Earring advice - please!

[ckh]

I am buying diamond earrings for my wife. Looking for 3 carat tw. Budget of around 18,000. I have the following offers from a dealer that is a family friend/acquaintance. Unfortunately I cannot see them in person as I am overseas, but buying in the US.

Can you give me your advice on these two pairs. If you need more info, let me know. Also, I have been told that white gold is better for mounting earrings as is lighter and durability of platinum is not needed - opinions?

Also, these are EGL certs - I'm not familiar with EGL as my wife's wedding ring was a GIA cert. I've been told that EGL is just as respected and it's not a problem. Thanks for your help!

1) Pair 1 (H color, SI clarity)


· 1.50 carat, H color, SI1 clarity, very good/good cut - EGL report dated July 2004
Total Depth: 57.8%
Table Width: 62%
Crown Height: 12%
Pavilion Depth: 43%
Girdle Thickness: Medium, Faceted
Polish: Good to Very Good
Symmetry: Good
Culet: None
Flourescence: Slight Blue


· 1.51 carat, H color, SI1 clarity, very good/good cut - EGL cert dated Nov. 2004
Total Depth: 57.6%
Table Width: 63%
Crown Height: 11%
Pavilion Depth: 42%
Girdle Thickness: Medium, Faceted
Polish: Very Good
Symmetry: Good
Culet: None
Flourescence: None


· Price for this pair mounted in white gold 4-prong basket mountings is $18,200


2) Pair 2 (I color, VS clarity)


· 1.51 carat, I color, VS2 clarity, very good/very good cut - EGL USA dated April 2005
Total Depth: 62.9%
Table Width: 61%
Crown Height: 14.1%
Pavilion Depth: 44.8%
Girdle Thickness: Thin to slightly thick
Polish: Very Good
Symmetry: Very Good
Culet: None
Flourescence: none

· 1.54 carat, I color, VS2 clarity, very good/very good cut – EGL USA dated April 2005
Total Depth: 63%
Table Width: 61%
Crown Height: 14.3%
Pavilion Depth: 44.5%
Girdle Thickness: ?
Polish: Very Good
Symmetry: Very Good
Culet: None
Flourescence: none


· Price for this pair mounted in white gold 4-prong basket mountings is $17,999


Thanks in advance - CKH

 

[valeria101]

White gold is perfectly ok... practically nothing of the earring settings shows anyway and this is perfectly safe. Most likely the gold settings will be more lightweight - which is a good thing.

Aside this, EGL certs... which EGL ? There are several branches and the US-based one is reputed to have allot higher grading standards than the others.

It is not unheard of to select lower quality stones for earrings "because they do not show". There is some truth to the "do not show part" but sometimes the excuse is overused. EGL provides some details about cut quality - the prportions of these stones: diameter, table, depth, crown height, pavilion depth, girdle thickness and culet size should be on the lab reports. Do you have them ? Not all 1.5 carat H-I. VS2-SI1 are born alike, far from that, actually. Aside the aparent coilor, clarity and weight several other factors determine price and value and those are not mentioned in yout post... It may be interesting to find out how these compare with competing offers

but that is not very practical with only this little data to work with.

 

[valeria101]

Errr.... thanks for the details

Now there's more to talk about !


About those proportions... well, have you seen these ? As much as can be predicted using those numbers (see the "Cut Advisor" under "Tools" on top of this page, there are several other such tools as well) the first pair is allot better and within it, the first stone a winner while the other not quite as great. The second pair does not fit the standard of the Cut Advisor... it my be great, but... the not so great score there gives something to look for. If you do get to compare these in person.

The other thing... well, for 18-19k these could be H&A and either GIA or AGS graded. perhaps the offer of such diamons is not huge, but two came up after 5 minutes of search. try the "Search by cut quality" above.

 

[ckh]

Wow - thanks for quick reply! I have edited my original post with the relevant stats. Note that the first pair is from EGL (doesn''t say what branch) and the second pair is from EGL USA.

 

[hoorray]

You can run these specs through the cut advisor to see how the cut comes out. Personally, I would drop the clarity and increase the cut quality. Cut is going to be what makes them sparkle, IMO, there is a huge difference on how earrings look, especially in this size, whether they have a lot of life or not. They will be framing her face, and should really through off lots of flash and light. Also, when trying to match them, look at the diameter, not the carat weight. That is what will show.

I fould this and this as options. They are a little more than your budget, but in the general ball park.

Lastely, I would go with a martini setting rather than a basket setting. Basket settings tend to droop a little more, especially as the stones get larger. Martini settings sit more flush.

Good luck!

 

[fire&ice]

Are these round stones? From the %''s you posted, the cut appears to be quite off.

 

[phoenixgirl]

The stones got the following HCA ratings:

1) 2.1
2) 4.9 almost fish-eye

3) 5.9
4) 6

#1 is the only decent stone (probably) in the bunch.

Some other ideas: (I tried more to match them based on color and diameter than on exact size or clarity, just FYI)

1.50 J VS2 1.7 on HCA for $7585 7.45-7.46
1.51 J SI2 ACA 1.1 on the HCA for $7077 7.42-7.44
@ $14,500


1.55 I SI1 1.8 on HCA for $9740 7.38-7.42
1.53 I VS2 2.3 on HCA for $9437 7.39-7.45
@ $19,200

1.50 I VS1 1.7 on HCA for $9565 7.41-7.45
1.51 I VS1 1.7 on HCA for $9917 7.42-7.48
@$19,500

Use the search by cut feature to find more yourself.

Personally, I think that you should run from stones with cuts like the ones you''ve been shown. How much of a family friend discount can you be getting? Check out these similar stones:

1.50 H SI1 EGL 57.5D 63T for $6362-$6682 The same stone was offered by different vendors (hence the price range), but has been sold.
1.50 H SI1 EGL D57.8 T62 for $8071

1.50 I VS1 EGL D62.2 T61 for $7518-$7897
1.50 I VS1 EGL D63.2 T60 for $8317-$8623




Remember, EGL is known to be more lenient than the GIA and AGS and their stones are priced accordingly. Make sure you will still pay the same if you knew the color and clarity were one grade lower. What seems like a great deal on I/VS2 stones may not be so hot if they are J/SI1. For the record, I am not saying that there is an automatic one grade discrepancy between GIA and EGL, just that the stones are priced lower because they are known to tend to give the higher grade on borderline stones, whereas GIA tends to give the lower.

 

[Mara]

i agree that none of those stones i would even consider (not even the first one).

sure you don't have to go superideal on earrings but here is my story. i had a pair of earrings which were not cut well, they looked like nice white blobs on my ear. my new pair is a little bit smaller and they are cut 10000% better and they throw tons of sparkles from my ear. my old ones were bigger but these new ones look almost as big due to the cut and the way they return light.

$18k is not petty cash. spend that money wisely and be wary of the 'friend' discount, esp with stones like those that you listed....as someone else noted, how much of a discount are you getting for crappy stones?

I really like those I SI/VS stones that were posted...just as cut can be seen from a mile away on the ear, color cannot...and if you are already considering H's then I would consider better cut I's for the same cost. I have I earrings and there is no color visible on the head and next time around I would definitely go J to get bigger size and stick with a fabulous cut. I get so many more compliments on this set than my old badly cut ones!

 

[ckh]

Thanks all for the advice. I''m continuing my search!