Exhausted and overwhelmed.

[DoeEyes]

@TreeScientist oh wow, I just assumed the halo would have a .5 center stone for some reason. If it's really .89 that's fine, I'm happy with anything as low as .75 really, probably even a bit lower. just think .5 is a little too small for me. I would love to see your review of lightbox when it comes out. I might just buy as soon as it's released because I'm scared of them running out or having delays in shipping, and then return it if it turns out to be bad.

 

[TreeScientist]

@TreeScientist oh wow, I just assumed the halo would have a .5 center stone for some reason. If it's really .89 that's fine, I'm happy with anything as low as .75 really, probably even a bit lower. just think .5 is a little too small for me. I would love to see your review of lightbox when it comes out. I might just buy as soon as it's released because I'm scared of them running out or having delays in shipping, and then return it if it turns out to be bad.

Check their site, it's listed as 8/9 carat center (which I'm guessing will mean somewhere between .85-.90 carat since they're not going to be graded).

That's my plan as well: Buy as soon as they are released (like, go online and order literally as soon as I find out), then return it if it turns out to be bad. I'll take a look at it with my IdealScope to get an idea of the cut. Honestly, I'm not expecting it to be a SuperIdeal cut with perfect H&A pattern. As long as it has a relatively decent arrow pattern and there isn't any terrible leakage under the table I'll be happy. I'm also going to map the inclusions with my microscope to get an idea of the clarity and give my best guess as to the color grade (which I'm pretty good at ).

 

[DoeEyes]

Perfect! I can't wait to see what you come up with. Are you going to buy several different ones? Do you think it would be silly of me to buy a solitaire pendant and halo pendant just in case the cut is better on the smaller one or something? Or if the solitaire is available as a standalone 1ct pendant should I just get that one?

 

[TreeScientist]

Perfect! I can't wait to see what you come up with. Are you going to buy several different ones? Do you think it would be silly of me to buy a solitaire pendant and halo pendant just in case the cut is better on the smaller one or something? Or if the solitaire is available as a standalone 1ct pendant should I just get that one?

Seems like a smart idea, but I honestly think the cut will be fairly consistent. Since they really aren't limited as much by the size and shape of the rough with lab grown diamonds, I don't see why they would dramatically vary the cutting proportions. Again, I'm not expecting the cut to be perfect, but I don't see why they would intentionally make the cut terrible either.

I'm planning on ordering one of the 1ctw halo pendants and two of the 1/2 carat solitaire pendants. The center stone from the halo pendant will be used in a platinum infinity drop pendant that I have planned, and the two 1/2 carat stones are going to make a set of studs.

 

[DoeEyes]

I'm pretty sure they are selling stud earrings with 1tcw so .5 each, any reason you wouldn't buy those and save the extra $100 on paying for two settings?

 

[TreeScientist]

I'm pretty sure they are selling stud earrings with 1tcw so .5 each, any reason you wouldn't buy those and save the extra $100 on paying for two settings?

The 1ctw earrings are going to be in their 10K gold settings, which will be $200. So either way, it's going to be $1000 for the two 0.5 carat stones. 25 or 6 to 4. My only reasoning is that I may be able to put a cheap stone like a spinel in one of the sterling silver pendants for my fiancé to use as a "play" necklace. My fiancé has a nickel allergy, so lower-carat gold is pretty useless for us.

 

[DoeEyes]

@TreeScientist That makes sense, I didn't realize they were restricting the studs to gold only.

 

[DoeEyes]

@TreeScientist FYI I emailed lightbox yesterday to ask if they will be offering the solitaire pendant in 1ct and they confirmed just now it will only be .5ct. So I'm planning to order the halo pendant instead. You're right, I see where it says the center stone will be 8/9 carat center stone. Perfect size for me. I called one of the big jewelery stores nearby to ask if they will reset a diamond from a necklace to a ring and they said yes, no charge if I buy the setting from them. My only concern now is that I didn't say it would be a lightbox mmd, I wonder if I should keep that hush hush and just claim ignorance about what it is if they ask and say it was a gift, or be upfront about it. The jeweler I called was Golden Nugget in Philly, they have a big slogan "Where Philly Gets Engaged!" and it seems like the kind of place that won't turn any business away, but I'm not sure.

 

[bludiva]

@TreeScientist FYI I emailed lightbox yesterday to ask if they will be offering the solitaire pendant in 1ct and they confirmed just now it will only be .5ct. So I'm planning to order the halo pendant instead. You're right, I see where it says the center stone will be 8/9 carat center stone. Perfect size for me. I called one of the big jewelery stores nearby to ask if they will reset a diamond from a necklace to a ring and they said yes, no charge if I buy the setting from them. My only concern now is that I didn't say it would be a lightbox mmd, I wonder if I should keep that hush hush and just claim ignorance about what it is if they ask and say it was a gift, or be upfront about it. The jeweler I called was Golden Nugget in Philly, they have a big slogan "Where Philly Gets Engaged!" and it seems like the kind of place that won't turn any business away, but I'm not sure.

they shouldn't care that it's MMD but if they give you a hard time or if you want to buy your setting from somewhere that won't set your stone you could go to a jewelry repair store to set it. it should be ~50-100 just for stone setting.

 

[sledge]

The jeweler I called was Golden Nugget in Philly, they have a big slogan "Where Philly Gets Engaged!" and it seems like the kind of place that won't turn any business away, but I'm not sure.

LOL, good point. Where do companies get their slogans?

I ran across both these the other day on my way to work. Literally like 5-10 minutes apart. And they were different companies.

The dump truck one was funny.

But I can't fathom the guy that was sitting around and was like, "oh, I know I will be the Manure Entrepreneur!".

His poor wife. After her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets was like, "yes dear, what a great idea!". Later she called her sister and said her husband was the sh*t king, lol.

 

[MamaBee]

@ac117 I know that you're right, I think I was mostly feeling frustrated at myself for jumping the gun and then realizing that was probably a mistake. Although now I'm pretty sure I'll go home and tell my boyfriend I cancelled it and he'll think it was a mistake to let this board get into my head and I should have just waited to see it in person.

This process is really bringing out the worst in me. Maybe I'll throw a party when it's over to celebrate. With like 100-200 of my friends and family, food, music, dancing...

Sounds like a wedding @frogplus ! We all care that you will find a ring that makes YOU happy..That’s the most important!

 

[molecule]

@frogplus Have you evaluated if you do truly want a RB in a solitaire? Is that your top pick for setting and stone?

PSer's could likely find you an awesome pre-loved deal if you're open to it still

 

[soxfan]

@sledge I saw this a month ago a town away. GENIUS!

 

[TreeScientist]

@sledge I saw this a month ago a town away. GENIUS!

Sounds like the motto of every fraternity house.

 

[DoeEyes]

@molecule I definitely want round solitaire. Doesn't need to be modern brilliant, I think I might like OEC too, I haven't been able to compare back to back with the same color and cut so I'm not sure.
Before I ask for more recommendations though, I'm going to wait a few weeks and see if lightbox actually launches and if their diamonds are good enough for me. No one will be able to beat $900 for 1 ct (really it's going to be .8-.9 but point still stands) so I need to wait and see if lightbox is ruled out.

 

[MamaBee]

@sledge I saw this a month ago a town away. GENIUS!

 

[sledge]

@sledge I saw this a month ago a town away. GENIUS!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!



Hey @TreeScientist, all I'm gonna say is quality > quantity.

 

[sledge]

@frogplus Have you evaluated if you do truly want a RB in a solitaire? Is that your top pick for setting and stone?

PSer's could likely find you an awesome pre-loved deal if you're open to it still

I see @frogplus responded, but was going to say she and others have found a few pre-loved deals but for one reason or another they weren't right. At this point, the poor girl is so confused and emotional I think it's best she seek out the LightBox alternative before considering any more possibilities. Just my 2 cents, which I will gladly refund.

 

[DoeEyes]

@sledge lol yep. I'm a mess. My boyfriend asked me how my flip flops are holding up after all this flip flopping. I'm waiting for lightbox now. If lightbox isn't good enough, I'll probably end up going with a mined diamond. Flip flop, flip flop... Getting dizzy.

 

[MamaBee]

@sledge lol yep. I'm a mess. My boyfriend asked me how my flip flops are holding up after all this flip flopping. I'm waiting for lightbox now. If lightbox isn't good enough, I'll probably end up going with a mined diamond. Flip flop, flip flop... Getting dizzy.

It’s okay..Hang in there..Don’t settle..Take it one day at a time..There's nothing you can do until you purchase from Lightbox so just enjoy time with your boyfriend until then. If it’s any consolation..I flip flop too and I’m much older than you..

 

[hollandaisey]

@sledge lol yep. I'm a mess. My boyfriend asked me how my flip flops are holding up after all this flip flopping. I'm waiting for lightbox now. If lightbox isn't good enough, I'll probably end up going with a mined diamond. Flip flop, flip flop... Getting dizzy.

So not to make this any harder but I really wanted a solitaire this year and picked up a .7 oval on brilliance.com that is very clean and excellent cut, 5x7, in a 14k white gold six prong setting. It’s great and was under $1500 all told. The kicker is that it’s color is a faint green, but it has enough fluorescence to balance it out (to my eyes). It’s dirty here and that’s when you see the most color. You can really get great deals on off color stones. Hopefully light box works out but I’m just saying I get the budget struggles. Wedding band was $400 en eBay

 

[partgypsy]

At least on brilliant earth, this looks like the biggest well cut stone in your price range. J S12, but looks relatively clean 1400
https://www.brilliantearth.com/lab-diamonds-search/view_detail/6243016/

 

[MamaBee]

So not to make this any harder but I really wanted a solitaire this year and picked up a .7 oval on brilliance.com that is very clean and excellent cut, 5x7, in a 14k white gold six prong setting. It’s great and was under $1500 all told. The kicker is that it’s color is a faint green, but it has enough fluorescence to balance it out (to my eyes). It’s dirty here and that’s when you see the most color. You can really get great deals on off color stones. Hopefully light box works out but I’m just saying I get the budget struggles. Wedding band was $400 en eBay

Your set is very pretty! Great finds!

 

[DoeEyes]

So I know I'm not even supposed to be thinking about diamonds until LB launches since that's likely going to be what I go with, but obviously I have the bug and I can't stop. I forgot I had called a local jeweler and asked if he could find me something in my carat size and price range using pre-owned diamonds, and he had pulled some aside for me this weekend. I'm not sure if the ones he showed me were pre-owned or not, but I found a .67 G SI2 that I liked which would be about $2500, and another one that I didn't write down the details was about $2100, I think it was .70 and a lower color/cut but I could barely tell which was which when he mixed them up.

I'm going to call him back today and get all the details on both stones, what are the details you guys would need to know in order to say if it's good or not?

 

[pearaffair]

Just as an FYI, while lightbox hasn't yet announced whether they will be releasing a full carat stone, they do have a 1 ctw halo pendant with an 8/9 carat (so .89 carat) center stone listed on their coming soon page. I'm personally planning on buying one of these as soon as they come out. IMO a .89 carat colorless diamond for $900 (I see the halo setting as a throw-away) is a helluva deal. I'll post a report of the diamond on the lab-made forum once it arrives.

Might be worth waiting a month to see when the halo pendant will be available to ship. It will be a lot cheaper than the .9 carat you selected from BE.

You can throw the halo my way
I’ll wear it! I’ll even send you money for shipping

 

[MakingTheGrade]

If you do end up going the light box route and need it reset I know a great bench jeweler who could do it if Golden Nugget doesn’t work out. She’s awesome and prices things really fairly while doing good work. She made my 5 stone ring and my pendant and has bezelled many stones for me lol.


I also second taking a glance at Preloved. There are frequently good deals there. I recently nabbed a pair of superideal diamonds for a bracelet at 30% off market retail. Good deal for me and it’s fun knowing my money is going to another PSer who will probably use it towards a new project that I will then get to ogle on pricescope. Hehe

 

[DoeEyes]

My Lightbox lab diamond arrived yesterday. I got the half carat solitaire pendant. I wanted the halo pendant with a .88 center stone but it was sold out 20 minutes after they launched and I missed it. I'm actually happier now with the half carat since it was $500 instead of $900. I posted some pics and videos in another thread if you're interested in looking (and I will take more pics/videos if anyone has a request) but I'm here because I'm going to need to make a decision soon.

I visited my local jeweler this morning. I brought the LB diamond with the intention of looking at it under the loupe and comparing it to other white diamonds. Compared to an F colored diamond it looked exactly the same to me. I forgot to look at it under the loupe but I'll do that next time I go.

I looked at some settings and she had a Tiffany style that was nice and I think she said it was $650 which seems high for a setting that's going to hold a $500 lab diamond. The band was also a little thicker than I want. I told her I'd rather be closer to $300 for the setting so she's going to get some other options in for me to look this week.

I also brought an old setting that was my great grandmother's. It has no stone in it. My mom had given it to me and I thought I might use it for my engagement ring but I decided it's not right for me. Instead I wanted to have a stone set into it, clean it up, and gift it back to my mom for Christmas because she loves it. The thing is I didn't want to spend more than maybe $150 so I was assuming I could not get a diamond and would need to get a white sapphire or maybe diamond cluster.

I brought this ring to the jeweler today and told her I was looking for either a white sapphire or cluster of diamonds and wanted to spend $100-150, which is what I was quoted at another jeweler for diamond cluster/white sapphire. She pulled out an envelope full of loose diamonds from estates, no certification but she said they are all natural diamonds and I could have them appraised if I wanted to. We put a few into the setting and a .38 stone fit perfectly. Looking at this diamond it looked perfectly white and sparkly to me, but under the loupe there were some obvious inclusions, black spots, hole in the middle. She estimated that it was a G color I1 and probably not a perfect cut. She said she could do $250 and she could put it into my great grandmothers ring and clean it up. I forgot to ask if that price includes the setting and cleaning and everything or just the stone, but if that's the total cost I would be willing to spend that to have a solid diamond instead of clusters or white sapphire. I didn't think a solid diamond could be that inexpensive so I wasn't even considering it. She's going to keep looking for something better, she thinks an old cut would be better suited for this old ring, and honestly I'm fine with anything as long as it looks beautiful and the price is right, so I'll see what she comes up with.

After seeing these estate diamonds and the super low price, I asked her to see what she could find closer to $500 and half carat which is what the LB diamond is, so I'm going to see what she finds. She did say that if she could find something at that price and size, it won't be as white and sparkly as the LB, but it would definitely be a natural diamond. I'm not sure if I would prefer a natural diamond with lower color/cut/clarity. I'm wondering about the lab diamond possibly behaving differently than a natural diamond when it comes to things like cleaning and having the white gold dipped? Does that matter or do they use the same stuff regardless of what your stone is? I thought lab grown diamonds were really exactly the same except for the source, but now I'm not sure because of the way the tester behaved (although it also behaved like that with a certified diamond so I guess it was just a bad tester). I just don't want to have to explain to the jeweler every time I go in for a cleaning or dip that it's lab grown, no it's not moissanite, yes it's pure carbon like a natural diamond just grown in a lab, yes I know it's confusing. Like that just seems so annoying.

I'm pretty sure I'm still going to stick with the LB diamond I have but I'll update again after I follow up with this jeweler later this week. I feel like I'm at the home stretch and I really shouldn't be confusing myself more with the estate diamonds, but I'll still wait to see what she finds.

Is $250 for a .38 estate diamond without certs a good price if I'm happy with how it looks?

 

[kindred]

Stick with a lab diamond for yourself. What you have seems to fit all of your needs. The only way I would change it now would be if you want to wait for a larger Lightbox diamond.

There is nothing that will need to be done differently in terms of setting, cleaning, etc.

As for the gift for your mom, I wouldn't worry about inclusions you can't see with the naked eye. But I1s are rarely eye clean, so make sure you take a good look in various lighting. Take it over near a window and stand with your back to the window while looking at the diamond(s) she has to offer. The hole in the center sounds like the culet in an old cut diamond. If a .5 ct. would fit in the old setting, you might want to buy a lightbox diamond for your mom, too.

 

[MeowMeow]

I think your stone will be awesome once you set it! And maybe find a different jeweller. I realise I have been lucky with my independent jewellers but they don't care what I want set. They just love my business and work really hard to please us. Chain stores though I have found generally don't know what they are talking about. I went to a chain store yesterday to check out 1 carat stones because I am tempted by the lightbox ones (especially since your pictures)and needed to see if I liked the size on me and the woman tried to tell me the ring I was trying on was a size 7. Well lemme tell you. My finger is more like a 6.5 but I have everything up to a 7 so I can wear multiple rings and that ring was not a 7.

So I would definitely find a different store or 3 and see what their testers say. It's possible they did not test it correctly the first time. I was under the impression that if you hit anything but the diamond it can give off a wrong result.

 

[DoeEyes]

Stick with a lab diamond for yourself. What you have seems to fit all of your needs. The only way I would change it now would be if you want to wait for a larger Lightbox diamond.

There is nothing that will need to be done differently in terms of setting, cleaning, etc.

I'm 99% sure I'm going to stick with the one I have. I wouldn't spend $400 more for a larger size, the half carat is perfect size for me. I'm so happy! I'm still going to sit on this and wait for more people to review the LB and also see what estate diamonds she finds for me. But probably I will end up using the one I have.

As for the gift for your mom, I wouldn't worry about inclusions you can't see with the naked eye. But I1s are rarely eye clean, so make sure you take a good look in various lighting. Take it over near a window and stand with your back to the window while looking at the diamond(s) she has to offer. The hole in the center sounds like the culet in an old cut diamond. If a .5 ct. would fit in the old setting, you might want to buy a lightbox diamond for your mom, too.

Great point about looking at it in different lighting. I'll make sure to do that when I go in to see the other stones she finds. She did explain the hole in the center being common in old cut diamonds and she thought this one was an old cut too. Half carat will be too big for this setting, she even said the .38 might be slightly too big and it may have been designed for .35. I wouldn't want to spend $500 and put a lab diamond in this old setting anyway, to be honest. I love the romantic idea of a very old unknown diamond going into this very old setting, and I think my mom will love that too.

I think your stone will be awesome once you set it! And maybe find a different jeweller. I realise I have been lucky with my independent jewellers but they don't care what I want set. They just love my business and work really hard to please us. Chain stores though I have found generally don't know what they are talking about. I went to a chain store yesterday to check out 1 carat stones because I am tempted by the lightbox ones (especially since your pictures)and needed to see if I liked the size on me and the woman tried to tell me the ring I was trying on was a size 7. Well lemme tell you. My finger is more like a 6.5 but I have everything up to a 7 so I can wear multiple rings and that ring was not a 7.

So I would definitely find a different store or 3 and see what their testers say. It's possible they did not test it correctly the first time. I was under the impression that if you hit anything but the diamond it can give off a wrong result.

Ugh, I really don't want to find a different jeweler. There are way too many in Philly, it's overwhelming. The one thing I really loved about this woman was that she was not at all judgemental about the lab diamond. Every other jeweler I've mentioned lab diamonds too was immediately dismissive, acted like they were a scam, that I should really buy a natural diamond. It's frustrating to have to defend myself. It's possible if I go in now with the diamond already in hand and don't even leave the door open to other stones, I might get a better response. The other thing I love about this place is that it's right down the street from my house, literally a 5 minute walk. And they have a ton of great reviews on the neighborhood Facebook page. I'm going to reach out to a few people and ask what they had done. The only concern I would have here is whether they are good at doing the settings.

Did you mean just go to different jewelers to have the LB tested? I would definitely do that.