Getting serious about Blue Nile stud upgrades

[Frumasring]

These are a pair methinks, cut to be spready & brighter than Ideal ie. best studs - www & www

2p

Hi Av,

im sorry to bug you again. Turns out the beauties you found have been sold. Do you think you could find me two more that are soarklebombs where the total price for the 2 is between 1500 and 1600? Also wanted to ask you your thoughts on putting a G color in 18K yellow gold? I have very sensitive ears and was thinking of doing these in platinum but if I can get more bang for my buck (size or sparkle) maybe I should go down to a G?

thank you for everything!!!

 

[AV_]

Will try, sure enough - D to I colors.

 

[AV_]

E / SI1 - www & www everything matches including their type of brilliance after the HCA; there is no bigger or better among all listings IF-SI2 X D-I that I can see via the search here or at Blue Nile; other sellers may have equivalent options but nothing substantially larger by weight or diameter.

I have not looked for J & beyond.

 

[Frumasring]

E / SI1 - www & www everything matches including their type of brilliance after the HCA; there is no bigger or better among all listings IF-SI2 X D-I that I can see via the search here or at Blue Nile; other sellers may have equivalent options but nothing substantially larger by weight or diameter.

I have not looked for J & beyond.

I have them on reserve!!!!! Sooooooooooooo excited!!!!!! Sounds like they could take 29 days to arrive. Also waiting to hear if the bigger of the 2 is eye clean. The smaller one is. Next question, set in 18K white or yellow gold? Or platinum? OMG IM SO EXCITED. THESE ARE GOING TO BE GREAT!!!!!!

 

[Missie1]

I have them on reserve!!!!! Sooooooooooooo excited!!!!!! Sounds like they could take 29 days to arrive. Also waiting to hear if the bigger of the 2 is eye clean. The smaller one is. Next question, set in 18K white or yellow gold? Or platinum? OMG IM SO EXCITED. THESE ARE GOING TO BE GREAT!!!!!!

congrats on your new studs. Set in white as it will reflect the color of setting. I just upgraded my studs with Bluenile as well. I got J colored VS2 and my previous ones were J and faced up white and sparkly. They will be here on 21st. I’m so excited as well

 

[MsCocoChanel]

Congrats! I agree with previous posters on this thread, in terms of brilliance I wouldn’t sacrifice on cut and proportions. I recently purchased diamond studs on Bluenile and it literally took weeks to find a pair that were matched well and had ideal HCA scores. I often found Bluenile paired a high performing diamond with a low performing stone and these were lower in price point. Hope you love your new earrings!

 

[Frumasring]

Congrats! I agree with previous posters on this thread, in terms of brilliance I wouldn’t sacrifice on cut and proportions. I recently purchased diamond studs on Bluenile and it literally took weeks to find a pair that were matched well and had ideal HCA scores. I often found Bluenile paired a high performing diamond with a low performing stone and these were lower in price point. Hope you love your new earrings!

So I have to say I think part of my circumstances here, which complicated things definitely were that I don’t really understand what I’m looking for the begin with. And the fact that I’m ticking a box just to meet the criteria for being upgrade eligible. I’m still not totally sure how to understand whether or not I’ll love these but I’m just trusting. I’m a little concerned about SI1. Should I be? You know, when I bought my original pair, I said to myself how can I not love something E color, excellent cut. And I HATED them. Now I’m hoping, there’s no way I can’t love something bigger, E color and ideal cut. I don’t know if I should be waiting to see if anything else pops up or not but I hope you all would stop me if you thought these weren’t going to be great. Thanks to everyone who has supported me along the way. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while and just never committed to finding options. I was also kind of embarrassed that I wanted so much but couldn’t afford more. 1600 is a lot for me.

 

[Frumasring]

congrats on your new studs. Set in white as it will reflect the color of setting. I just upgraded my studs with Bluenile as well. I got J colored VS2 and my previous ones were J and faced up white and sparkly. They will be here on 21st. I’m so excited as well

Congrats!!! Do you think I’m making a mistake by not going for VS1 or VS2?

 

[MsCocoChanel]

So I have to say I think part of my circumstances here, which complicated things definitely were that I don’t really understand what I’m looking for the begin with. And the fact that I’m ticking a box just to meet the criteria for being upgrade eligible. I’m still not totally sure how to understand whether or not I’ll love these but I’m just trusting. I’m a little concerned about SI1. Should I be? You know, when I bought my original pair, I said to myself how can I not love something E color, excellent cut. And I HATED them. Now I’m hoping, there’s no way I can’t love something bigger, E color and ideal cut. I don’t know if I should be waiting to see if anything else pops up or not but I hope you all would stop me if you thought these weren’t going to be great. Thanks to everyone who has supported me along the way. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while and just never committed to finding options. I was also kind of embarrassed that I wanted so much but couldn’t afford more. 1600 is a lot for me.

I wouldn’t worry about SI1 stones, many PSers go with lower clarity for studs since people view them from a distance and often inclusions are not even visible to the naked eye. I’m sure they’ll be beautiful, enjoy!

 

[jp201845]

I wouldn’t worry about SI1 stones, many PSers go with lower clarity for studs since people view them from a distance and often inclusions are not even visible to the naked eye. I’m sure they’ll be beautiful, enjoy!

I agree with this since nobody will be looking at your studs at a close distance. Enjoy your new upgraded studs and try not to second guess yourself its the worst thing you can do
Remember buying diamonds is a tradeoff in one area or another to work with the budget you have. And please don't be embarrassed about your budget as long as you are happy thats what matters.

Congrats on your upgrade!!

 

[Missie1]

Congrats!!! Do you think I’m making a mistake by not going for VS1 or VS2?

First never be embarrassed about sticking to budget. We all have budgets and work to get best stones we can within those parameters.

I personally don’t go lower than VS because with BN I found that one stone of the sets that I viewed always had visible inclusions when I looked at lower than VS. I have two sets of studs from them. My smaller are 1.18 J VS2 and my larger pair are on the third upgrade from 1cttw to 1.81 cttw to new 3.4 cttw. In the larger stones the S1 always revealed issues that I didn’t like. I also don’t ever pic stones that they don’t have both images for. I need the visual for my peace of mind. But I can be crazy about certain things.

Also you prefer higher color stones and it’s always a trade off somewhere so we can stay on budget lol. I don’t mind sacrificing color to go bigger and stay at VS. You scarified clarify for E color to go bigger. Just a matter of preference that can be Played with as Cut can never be compromised.

 

[AV_]

Next question, set in 18K white or yellow gold? Or platinum?

I am not the greatest fan of colourless diamonds in YG. No real preference btween WG & Pt, however; I assume the WG will be plated so the little that does show will disappear entirely. I like Pt because it allows very light metal work for intricate settings, but otherwise, it is heavy & gray & does not mean much to me.

Re. SI1-2 I agree that the SI1 must be clean enough, the other - seeing is believing! If the diamonds were over ne carat, I would agree more with @Missie1 - everything gets bigger & more obvious; within five milimeter diamonds, inclusions are feint smudges & random glints or, most often, nothing - I am taking IF-SI1 for granted; the SI2 or I1 I do not want are either translucent [grain or clouds as grade making inclusions] or rife with dark stuff; butt in I1-I2 (the far end of I1) I feel that the inclusions interfere with brighteness which is what diamonds are meant for [I am rather fond of exceptions to this, but obviously they are not relevant here!]

Now I’m hoping, there’s no way I can’t love something bigger, E color and ideal cut.

Now, I am curious if you will like them!

These are textbook good - colorless & the cut grading is the highest of the high according to @Garry H (Cut Nut) [a HCA 1 with Ex for all but spread; and a HCA 1.5 with all Ex], but you may well want something else [this, I do so often - going for very obscure things.]

I have looked for substantially larger, but there really isn't much to look at - weight matters more than any of the grades. If there were light yellows perfectly cut, I would have mentioned to match YG.

 

[Frumasring]

First never be embarrassed about sticking to budget. We all have budgets and work to get best stones we can within those parameters.

I personally don’t go lower than VS because with BN I found that one stone of the sets that I viewed always had visible inclusions when I looked at lower than VS. I have two sets of studs from them. My smaller are 1.18 J VS2 and my larger pair are on the third upgrade from 1cttw to 1.81 cttw to new 3.4 cttw. In the larger stones the S1 always revealed issues that I didn’t like. I also don’t ever pic stones that they don’t have both images for. I need the visual for my peace of mind. But I can be crazy about certain things.

Also you prefer higher color stones and it’s always a trade off somewhere so we can stay on budget lol. I don’t mind sacrificing color to go bigger and stay at VS. You scarified clarify for E color to go bigger. Just a matter of preference that can be Played with as Cut can never be compromised.

Silly question- the picture of the stone rotating on Blue Niles website is the actual stone?? I thought that it was just an auto generated image based on specs? Thanks for bearing with me, I’m a newbie!!

 

[Missie1]

Silly question- the picture of the stone rotating on Blue Niles website is the actual stone?? I thought that it was just an auto generated image based on specs? Thanks for bearing with me, I’m a newbie!!

No I thought same at first. These are the actual stones. If they don’t have both stones I skip the pair. You will be able to see the issues if they exist. Just rotate slowly.

 

[Sunstorm]

OP are you sure you love icy white diamonds? I am asking because you said that your first were E and you hated them.

You also mention G as being warm but also that you do not really understand diamonds. G is not warm at all! In studs at this size I/J would be awesome too and no you do not have to set them in YG! Unplated white is still fine. I think that Plat would be to big a contrast being very grayish.

I am just asking these questions because I feel that perhaps people misunderstood your criteria. Ok I admit I prefer warmer stones against my skin but even if you do not H would still work great.

If you have sensitive ears never wear YG studs! I had a horrendous reaction. I wear 18K unplated white gold.

I of course have nothing against the E stones but just saying you could easily go down in color and go up in size if you wanted to. My current studs are .8 ctw H VS bezelled but I have the tiniest attached earlobes. I still want to get big, warmer studs.) with sensitive ears though this size is great.

 

[Missie1]

Can you advise what color is all your other diamond jewelry

 

[Frumasring]

OP are you sure you love icy white diamonds? I am asking because you said that your first were E and you hated them.

You also mention G as being warm but also that you do not really understand diamonds. G is not warm at all! In studs at this size I/J would be awesome too and no you do not have to set them in YG! Unplated white is still fine. I think that Plat would be to big a contrast being very grayish.

I am just asking these questions because I feel that perhaps people misunderstood your criteria. Ok I admit I prefer warmer stones against my skin but even if you do not H would still work great.

If you have sensitive ears never wear YG studs! I had a horrendous reaction. I wear 18K unplated white gold.

I of course have nothing against the E stones but just saying you could easily go down in color and go up in size if you wanted to. My current studs are .8 ctw H VS bezelled but I have the tiniest attached earlobes. I still want to get big, warmer studs.) with sensitive ears though this size is great.

Hi!!! Thanks so much for all of the questions. I am really lost. So no, I’m not sure I’ll love an E. The current pair I have are E but they do not look WHITE or ICY. I’ve been told it’s because they are the way they are because of not a great cut. (Stats are in my earlier posts). I’ll also post certificates here. I don’t mind warm. In fact, my engagement ring is an antique 1.98 K. The “warmth” bothers me but on the occasions it faces up white, it’s WHITE(mostly at stores and in direct light).
What I REALLY want out of this new pair is size and sparkle. If that can happen with a G, I’ll take it! I’ve got a pair that AV recommend on hold but I’m waiting to hear back from BN about whether or not one of them is eye clean at SI1. I’m stRting to think I need to be above SI1 but like you mentioned I’m by no means someone who understands like stuff. Maybe since this time I’ll be going IDEAL, I’ll definitely be happy? I can’t do a trade up again anytime soon. This MUST be the pair that I love everyday for at least the next 10 years!

I’m open to more suggestions that are above .90 tcw , SPARKLE, SPARKLE, SPARKLE, and between $1500 and 1660. I’m willing to drop below E but think I don’t want to go lower than G.

 

[Frumasring]

Can you advise what color is all your other diamond jewelry

Hi there! Yes of course but I should start off by saying I’m by no means a flash person. I have a few nice things and in general try to buy the best that I can afford. I am also someone who HATES changing things out. I have one bag, one wallet, 3 or 4 pairs of jeans that I rotate that are all the same cut just different colors. I think this gives you a hint of my personality.

In terms of jewelry- again, I don’t like to change things out. Everyday I wear my engagement ring (K color, set in platinum) it’s my avatar picture, a plain platinum wedding band, and a 9 stone half eternity band also set in platinum. I wear the ering and platinum band on left ring finger and half eternity on right ring finger. Occasionally I swap those orientations around and wear half eternity with ering. But the half eternity are all G color stones.

For a necklace, I wear a large silver Tiffany bean or Tiffany open heart. My next project after figuring out earrings is to set a quarter carat diamond in a bezel necklace. Probably white gold.

 

[Frumasring]

I am not the greatest fan of colourless diamonds in YG. No real preference btween WG & Pt, however; I assume the WG will be plated so the little that does show will disappear entirely. I like Pt because it allows very light metal work for intricate settings, but otherwise, it is heavy & gray & does not mean much to me.

Re. SI1-2 I agree that the SI1 must be clean enough, the other - seeing is believing! If the diamonds were over ne carat, I would agree more with @Missie1 - everything gets bigger & more obvious; within five milimeter diamonds, inclusions are feint smudges & random glints or, most often, nothing - I am taking IF-SI1 for granted; the SI2 or I1 I do not want are either translucent [grain or clouds as grade making inclusions] or rife with dark stuff; butt in I1-I2 (the far end of I1) I feel that the inclusions interfere with brighteness which is what diamonds are meant for [I am rather fond of exceptions to this, but obviously they are not relevant here!]



Now, I am curious if you will like them!

These are textbook good - colorless & the cut grading is the highest of the high according to @Garry H (Cut Nut) [a HCA 1 with Ex for all but spread; and a HCA 1.5 with all Ex], but you may well want something else [this, I do so often - going for very obscure things.]

I have looked for substantially larger, but there really isn't much to look at - weight matters more than any of the grades. If there were light yellows perfectly cut, I would have mentioned to match YG.

Hi again! You’ve been sooooo helpful. I wish I could hug you. I’m starting to have scary thoughts about the SI1 of these stones. I think I’m willing to go down to G color but would want IDEAL, and in the VS range. Do you think you could find those? Also around .88 or above and max 1660. Ideally I want size and sparkle. I’m sorry I’m a pest. I truly appreciate you and your hard work!!

 

[Missie1]

Hi there! Yes of course but I should start off by saying I’m by no means a flash person. I have a few nice things and in general try to buy the best that I can afford. I am also someone who HATES changing things out. I have one bag, one wallet, 3 or 4 pairs of jeans that I rotate that are all the same cut just different colors. I think this gives you a hint of my personality.

In terms of jewelry- again, I don’t like to change things out. Everyday I wear my engagement ring (K color, set in platinum) it’s my avatar picture, a plain platinum wedding band, and a 9 stone half eternity band also set in platinum. I wear the ering and platinum band on left ring finger and half eternity on right ring finger. Occasionally I swap those orientations around and wear half eternity with ering. But the half eternity are all G color stones.

For a necklace, I wear a large silver Tiffany bean or Tiffany open heart. My next project after figuring out earrings is to set a quarter carat diamond in a bezel necklace. Probably white gold.

Lovely rings. I’m thinking you can go lower and get more bang for your buck especially since your main stone is K color. I think you could go down to H-J and still have brightness you want as it’s going on your ear and all your going to see is sparkle and size if they are ideal cut. If you go to I or J get stones with Blue Flour and it will boost up the color.

 

[AV_]

@Frumasring There were no VS options above .4cts in my searches.

Will Blue Nile show you the SI2 before shipping? IHMO, it is worth seeing them as long as it is possible to return, hassle as that might be.

 

[Sunstorm]

@Frumasring you have beautiful jewelry!!! I am becoming increasingly convinced that since you have a K you can easily go down in color. Trust me an H would still be very white and I do love Is. From J you start to see a bit more color but since your studs will be smaller the body tint would be much less obvious than in your K also because they will be in your ears. Oh and they will surely sparkle tons due to cut. I think it would be fun to at least see lower color options. But not K. I think K is where you really can already see a tint. Get J at least. I have found amazing Js especially if they have blue fluor. If you are scared then go H or I. Just my recs.

 

[AV_]

@Sunstorm If I had found I or J or Ks significantly larger - say, 5.2mm, I would have brought them up. Not sure what discount color entails vs clarity which I braved down; colourless SI feel good, but I am not stubborn about this choice.

 

[Frumasring]

@Frumasring There were no VS options above .4cts in my searches.

Will Blue Nile show you the SI2 before shipping? IHMO, it is worth seeing them as long as it is possible to return, hassle as that might be.

Ok thanks!! Yes, I’m waiting to hear about if it’s eye clean and if there is a video. Hope there is because I sooooooo badly want to love them. I’m OK with the price and thrilled with the size. Just was confused about whether or not an SI1 can still be a sparkly stone? I’m not sure I understand why my existing pair is E and SI1 look so bad. I’m assuming it’s because they aren’t good specs otherwise? I’m a little scared to get a new pair and feel the same about them. But since these are ideal and HCA criteria are super, there should be nothing to not love, right? Also, what did you meant by a HCA of 1 with Ex for all but spread? Is a 1 desirable? Is it ok that the spread isn’t a 1? Sorry for so many questions, I know I’m leaning on you a lot. Hope I’m not a pest

 

[AV_]

@Frumasring Your older studs seem to have been too deep cut & this is enough to make the diamonds - not bright. If the cut does not play right the optical properties of the material - and this means getting angles 'right' [simple enough rules, but to e applies to each facet as it reflects on any of the 56 or 7 others - a book-length task with pen & paper only], diamonds are transparent & no more - www.

Only texture-like inclusions can make VS or SI1 diamonds 'dull'/translucent when they fog the entire stone, or look like a smattering of smallish items [many enough & close enough to one another!]; else, much less reason to call them names.

Just a thought

 

[diamondnewbieny]

Hi there, I hope you don’t mind That I share my story.

I first had a H color diamond IF clarity, and only know the color chart not being on the D to F color. I always doubted myself. I thought IF clarity will make it the bright and sparkle. Silly me!

I later had to replace the ring to E VS2.There were not much difference between them.I was thinking that I sacrificed on the clarity and got a higher color will make it better, but it didn’t.

Then thanks to this community, I later learn the sparkle and brilliance have nothing to do with the color or clarity. It’s the cut that matter the most.

With the help of this community I got a pair of HI SI1 studs. They were everything I could ask for in a pair of studs. It’s still very white. In fact I think I can go lower in color.

I then got J SI1 and because of the cut, it face up white as well. It was the most sparkle and brilliance diamond out of all the diamonds I owned and people around me didn’t think it’s a J color or SI1. They are not member of this community and have the same mindset as me before. They think the higher color and clarity should be the standard.

Lesson to myself is that always pick the lowest color that I am comfortable with, and find en eye clean from SI1 or VS2 will be enough clarity for me, then find the ideal cut. This way I get a bigger bang for my bucks. But some people have different value. Some want the D and IF because that’s what they value. So it depends on what your tolerance would be.

I attached a color chart diamond from beyond4cs website. I found that this pictures shows the color of the diamond the best when looking at the screen. You might want to turn your screen brightness to high when you look at the picture. I hope it can help you understand the color difference.

 

[Frumasring]

Hi there, I hope you don’t mind That I share my story.

I first had a H color diamond IF clarity, and only know the color chart not being on the D to F color. I always doubted myself. I thought IF clarity will make it the bright and sparkle. Silly me!

I later had to replace the ring to E VS2.There were not much difference between them.I was thinking that I sacrificed on the clarity and got a higher color will make it better, but it didn’t.

Then thanks to this community, I later learn the sparkle and brilliance have nothing to do with the color or clarity. It’s the cut that matter the most.

With the help of this community I got a pair of HI SI1 studs. They were everything I could ask for in a pair of studs. It’s still very white. In fact I think I can go lower in color.

I then got J SI1 and because of the cut, it face up white as well. It was the most sparkle and brilliance diamond out of all the diamonds I owned and people around me didn’t think it’s a J color or SI1. They are not member of this community and have the same mindset as me before. They think the higher color and clarity should be the standard.

Lesson to myself is that always pick the lowest color that I am comfortable with, and find en eye clean from SI1 or VS2 will be enough clarity for me, then find the ideal cut. This way I get a bigger bang for my bucks. But some people have different value. Some want the D and IF because that’s what they value. So it depends on what your tolerance would be.

I attached a color chart diamond from beyond4cs website. I found that this pictures shows the color of the diamond the best when looking at the screen. You might want to turn your screen brightness to high when you look at the picture. I hope it can help you understand the color difference.

Hi! I just wanted to THANK YOU SO MUCH for your thoughts and advice. I am very excited to hear if the pair I have on hold are both eye clean SI1s. If they aren’t, back to the drawing board, this time armed with much more knowledge!!!!

 

[Frumasring]

Hi again all,

my saga continues. Just found out that the set of stones I had on hold with Blue Nile has one that isn’t eye clean And is milky. So bummed. So, I hate to bother folks but I could use some help picking out a new pair. My BN consultant is lovely but I’m not sure he totally gets what I’m looking for.

My must haves:
ideal cut with a lot of sparkle!!!! Sparkle is my
size: I’m aiming for .90 total cw or more
price: max $850.00 per stone
clarity: eye clean

not as critical:
color: anywhere from H and up

i really need to get this upgrade right because I won’t be able to do it again for years. I’m desperately looking for a pair to love. I’m not sure sure how to use the HCA to find the best bang for my buck so I’m hoping for help from you pros.

thank you all

 

[Missie1]

Hi again all,

my saga continues. Just found out that the set of stones I had on hold with Blue Nile has one that isn’t eye clean And is milky. So bummed. So, I hate to bother folks but I could use some help picking out a new pair. My BN consultant is lovely but I’m not sure he totally gets what I’m looking for.

My must haves:
ideal cut with a lot of sparkle!!!! Sparkle is my
size: I’m aiming for .90 total cw or more
price: max $850.00 per stone
clarity: eye clean

not as critical:
color: anywhere from H and up

i really need to get this upgrade right because I won’t be able to do it again for years. I’m desperately looking for a pair to love. I’m not sure sure how to use the HCA to find the best bang for my buck so I’m hoping for help from you pros.

thank you all

I don’t go lower than than VS for this reason. You can go low as I and vs. I would look for stones with flou to boost whiter even though you could go low as J and not see any color.

 

[Missie1]