How do you decide when to buy the real thing and when to buy the costume version?

[mommylawyer]

This happened (and is still happening) to me too. We all (men & women) lose bone mass and lean tissue mass as we age. Yes, many people gain weight as they age so their bone/lean tissue loss isn't noticeable. But for those of us who stay at a steady weight all our life, the shrinkage is noticeable. My rings have all gotten looser over time. I can definitely see loss of plumpness in my neck (its getting sinewy), face and hands.

I pointed out a "lump" on my jawline to my doctor because it was worrying me. Turns out is not a lump, just loose skin because of the bone loss in my chin/jawbone. Yikes. Now I'm noticing the same lump on most folks over 45/50. Aging ain't for the squeamish!

Thanks for sharing! I finally accepted the inevitable this year and had most of my rings sized down a quarter size. All my adult life, my ring fingers were both size 5 and my middle fingers were both size 7. Now they are 4.75 and 6.75.

 

[yennyfire]

I’m struggling with this dilemma right now. I have 5.5ish mm old euro studs that fit into my IDJ jackets and I adore them, but there are days when I want plain studs. I have tiny lobes so thought I couldn’t wear 6.5/7mm per lobe but bought a pair of fakes and love them. So trying to decide if I should go with lab grown which would allow me to keep the smaller studs/jackets or sell those pieces to buy a larger set of earth mined studs. I honestly think lab grown is brilliant for anything but an engagement ring, but for some reason, I can’t pull the trigger for myself. It’s a mind clean thing. ‍

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I’m struggling with this dilemma right now. I have 5.5ish mm old euro studs that fit into my IDJ jackets and I adore them, but there are days when I want plain studs. I have tiny lobes so thought I couldn’t wear 6.5/7mm per lobe but bought a pair of fakes and love them. So trying to decide if I should go with lab grown which would allow me to keep the smaller studs/jackets or sell those pieces to buy a larger set of earth mined studs. I honestly think lab grown is brilliant for anything but an engagement ring, but for some reason, I can’t pull the trigger for myself. It’s a mind clean thing. ‍

Do ear lobes get bigger as we age ?
i always had very tiny lobes - but i seem to have a tiny bit more real estate there these days

 

[dk168]

Do ear lobes get bigger as we age ?
i always had very tiny lobes - but i seem to have a tiny bit more real estate there these days

Yes they do, and along with the face too!

My bezel set near 1cttw studs overall diameter 6mm were fine to be worn on their own when they were first given to me with I was in my early teens.

My earlobes and face outgrew them and they look tiny on their own, hence I wear them with a pair of 1cttw diamond earring jackets.

Like @yennyfire I too have CZ studs in larger sizes. I particularly like wearing the 8mm diameter ones on their own. The larger pair about 10mm diameter sit too high on my earlobes and look too fake for my liking.

I too am contemplating whether to upgrade the 8mm CZ pair to LGD or not.

I am already planning to get a bigger pair of earth-mined diamond earring jackets with 2.5 to 3mm stones.

For the price of a pair of 8mm LGD studs, I could probably have 2 or more pairs of clusters studs in LGD made, and they will have larger diameters and therefore more coverage.

Decision, decision!

DK

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Yes they do, and along with the face too!

My bezel set near 1cttw studs overall diameter 6mm were fine to be worn on their own when they were first given to me with I was in my early teens.

My earlobes and face outgrew them and they look tiny on their own, hence I wear them with a pair of 1cttw diamond earring jackets.

Like @yennyfire I too have CZ studs in larger sizes. I particularly like wearing the 8mm diameter ones on their own. The larger pair about 10mm diameter sit too high on my earlobes and look too fake for my liking.

I too am contemplating whether to upgrade the 8mm CZ pair to LGD or not.

I am already planning to get a bigger pair of earth-mined diamond earring jackets with 2.5 to 3mm stones.

For the price of a pair of 8mm LGD studs, I could probably have 2 or more pairs of clusters studs in LGD made, and they will have larger diameters and therefore more coverage.

Decision, decision!

DK

All i know about diamond earrings is diamond shrinkage syndrome is defiantly a thing

 

[yennyfire]

Do ear lobes get bigger as we age ?
i always had very tiny lobes - but i seem to have a tiny bit more real estate there these days

Clearly they do!!

 

[chere]

@Karl_K thanks for that video. I’m going to turn a bracelet into a necklace DIY!

I want a new gold necklace too! But my wish list is bigger than my budget.

I had a horrifying wake-up call in my 20s that I wasted away money on a pile of stuff when I did a Marie Kondo clean out. I’m not a minimalist by any means but I’ve become very intentional with my purchases and I stick to my wish list.

I started with buying my “Must Have” pieces. I wore CZs until I could replace them with lab/mined diamonds. It was slow and it took me years to do. I haven’t completed my collection and I never may. I can’t justify the cost per wear and I can borrow from my sisters.

I’ve also reached my cap on what I’ll spend on jewelry at this point in my life and need to make do with what I have. I only track the total since I have an Excel spreadsheet of all my purchases and a pictures embedded for insurance and my will. I’ll make my next big purchase when I hit a certain financial goal.

If I was starting out again, I’d get everything in preowned or lab stones in my dream size. I could change it to a mined stone later and reuse the setting. I can’t go back to CZs now that I have labs.