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Good numbers for stud diamonds?

dinamit

dinamit

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 16, 2009
Messages
465
Hi everyone,

I am looking for a pair of nice studs (my first!), and even though I've been on Pricescope for a while now and have learned quite a bit, I can't say that I know what I am looking for here.

I don't have a huge budget, but would like to get nicely cut stones. The budget won't strech to 'ideals', so I was wondering if someone could offer some guidance on where compromises could be made, eg. would stones with larger tables work for earrings etc?

Thanks a mil!

dinamit
 
Whiteflash would be a great place to get studs. They are very pretty.
 
dinamit said:
I don't have a huge budget, but would like to get nicely cut stones. The budget won't strech to 'ideals', so I was wondering if someone could offer some guidance on where compromises could be made, eg. would stones with larger tables work for earrings etc?
Click to expand...


I personally prefer and actively hunt for shallower stones for earrings. Some of the best are 60/60 types - shallower crown/pavilion, larger tables, less overall depth. Advantages -
1) shallower stones' light return less affected by dirty pavilion, which is inevitable w/ earrings
2) face up larger for the ct wt compared to 'tolk ideals'
3) cheaper than branded H&As and such
4) w/ shallower stone you can go lower in colour, as A) they're designed for and excel at bright white light return and B) there's fewer layers of diamond material to saturate body tint
 
Well, I've had ideal cut stones for studs and can't say that I'd want anything else because they are bright fireballs! The huge advantage with ideal cut stones from some of these vendors is that you can later trade them in at full purchase price for your next pair! I'd just start with a size you can afford maybe in a lower color such as I or J and then trade them up later. The other advantage is that you can get an almost perfectly matched pair when you stay within the ideal/excellent range. That makes the search SO much easier!
 
Thanks for your replies everyone.

Stone-cold11 and Yssie, that's really helpful, as it answers my question perfectly.

Diamondseeker, I know what you are saying about 'ideals', and if my budget could strech that far I would go for them. Knowing myself, I am quite unlikely to want to trade up. I would prefer to get nice looking studs in a good size that I can afford right now, as I know I wouldn't want over 1tcw. That's just me. Anyway, it doesn't hurt to look into that option too, so I will.

Once again, thanks for your input everyone, and if you come across any nice looking stones you think might fit the bill, please let me know.

dinamit
 
What size are you hoping to get and what is your budget? It's difficult to say that you can't stretch the budget to ideal cut stones because we don't know what size range you're thinking of. I do think a good suggestion is to call a vendor and tell them what you're thinking of and what your budget is and see what they come up with for you.
 
Good idea MissGotRocks. One vendor is already looking (unfortunately, a pair of stones I was quite keen on sold, so they are looking for an alternative), and I will probably contact another vendor or two.

I am looking for H/I in colour, and SI clarity (fine enough for studs as far as I'm concerned). And as far as the size is concerned, I am after 90-1.00tcw.

I looked at a few sites and saw that if I increase my budget by about 200$ I could get ideals, but to be honest I am not that fussed. I have an ACA, and also a GIA very good (with HCA of 1), which happens to be very beautiful, without the premium price.

I guess I just have to keep looking until I find my stones.
 
What I did was find my diamonds on my own both with GIA reports then I actually sent them to Michael E at gemshoppe to put them in a setting I loved, nothing fancy, but a stock 8 prong martini which cost much less even with shipping to him then other PS vendors. it came out beautifully and much less than one of the Premade ones. Now I initially wanted to just use one vendors but no one could come close to my budget for what I wanted, so I had to do the work on my own. If you give us a budget, I'm sure we can find the stones, but its also depending on whether you are comfortable with going to another artisan for setting?
 
D&T, lovely to hear from you, as always!

I wasn't familiar with Michael E, and having looked the the website, I swooned over his bezels and tension rings...

The budget is around $1300.
 
I found some I and Js on Bluenile in the .44 -.47 ct/each range, but I'll find the ones that I think would match, I would recommend eternitydiamonds.com as well since I actually got some nice stones for a very good price from them to make my earrings, but some of the items, you have to ask first before you pay to make sure that it isn't sold yet as some are virtual.

What Kind of setting?

this is what Michael made for me with medium backs for under $150 white gold 14k (can't remember if that was with shipping or not)

Terry%20Earring1.jpg
 
also have you taken a loot at

http://www.b2cjewels.com/Paired-Diamond-Search.aspx

had I remember seeing them before I found my first loose stone, I would have definitely tried them as well, as they take all the "match" pair searching to a wonderful less stressful search engine in my opinion
 
Amazing!

D&T, you are a lifesaver! Do you having frontal pictures of those lovely studs? I am looking for something very simple too, thought can't decide between 3 or 4 prong settings. Everyone seems to go for 3 prong martinis these days, but I've never seen a pair IRL so I am hesitant.

I am about to have a look at the other links. Thanks so much for giving your time to this search :))

dinamit
 
here is the frontal, but there are others on here that have purchased these settings from other PS vendors as well.

One of my diamond is an I and the other one is a J, but once set, I cannot tell the difference.

Terry%20Earring2.jpg
Tearring5.jpg
 
Wow, they are beautiful! I love your settings! They look so delicate, and yet enhance the round brilliant-ness of the stone, if you know what I mean.

Do you mind me asking what carat weight they are, for reference? They truly are stunning earrings, and I can't tell them apart either.

dinamit
 
Here is a pair I'm thinking of for you from Bluenile. great specs so far!

then send them off to Michael to put them in your simple prong earrings setting, for a great price, I'm sure it's a little less to do them in 4 prong or even 3 prongs that you want them to, Mine was 8 so a bit more.


http://www.bluenile.com/round-diamond-1-carat-or-less-very-good-cut-i-color-si2-clarity_LD01502619

http://www.bluenile.com/round-diamond-1-carat-or-less-very-good-cut-i-color-si2-clarity_LD01943815
and this one
although this is consider an H&A nice bonus!

http://www.bluenile.com/round-diamond-1-carat-or-less-ideal-cut-i-color-si2-clarity_LD01838624

These all have great specs.
 
dinamit said:
Wow, they are beautiful! I love your settings! They look so delicate, and yet enhance the round brilliant-ness of the stone, if you know what I mean.

Do you mind me asking what carat weight they are, for reference? They truly are stunning earrings, and I can't tell them apart either.

dinamit
Click to expand...

Thank you D!
they are .31ct and the other one is .30ct so .61 ctw. One of my stone scored 2.2 on the HCA and the other 1 on the HCA but they both look equally stunning with sharp arrows and sparkles crazy!
I came under $750 total includes setting and shipping.
 
Amazing! You are one savvy shopper D&T. Your studs look bigger on, I guess the 8 prong setting helps too.

Thanks for inspiring me :))

dinamit
 
D&T said:
dinamit said:
Wow, they are beautiful! I love your settings! They look so delicate, and yet enhance the round brilliant-ness of the stone, if you know what I mean.

Do you mind me asking what carat weight they are, for reference? They truly are stunning earrings, and I can't tell them apart either.

dinamit
Click to expand...

Thank you D!
they are .31ct and the other one is .30ct so .61 ctw. One of my stone scored 2.2 on the HCA and the other 1 on the HCA but they both look equally stunning with sharp arrows and sparkles crazy!
I came under $750 total includes setting and shipping.
Click to expand...

J&T - those are super yummy!!!
 
So are your stones 60/60 too, D&T?
 
Thanks MC!

D- actually one of stud has a Table of 59 and Dept of 61.4 and the other one has a table of 55 and depth of 61.3 but when I look at them, they look like a nice pair with well define arrows.
 
That's really cool to know, cos I was wondering how matchy-matchy they have to be, and your pair proves that this isn't the case.

I'll keep looking and keep in touch. The more I look the more bewildered I get :twirl: So much choice...

dinamit
 
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