shape
carat
color
clarity

Help! Is this normal and am i picking worst wedding band

tristanking

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 19, 2016
Messages
25
PS community - I am in need of your advice with two questions i have as I am getting ready to propose to my girlfriend, i have the stone, but still working on getting the actual e-ring and finding the right wedding band to match. Would love your feedback and help!!

1) Color of diamond
I have a 2.5 carat round diamond, G VS2. AGS 000. In many environments the color looks good, however it also looks darker than I expected in plenty of environments as well. I had it in a Tiffany showroom today looking at it right above the showcases full of Tiffany diamonds. I figured this would be an ideal location to check out the diamond. It looks grayish / dark from the top, definitely not white. It also looked like this in another showroom that had darker lights, almost yellowish tinted lights.

Is this normal? In bright white lights in my office the diamond looks very white. I am having trouble figuring out if this is a color issue or if this how all diamonds look, regardless of color or cut.

2) Contrast in color between e-ring stone with 5 row pave band

My girlfriend absolutely loves the look of a 5 row diamond pave band / ring. She wants to do this as a wedding band and have the engagement ring be a plain solitaire with the center stone. My concern after looking at these bands in person (Tiffany Metro) and another similar style, is that the diamonds are so small that they don't give off much color. Tiffany uses all D-G for the small diamond chips and the other location we are looking at uses all G. The band is covered in diamonds, can't see much metal at all. It is bright and white and beautiful. So whats the problem?? Well, when putting my 2.5 G next to the band it just doesn't look as good. I have heard the extremely small diamonds don't show much color because they are so small, but I am having a hard time mentally putting an expensive, well cut, and highly graded stone next to these bands where the diamonds on the band are going to look whiter in many environments than the bigger rock. I have seen them side by side in two environments, at Tiffany and in another store. Both times the small diamonds looked white and shiny and the rock I have showed more color, darker.

I don't want people to look at her finger and see the stone looking darker and think it isn't a great stone. If they were looking at it alone Im sure they wouldn't, but to have it right up against these bright diamonds makes me wonder if we should even use this pave band as a wedding band. I think people use it as an engagement ring as well as just a ring to wear. I don't think it is necessarily a wedding band, although I know these things can serve many purposes and at the end of the day my girl loves it.

PS Folks - please help me decide if we should look at other options for our wedding band or if I somehow just need to get over the fact that this prized stone i purchased just isn't going to look as prized next to this type of band.
 

LLJsmom

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Oct 24, 2012
Messages
12,633
Where do I start? If you have an G AGS 000, you have a very well cut stone. I assume it's not super included and you don't have an SI2 with clouds issue...blah...blah...blah...

If you are looking at your stone outside of the case, and you are comparing it to Tiffany diamonds inside the case, well...there you go. Tiffany's cases are lit up light movie star lighting. You stick your stone under there, I promise you it will look just as good.

Is your stone mounted or loose? Is your stone clean enough?

High color melee will always look very bright. And when you put it next to a big 2.5 carat, that by definition of it being that big, the 2.5 will have bigger facets and will reflect all kinds of light. Think of it as a mirror. The bigger the mirror, the more kinds of light it will reflect, dark, light, etc. KWIM? Maybe another PSer can explain it better.

Your stone is fine.

The five row Tiffany metro band will be super bright, by nature of it being a ton of melee. It's a gorgeous band. If your fiance wants to wear it next to a big 2.5, let her. She's the one wearing it. And realistically, I predict that she will come to the same conclusion as you in a short while. And she will end up wearing it as a right hand ring, and you guys will go back and buy a skinny single row eternity band that will complement her gorgeous ering more. And if not, and she's happy with the look, is that a bad thing? Who cares what other people think. Who are you trying to please? Your future wife, or irrelevant people?
 

tristanking

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 19, 2016
Messages
25
The stone I have is not in a ring, it is a loose diamond. It is very clean and I was comparing it to diamonds that were in settings at Tiffany that were side by side above the glass, not underneath.

Yes, that little diamonds looks phenomenal and my girlfriend loves the Tiffany ring. my main concern is that this great stone I bought just doesn't look close to as bright and white as the Tiffany band, so won't most people look at it and think it is a weak color? When i look at them next to each other the darker color of the big stone stands out to me. I wouldn't mind if it was sparkling like crazy and produced tons of great colors, which it may in some situations. I just can't help but get a bad feeling when it looks dark and grayish on from the top in lighting i assumed is good lighting and to make it worse having it compared to the most bright and white band I have ever seen.

So i guess a two part question - is it normal for a well cut G to show that type of dark color in what i figured would be great lighting conditions, and second, is this pave band not ideal as a wedding band since it will definitely make the big stone look less white and bright?

thanks!
 

tristanking

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 19, 2016
Messages
25
sorry, i didn't fully respond to your reply.
You make a great point, who am I trying to please, my future wife or irrelevant people? Well, honestly, both. Of course i want my future wife to be happy and love what she wears. That being said, i think most of us, if we are being truly honest, also want others to appreciate and like what we have purchased for our wife. I want her friends to love it and I want anyone who sees it to love it. Is that wrong of me? I don't know, maybe, but i bet more people think like that than let on.
 

LLJsmom

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Oct 24, 2012
Messages
12,633
tristanking|1480391680|4103300 said:
The stone I have is not in a ring, it is a loose diamond. It is very clean and I was comparing it to diamonds that were in settings at Tiffany that were side by side above the glass, not underneath.

Yes, that little diamonds looks phenomenal and my girlfriend loves the Tiffany ring. my main concern is that this great stone I bought just doesn't look close to as bright and white as the Tiffany band, so won't most people look at it and think it is a weak color? When i look at them next to each other the darker color of the big stone stands out to me. I wouldn't mind if it was sparkling like crazy and produced tons of great colors, which it may in some situations. I just can't help but get a bad feeling when it looks dark and grayish on from the top in lighting i assumed is good lighting and to make it worse having it compared to the most bright and white band I have ever seen.

So i guess a two part question - is it normal for a well cut G to show that type of dark color in what i figured would be great lighting conditions, and second, is this pave band not ideal as a wedding band since it will definitely make the big stone look less white and bright?

thanks!

That's my whole point. YOU may not think it's ideal. BUT SHE DOES. And SHE'S the one wearing it. I personally would never wear the Tiffany 5 row metro because in my opinion it takes away from the e-ring. But she may not think that. Or at least not yet. My gut tells me that your trying to convince her otherwise won't really work. This is a realization that she has to come to on her own. Your worry about "other" people thinking the center stone isn't a good stone is not a very good reason for her not to wear what she wants. She has to see it for herself.

And to your first question, I am sure your AGS000 is a very well cut stone. Yes, it will NOT look as white as the 5 row Tiffany metro because of it's SIZE. You could get a D that would not be as white ALL OVER as the Tiffany 5 row metro. Think about it. A big MRB is one stone with 58 facets reflecting light back to you. The Tiffany metro is a gazillion little melee, each with 58 facets reflecting light back to you. Which scenario is going to reflect MORE light? So yes, compared to the Tiffany metro, your G will look dark. Maybe another PSer can explain better than I can.

AND, There is no one single diamond on earth that looks good in every lighting.

And I do understand wanting other people not to think you were a cheapskate and bought her a dirty dark stone. But, you didn't. It's a G. You KNOW that. She KNOWS that. But most importantly, I do think you need to prioritize her likes over yours or your concern about anyone else's opinion. And you may have the most reasonable explanation, and others may agree with you about the metro not being the band that would most complement her e-ring. But SHE needs to see it. You don't want her going along with your opinion, but all along think that she is doing it to make you happy, but not really being that happy about it herself. And then her never really telling you, but just feeling a wee bit resentful, about, of ALL things, her wedding band?!?! Who knows how many years down the road THAT may resurface to haunt you. You want that?? I've been married 19 years. Trust me on this.
 

tristanking

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 19, 2016
Messages
25
Thanks for the comments, LLJSMOM.

I actually do think it is very important what I think and what I like. Even though she will be wearing this ring i am buying it and i want us both to be very happy with it. I am not going to try and convince her not to like the Tiffany 5 row Metro, she wants me to be happy with it as well and if she knows i am not happy she will want something we both love. Yes, I want her to be in love with her rings(s), but this is a partnership and these are the symbols of our mutual love and commitment, so in no way do i think the only thing that matters is if she likes it. I respect her opinion greatly and have sought her input every step of this journey, but to toss my thoughts and my concerns out the window seems a bit harsh to me.

I appreciate your feedback though and this is why I'm here, to hear a variety of opinions! thanks.
 

LLJsmom

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Oct 24, 2012
Messages
12,633
tristanking|1480393204|4103310 said:
Thanks for the comments, LLJSMOM.

I actually do think it is very important what I think and what I like. Even though she will be wearing this ring i am buying it and i want us both to be very happy with it. I am not going to try and convince her not to like the Tiffany 5 row Metro, she wants me to be happy with it as well and if she knows i am not happy she will want something we both love. Yes, I want her to be in love with her rings(s), but this is a partnership and these are the symbols of our mutual love and commitment, so in no way do i think the only thing that matters is if she likes it. I respect her opinion greatly and have sought her input every step of this journey, but to toss my thoughts and my concerns out the window seems a bit harsh to me.

I appreciate your feedback though and this is why I'm here, to hear a variety of opinions! thanks.

Well, I can see why you say that. I'm super practical and that is sometimes kinda harsh. I get it. The wearer needs to love it, first and foremost. That's how I think anyway. I'll give you another harsh one. "HAPPY WIFE. HAPPY LIFE." Best of luck to you and your intended.
 

MissGotRocks

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 23, 2005
Messages
16,270
There will always be a difference in how your stone performs in conjunction with smaller stones. Just the nature of the beast. However, it won't be as off putting as you fear. I think you'll see some difference when the stone is set in a setting and paired with these bands.

Have we seen a picture of your stone or had the privilege of seeing the stats? Would love to as I am sure it is a beautiful stone. I have a G color, 2.22 carat AGS stone as well and I am very familiar with the effect you are seeing in the jewelry stores. It makes you wonder what is wrong with your stone and yet you know the answer is nothing. Due to the cutting, you are probably seeing much more scintillation in your stone which does sometimes give it a grayer appearance than a lesser cut stone that shows up whiter. But it's that scintillation that gives the stone the flash and life that you couldn't live without now that you've had it!

Someone told me years ago that the best and truest lighting to view a stone in is outdoors. You will see some vendors that market their stones always doing their videos and such outdoors - I presume for that reason. Even though you see two different effects from indoor lighting vs. outdoor lighting they are both true. If it weren't a white stone, it wouldn't face up as such outside. When I say outdoor light, I am not referring to how a stone performs in bright sunlight - they tend to go darker in that light as well.

Hope some of this at least makes sense to you or resonates on some level with you. You have certainly given these purchases your due diligence and I'm sure they have the look to show for it!
 

kmarla

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Feb 8, 2013
Messages
690
Your stone sounds beautiful. G VS2 AGS 000 is going to be a fireball. My advice to you is to concentrate on selecting the solitaire setting for now. You and your future fiancé will have lots of time after the engagement to try on many different bands. You can make that decision later. Best of luck with your engagement!
 

tristanking

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 19, 2016
Messages
25
Thanks for the replies MissGotRocks and KMarla.

MissGotRocks - I will take a pic shortly and pass along, the specs are below. let me know your thoughts.
Very interesting comment regarding the scintillation. This baby sparkles like crazy in certain environments. So, the same thing that makes it sparkle well also makes it look darker in some lighting? Interesting. One competing jeweler that saw the stone told me it wasn't a G, more like an H, because it looked darker from the top than his G he was showing me. I didn't think you could tell a one grade color difference from the top down, but it did look darker than his G in some darker / yellowish tint lighting in his store. Likely he was either just trying to rag on a diamond I didn't buy from him, or he doesn't know the factors involved that make some stones look darker, or he is correct that it isn't as good of a color as his G. Sounds like from your comments its not the latter.

Table 56.2
Crown Angle 34 (This concerned me a bit as this seemed on the low end, but was assured it was ok)
Pavillion Angle 40.8
Lower Girdle 77
Depth 61.2
Star 50
Crown Height 14.8
Pavillion Depth 43.1
Girdle Thin to Medium
Culet Pointed
HCA 1.0
Measurement 8.78 - 8.79 x 5.37 mm

KMarla - great point about focusing on the e-ring and worrying about the wedding band later. It can be easy to get ahead of things and I do need to take this one step at a time. Good reminder. We have been told the risk of doing that is our e-ring may not lie flush with the wedding band unless we have it made to fit nicely against the wedding band of our choice. We don't want to sauter (sp?) the two rings together, but we do want them to fit nicely up against one another. This was the only reason we thought we needed to know about the wedding band prior to making the e-ring.
 

tristanking

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 19, 2016
Messages
25
By the way, Tiffany is one block away from my office so I am going in today to compare the stone to a like Tiffany stone. Yesterday I compared it to smaller Tiffany stones. They said they were bringing in a 2.5 G VS2 anyway for today so if I wanted to compare them I could. Should be interesting. The price of the Tiffany stone is unreal. Ridiculously more than I paid for mine. I am not going to buy the Tiffany stone but I need to go back there anyway to get sized for my wedding band and have my girlfriend try on one more wedding band.
 

MissGotRocks

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 23, 2005
Messages
16,270
I am sure your stone is just fine! Can't wait to see pictures. Maybe Tiffany's will let you take pictures of your stone and their ring side by side. They are often good about letting folks photograph their rings.
 

gm89uk

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
1,491
Your stone is fantastically proportioned! Photo? Make sure you clean the stone well before comparing.
 

elizabethess

Shiny_Rock
Premium
Joined
Feb 18, 2016
Messages
397
kmarla|1480428611|4103401 said:
Your stone sounds beautiful. G VS2 AGS 000 is going to be a fireball. My advice to you is to concentrate on selecting the solitaire setting for now. You and your future fiancé will have lots of time after the engagement to try on many different bands. You can make that decision later. Best of luck with your engagement!

+1 to this. ^

Trying to decide what a future wedding band might be, before the proposal, seems to be putting the cart before the horse. You said she wants a plain solitaire ering, so why not do that and propose? Let her have the actual ring on her actual finger and try some wedding band options on after you get engaged :)
 

whitewave

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Feb 29, 2012
Messages
12,331
Have you looked at it under a loupe lately to verify that it is clean? It took me 3 days to clean my asscher after I looked at it under magnification.
 

MissGotRocks

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 23, 2005
Messages
16,270
Were you able to get out and compare your stone to others? Would love to hear your thoughts!
 

Bron357

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 22, 2014
Messages
6,532
As others have said, the lighting in Tiffany and other similiar stores is specially designed expensive lightening to make any diamond look like a zillion glittering stars. Set in bright white shiny new gold adds to the sparkly. A diamond held loose also doesn't necessarily display full light return as if prong set in a ring. And outside on an overcast day and any ring can look flat. I have both a melee set eternity ring and a large single stones eternity band and I found over time I preferred the eternity band with the larger single stones. It just looks less cluttered to my eye. Irrespective though of what anyone here likes, or even what you like, it's your fiancé to be whose opinion matters most and I would get her exactly what she wants, and if later she changes her mind, go with the flow then. Congrats and trust me a G colour diamond always looks like a G colour diamond.
 

Wombats

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jul 12, 2016
Messages
145
Another idea re bands:

Are you having a plain shank in your solitaire ERing? If so, have two wedding bands blessed at the ceremony. A plain platinum/ gold band to match the plain shank AND the Tiffany Metro / whatever your partner chooses.

The plain band is for places where you prefer to leave diamonds at home e.g. travelling to some countries, work (if applicable), sunscreen at the beach etc

Good Luck

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 
Be a part of the community Get 3 HCA Results
Top