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help with diamond stud earrings

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pkkz124

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
2
looking to get wife diamond studs for birthday/mother's day (i know i'm late)/push present.
Looking in the 0.7-1 carat each (1.4-2 CTW) range.
Would like to stay <10k ideally.

what's the minimum Color/Clarity/Cuts that you would be willing to live with? How important is it to have a 'hearts and arrow' cut for stud earrings, is that that noticeable? I think maybe a minimum of SI1, H or I. any other thoughts?

Places i've looked at include Whiteflash, Bluenile, Brian Gavin. Any specific recs????

Also what's the big difference between the 4 vs 3 prongs other than preference?
 
I have the BGD Signature stones H SI1 1ctw set in three prong martinis. The diamonds are amazing performers, the color is perfect for me and SI1 is perfect for studs. If you're trying to stretch to the largest size you can get and don't mind losing the trade-in/upgrade option you can go with GIA XXX and still have gorgeous studs.

Here are a couple pairs I found for you at BGD: http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamond_pair_comparisions/compared_diamond_details/45280993/45281035
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamond_pair_comparisions/compared_diamond_details/45041395/45059875

My first pair were the BGD Signature stones J VS2 60ctw. They were also amazing performers but I did notice the tint. The H color new studs are very white to my eyes and I'm so pleased!

I would say that because you're choosing larger diamonds stay in the G/H/I range. Of course if your wife has lower color diamonds in her erings she may be fine if you go lower. Everyone is different in that respect. My ering diamond is a K but looks very white, yet I noticed the tint in my 1st pair of studs :roll:

As far as settings go I chose the three prong martinis in 14k WG. They certainly aren't noticeable and I wanted the diamonds to appear like they are floating on my ear. Hope this helps.
 
OK, here's a great pair from Blue Nile. I searched by cut parameters - so depth percentage below 62% combined with table between 55-57%, then checked the crown and pavilion angles, and ran the numbers through the Holloway Cut Adviser. If the HCA score comes out under 2, that is very good news. I believe this pair to have a fab cut without paying the premium for the Signature line, and it just so happens that they are F colour, GIA cert. I didn't search for a high colour, but this is what came out when I concentrated on the cut.

So: 1.81 ctw, F, Si2, $8,390.

http://www.bluenile.com/build-your-own-diamond-earrings?first_step=diamond&forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP#diamonds_forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP|builder=BYOE|pid=LD03079519|pid=LD03260955

Diamond 1:

91 ctw
F
Si2
61.8 depth percentage
57% table
35 degree crown angle
40.8 degree pavilion angle
HCA score 1.7


Diamond 2

90 ctw
F
SI2
61.4 depth percentage
57% table
35.5 degree crown angle
40.6 degree pavilion angle
HCA score 1.3


I think any of the cut experts here would say that these appear to be excellent cuts - which translates to sparkle!
 
thanks for the help, how does the one you listed compare to the 2 from BGD that the previous poster linked above? any comments on those?
 
The pairs I linked were the BGD Select not the Signature which you pay a much higher premium for. So between what Smith recommended and my suggestions you are comparing apples to apples. It really just depends on what color and clarity you're comfortable with and whose settings you prefer. BGD is a smaller boutique online only vendor with great personalized customer service. They'll send you fun professional glamour shots of your studs and personally inspect your diamonds before setting.
Blue Nile is a larger online vendor with a limited number of setting options and the sales associate on the phone will never see the diamonds themselves.

With the amount of money you're spending I would want some hand-holding and more choices in the setting options. I am extremely happy with my shopping experience thru BGD. I have nothing against Blue Nile but like personal service. GIA XXX in the size you're buying are priced at market value for the most part. If you go with Signature cut diamonds there is a price premium which will vary from vendor to vendor. Most of the buyers on here have bought from BGD or Whiteflash and have the higher premium cut diamonds for their studs. Hope that answers your questions.

Here is a link to my studs which shows the glamour shots and some real life shots. I don't take the best pics.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/so-i-had-to-upgrade-my-studs-bgd-1-00ctw-h-si1.189515/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/so-i-had-to-upgrade-my-studs-bgd-1-00ctw-h-si1.189515/[/URL]
 
I really hope one of the diamond experts will chime in about the cut statistics of the pair I posted, and maybe the pair Woofmama posted too. As you may or may not know, OP, the cut is the absolute single most important thing about the diamond. A D-flawless diamond won't sparkle if it's a bad or average cut - or, I should say, will sparkle much less than if you get the cut right. Cut is king, as we say on PS.

If you don't want to pay the premium for the Signature lines - and the premium is significant - then you have to be careful about cut. I learned this recently when I upgraded my studs. I wanted to go bigger and not pay the Sig premium, so I used the Holloway Cut Adviser and asked the opinions of the experts here. I ended up with a pair whose cut is every bit as good and every bit as sparkly as the Sig lines - and I know because the old studs I traded in were Signatures - and even the Blue Nile SA said that a really well-cut Ideal category stone is not of a lower cut quality than a Sig stone, it's just that Blue Nile cuts the Sigs themselves. With SI2 stones, Blue Nile will also consult their vault and let you know if the stones are eyeclean or not. I feel they are honest about this because I was eyeing a more expensive, larger SI2 pair that I thought were a good deal, and BN told me that they were not eyeclean, even though they would have made more money from them.

I must have bought at least 40 items of jewellery from Blue Nile and have always found their customer service to be excellent. I've returned and swapped items, and it's always been smooth.

So if looking in the Blue Nile Ideal category, or the BGD Select category, or the Whiteflash Expert Selection category, you can still get the best cuts without paying the Sig premium but you DO have to do more sifting to get both stones scoring under 2 on the HCA and the seal of approval from the PS cut experts, since some of those stones can score 3,4,5 on the HCA - and you don't want those.

Where are the experts??

P.S. Here is the link to my upgrade, if you're interested to see a well-cut pair of non-Signature stones from Blue Nile:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/theyre-here-stud-upgrade-1-12-ctw-d-colour-blue-nile.187681/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/theyre-here-stud-upgrade-1-12-ctw-d-colour-blue-nile.187681/[/URL]
 
One thing to note is that the BG Select stones are NOT in-house. Those are stones they'd have to call in, just like drop shipping. Those also do not count in the upgrade policy should you ever want to upgrade. It's just something to be aware of. The only ones that do count in the brands you have posted are the BG Blue and BG SIgnature, and WF Expert Selection and WF A Cut ABove. Those are the in-house stones for those vendors. ALl others have to be called in.

In that respect (and I haven't looked at the actual specs on both sets) they are indeed comparing apples to apples. However, if BGD calls them in for you (it may cost something to do that) they can then run tests on them, look at them, give you performance imagery and give you their opinion on the quality of them. This is something you will not be able to do with BN. The best people here could probably do with BN is look at the numbers and say "they look like they would be worth viewing to see what you think". And certainly, return seems like it'd be easy if you didn't like the look of them. That's probably your big bonus there in addition to the fact that they cost less. (But they cost less because you have no other info on them...plus or minus depending on your viewpoint). Some people are fine with that, some people are not. You'll just have to decide which camp you belong to. :)

The numbers on the BN stones do look promising, but without an Idealscope image, I couldn't comment on the sparkle factor, only that they look promising. They are also SI2, and I don't know if BN can tell you if they are eye-clean or not. Again though, if you got them in and didn't think they were, you could return them.

Of the 2 BG Select pairs, I like the numbers better on the second set, but did not run an HCA on them. The first set had at least one with a 41.4 pavilion, and I don't think I know enough about angles that are outside the 41 mark to know what that would mean.
 
Personally I'd go up to J's for earrings - especially if they're PS-grade cuts. They're going to read as "white diamonds" to most people, including me. :wink2: Just as a point of reference, if you've been looking in brick-and-mortar stores... I purchased my studs at a reputable, high-end jewelry store near me. They're "graded by a GIA gemnologist" (not certified) to be "I" in color. I had a chance to compare them to a pair of Whiteflash, GIA certified "J" earrings of the same size, and the WF J's looked just as white. Seriously, buying a super-ideal cut stone can be like getting a free color boost. If you want dazzling and the whiteness is important to you, by all means stick with an "I" or below. But if you want to maximize sparkle and size, stick with the super-ideal cuts but consider going up the alphabet a bit.
 
If trading up is important to you, please note that some other vendors not only require that you spend double the original spend but that you ALSO must go up in two of the categories of cut, colour, clarity, etc. With Blue Nile, you just receive 100% of the original purchase price towards a new pair of diamonds, as long as you spend twice the original. There is no requirement to trade up a set amount in any of the diamond's specs. So if you spend $2,000 you send back the originals and get a new pair for at least $4,000 - but only pay $2,000.

In addition, ALL diamonds sold by Blue Nile are eligible for the upgrade programme, not just Signatures and not just in-house stones. This is not the case for some other vendors, including Whiteflash and Brian Gavin Diamonds.

I don't think Brian Gavin's upgrade policy is very good compared to Blue Nile's. In addition to the usual 100% credit/double spend described above - which is the industry standard - BGD requires "All upgrades need to include TWO of the following variables - size, color and clarity, additional charges may apply at time of upgrade". So if you love D SI2 diamonds and merely want a bigger one of those, you can't have it.

In addition, if you have a Brian Gavin Blue, and you want to upgrade to a Brian Gavin Signature, you get docked 5% of of the original purchase price.

AND, in addition, Brian Gavin docks the original shipping cost! So if you buy diamond earrings in 2013 and upgrade them five years later, BGD docks that shipping charge from five years ago from your credit for the original studs!

Plus another 5% docked if you want to go from BGD Blue to Signature! And then, you can only have an upgrade at all if you go up in two categories!

I'm just used to the clean, swift action of Blue Nile, I guess. They don't impose so many fiddly terms and conditions.
 
I just bought a pair of almost perfect matched GIA - H color (VS1 & VS2) XXX graded with each .72cts for 1.44 TCW....I love the color & clarity and they are in a 4 prong setting. What I did was searched every online vender virtual inventories that I could find....I noted the cost of each stone & GIA info, called the web site I wanted to buy from and asked if they would match lowest price for stones & settings and yes they did......I liked the conventional 4 prong vs the 3, but the 3 prong is also very nice. If you find maybe I color or SI1 is a better buy ask the vender if the gemologists will review the clarity & color...I just felt that I planned to keep these for a very long time, so H & VS2 was where I was and the size is perfect......I think getting a pair with EX or Ideal cut is as important as the color and clarity. Hearts & Arrows are a result of diamonds cut to almost perfect facets, I don't think it is that important in a set of studs, unless you want to pay the premium. if you find a couple of diamonds you like, post the info here and there are many people who will help you with specs & information.



pkkz124|1370032795|3457018 said:
looking to get wife diamond studs for birthday/mother's day (i know i'm late)/push present.
Looking in the 0.7-1 carat each (1.4-2 CTW) range.
Would like to stay <10k ideally.

what's the minimum Color/Clarity/Cuts that you would be willing to live with? How important is it to have a 'hearts and arrow' cut for stud earrings, is that that noticeable? I think maybe a minimum of SI1, H or I. any other thoughts?

Places i've looked at include Whiteflash, Bluenile, Brian Gavin. Any specific recs????

Also what's the big difference between the 4 vs 3 prongs other than preference?
Click to expand...
 
In reply to the content of VR's post, I personally I don't like diamonds below H. It's because I live with a visible yellow tint in my I-colour diamond - which is a Hearts on Fire, super-ideal AGS-graded diamond, and I can STILL see its lemon-ness - and the Js I've seen in real life look dark. To me, H is the minimum so I think the OP's instincts were correct on that. I have certainly seen some snowy Js on PS, but when I think of my own lemon ring, I just think, nah, H minimum for me.

The Blue Nile line's Signature stones ARE in-house and can be seen by them, not drop-shipped. (I don't have a problem with drop-shipping; it's just that it's their wholesaler who's doing the eyeballing and neither party wants a diamond returned.)

In addition, the Signature stones come with a GCAL light performance document that can be viewed online, in addition to the AGS/GIA certificate.

Anyway, someone above posted a Brian Gavin pair from the Signature line, 1.60 G VS2 for $9,601 wire or $10,104. All the Blue Nile diamonds below are Signatures and the numbers and light performance look stunning, as is always the case with Sigs and their super-ideal cut, from all vendors' premium lines. The BN SI1 Sigs are guaranteed to be eyeclean:


1.63
G
Si1
$8,312


1.61
D
SI1
$9,990


1.62
H
Si1
$8,067


In order:
http://www.bluenile.com/build-your-own-diamond-earrings?first_step=diamond&forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP#diamonds_forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP|builder=BYOE|pid=LD02451673|pid=LD02752158

http://www.bluenile.com/build-your-own-diamond-earrings?first_step=diamond&forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP#diamonds_forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP|builder=BYOE|pid=LD02526880|pid=LD02565776

http://www.bluenile.com/build-your-own-diamond-earrings?first_step=diamond&forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP#diamonds_forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP|builder=BYOE|pid=LD03062241|pid=LD03216231
 
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