May be in love with I1, E color, peppered stone?

[Ava15]

I have been lamenting the .83 princess cut diamond I picked out from a b & m store Saturday. Today I went to some jewelers to view Si1''s and even vvs2''s. (But in a lower color range than e)

My I1 stone has black peppered spots you can see from the sides.

But when you look down at the stone, it is sparkly icy white.... (like an ice cube!!) and the cut seems quite dramatic.

Is this an odd phenomenon? This ring even beat out the b & m store''s "signature cut."

I am feeling guilty, or blind for loving this e colored, i1 peppered stone!!

(Set in a white gold cathedral.)

Please explain!!

 

[surfgirl]

The pepper is carbon spots. It''s not what you want in a diamond. At least I''ve never heard anyone actually choosing a stone because it had lots of carbon spots in it. I think you need to take a look at a really great stone and you will see the difference.

ETA: Sorry, I cant explain why you''d like it!

 

[2Artists]

If you have not already you could check out the show me the ring thread to get an idea for the look of lots of different diamonds. In the end only you know what makes your heart beat faster.

 

[lesco]

Hi,

At the end of the day, you have to find that stone that "speaks" to you. With that said, I think most folks here will stay away from a diamond with noticeable black inclusions. Hey, if you like it is all that matters but based on the knowledge I gained from this site ( I still have a lot to learn- I admit), this stone might no be the greatest purchase.
You know, my FI did not want to go the online route either so I can totally understand.

 

[Ava15]

Well, I''m feeling really torn. I guess I will wait to see the other stones my jeweler brings in for me.

Am I loving it so much because of the E color?

 

[lesco]

Might be so, I have an E and I''m in love with it

. So, I can''t blame you but folks here will advice you that a well cut stone can make up for a lower color grade by still making the stone look white and sparkly!!! Those usually offer a lot more bang for your buck.

 

[surfgirl]

Well the thing you bolded in your first post was about the "icy white sparkle" of the stone and that refers to the color and possibly the cut...I''d look at a similar color graded stone in the VS-SI1 range and see if you still prefer the "pepper" stone.

 

[Sharon101]

I personally cant see the problem if the spots are only visible from the side of the diamond. It just means you need to set it without the sides being exteemly open, which you might have done anyway. My own princess has very obvious inclusions from the side, but is eyeclean from the top. And being a white color, all I see is great big white sparkle!!!!!!

 

[ImpatientOne]

Well, I used to have an SI2 RB that was totally eye clean from the top, however, I could see carbon spots from the side. At first it didn't bother me much, but as time went on it really stared bugging me. I finally ended up getting rid of it after a year and got a totally eye clean SI1 (eye clean from all angles) with no black carbon. Needless to say I lost money on the old stone due to the fact that I was past the return period...

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 4/30/2008 11:50:14 PM
Author:Ava15
I have been lamenting the .83 princess cut diamond I picked out from a b & m store Saturday. Today I went to some jewelers to view Si1''s and even vvs2''s. (But in a lower color range than e)

My I1 stone has black peppered spots you can see from the sides.

But when you look down at the stone, it is sparkly icy white.... (like an ice cube!!) and the cut seems quite dramatic.

Is this an odd phenomenon? This ring even beat out the b & m store''s ''signature cut.''

I am feeling guilty, or blind for loving this e colored, i1 peppered stone!!

(Set in a white gold cathedral.)

Please explain!!

Because you are feeling guilty I already know you will never be happy with this stone, which is probably too bad, since it sounds like a beauty.

Diamonds are graded from the top, not from the side, and it is very possible that some of these inclusions are visible from the top under very close scrutiny, it is also very possible that this is one of those "eye cleanish" I1''s that are tremendous values, especially when you are buying from a bricks and morter store which will demand that you go to a much smaller stone to stay in the same price range.

Most people will tell you it is a bad grade, and it can be. But it can also have tremendous value if the visual appeal is good.

Wink

 

[pyramid]

I have tried to convince myself many times about feathers I could see in diamonds I used to own that they were okay and didn't bother me. However they definitely did. It depends on if you are forgetting about it totally or are you trying to convince yourself!

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 5/1/2008 12:28:44 PM
Author: Pyramid
I have tried to convince myself many times about feathers I could see in diamonds I used to own that they were okay and didn''t bother me. However they definitely did. It depends on if you are forgetting about it totally or are you trying to convince yourself!

Totally true.

People buy diamonds for many reasons and some are very happy with an eye clean or "eye cleanish" diamond, others would be miserable. It is totally a personal decision, and neither is wrong for the person making the decision.

Wink

 

[purrfectpear]

Feathers from the side I could live with - carbon spots (especially "peppered"), not so much

With all the decent I1''s available to consider, why buy one with black carbon...sides or otherwise? If it was a vintage OEC or something, maybe.

 

[WinkHPD]

Just a little aside for laughs.

I am remembering when I had just finished my GG work back in 1975 and came back to Boise to go to work with my first formal job as a jeweler.

My boss was rightfully insensed about a jeweler in the Salt Lake City area. Seems he had gotten hold of a parcel of 1cts that were pretty badly "peppered". This was material that at the time sold for three to four hundred dollars a carat, if that. This guy was advertising them and selling them as very rare "Salt and Pepper Diamonds" and nailing his customers for just under D-Flawless prices, which were then in the 3 - 4 per carat range at the time.

These very rare stones were the talk of the town apparently, at least until a couple of the real jewelrs in town held a press conference and started talking about the Emporer having no clothes.

Wink

(For those of you too young to remember the fairy tale of the Emporer having no clothes, it translates into someone called a press conference to educate those who believed that salt and pepper diamonds were "very rare and treasured". I used that term in a high school class presentation a few years ago and discovered that not one of the class had a clue what I was taliking about since the fairy tale wasn''t on TV it did not really exist.)

 

[Lynn B]

Date: 5/1/2008 12:08:54 PM
Author: Wink

Because you are feeling guilty I already know you will never be happy with this stone, which is probably too bad, since it sounds like a beauty.

Wink

Wink,

I think I may have to respectfully disagree with you a bit here. (On the part about her "never being happy with the stone" NOT the part about it "sounding like a beauty".)

I think there is a very good chance that she may WELL BE quite satisfied with the stone, IRL... it''s just that HERE, in PSville, she is feeling somewhat ambivalent. I am NO car expert, but maybe it''s like being in a Mercedes or BMW forum and asking the car people what they think of -or- if they''d personally be happy with a Toyota. Most of them would try to steer her towards a bigger/fancier/higher performance/more expensive/yadayadayada car, because they are car lovers and car people. But that doesn''t mean that she wouldn''t be very happy with a Toyota. (And this is no slam on Toyotas, because there are two in my driveway!

)

Honestly, Ava... take what you hear here with a grain of salt... we are diamond freaks and nerds. (And I include myself in that statement!)

That diamond sounds like it may be cut beautifully and look quite lovely. Once it is *set* -- realistically, who is going to be scrutinizing it through the pavilion?! If it speaks to you, and it''s in your budget... don''t let us (as well-meaning and well-intentioned as we are!) discourage you.

You will be wearing the ring IRL, not in PSville. THAT is a huge difference!

(Just my very humble 2 cents... and the first time I have ever even remotely disagreed with our dear Wink!!!)

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 5/1/2008 2:34:33 PM
Author: Wink
Just a little aside for laughs.

I am remembering when I had just finished my GG work back in 1975 and came back to Boise to go to work with my first formal job as a jeweler.

My boss was rightfully insensed about a jeweler in the Salt Lake City area. Seems he had gotten hold of a parcel of 1cts that were pretty badly ''peppered''. This was material that at the time sold for three to four hundred dollars a carat, if that. This guy was advertising them and selling them as very rare ''Salt and Pepper Diamonds'' and nailing his customers for just under D-Flawless prices, which were then in the 3 - 4 per carat range at the time.

These very rare stones were the talk of the town apparently, at least until a couple of the real jewelrs in town held a press conference and started talking about the Emporer having no clothes.

Wink

(For those of you too young to remember the fairy tale of the Emporer having no clothes, it translates into someone called a press conference to educate those who believed that salt and pepper diamonds were ''very rare and treasured''. I used that term in a high school class presentation a few years ago and discovered that not one of the class had a clue what I was taliking about since the fairy tale wasn''t on TV it did not really exist.)

Oh that''s funny. Not ha ha funny (except the part at the end) but definitely "Dear God NO" funny. Thanks for sharing that Wink.

I can''t comment on your stone Ava. You know yourself best. Will you be happy with it, or will the spots bug you? Can you set it in a bezel (no side view)?

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 5/1/2008 6:15:07 PM
Author: Lynn B

Date: 5/1/2008 12:08:54 PM
Author: Wink

Because you are feeling guilty I already know you will never be happy with this stone, which is probably too bad, since it sounds like a beauty.

Wink

Wink,

I think I may have to respectfully disagree with you a bit here. (On the part about her ''never being happy with the stone'' NOT the part about it ''sounding like a beauty''.)

I think there is a very good chance that she may WELL BE quite satisfied with the stone, IRL... it''s just that HERE, in PSville, she is feeling somewhat ambivalent. I am NO car expert, but maybe it''s like being in a Mercedes or BMW forum and asking the car people what they think of -or- if they''d personally be happy with a Toyota. Most of them would try to steer her towards a bigger/fancier/higher performance/more expensive/yadayadayada car, because they are car lovers and car people. But that doesn''t mean that she wouldn''t be very happy with a Toyota. (And this is no slam on Toyota''s, because there are two in my driveway!

)

Honestly, Ava... take what you hear here with a grain of salt... we are diamond freaks and nerds. (And I include myself in that statement!)

That diamond sounds like it may be cut beautifully and look quite lovely. Once it is *set* -- realistically, who is going to be scrutinizing it through the pavilion?! If it speaks to you, and it''s in your budget... don''t let us (as well-meaning and well-intentioned as we are!) discourage you.

You will be wearing the ring IRL, not in PSville. THAT is a huge difference!

(Just my very humble 2 cents... and the first time I have ever even remotely disagreed with our dear Wink!!!)

And well you should! I was in way too pessimistic a mood earlier when I wrote that. I have since had a good meditation and feel much more like myself now.

From what I am hearing from our supplicant it is sounding like a veritable treasure. Still it is her choice to make and only she can know what that choice will be. I am finding more and more that my ladies like Big first, then sparkly. My men are usually much more interested in the paper. (This is just in my local clients, my internet clients all like to look first at the paper to determine if they even want to see the gem in question, thus many true treasures sit for months on the shelf before some brave soul sees them for the beauties that they are.)

Wink

 

[Lynn B]

Date: 5/1/2008 6:48:10 PM
Author: Wink

And well you should! I was in way too pessimistic a mood earlier when I wrote that. I have since had a good meditation and feel much more like myself now.

From what I am hearing from our supplicant it is sounding like a veritable treasure. Still it is her choice to make and only she can know what that choice will be. I am finding more and more that my ladies like Big first, then sparkly. My men are usually much more interested in the paper. (This is just in my local clients, my internet clients all like to look first at the paper to determine if they even want to see the gem in question, thus many true treasures sit for months on the shelf before some brave soul sees them for the beauties that they are.)

Wink

Oh Wink! You are such a sweetie! I''m so glad there are no hard feelings... and that you are feeling "more like yourself" now! xoxox
Lynn
Now, where''s Miss Ava? And what''s she decided?!

 

[motownmama]

My earrings have carbon spots and they are D''s (1 ctw) and sparkle like crazy!!! Could this stone be set in a bezel?

 

[NeverEndingUpgrade]

Sounds like the combination of cut and color is what you are sold on. I wore an I1 marquise for 13 years that was an F color, and cut very well, but it did have a rather large visible inclusion that could be seen through the table. However, most people weren''t looking at it that close. It was all we could afford at the time. The cut and color did make up for a lot.

I think the bezel idea is a good one as it covers the sides of the diamonds so you only see the top. The Ritani Endless Love collection is a good example. I LOVE what Lynn B. said--"You will be wearing the ring IRL, not in PSville. THAT is a huge difference!" LOL, that is so true!!!

 

[Ava15]

Well, I''m back. (Long 14 hour work day) The jeweler was suppose to call me this afternoon about looking at some Si1''s and Si2''s....so I could get a feel for the difference between those and my stone and decide which one I really want.

He has not called back. (Shame on him!)

I am definitely going back to different jewelry store Saturday (same chain but in another city with a larger store) and I will look at their selection. I also plan on looking at my stone under a scope. (Won''t that be the kiss of death, LOL?)

It is refreshing to see a few people post that it is "okay" if I keep the stone.

I will keep everyone updated...''cause the saga will continue... thank goodness for return policies.

 

[Ava15]

Oh, and I was in a meeting tonight, and in THAT lighting, my stone looked fireless.

I am on an emotional roller coaster....

 

[NeverEndingUpgrade]

Are you sure you won''t buy from the Internet? I bought from GoodOldGold.com and would do it again many times over. You can get a lot more for your money.

 

[Lynn B]

Date: 5/1/2008 11:15:09 PM
Author: NeverEndingUpgrade
... I LOVE what Lynn B. said--''You will be wearing the ring IRL, not in PSville. THAT is a huge difference!'' LOL, that is so true!!!

Haha, thanks! You know, what I meant to say was, "You will be wearing the ring in actual size IRL, not in 40x MAG PS''ville!" THAT is the HUGE difference!

 

[Dreamer_D]

All that matters, IMHO, is that you love the stone, it meets your psychological comfort zone for color, clarity etc, and that you paid a fair price for what it is. If your comfort zone includes some carbon spots, and you are paying a fair price for a stone with visible inclusions like that, they keep it and love it! I only get really squeemish about people buying stones that are not "PS perfect" when they are paying way too much for what they actually got!

Sounds like you love it, but if there is a part of you that doubts the stone, or if it isn''t ticking the love/comfort zone/fair price bozes, then give a good think to looking to find something that you love *without reservations*. Diamondseeker 2006 has a tag line that I really think will save lots of us money and heartache over our diamonds if we follow it: "When in doubt, don''t".

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 5/2/2008 5:41:20 PM
Author: Lynn B

Date: 5/1/2008 11:15:09 PM
Author: NeverEndingUpgrade
... I LOVE what Lynn B. said--''You will be wearing the ring IRL, not in PSville. THAT is a huge difference!'' LOL, that is so true!!!

Haha, thanks! You know, what I meant to say was, ''You will be wearing the ring in actual size IRL, not in 40x MAG PS''ville!'' THAT is the HUGE difference!

LOL!! But I want my stone to look great at 40x MAG!! Is that so wrong??!?

 

[NeverEndingUpgrade]

We all want that. That''s why we Pricescope!