Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamonds?

[Ittybittykittykat]

I've been researching settings and have fallen in love with pink diamonds. I would ideally like to do a pink halo for an engagement ring.
I know color is the most important factor but are pink diamonds cut to sparkle the same as high quality white diamonds? Also is there an accurate color chart of pink diamonds anywhere on the interwebs?

I hope I'm not being repetitive. I haven't found any useful links.

TIA!

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

If they are well cut and have decent clarity, then yes. Diamonds by Lauren produces a ton of rings using pink melee and they can provide you with price expectations depending on the saturation (how much pink) of the melee as well as the quality. It helps a ton to have the melee set in rose gold with the rest of the ring in platinum or white gold, contrast is your friend with fancy colored melee.

FWIW if the pink diamonds are too far out of budget you may be able to use pink sapphire, much more reasonable and in smaller sizes very similar to the look of diamond. I've had a pink diamond melee band as well as sapphire and actually preferred the sapphire (very tiny stones .025ct).

 

[ADN]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

I've been researching settings and have fallen in love with pink diamonds. I would ideally like to do a pink halo for an engagement ring.
I know color is the most important factor but are pink diamonds cut to sparkle the same as high quality white diamonds? Also is there an accurate color chart of pink diamonds anywhere on the interwebs?

I hope I'm not being repetitive. I haven't found any useful links.

TIA!

http://www.argylepinkdiamonds.com.au/colour-grading

The images don't actually do the real colours justice, but this will give you a fair approximation.
Regarding cut - most are fairly well cut - you will find a bit of variation as it is ALL about the colour when it comes to pinks - - but they will definitely sparkle.
Unless budget isn't an issue, I'd suggest a 4P as they are a beautiful pink at a reasonable price.

Hope this helps

 

[chrono]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

Pink melees will sparkle but not as much as colourless melees because FCDs are cut for colour (with some sacrifice for perfect or ideal light return because colour comes first) whereas colourless melees are typically cut for maximum light return.

 

[Ittybittykittykat]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

Thank you! This is what I got the jist of from the information out there. I wanted to verify I understood correctly. I hope that my vendor will be able to source sparkly and vivid pink diamonds!

 

[Ittybittykittykat]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

I've been researching settings and have fallen in love with pink diamonds. I would ideally like to do a pink halo for an engagement ring.
I know color is the most important factor but are pink diamonds cut to sparkle the same as high quality white diamonds? Also is there an accurate color chart of pink diamonds anywhere on the interwebs?

I hope I'm not being repetitive. I haven't found any useful links.

TIA!

http://www.argylepinkdiamonds.com.au/colour-grading

The images don't actually do the real colours justice, but this will give you a fair approximation.
Regarding cut - most are fairly well cut - you will find a bit of variation as it is ALL about the colour when it comes to pinks - - but they will definitely sparkle.
Unless budget isn't an issue, I'd suggest a 4P as they are a beautiful pink at a reasonable price.

Hope this helps

Thanks for the image! Where would a fancy Intense pink be on this list?

 

[Ittybittykittykat]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

If they are well cut and have decent clarity, then yes. Diamonds by Lauren produces a ton of rings using pink melee and they can provide you with price expectations depending on the saturation (how much pink) of the melee as well as the quality. It helps a ton to have the melee set in rose gold with the rest of the ring in platinum or white gold, contrast is your friend with fancy colored melee.

FWIW if the pink diamonds are too far out of budget you may be able to use pink sapphire, much more reasonable and in smaller sizes very similar to the look of diamond. I've had a pink diamond melee band as well as sapphire and actually preferred the sapphire (very tiny stones .025ct).

I have seen DBL work and they have beautiful pieces! If I choose to go with pink diamonds I would have the halo made in rose gold. I requested the price for Fancy Intense pink diamonds from a vendor and was told they go for $4000/4,500 per ct. That sounds pretty expensive doesn't it?

 

[solgen]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

Is it likely that pink melees are typically color treated? Some are quite vivid and I'd imagine it's difficult to find a set with matching intensity/hue.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

If they are well cut and have decent clarity, then yes. Diamonds by Lauren produces a ton of rings using pink melee and they can provide you with price expectations depending on the saturation (how much pink) of the melee as well as the quality. It helps a ton to have the melee set in rose gold with the rest of the ring in platinum or white gold, contrast is your friend with fancy colored melee.

FWIW if the pink diamonds are too far out of budget you may be able to use pink sapphire, much more reasonable and in smaller sizes very similar to the look of diamond. I've had a pink diamond melee band as well as sapphire and actually preferred the sapphire (very tiny stones .025ct).

I have seen DBL work and they have beautiful pieces! If I choose to go with pink diamonds I would have the halo made in rose gold. I requested the price for Fancy Intense pink diamonds from a vendor and was told they go for $4000/4,500 per ct. That sounds pretty expensive doesn't it?

Thanks Kitty!!
One issue consumers face buying pink meleé is that there's no GIA reports on small stones.
So you have to take the word of the vendor.
True Fancy Intense Pink diamonds will go for a lot more than $4500 per carat

 

[Ittybittykittykat]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

Hi David! Thanks for the input! A trusted vendor is the way to go for sure. Do you have an example of what a true FIP diamond looks like before set in rose gold?
More than $4,500 per ct is pretty steep.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

Hi Kitty!!
Accurate pics?
If only
There's a number of difficulties about providing an example:
1) Photography varies
2) the setting makes a HUGE difference.
There's some pictures floating around online showing a white gold eternity band set with what look like Vivid Pink Diamonds. It's total BS photoshopped out the kazoo.

The problem is that pink in diamonds is more subtle than Yellow or Brown.
So even a Fancy Intense Pink .01ct Diamond is not going to look very pink if it's set into white metal.

I know that when we buy them, the grades are far from incremental, like colorless. We can get E-F/VS for $1500 per carat, switching to G-H VS brings down the price to $1200
Since pink diamonds are far more rare, the price levels may go from $7500 per carat for Fancy Pink to $15000 per carat for Fancy Intense Pink. ( not necessarily actual prices, just using an example)
If you're looking at the clarity, it becomes even more difficult
Sometimes the best color of pink is more imperfect than lighter colors- and the color will make them far more costly than lighter VS pinks.

 

[ADN]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

[/quote] Thanks for the image! Where would a fancy Intense pink be on this list?[/quote]

Hi - unfortunately it's not that simple as GIA and Argyle gradings don't line up exactly - but roughly speaking most 5P's or lower end 4P's would fall into the fancy intense grade.

 

[ADN]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

If they are well cut and have decent clarity, then yes. Diamonds by Lauren produces a ton of rings using pink melee and they can provide you with price expectations depending on the saturation (how much pink) of the melee as well as the quality. It helps a ton to have the melee set in rose gold with the rest of the ring in platinum or white gold, contrast is your friend with fancy colored melee.

FWIW if the pink diamonds are too far out of budget you may be able to use pink sapphire, much more reasonable and in smaller sizes very similar to the look of diamond. I've had a pink diamond melee band as well as sapphire and actually preferred the sapphire (very tiny stones .025ct).

I have seen DBL work and they have beautiful pieces! If I choose to go with pink diamonds I would have the halo made in rose gold. I requested the price for Fancy Intense pink diamonds from a vendor and was told they go for $4000/4,500 per ct. That sounds pretty expensive doesn't it?

Thanks Kitty!!
One issue consumers face buying pink meleé is that there's no GIA reports on small stones.
So you have to take the word of the vendor.
True Fancy Intense Pink diamonds will go for a lot more than $4500 per carat

A parcel of Argyle Pinks .01-.03pts in a 4P is hovering around roughly the $50k/ct range - if someone is offering you fancy intense pinks at $4500/ct...I'd be running out of there pretty quickly
You also don't necessarily have to take the word of the retail vendor - if you're buying Argyles (I don't know about other sources), you can most likely be provided a 'lot number' that the smalls came from (unique Argyle number assigned to each parcel of pink smalls that they sell) - - just ask the retailer to contact their wholesaler and track that info...if possible.
And in my experience, a 4P+ colour is going to show up extremely well in white gold if rose isn't your style.
Hope this helps

 

[Rockdiamond]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

Hi ADN,
Welcome to PS!
Good point about Argyle selling parcels of smalls- which as you point out, are super costly. I find them to be exponentially more costly than other pink diamonds, say from Brazil- that have comparable color.
Of course there are plenty of buyers who want the specific color of an Argyle Diamond, and are willing to pay for it.
In either case, the consumer does need to trust the vendor to a greater degree than if they are buying a larger stone with a GIA report.

Interesting about your experience setting pink diamonds in white metal- we did set some Fancy Light Pinks in .01ct size in white gold and they lost the color.

 

[pinkjewel]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

In my experience "fancy pink" melee seems to vary considerably between vendors. I've had a "fancy pink" halo from one vendor that was quite pale-more like a fancy light pink. And others that have been quite pink. If doing your halo in rose gold a good "fancy pink" will be deep enough pink to show quite nicely. My advise is to ask to see the melee prior to setting. Fancy intense pink melee is getting quite scarce and also very expensive. I've seen beautiful fancy intense pinks set into white metals that show pink perfectly well.

the two pink melees in the following photo are fancy intense pink- not photoshopped at all. I bought them a few years ago from Leibish and even then they were ridiculously expensive, but they are a really lovely intense pink.

 

[pinkjewel]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

this is really weird, but I can't get the photo to post-it keeps trying to post another photo than the one I'm attaching-never had this happen here before. I'll try again later

 

[VRBeauty]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

this is really weird, but I can't get the photo to post-it keeps trying to post another photo than the one I'm attaching-never had this happen here before. I'll try again later

have you tried re-naming your jpeg or gif file?

 

[Rockdiamond]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

Thanks PJ- even before I see the pic, I trust your word.

Chalk it up to me maybe not being as open minded as I might be about how they look- and another factor.
Last time I tried was years back- and we switched over to higher priced stone with more color- I shall try something on an upcoming project with Intense pinks in white metal.

 

[ADN]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

Hi ADN,
Welcome to PS!
Good point about Argyle selling parcels of smalls- which as you point out, are super costly. I find them to be exponentially more costly than other pink diamonds, say from Brazil- that have comparable color.
Of course there are plenty of buyers who want the specific color of an Argyle Diamond, and are willing to pay for it.
In either case, the consumer does need to trust the vendor to a greater degree than if they are buying a larger stone with a GIA report.

Interesting about your experience setting pink diamonds in white metal- we did set some Fancy Light Pinks in .01ct size in white gold and they lost the color.

thanks Rockdiamond - appreciate the welcome
What a great site PS is - a wealth of experience & info!
Just to clarify, i certainly didn't mean that the customer didn't need to trust the vendor...that's a given...what i simply meant was that, like a white stone with a cert, there are ways to confirm the colour/quality of some melee pinks, other than what the seller calls them - - I've seen people in the industry throw terms around like 'bubble gum' & 'fairy floss'...very subjective/vague/misleading to the trade and especially the customer...
I'd agree with you that a 'fancy light pink' would get lost in white gold as this is getting into the 7-9P colour range...and they aren't that flash - I tend to stay 4P+ when dealing with the smalls.
Cheers

 

[kenny]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

FWIW this vendor sells tiny pinks.

http://www.langerman-diamonds.com/colored-diamonds/small-diamonds

They have four different pinks.
Here is the price list for the least-expensive pink.



Her is their most-expensive pink, which they call "Rasberry".

 

[pinkjewel]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

ok-let's see if it posts now

first photo- pair of 2mm intense pink melee

second photo- my orchid ring pink diamond melee from a parcel of 4-5pp Argyle and the heart ring has pink melee classified as "fancy pink", but has very good, saturated color for the "fancy" pink classification.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

HI PJ,
It looks to me as though the pink diamonds are set into pink metal.....you mentioned setting them in white metal.....

 

[pinkjewel]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

HI PJ,
It looks to me as though the pink diamonds are set into pink metal.....you mentioned setting them in white metal.....

I didn't say I personally had set them in white metal- but when I have some time I can certainly pull up some photos of intense pinks set into platinum. I prefer my own pinks set into rose gold as it will always enhance the pink color- and I am very fond of rose gold anyway.

 

[dollyanjuli]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

ok-let's see if it posts now

first photo- pair of 2mm intense pink melee

second photo- my orchid ring pink diamond melee from a parcel of 4-5pp Argyle and the heart ring has pink melee classified as "fancy pink", but has very good, saturated color for the "fancy" pink classification.

Pinkjewel, your orchid ring is one of my all time favorite pieces of jewelry in PS history. It is so beyond.

 

[pinkjewel]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

ok-let's see if it posts now

first photo- pair of 2mm intense pink melee

second photo- my orchid ring pink diamond melee from a parcel of 4-5pp Argyle and the heart ring has pink melee classified as "fancy pink", but has very good, saturated color for the "fancy" pink classification.

Pinkjewel, your orchid ring is one of my all time favorite pieces of jewelry in PS history. It is so beyond.

aw, thanks dollyanjuli

 

[Rockdiamond]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

ok-let's see if it posts now

first photo- pair of 2mm intense pink melee

second photo- my orchid ring pink diamond melee from a parcel of 4-5pp Argyle and the heart ring has pink melee classified as "fancy pink", but has very good, saturated color for the "fancy" pink classification.

Pinkjewel, your orchid ring is one of my all time favorite pieces of jewelry in PS history. It is so beyond.

+1

I've always admired that piece PJ!

 

[pinkjewel]

Re: Do pink diamond melee's sparkle as much as white diamond

ok-let's see if it posts now

first photo- pair of 2mm intense pink melee

second photo- my orchid ring pink diamond melee from a parcel of 4-5pp Argyle and the heart ring has pink melee classified as "fancy pink", but has very good, saturated color for the "fancy" pink classification.

Pinkjewel, your orchid ring is one of my all time favorite pieces of jewelry in PS history. It is so beyond.

+1

I've always admired that piece PJ!

thanks, David!