Do clarity and cut make a difference on such small stones?

[Sabine]

I''m currently looking for a wedding band. My ering is a yellow gold .76 solitaire, H, SI, with 3 channel set stones on each side. Also, the band gets narrower near the center stone. I''m considering both channel set and pronged set bands, and I''m wondering about clarity and pricing. I definitely want the band to be 2mm in width. The b&m store where FI got my ering doesn''t have any channel set bands under 3mm, so I tried a pronged set, and it actually looked pretty nice against my ering. It would have 10 small diamonds to match up with where the channel set stones on my ering start/end, with SI 2 minimum clarity, and for yellow gold they quoted me $345. I found this 2mm channel set ring at Kay Jewelers for $199, but their stones have I2-I3 minimum clarity: Linky. It has 13 stones, so I might have to ask if I could get less stones since I do want where the stones start/end to match up with my ering. They also have a pronged set ring online with similar stones in white gold that I could probably get in yellow gold that is less than $345. So my questions:

Does clarity on such small channel set stones really make a difference?
Could I find something better online? And if so, would I be able to make sure the small stones begin/end where the stones on my ering begin/end if I never try the rings on in person?
Am I crazy to think a prong-set ring would look nice up against my channel set ering?

Sorry, no pics of the ering as my digital camera does not have macro setting. Please forgive me if this doesn''t make sense, although I post a bunch on the other forums, I''m still quite new to this whole jewelry buying business!

 

[JulieN]

IMO, yes. one tiny speck in a tiny stone...

 

[strmrdr]

yea it makes a difference as does cut.
The second will look like frozen spit.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Yes, I''d want a high quality wedding band. And I think if the e-ring is channel set, a channel set wedding band is going to look best. The challenge may be finding what you want in yellow gold, although I am seeing more of it lately.

 

[Kaleigh]

Yes makes a big difference. Don''t sacrifice, this is your wedding band.