First pair of diamond studs

[lhelms]

My husband would like to gift me my first pair of diamond studs for our 20 year anniversary. We are looking at 1.0 - 1.25 ctw. My husband liked the 1 ctw studs at Costco for $2500. They claim to be VS2 or better with I color. I read through quite a few threads here and it seems like most people recommend White flash for studs. I checked out their website and it looks like ACA studs around 1 ctw would be about double the price. Is the quality of the ACA studs that much better that its worth paying $5k. Does anyone have any experience with the diamond studs they sell at Costco? I want them to have a nice sparkle.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Personally I prefer shallower diamonds in earrings fro a lot of reasons.
They show less dirt and gunk.
They return more light and look evenly bright from top to bottom.
etc

 

[lhelms]

Personally I prefer shallower diamonds in earrings fro a lot of reasons.
They show less dirt and gunk.
They return more light and look evenly bright from top to bottom.
etc

Thanks for your reply? I’m assuming the Costco studs aren’t shallow diamonds.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

90% of all round diamonds are not shallow!

 

[MissGotRocks]

Just as an example - these are one carat total weight in I color, VS2 clarity. The wire price is approximately $900 more than the Costco earrings. For myself, the Whiteflash ACA studs were well worth it for the cut quality that produces sparkle. The added bonus is that they can be traded up at anytime for larger or better color/clarity with no restriction - only to spend $1 more. There is a diamond stud thread in the Show Me the Bling forum here at PS. Take a look through and see what you think.

Diamond pair details | Complete characteristics for chosen diamond pair

The most carefully chosen diamond pair. Every diamond is unique, but we choose the most similar diamond pair

www.whiteflash.com

 

[JenniferMarie90]

My husband would like to gift me my first pair of diamond studs for our 20 year anniversary. We are looking at 1.0 - 1.25 ctw. My husband liked the 1 ctw studs at Costco for $2500. They claim to be VS2 or better with I color. I read through quite a few threads here and it seems like most people recommend White flash for studs. I checked out their website and it looks like ACA studs around 1 ctw would be about double the price. Is the quality of the ACA studs that much better that its worth paying $5k. Does anyone have any experience with the diamond studs they sell at Costco? I want them to have a nice sparkle.

I found myself in a similar situation earlier this year. I think my ACAs are about .9 CTTW but they look a lot larger. I ended up going with Whiteflash versus Costco (though I have bought diamonds from costco before) because they did only end up being $1000 more BUT with the option to upgrade. I was thinking since this is my first pair, I may end up wanting to go bigger so I figured that was the better way to go. I don't think you can go wrong either way, I love Costco too. But if you think you'll want the option to upgrade, I would lean to Whiteflash

 

[Gadaph]

Just as an example - these are one carat total weight in I color, VS2 clarity. The wire price is approximately $900 more than the Costco earrings. For myself, the Whiteflash ACA studs were well worth it for the cut quality that produces sparkle. The added bonus is that they can be traded up at anytime for larger or better color/clarity with no restriction - only to spend $1 more. There is a diamond stud thread in the Show Me the Bling forum here at PS. Take a look through and see what you think.

Diamond pair details | Complete characteristics for chosen diamond pair

The most carefully chosen diamond pair. Every diamond is unique, but we choose the most similar diamond pair

www.whiteflash.com

I'm in the same boat as the OP (Significant birthday for daughter), and just wanted to say thank you for a really helpful post!

 

[kenny]

Here's a screen capture I just took from Costco's website:



While I LOVE the superb cut of Whiteflash's super-ideal cut ACAs, their customer service, and customer-friendly policies, Costco's lifetime money-back guarantee is hard to beat - just don't damage them.

Personally I'd get the ACAs.
I have one and understand and experience the dramatic improvement and impact of light performance that only superior cut provides.
If that means I get less carat weight, I'd still pick the ACAs over Costco.
Good cut returns more light so well-cut diamonds look bigger.

But perhaps you can rationalize getting the Costco ones now, and returning them later for a full refund if you want to upgrade to ACAs.