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For those of you with warmer colored diamonds..

Dreamer_D

Dreamer_D

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Dec 16, 2007
Messages
26,767
I will go first. I own a 1.67ct J VS1 that is on the more colorless side of the color grade.

I really love this stone and think it was great value for its size -- right under the ct. price jump at 1.7ct -- and a great find because it shows so little tint compared to its color grade.

Given how crazy diamond prices have gone, I will never upgrade again.

But looking back, I do sometimes think "Hmmm... should I have spent the extra $3k a year ago to get a more colorless stone?" That amount of money was a really good deal *then*, whereas now a similar jump in color would cost closer to $6k. But hindsight is 20/20, and if I were buying my upgrade today I would likely do the same thing -- get the biggest J I could afford, most likely a BGD blue to maximize ct. weight even more!
 
My answer is going to be obvious, but:

I LOVE my O/P stone! I started with an EGL G, so who knows what it would have been if certed by GIA, but it was nonetheless whiter than my current stone. I've since learned that I'm a warm stone gal, and that I actually prefer the warmth to white diamonds.

I imagine my answer would be the same if I had a modern cut stone in a modern setting, as well. My eye has always been drawn to the warmer stones, it just took me a long time to realize that it was the warmth that I loved about them.
 
My E-ring ig a G but my new OEC earrings are an I & J and I love them. I have actually been lurking around looking at warmer stones. I think somthing in the O/P range for my right hand or even warmer would be fun!!! DBL and JbEG are my two favorite places to look.
 
I love my I with SBF and would do it all over again because I got more bling for my buck. Although I've never actually seen a D in my carat weight. Who knows what I'd think of that. Maybe better that I don't see one. ;-)
 
My most expensive piece (round 3 stone halo ring) has a center stone with an F color grade. I was super concerned about having the center match the melee on the setting color-wise. However, I almost wish I went LOWER on the color scale. I have a K colored OEC diamond that I wear in a pendant, and I just adore the color. I would have gotten a bigger center stone on my halo ring if I had known how non-sensitive I am to color. But I love my OEC and I don't regret getting a stone with so much warmth. I'm lusting after an AVC or an old mine cut, preferably in the M-P range.
 
Dreamer_D|1307824928|2943517 said:
But hindsight is 20/20, and if I were buying my upgrade today I would likely do the same thing -- get the biggest J I could afford, most likely a BGD blue to maximize ct. weight even more!
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I'd do the same thing!

I do wonder, if D weren't rare, all colors being equal in price and availability, would some people still feel that lower colors were not as "good" as colorless?

I love all colors, Wintotty's D AVC is incredible, not because it's a D - but because it's a stunning stone. But then Haven's O/P is equally as stunning to me, I watched your video multiple times Haven and was just :shock: :shock: :shock: WOW!! :o :o :o
To me it's less about color and more the overall life of the stone and the impact it has on me, does it wow me?
I need eye clean and a cut that makes a stone light up, but that could be a D or a Z, hand cut 100 years ago or an AGS 0.
There's many a warm stone I'd not kick out of bed! :cheeky:
 
I love warmth in a stone! My e-ring is an L color asscher and I love it!

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Asscherhalo_lover|1307828350|2943549 said:
I love warmth in a stone! My e-ring is an L color asscher and I love it!
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Just gorgeous!
 
My princess is an I colored and I still dont see the color...would I do it again...yes but a different shape and a touch better clarity :wink2:
 
If I could go back and do it over I'd go with a K of the same size, but higher clarity.

Right now my stone needs to be oriented a certain way so that the prong hides a feather inclusion by the girdle - but that means that the arrows are slightly out of alignment with the prongs. Higher clarity would remove that orientation requirement.

I do, however, recognize that only a PSer could be irked by arrows out of alignment 8) and I like the colour of the stone in combo with the colour of the setting on my finger - better than whiter stones in white settings, I have found, so it's not sour grapes!
 
My engagement ring diamond is an E, but I have a few antique stones that are in the K-L-M range. For my old stones, I love and embrace the colour and don't think I would love them as much if they weren't so creamy and warm - it seems to meld with the cut to make it something quite delicious!

But for everything else I am a high colour girl. I am not an RB gal, but in RBs I prefer the icy colours aesthetically, and in step cuts I definitely prefer colorless stones.
 
My e-ring is a round J: since then, I've gotten a pear-shaped E for a pendant, and two smaller round Hs for earrings. And, you know what? If I was suddenly given a HUGE budget to get the stone of my dreams, I'd totally get another I, J, or K ... just with very strong blue fluorescence. :twisted:

Out of all of them, the J is still the one I love to stare at: I can get completely mesmerized by the play of light and the subtle, beautiful warmth. I don't know if it's an overreaction to all the CZs I see out and about, but a warm diamond just looks a lot more unusual to me, and, as such, lovelier: a historical overcorrection, perhaps, to the days when any clear, shining stone one saw was likely to be a diamond, and that diamond, tinted, making the rarer colorless stones the most coveted.

The only reason I won't go too far below the KLM scale, I think, is that my husband is unusually vocal in his dislike of the colors yellow and brown (not just in diamonds, but in all their incarnations: makes it fun to shop for wood furniture together, let me tell you). If I could find a grey-tinted stone, though? Bottom of the alphabet, and beyond, baby! I'd actually love to get a fancy grey, one of these days. I remember DBL had a pair of odd green-grey radiants a while back, that I haven't been able to find the thread for - anybody else remember? If I could find one like that, I would snap it up, and set it with some nice pigeons-blood rubies. Mm, yummy ....
 
pancake|1307835375|2943630 said:
My engagement ring diamond is an E, but I have a few antique stones that are in the K-L-M range. For my old stones, I love and embrace the colour and don't think I would love them as much if they weren't so creamy and warm - it seems to meld with the cut to make it something quite delicious!

But for everything else I am a high colour girl. I am not an RB gal, but in RBs I prefer the icy colours aesthetically, and in step cuts I definitely prefer colorless stones.
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Pancake ~ Do you have plans for the settings of those earrings you just bought once you take the vanilla twins out?
 
The AVC in my e-ring is a G and I will probably be going "down" in color when I upgrade. I've discovered that I'm not particularly sensitive to color, plus I just LOVE the warmer AVCs I've seen.
 
merilenda|1307837315|2943650 said:
The AVC in my e-ring is a G and I will probably be going "down" in color when I upgrade. I've discovered that I'm not particularly sensitive to color, plus I just LOVE the warmer AVCs I've seen.
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the warmer old cuts are just stunning- so chunky and warm!
 
For older cuts, I just love the warmer colours. I have an O/P OMC and wouldn't change it for the world.

However, if I were to purchase a modern RB or similar, I would probably aim around the G/H colour zone. Anything higher and the diamond looks too 'blue' against my skin. Anything lower, and, well, I'd probably buy an older cut instead!
 
I adore my L colored stone. I was able to afford a 1.87, vs2 by going down to an L. I purchased it from High Performance Diamonds and so glad I did. Wink said I would love the stone and he was right.
 
I just adore the lower colours. I have an L in my e-ring with J sides and an M in my new RHR. Both stones have a personality all their own and I've not regretted purchasing these stones at all. Previous to my upgrade, I owned an F and although it was "nice", I find myself looking at and enjoying the look of the lower colours more. Maybe it's just that I like the look of the lower colours on my skin tone. If I was to look for another upgrade in the future (which I'm not -- these are my forever stones), I would no doubt look for another lower colour stone.
 
The three original diamonds in my e-ring were 2 H colour RBS, and one I colour RB. I recently upgraded them to BGD stones of the same size, two I colours and 1 J. They are so freaking white! My diamonds studs are one I and one J, and I just cannot imagine anything whiter in my ears! I love warmth in a diamond but wanted to stick to what I knew for my e-ring, and these diamonds blew me away. For me, certain cuts lend themselves to the beauty of lower colours more than others, I tend to prefer 'modern' cuts like RBs in higher colours, and older cuts in lower colours, say M and onward. I do have a mad craving for an AVC in the O-P range :lickout:

So if I were to buy another RB, it would definitely be a well cut I-J-K. If I have the opportunity to purchase an AVC or the like in the future, it would preferably be in the lower third of the colour scale, I just can't get enough of the light show the lower colour antiquey cuts put on. YUM!
 
I have a 1.60 K/VS OMC and LOVE IT. I would absolutely upgrade to a bigger OMC/OEC, same color range, but in a higher carat weight; and someday I hope to.
 
I love all diamonds! I have recently fallen in love with warmer old cuts thanks to pricescope! I have found that I actually like them better than higher colored RBs.

I have an M AVC and I get so many compliments on it-I lovingly refer to it as my "ugly diamond" because it is an M SI2, and according to everything you read about diamond "dos" and don'ts-I should have never purchased it! I am happy that I did I learned that chunky facets and warm color are a perfect combo for me!
 
I remember looking at a J in a jewelry store before I had spent much time on PS and thinking to myself (not out loud!), why would
anyone want to buy that? That is funny to me now! My first upgrade was a lovely 1.70 J VS2, one of the most beautiful stones I have
ever seen in my life, and boy am I sorry I traded it in! Some lucky girl is wearing it now though. My last is an I VS2 and I would buy
another in a heartbeat. In fact, I consider and I VS2 my sweet spot. It is the perfect balance of color and price for me.

I would buy a lower color diamond as well. The colors coming from them are so soft and wonderful, it seems to soften the flashes
coming from a stone and I find that mesmerizing as well.
 
I would have no hesitation buying another lower color diamond. Mine being an N, I would buy even lower.
 
Hindsight is 20/20 so would I change my choice? Probably.

I wanted a needle in a haystack and instead of waiting or buying over the internet, I compromised. I wanted a nice old cut, elongated, around 6mm in width and a top light brown. Additionally my budget was relatively tiny and I live in Sweden, were a 0.25ct is often considered to be a bigger stone.

I was impatient and not willing to wait 2 years for the right stone to pop up. Searching for months here in Sweden I found that the type of stone I was looking for only came along once every year or every two years and usually went for roughly 5 times my budget. How I wished that I would like normal rounds in higher colors, but I just had to be different. I really dislike arrows and light brown stones make my heart skip a beat.

We found my stone mislabeled at ca 0.80ct ( at 6.89x6.17mm yeah right its only 0.80ct :D ) and in a lovely but unfashionable Victorian yellow gold with black enamel setting. Due to this, it was in budget and it ticked 3 out of 4 boxes, only issue was that it is an H and completely white looking.

We bought it and put it in a white gold halo setting. I love my engagement ring but sometimes when I pass a lower color, especially brown stones or see some of the beauties found here I kinda doubt my choice.

How do I learn to love the white color of my stone?
 
My stone is only an H, but because of the princess cut/low side of the grade IMO, I can see the warmth more often than not and at first, I took issue. My fiance picked the stone out himself, however, and for sentimental reasons (and the fact that it's cut and sparkle are unremarkable!) I didn't fuss about it and learned to love my stone. With summer arriving in Tucson, it turns out that my stone actually fluoresces bright blue in the stronger sunlight! I love fluorescence, and know that it's often tough to find a stone that will show blue in sunlight, so as a result I wouldn't trade this stone! It's sentimental and incredibly unique to me. I adore it. ::)

In the future, however, if it came to an upgrade or selecting stones for other jewelry, I would absolutely go up in colour.
 
Both my diamonds are H, but if I could do it all over again, I would go down to an I or J and get a bigger stone! I am not color sensitive in the least. J still looks very white to me.
 
When DH and I got engaged, 24 years ago, he gave me a lovely uncertified .67 "RB" "K" "SI1" family stone. I quote those stats, as they come from the appraisals done for insurance purposes. Updated appraisals have been the same, though thanks to PS, I've wondered, in passing what the GIA would say, if I were to send the stone to them, but I won't do that, no need.

I'll never forget the first time a friend asked me about color, saying she'd been told that anything lower than H wasn't "good." I didn't remember and had to look it up on my paperwork. I couldn't figure out what was bad with my K, though. It looked the same as the stone she eventually got. I never asked her for the color.

Fast forward 22 years, I found PS, while looking for a new setting for my 20th anniv. It was then that I recalled that a jeweler once told me that my ering stone is a transitional cut, my grandmother's is an EOC, my Mom's is a RB. My K being the warmest, a middle carat weight and highest clarity. Maybe the cut on my ering masks the K color? Maybe not. Maybe I'm not color sensitive? Possibly, since I have to squint, manipulate my ring and think really hard to see any color. More likely, I love all my little miracles from the ground and value them for their individual beauties.

So, would I go for a warmer color again? You bet. Although I won't be trading in this stone, if I had a magic wand, I just might help it grow a little bit, just for the fun of it :wink2:
 
I have an I center stone, 2.27cts, RB and I cannot see any color in it or tint. It is next to E/F/G 17 pointers and I don't see any difference. And I think it is a lowish I from what the appraiser I showed it to said (unmounted). I love it and I would not change it. I would have gone a bit up in clarity to SI1, because even though my stone is eye clean it isn't super mind clean...but since I can't see anything in it I'm happy. I do not plan to ever upgrade this ring.
 
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