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Just Wondering: How Big Feels Too Big?

missydebby

missydebby

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Apr 2, 2010
Messages
1,815
Question Time:

At how many carats do you think a diamond ring looks/feels:

- too big to wear with ease on a daily basis?

- begins to look like CZ?

- makes you too self conscious?

Lastly, have you always felt the same about carat size, or have your feelings changed as you''ve upgraded?
 
rounds suffer the most prejudice for me because they are the most common to pick up at like target for $9.99 or whatever. My stone is too unusual and the ring even more so for it to look fake, but sometimes it makes me uncomfortable to wear. 2.71 carats.
 
To me if the stone is too white it looks fake. I guess that is why I like I colored stones. Having a H & A stone the fake ones look REALLY fake to me now. I used to think they didn''t look that different.
In a round, I am pretty comfortable at the size I wear, I don''t think I could go much over 3 cts. I never thought I would be able to own a 2.5 so I am really happy with that. I think it does change peoples
initial impression of you, and I don''t like that so much. I am not wealthy, nor is status important to me but I do love sparkle.

If I were going for a beautiful cushion, I would have to go a little bigger to get to the size on my finger that I love.
 
I''m glad you asked this. I''m going for a 3 ct cushion 5 stone ring and I''m a bit nervous about it! We are joking about it at work that when they turn the lights down low to do projector presentations, someone is going to turn a flashlight on my ring to see if it acts like a disco ball. - LOL

I hope not.
 
I have a 1ct RB and would LOVE it to be 1.5-2ct. I think 2ct is as big as I''d go with my size 4.5 finger and just in general. i don''t want to get too much attention over jewelry.
 
Date: 5/12/2010 10:25:45 AM
Author:missydebby
Question Time:


At how many carats do you think a diamond ring looks/feels:


- too big to wear with ease on a daily basis?


- begins to look like CZ?


- makes you too self conscious?


Lastly, have you always felt the same about carat size, or have your feelings changed as you've upgraded?
Click to expand...


Too Wear With Ease:

For me PERSONALLY.....and for my lifestyle, personal style and surroundings....I would not really go over a 1.5ct round and that is stretching it (little more for some fancier cuts). I have a pretty physically active lifestyle, consider practical things like gloves all winter, and am not the most careful person, so how high a stone has to sit above my finger matters (and bigger stones sit higher!) to me even more than finger coverage. Even for the latter, I don't like if most of my finger is covered! My sweet spot is more like 1.25. My sapphire faces up like a 1.25.


Begins to Look Like CZ:

Hm, I think a lot of spectacular diamonds (super ideal cut, D-E) can lead to some people ASSUMING they are CZ as they are not used to seeing spectacular diamonds. The super ideal cuts are like....5% of what is out there? Most people never see them. Refraction and such is different...but a lot of people do not know what to look for. I may be more apt to think a very large stone MIGHT be a CZ depending on the wearer but this is more related to what I know about their lifestyle. I think you can tell at times due to their performance but at first glance...often not. I have seen a lot more smaller CZ stones than larger ones, though, too.

Not all CZ stones are alike. I have seen some CZ stones that can fool a lot of people. Including me. And I am pretty sure some people on this forum at times! Especially when they are clean and in an expensive setting.

And honestly, I don't care if someone wants to wear a CZ for whatever reason. I don't make judgments about their choices...and if a young couple wants to get a CZ (or moissy or whatever else) as it fits their budget and they want to put that money somewhere else....it does NOT bother me! My own choice of ring might not fit for a lot of people here or in real life, but, it works for ME.

Self-Conscious:

I don't know, as I just generally don't like big rings so don't wear them. Around here anything above 1ct really stands out. I probably would think a 2ct is too much for me to wear with ease or to enjoy on my own hand but I am not sure I would be self-conscious about it. I don't worry much about other people's assumptions about me overall. Though it can be irritating (i.e. I do not have a large rock but people make assumptions about my finances based on my career for example - which are FAR off base!).

I have a sapphire e-ring and I find THAT stands out around here so people are always looking at it or commenting on it. So I am used to that. So I would not be too worried about that with a large diamond and would not be too worried about their opinions or judgments.


Have You Always Felt the Same About Carat Size:

I never gave it much thought before I got my own ring to be honest. And I am not really an up-grader. I never had an e-ring initially so when I chose a ring after I was married I had the time to think about what I liked or what would suit me, and I am quite happy with my choice. I can appreciate larger stones on others hands....and smaller ones. But I don't get carat-envy or anything, as my stone is just right for me. I would say there is a point where I think a stone is TOO big on others hands and for ME it looks like costume jewelery...but I won't specify what that is as it depends on the wearers hand and I also don't want to make it personal to anyone.
 
I''m not engaged at the moment, but the diamond is bought and currently being set, so I don''t know how I''m going to feel wearing it yet. I bought a 1.5ct cushion. I''m a scientist and work in a lab wearing gloves, so I got the stone set low, and hopefully it won''t get in the way
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I would have been happy with anything that my boyfriend picked out himself, but he put me in charge, and so that''s what I went with. I wanted decent finger coverage and a good ''wow factor'' without being blingy. I''m probably going to have the biggest stone out of anyone I know, but I like to think that I deserve it after 10.5 years of dating
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Date: 5/12/2010 10:25:45 AM
Author:missydebby
Question Time:


At how many carats do you think a diamond ring looks/feels:


- too big to wear with ease on a daily basis?


- begins to look like CZ?


- makes you too self conscious?


Lastly, have you always felt the same about carat size, or have your feelings changed as you''ve upgraded?
Click to expand...

My original e-ring, which I still wear every day is a .33 RB and it seem odd on this board, I know, but that still looks like a good size to me. Keep that in mind as I answer.
I will be talking about RHRs. (My .33 is not my only diamond ring, I have a .65 RB solitaire and a .25 OEC in an antique ring, but they are all smaller, so my answers may be different because of that).

--I would wear a RB up to 1.25 carats, if I had one. When they get to 1.5, they look too big on MY hand for me. I do have small fingers (I wear a 6 1/4, which does not sound small, but there is little room between my hand and my first knuckle. I have a friend who wears a size 3 1/2 or 4 but has a lot more room there and I do, and she can wear larger rings in spite of the fact that her size sounds smaller.)

--I tend to think that the upper limit for RBs looking good on ANYONE is 2 - 2.5 carats. this is just my personal opinion--no offense to those who want to wear more than this, or do. My .33 probably looks like a pinpoint to you--it''s all perspective, I guess, or what you''re used to.

--I think this because of looks, not ease of wearing. I''m not sure at which point a ring gets uncomfortable for daily wear, because I take off all rings, except when I go out, because of metal allergies/skin sensitivity. So they ALL are not easy to wear for me.

--I don''t object to big diamonds per se, just big RBs, which start to look like golf-balls attached to your hand to me. Once you get to three carats or so, I like the look of emerald cuts, asshers, ovals and pears a lot better. I think that with three of the cuts mentioned, emerald cuts, ovals and pears you can go up to truly enormous sizes and not look strange. I mean, like 20+ carats for ovals and emerald cuts definitely. While I can''t even begin to imagine an RB in that kind of size.

--I am currently buying a larger marquise on layaway. It faces up like a 1.50-1.75 carat marquise at 11.57 mm x 5.57 mm. I like how this stone looks on my fingers just fine--a marquise is very suited for me because it helps to elongate my fingers visually and I don''t think it is too large. However, I don''t intend to wear it for daily wear. I''m thinking of it as a fun dress-up ring. Because of the size.

--I wouldn''t like a marquise (for a ring)much bigger than this. I think that once you get to 2 carats in a marquise, it doesn''t look good for a ring anymore. Something about the pointy ends. I have seen beautiful 20 carats + marquise stones, but always on necklaces. They look great on those diamond chains, or as parts of parures, very gorgeous then.

--I don''t think a diamond ever looks like a CZ. Sometimes CZs look like diamonds, if they are well cut and not scratched and very clean and in an expensive, good quality setting. They can deceive you. But it doesn''t work in reverse--diamonds don''t ever get that ''cheap CZ'' look-- overly white and fakey looking, whether they are large or small. People can assume, not having looked at it properly, that a large diamond is a CZ, but I don''t think this is because it LOOKS like that. It''s because they are assuming-large=expensive --and that the person wearing it doesn''t look wealthy enough for it, for whatever reason (clothes, age, etc. etc.) I wouldn''t waste time worrying about this.

--something makes ME self-conscious if I think it''s not flattering to me. I would be self-conscious in a 3 carat RB or marquise (if I could afford such a thing) because I would think that my hand looked funny. I would not be self-conscious in a 3 carat plus emerald cut, pear or oval (which I also can''t afford) because I would like how it looked. But I am older and no longer think much about what people around me might think about how I look. What''s too much in YOUR social circle? There are places where everyone is very wealthy indeed but thinks that wearing anything over 1/2 carat is tacky. There are other places where 2 carats is de rigeur. Which circles do you move in?

--I would be uncomfortable about wearing diamond jewelry though in venues where I felt unsafe. I don''t care if people look at me. I do care if people may try to mug me. In THAT case, I would keep low key.

--I don''t think the ''upgrading'' question applies to me. Maybe I would begin to feel differently if I switched my .33 RB for a 1.25 and wore it daily. But that isn''t going to happen, for sentimental reasons. So far, my .65 hasn''t made me feel like my .33 is too small and I don''t think it will. I wear the big ones in my ears (2 ctw) and of course I can''t see them there so they don''t make anything else look small.

And that''s my opinionated opinion.
 
I have a 5CT+ center pear and 1.30TCW trillion

Right now, my pear/trillion 3 stone ring is comfortable for everyday wear... and is bordering the fake look.
anything bigger (on me) - would be too much, and at its size, it is challenging ( in some way ) to handle and would look fake.
 
At this point in my life I think that the size I am getting, 1.666
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, is about my maximum for ease if wear and to not feel self-conscious. Eve now I am worried it is a little too big, but I guess I will find out on Friday! I love big bling and want a noticable and sparkly ring, but I do not want it to be too conspicuous. Who knows what the future will hold though
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As to when it looks like a CZ, who knows. It is hard to tell a CZ from real because most people have poorly cut diamonds that somehow look like CZ to me
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I don''t think we can tell real from fake. But I do like some warmth to my diamonds, G color is the highest on the scale I would go, because a diamond with a little body color has more depth to me.
 
Date: 5/12/2010 12:01:04 PM
Author: Amethyste
I have a 5CT+ center pear and 1.30TCW trillion

Right now, my pear/trillion 3 stone ring is comfortable for everyday wear... and is bordering the fake look.
anything bigger (on me) - would be too much, and at its size, it is challenging ( in some way ) to handle and would look fake.
Click to expand...
LOL! Maybe to someone who doesn't know diamonds and just gives it a glance, but I think anyone who looked closer would know it was real because of the high quality of the diamonds and the setting. Your ring is like a celebrity ring, you must get double takes all the time!
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I would love to see your ring in person, or any of the much larger PS rings really. I have never seen anything over 2ct in real life and it would be such a treat to see some amazing bling in person!
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Date: 5/12/2010 12:05:14 PM
Author: dreamer_d

As to when it looks like a CZ, who knows. It is hard to tell a CZ from real because most people have poorly cut diamonds that somehow look like CZ to me
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I don't think we can tell real from fake. But I do like some warmth to my diamonds, G color is the highest on the scale I would go, because a diamond with a little body color has more depth to me.
Click to expand...

Yes, I would agree. And I think warmer diamonds are less likely to be "assumed" to be a CZ too!

ETA: You must be pretty excited for Friday!
 
Dreamer-I am excited for you to get your ring this week! It is certainly a long journey! I can''t wait to see it on your pretty finger!
 
Date: 5/12/2010 10:25:45 AM
Author:missydebby
Question Time:


At how many carats do you think a diamond ring looks/feels:


- too big to wear with ease on a daily basis?


- begins to look like CZ?


- makes you too self conscious?


Lastly, have you always felt the same about carat size, or have your feelings changed as you''ve upgraded?
Click to expand...


To answer my own question...

1. I guess it''s partially how it''s set. High, low, bezel, halo, etc. I am upgrading from a bezel .50 to a prong set 1.01. I think it''s gonna feel super big, but not huge. I think I''ll get used to it (in a good way), no problem.

2. I don''t know. I do know I can totally tell a lot by the way the ring looks all-together. Like the new reset of Lemony is gorgeous, and even besides the pear shape, it just has that flash and the subtle distinctions of realness. At least form the photos, it has a kind of depth and personality that I don''t see in a CZ.

3. I admit, I can get self conscious. I''ll mostly be wearing my ring here in my adopted country of Holland, where anything over a .50 is considered very big. Most women here, if they even wear a diamond, have like .30 or less. (Strange given the diamond center of Amsterdam. This is a land of paradoxes) On the other hand, when I''m in the States, I''m mostly in LA and another unnamed ritzy town, and I won''t mind one bit having a gorgeous ring that measures up to some of the boulders I''m sitting next to. I think my 1 carat Leon masterpiece will be just the ticket for both worlds.

4. Oh yeah, even though I''m getting a 1 carat, I love eye balling 2 and 3 carat beauties. I don''t know if I''d have the gumption to wear a diamond like that on my finger, but I''d just love to own one! I could at least knit it a baby blanket, a cap, and name it! Perhaps on a necklace...
 
Date: 5/12/2010 12:01:04 PM
Author: Amethyste
I have a 5CT+ center pear and 1.30TCW trillion


Right now, my pear/trillion 3 stone ring is comfortable for everyday wear... and is bordering the fake look.

anything bigger (on me) - would be too much, and at its size, it is challenging ( in some way ) to handle and would look fake.
Click to expand...

Yours doesn''t look fake, it looks lovely.
 
Dreamer, only 2 more days!!! Can''t wait to see it! Get that camera ready for us! o h happy days ...
 
Amethyst your ring is gorgeous! I love the pear & trillions =)
 
In a RB I''d wear about 1.5 cts comfortably every day. I have a 1.25 princess that faces up like a 1.5 round.

To me anything above 3 cts starts to look like a CZ

I''m getting a 2 ct RB soon, and I''d probably be a little self conscious as first because most of my circle of friends wear around 1 ct.....I''m sure that feeling will wear off soon. They all know I love diamonds!
 
Date: 5/12/2010 10:25:45 AM
Author:missydebby
Question Time:


At how many carats do you think a diamond ring looks/feels:


- too big to wear with ease on a daily basis?


- begins to look like CZ?


- makes you too self conscious?


Lastly, have you always felt the same about carat size, or have your feelings changed as you''ve upgraded?
Click to expand...


For me, too big would be over 3 carats. I would not wear it most likely and even when I got my current stone, I had a hard time wearing it. Only recently I decided or realized, that life is too short and I should enjoy my ring.

I think any really big (ie: 4 carats and up), super super white diamond would start to look fake to me. But at the same time, I really don''t care and whatever floats your boat is fine by me. Also, the age and the way one presents themselves can make you wonder if the diamonds they wear or real. I am always in jeans, scrubs or sweats, almost never dress up, so I guess alot of people would assume what I have is fake, but that''s okay, because I wear my stuff for me and not to impress anyone else.

Again, anything over 3 carats would make me really self conscious or anything too blingy. While I have a lot of pieces, I seldom wear them all at once, unless I am going to a party/wedding. I would feel too funny wearing all my blingier pieces all at once. So, wearing too much jewelery or wearing just one really big solitaire.

I think I have always felt the same. While I never imagined when we first got married that I would sport anything over two carats, I always have thought that 3 carats would be too big for me and my lifestyle.
 
I think it partially depends on where you live. I'd feel silly wearing more than 3 cts in Omaha, but not so much in New York. For me, living in LA, I'd say anything over 5 cts would feel too big. I have a 1.75, though, so I don't really need to worry about that.
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I used to think I would never wear anything larger than a 1.5 ct, but DH wanted me to try 2 cts, so I went and compared 2, 2.5, and 3 ct RB this past weekend and started to like the way the 2 cts looked. I definitely felt like anything above a 2 ct started looking a little silly on my hand, though. My ring size is a 5, but I've seen people with smaller hands than me who are easily able to pull off 2+ ct RB's. I guess it depends on the hand? On my hand the 2.5 and 3 ct were way too big. The 2 ct looked big, but not ridiculously so. I think I'd be self-conscious with a 2.5 + diamond.

To answer ur question re looking like CZ, I saw a 5 ct at Tiffany's this weekend, and thought that it looked way too big to be real. LOL. Obviously, it was real, but I don't think I could ever get used to that look. I'm not sure where between 2-5 it would start to look like CZ, though, since I haven't seen many diamonds between that size except on PS.
 
I don't really think in terms of real or fake when I see people's stones.
But now that you ask...
To people who do think in terms of real or fake I guess my 2.26 F VVS2 looks fake.
No biggie, I wear it for me not them.
We don't live in a fancy area so strangers may think it's fake, but anyone who really knows me would have no doubt it's real.

Asschers face up small and I think I would not wear one over 3 ct.
 
Yup, getting excited! Thanks for sharing my anticipating RaiKai, luvs2sparkle, vbnet!
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We are picking the ring up in Seattle when we go away for a romantic anniversary weekend without our 14 month old
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, woo hoo! Sleeping in, a great big bathtup, BOTH of us drinking wine together for the first time in two years! It will be a great weekend all around.

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming
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Date: 5/12/2010 12:51:34 PM
Author: kenny
I don''t really think in terms of real or fake when I see people''s stones.
But now that you ask...
To people who do think in terms of real or fake I guess my 2.26 F VVS2 looks fake.
No biggie, I wear it for me not them.
We don''t live in a fancy area so strangers may think it''s fake, but anyone who really knows me would have no doubt it''s real.

Asschers face up small and I think I would not wear one over 3 ct.
Click to expand...
I don''t either to be honest! I always assume it is real because I would never buy a fake. But I did have a friend once comment that she thought that if my diamond were bigger than its (at that time) .80ct, then people would start to think it was fake.

I think only people who wear fakes themselves think other people wear fakes too.
 
I wore a .33 my whole married life (lost my original stone, but it's in this house somewhere and I am determined to find it, then wore an estate ring from ebay for a long time) so when I got a 1.03 diamond for my 25th, I felt like I was wearing a huge rock... and it was so much fun! Especially for those first few months, boy did I feel like Mrs. Gotrocks...not because I cared about impressing others, just because I loved glancing down and seeing that beautiful sparkle. I think the small diamonds in the bands of the rings contribute a lot to making my set show up nicely. After almost a year of wearing it, I have to admit that a 1.25-1.5 stone is looking mighty tempting, and I never thought I'd feel that way! I'm a little surprised at myself, but maybe PS has that effect on people lol. My set is an estate piece, so I don't have an upgrade policy. I think dh would probably go for a larger stone, after 25 years we're financially in a better place, but honestly I'm really happy with this set, the size of the diamond suits me and my lifestyle, and we have other expenses to think about. But who knows, maybe down the road? Never say never, I guess! I don't think I'd ever go larger than 1.5, but I really appreciate and admire the larger stones on others.

You know, it's funny about the cz thing...I really can't recall a time when I saw a large stone and thought "oh, that must be fake". I don't know why, maybe because of the large stones I've seen, the settings look like good quality? My eye just takes in the beauty of the ring I guess, and I don't even think about the "real" or "fake" question.
 
Dreamer, have a fabulous vacation!!! Enjoy your new ring! And come back with lots of pics!!!!
 
Date: 5/12/2010 1:12:27 PM
Author: lizzyann01
Dreamer, have a fabulous vacation!!! Enjoy your new ring! And come back with lots of pics!!!!
Click to expand...

a million ditto''s!
 
Date: 5/12/2010 12:53:48 PM
Author: dreamer_d
I think only people who wear fakes themselves think other people wear fakes too.
Click to expand...
Good point.
You may be right.

I didn't wear a fake before I could afford the real thing.
I never even looked at fakes at a store thinking "Oh I could afford this, wear it and everyone would think I was rich".

Fakes were just never on my radar screen.
Maybe I'm a snob.
Oh well.
 
Date: 5/12/2010 1:22:23 PM
Author: kenny
Date: 5/12/2010 12:53:48 PM

Author: dreamer_d

I think only people who wear fakes themselves think other people wear fakes too.
Click to expand...

Good point.

I'll bet you're right.


I didn't wear a fake before I could afford the real thing.

I never even looked at fakes at a store thinking 'Oh I could afford this, wear it and everyone would think I was rich'.


Fakes were just never on my radar screen.

Oh, I've worn fakes, when my children were small and I wanted to enjoy the beauty of a diamond but we didn't have the money for it. I'm going back quite a few years. that's how I know how I look wearing a pear, a princess, a marquise, an emerald cut and of course a round lol. When my husband gave me my new set something like "and it's not a cz!" popped out of my mouth and he said "I know!" and we both laughed. That was a really good day.
Click to expand...
 
June, sorry I didn't mean to be critical of people wearing fakes.
I put my foot in my mouth a lot.
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