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J color stone.....can it be white-looking?

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ccuheartnurse

Brilliant_Rock
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Hi Guys,
I''ve beena bit absent from the group of late. I never thought planning a wedding would take so much effort.
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Only 6 mths to go.
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I''ve been asked by my future sister in law to look for a diamond for her. She wants a .85 ct wt. stone on a very low budget.
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The stone will have to be somewhere around the $2200 range. I guess there are a few options, SI-2 (eye clean) I colour or SI-1/2 J colour. I would like to get the best cut of course. Will the J look too yellow in a 14K white gold setting? I know I''ll need to look for a stone with fluor. but if I dont, will a stone without it look too yellow? There is a vendor thats advertising an SI-1, J but fluor. is negligible. It is however an ideal H&A so perhaps the sparkle & cut will make it look whiter?
I sound confused, I am confused. I can see colour a mile away & so my stone is a G colour & faces up very white for my eyes. I would never imagine going to a J stone. But then, she''s not the most intuitive regarding diamonds. She went to Peoples (Kay Jewelers equivalent) & found a ring there she liked. I asked her what the 4''s were & she didnt know anything but total ct. wt.
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She most of all didnt know colour. But for the price, it surely must have been a L or M colour stone.
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Any thoughts???

Judy
:-)
 
Hey Judy: Good to see you around again.




The J color shouldn't be a problem for her in this instance because the stone is not enormous at .85, so it's less likely to show the "body" that larger stones do. Also, it's an ideal cut, and the cuts helps the color.....several folks here have bought 1.15-1.25 stones in J and were happy with how white they faced up.




That said, you may still see a tinge of color in it, because it sounds like you are very color-sensitive. I think the sacrifice to a J, though, is better than sacrificing to an SI2. I saw a fairly well cut SI1 stone this weekend, 1.03 ct, and I could make out the inclusion without a loupe once I knew where it was. I would think that an SI2 would be even easier to pick out and may end up being *more* noticeable than the J color.




Just my .02.....good luck!
 
Well, if you go for an ideal cut, I suspect it will face up plenty white enough for most people. I'm very color sensitive as well, but the time I compared a G and an I colored HoF side by side I was blown away by how little difference I could see.
 
Hest, I've been meaning to ask -do you think your sensitivity to color in stones is with your EC comparision? I know I can see differences b/t the colorless & near colorless EC's. And, I, in EC's, I do prefer the more colorless stones.

I can't tell much dif. in the RB's though. I have seen a few J's set in platinum that face up plenty white. In a stone in the smaller size RB, J color may be the way to go to stretch the budget.

Heck, I think she could go K if the stone had med/strong blue fluor.
 
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On 10/20/2003 12:57:53 PM fire&ice wrote:

Hest, I've been meaning to ask -do you think your sensitivity to color in stones is with your EC comparision?
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No, ECs are rarely in the mix. However, the RBs I'm looking at are usually non-ideals. I once spent a lot of time at Derco comparing different colors of RBs and I'm really picky about diamonds I see on people's hands!
 
Hm... if the final beneficiary does only want size, than maybe you should point out the options? I like the 'cape' colors as long as they are clean. A small, perfectly cut J should be a white stone, unless she will wear a D near it. After all, there are so many things some people call 'white' and other call 'ivory' or 'egg shell'. The sade in a J color would probably go for 'white' in most other ocasions, unless one is shopping for some designer wall paint! And a .9 ct piece would not be as big as a wall, would it? I would take the respective friend over tea and explain what makes a diamond's price or otherwise say what my choice are and why. After all, you will meet again, right? Just my penny...
 
Hi Judy! Great to see ya again!
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A J color diamond, if well cut, should face up pretty white... Obviously not super white, but still nearly colorless and pleasant to the observer. Also, since you're working on a budget... You can't go wrong.
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J color in a well cut diamond won't be a problem set in white gold or platinum. I've personally seen a 0.85 ct J color H&A mock set against both and it looked great. No yellow tinges what so ever. And, 0.85 ct is a very nice size diamond. Being well cut, it will look as big or slightly bigger than a "Maul" store 1 carat!
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Hi Everyone,
Thank you for your "hello's".
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I believe that I'll be looking for a J colour stone for her.
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With an ideal H&A cut.
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Since I have an SI-1, 1.55 RB stone, I think that she'll be safe with that clarity in a .85. I'll just have to get reasurances from the vendor that its indeed eye-clean before she buys it.
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Thank you all for your wonderful advice.
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Judy
:-)
 
Hi All,
Sorry to revisit this issue. I dont mean to beat a dead horse. Let me tell you why I'm posting. I went out at dinner tonight to take a look at what my sister in law had seen at the jewelery store. Well....it wasnt good. The ring in particular that she liked, was white gold & the tag on the ring labelled the clarity I-2, colour H-I. The tag did not specify which of the 3 stones were what grade. I found the stones, all of them, very cloudy. On the otherhand, I also found them to have a tinge of yellow.

I guess what I'm asking for is reasurrance that an Ideal H&A, Si-1, J is going to face up whiter. I know, there is no guarantee but my instincts are telling me that the crap I saw today is nothing like a well cut J stone. I know Jonathan has listed his J stones as "very white" when well cut. I guess he's seen more than I have. ;-P When I told her today that the colour I'm searching for is a J, she became a bit concerned but she's being very trusting. I guess the other option is to drop down in cut, say to a vg/vg which is still very decent, & go up on colour.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not good at spending other people's hard earned money.

Judy
:-)

** going to search Pricescope & every other site for SI-1, I stones. haha**
 
Hiya!

I don't think you can compare a super lousy cut I color, I 2 clarity diamond (assuming the grading is correct... Who tells you it's not a K/I 3?) with an ideal or superideal J. The second one will look MUCH MUCH better. In fact, even a very nice, beautifully cut K color diamond would look very nice and white enough. But to be safe, look for a J or better color stone.
An I-J/SI 1-2 maybe H&A would look really great without costing a fortune. I think you should focus on a great cut stone and forget about mall's stones. You'll see the difference!
 
Sounds like the stones she saw has more issues than just probably misgraded color. Because of the clarity, the stones have transparacy issues which skew the color as well.

I have personally seen a few 1c J color nicely cut (not ideal) stones that face up plenty white in white metal. If you go with a company that has a return policy, you can't go wrong.
 
Here is a couple of not-so-great shots I took last night of the I-colored Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE Hearts and Arrows diamond that I bought for my girlfriend. The pics don't do it justice (I'm not the best photographer), but I can assure you it's as white as can be. I really think a superideal cut J will also look white.

This one is with the flash.

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This one is without. It's a dark photo...the stone is 100 times brighter in reality.

120-2095_IMG_Cropped_1.JPG
 
Judy-

Is she really set on .85 ct? I suspect if you went up a bit in color, went with ideal (or near ideal) cut and sacrificed a little weight, it would look as big as .85.
 
Thanks again all. I know I'm being obcessive but I also know how hard her bf is working to get this for her & I dont want to disappoint either one of them plus crash her dream of a great ring. I know you are all right regarding the clarity affecting colour. I guess I should have more faith in what I've learned reading these boards for about a yr & a half. haha

She has said specifically said she wants a .85. I think though that her questioning the J, she may perhaps go down to a .80 (seems more available in this wt.). Her bf said to find something in either a .80 or .85. I weezled his number from her. hahaha They must have talked because he asked me to concentrate my search for I colour stones.

Judy
:-)
**who's at work doing anything but watching my patient**
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haha
 
I chose the H over the J because of visual performance. White Flash sent me a .766 ct, New Line H and a .85 ct Classic (??) J color ACA. New Line is big, bold, flashes of light and fire. Classic is very sparkly, with smaller flashes of light and fire. The J was gorgeous, I just preferred the larger flashes.

I am not kidding! Side by side, mock set against white gold and platinum, not one person saw a color difference between the H and the J. Half picked the J and half picked the H with one vote to flip a coin. Every vote was based on performance. Some liked the bolder diamond while others liked the sparkly diamond.

My .766 ct has the diameter of most 1 ct Maul store diamonds. Your friend will have a nice size diamond in the .75 to .85 ct range and J color will absolutely, positively, not be a problem at all.
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Hi All,
Just an update for you. My FSIL is uncomfortable with the J & yesterday asked me several times if I thought it was white. Hmmm, just when I was convinced that she should commit to a well cut J, she starts to waiver. I told her to talk to her bf & go out looking at as many "well cut" diamonds as she could this weekend & then tell me what she wants me to do. I really have spent too much mental energy on this.
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I could NEVER sell diamonds or be in retail, NEVER. I take it too personally. haha I can understand her reluctance. I shopped with the intention that I was not going past a G for my stone, & a G is what I got. The weekend is mine, & my fiance's.
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FSIL said she'll let me know after the weekend if a J is ok or not. The saga continues but I'm done with this thread. I know you guys are too. haha
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If anything, at least someone doing a search regarding J colour stones will get to read some great advice.

Judy
:-)
 
I'm assuming you sent her to the HoF people? I'd hate for her to look at some maul jewelers idea of well-cut!
 
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On 10/24/2003 11:21:09 AM ccuheartnurse wrote:

The saga continues but I'm done with this thread. I know you guys are too.
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No way! I want to know how the story ends. Come back and tell us.
 
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On 10/24/2003 11:26:10 AM Arlington wrote:

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On 10/24/2003 11:21:09 AM ccuheartnurse wrote:

The saga continues but I'm done with this thread. I know you guys are too.
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No way! I want to know how the story ends. Come back and tell us.
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Me too! BTW, I started out wanting nothing warmer than a G color. I ended up w/ an I color at a substantial savings.
 
Yep Hest,
I gave her a list of stores to go to. Mind you, Toronto is an hours drive from Guelph but Guelph, Ontario is not a mecca for ideal cut stones. hahaha I told her to put some gas in the tank & go on an adventure. ;-) I drove all over the place looking for my ring & didnt think twice about doing it. I guess I'm just more obsessive than she is. haha

Arlington,
I'll keep you posted.
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Judy
:-)
 
Hi All,

Havent been around ina while. I have been real busy after the engagement, especially, with work, school, and the whole house hunting thing.

Thought I would come back to the group to add some insight and advice to others. Also, my faince and I are starting to look around for wedding rings, so is there a better place to start? I think not.
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ccuheartnurse.............a piece of advice.

A J color stone is perfectly fine. You have to consider that you will only notice the J color when comparing it with a higher grade. Is there really that big of a difference between an I or a J? The answer is probably NO.

A J color stone by itself, with that carat size, has the potential be beautiful. Another consideration is the lab that performed the grading. Some are more strct than others.

Hope this helps!

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