Just got ring, thinking of upgrading... please help! (PIC)

[lxb87]

Hi all,

My BF gave me the ring in the setting I'd picked out and it's gorgeous. However, the center stone is 0.8, much smaller than I'd expected. He's just fine with going with an upgrade and we get all the money he put into the stone toward a bigger stone. We're going Saturday. We're holding off on telling anyone until the ring is ready.

Two questions:

1) Is there a way to tell by looking at this pic how large I should be thinking? I think my budget will cap us at 1.25 carats. Is that too big? BF thinks it will look obscene but I think it'd look great! He thinks a 1.0 is showing off, especially with my small hands (ring size 5).

2) if I want the stone mounted higher, will that take a lot of extra time? The salesman told us that if we're in by noon he can have it to us by the evening, for swapping out the stone for a bigger one. Does anyone know,if I want the stone to sit higher, if that takes a lot of extra labor? We're hoping to announce it to our families Saturday night. Keeping mute is driving us nuts! And we live in different cities right now so we only have the weekends where we could tell our families.

Sorry I couldn't get the pic to upload. I think the pic is too big. The ring's a 0.8 princess-cut stone in channel set with other princess cut stones. White gold. Center stone is E color, VVSI.

 

[Circe]

Re: Just got ring, thinking of upgrading... please help!

Well, I'm a little bigger than you at 5.25 or so ... and I wear a 1.5 center stone without a qualm! Honestly, I think it's all about what looks good to your eye (and, btw, your eye and not your BF's, necessarily: I'm not saying he doesn't get a vote, but at the end of the day, you're the one wearing the thing). If you want the stone to sit higher, you might need to change out the entire head (much easier to take metal off than it is to add metal) - with a bigger stone, perhaps you won't want it to be higher? Or perhaps you can get it raised after you celebrate on Saturday.

If you resize your pic, it should load without a glitch - I look forward to seeing it!

 

[lxb87]

Re: Just got ring, thinking of upgrading... please help!

Regarding the mounting, I just noticed what I liked about a coworker's ring today is how high it sits. It seems huge compared to mine, and I bet hers is just over a carat. Mine feels like it sits almost like another diamond in the channel setting. Let's see if this pic works. I've cut the ring only and chopped off the rest of thepic with my whole hand in it.

 

[yennyfire]

Re: Just got ring, thinking of upgrading... please help! (PI

I agree with Circe. It's what you're comfortable with. A 1.25 on a size 5 hand wouldn't be too much for me, but that's just my opinion. From the photo, I can't really get a sense of perspective, so I can't comment on your ring on your hand specifically...

 

[yssie]

Re: Just got ring, thinking of upgrading... please help! (PI

princesses face up smaller than rounds for the same ct wt.

I don't think a 1.2 would be at all overly large/flashy on a size5 finger, if you like the look!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Re: Just got ring, thinking of upgrading... please help! (PI

When you make the trade you should focus on cut quality too. I don't mean to sound harsh, but judging only from the image you posted I am not sure that your original stone is the best cut you can find in a princess. A really well cut stone will look much larger because it will be brighter and sparklier than a less well cut stone. GIA does not grade cut quality, unfortunately, but you can at least make sure you get a diamond with a report (does yours have a report?). Better yet is to look for a larger AGS graded princess cut stone that has a cut grade.

But if none of that is possible, ask to see at least 3-5 options in the size range you are thinking of and compare them in different lighting to ensure that you are choosing the one that is the most lively and sparkly to your eye!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Re: Just got ring, thinking of upgrading... please help! (PI

Regarding size, get what you like, but bear in mind that all of us who have posted here wear diamonds over 1.5ct, so we are hardly the most unbiased bunch

 

[CharmyPoo]

Re: Just got ring, thinking of upgrading... please help! (PI

I wear a 1.7 ct on a 2.75 finger ... I don't think it is too big.

I like a diamond set low so it doesn't bang or get caught in stuff.

 

[Gypsy]

Re: Just got ring, thinking of upgrading... please help! (PI

Well, I wear a square 1.09 carat (5.89 x 5.86) on a finger that USED to be 5.25 (ahh those were the days) and that is now 6.25 (sigh) and I can tell you that A) Princesses are VERY deep and a 1.25 should face up about 6 mm which I think is a very good, and not at ALL obscene, size and B) that if you set it up higher it will look slighter bigger. But don't set it up too high, as princess have a very fragile corners and are susceptible to breaking (make sure your girdle on your new stone is NOT very thin or even thin if you can avoid it).

 

[Sparkly_Not_Gaudy]

Re: Just got ring, thinking of upgrading... please help! (PI

I rarely meet a woman who thinks her ring is too big on her hand and 1.25 wouldn't be too big on any adult, IMO. My first ring was 1.57 carats and that was too small, pretty quickly. We moved up to a 2.5 and that was 'just right' and I wore that until I moved on to my 20 year anniversary ring (at 18 years though...long story) and now wear a 13 x 10 stone easily and happily!

If you are going from a bare finger to one with a diamond, it might seem large at first, sure...but very quickly it will become a part of you and not seem large at all and I meet a LOT of women who upgraded quickly because their ring seemed small, fast.

Good luck-and hope you'll post photos when you have made your decision.