My mom is giving me her diamond - now what!

jezebelle · Jan 25, 2012

Today, my mom let it slip that she will be giving me her diamond for my upcoming birthday! I am so excited! It was given to her decades ago by her father, who used to deal in gemstones and jewelry. I've admired it for years and I always knew it would one day be mine, but this is still unexpected.

It's a pear, from what I've been told it's a little bit over a carat, though I'm not sure of the exact weight. My mom always describes it as a "perfect" diamond...what that translates to in reality as far as its color and clarity, I don't know. It is certified (I asked her today

, but I've never looked at the paperwork. It's GORGEOUS, and even though I'm nowhere near a diamond expert, even I can tell it has good color and it's totally eyeclean - it's a WHITE diamond. I'm going to her house tomorrow, so I will snap some pics on my phone to add to the thread.

My dilemma right now is should I sell it and buy a heart diamond (which I know is considered cheesy by a lot of people, but it's just something I've always wanted - it's my favorite shape) or keep the pear? I don't think my mom would mind me selling the diamond to buy another, as she never even set the diamond - she just kept it put away in her safe all these years and seems to have a pretty "meh" attitude about it. I used to ask her why she didn't just set it and wear it and she would just shrug. She much prefers emeralds and owns lots of beautiful emerald pieces. I wouldn't sell it if it would upset her, obviously. I'm also very nervous about potentially selling a diamond, as I've never done anything like that before.

If I do keep it, I will have to dream up an amazing setting...I like pears a lot, but they're not my ideal shape. Hearts are and have always been my favorite, but I'm leaning toward keeping the pear for sentimental reasons...what do you guys think? How would you set the pear?, What vendors should I look into for setting this stone?, etc.

I'll add some pictures of the diamond to this thread tomorrow after I go to my mom's so you all have something to reference - I just had to post this now, I'm so happy!

I'm already imagining setting the pear in the center of a three stone halo with two colored stones (thinking sapphires) on the sides...

Enerchi · Jan 25, 2012

buy a second pear and have it set in a design that creates a heart shape??

AFter all this time she has chosen now to give it to you - could it be that it does hold some sentimental or symbolic meaning to her and maybe she might mind if you sold it? I'd want to clarify that right from the start, otherwise, she could have just given you cash to purchase a heart diamond.

Worth discussing with her! Good luck

jezebelle · Jan 25, 2012

You're right, enerchi. I'm just going to keep the pear in the family, and maybe have it set between a couple of heart shaped stones? Now my problem is basically coming up with an amazing setting, and figuring out who I should work with...budget would probably be $2000-2500. I'm not in a rush by any means to have this stone set but I want to get the process in motion now because I'm super excited, and I want to figure out what my dream setting is and how much it's going to cost, how much money I should start putting aside, etc.

I also have no clue where to go to for the setting - WhiteFlash is really the only thing that comes to mind...this is my first loose diamond ever, and my first time dealing with higher end custom work.