom version came back today and.... brought forward all the insecurities I have about everything! Just because we have the money to spend doesn't mean I have to (or should), the matched pairs of lab grown diamonds on James Allen don't look fuzzy but also don't have Idealscope/ASET/grading reports handy. I've seen a TAKARA in person and it was breathtakingly beautiful, and that is admittedly the standard I'm holding these too (none of their diamonds have stria as one of their selling points).
My rough budget is $6k, which can be higher according to my husband " if that is what will make you happy", but I get anxiety over buying things for myself. There are a pair of 1.01 ct, G/VS1 6.45x6.5mm TAKARAs listed, but brings me back to "being a little bigger than I imagined", but "maybe with a 3 prong they will look smaller than in a 6 prong?" running through my head. My 5.5mm were lovely for daily wear.
0.91ct F VVS2 Round Brilliant Private Reserve Lab Grown Diamond
Diamond Details Measurements 6.23 x 6.25 x 3.82mm Cut Ideal Polish Ex Symmetry Ex Fluorescence None Culet none Report IGI Table 57% Depth 61.2%
www.distinctivegem.com
0.93ct F VS1 Round Brilliant Private Reserve Lab Grown Diamond
Diamond Details Measurements 6.23 x 6.25 x 3.88mm Cut Ideal Polish Ex Symmetry Ex Fluorescence None Culet none Report IGI Table 56.5% Depth 62.2%
www.distinctivegem.com
Thoughts?
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