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Need help with rock color

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ascari_2

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Aug 13, 2012
Messages
186
Hi everyone,

First post here, and before I get to my question I would just like to say this seems like a great forum and I'm glad I'd stumbled on this resource.

Now onto my main issue. So today after a good 5 or so hours of browsing through through the jeweler's row area here in the city, my gf absolutely fell in love with this one setting. It's a soft cushion prong set halo with larger halo stones, a round center stone, and pave single shank. Btw, pardon my ignorance if some of this stuff doesn't make sense. Jewelry is not my forte :). The closest thing I could find on the web for reference is this http://www.gabrielny.com/engaged/style/ER8267W44JJ The main difference is the the halo stones in the ring that we saw are slightly more open on the sides.

Anyhow, when she was trying the ring on, the setting had all D stones and the jeweler temporarily stuck a 1ct D (eithe an si1 or a vs2) stone in the center and of course everything looked beautiful. But when I had a chance to chat with him he did say that he can make the setting with any color stones I would like. And this brings me to my dilemma. A 1ct D would probably run a similar price to a 1.5 I, presuming similar cut/clarity/...(I would most likely go with a xxx stone). This means that I could have a bigger center stone with matching setting stones, even though they wouldn't be as white. But I am not sure if the ring would look bad with I color stones. Should I sacrifice the size and go for color? She tried on a similar setting with a 2 ct stone and was blown away, so I know a bigger stone would really make her day.

Any feedback would be appreciated.
 
Were they GIA or AGS stones? Assuming yes, then I will say that you could go to G-H color for the main stone, maybe even an I color, and go with F-G melee. I wear a smaller I color with F-G in my band and it is very hard to tell they are different colors. Small stones give off a different kind of action compared to larger stones.
 
I can see tint in an I-color, but I didn't used to. (I'm just throwing that into the mix, because education and time might change an opinion, lol.) H color, I still think is white. But "I", now that I'm a more discerning consumer, might bother me a little. I own an I color old Euroepan cut diamond, with strong blue fluor, and I never saw the tint in it until I'd learned what to look for. I still love it even though it's not bright-white to me anymore.

I is where a lot of people can start seeing tint. G-H would be safer, esp G.

That said, many people like the warmer color stones. If J isn't too yellow, you could get a J center and have the ring made with J sidestones and everything would look great, too. With J/K color, white gold is more flattering, imo, but people do put them in platinum. Anywhere down to and including "I", I think platinum is okay. But with J/K, the white platinum, to me, points out the tint in the diamond.


Clarity is where I can compromise.
 
Clarity is a good place to compromise, I agree. SI1, even down to SI2, and occasionally an eye-clean I1 will pop up, but my comfort zone is SI as long as it is eye-clean. Clarity costs a lot, so if you find one in the SI range that will gain you carat weight for the same cost. Color is subjective; and it is the most obvious characteristic of a diamond (aside from it's cut quality). An ideal cut stone will look larger than a non-ideal of the same weight.

Color is noticed more from the side than from the top down position. A setting like the Gabriel you posted will cover most of the side of the stone, so I'd say you could get away with an H-I easily if you are not super sensitive. I have a D w/SB fluor, 2 G's, and a J range OEC. I can see the differences in them, but I am very color sensitive. That said, the lower color of the OEC doesn't bother me at all. And the G is perfectly acceptable white in my book.

What is your budget?

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/...nd-Diamond-1463764.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/...nd-Diamond-1499249.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9132/

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9133/
 
TC1987|1345993465|3257342 said:
I can see tint in an I-color, but I didn't used to. (I'm just throwing that into the mix, because education and time might change an opinion, lol.) H color, I still think is white. But "I", now that I'm a more discerning consumer, might bother me a little. I own an I color old Euroepan cut diamond, with strong blue fluor, and I never saw the tint in it until I'd learned what to look for. I still love it even though it's not bright-white to me anymore.

I is where a lot of people can start seeing tint. G-H would be safer, esp G.
Click to expand...

As the owner of an I, and also as someone who has become more color-sensitive over time, I agree with most of the above. I still advise people that I color can be a really great bargain, though. I can rarely ever see tint in my diamond from the face-up view; it's only from the side view that it creeps in occasionally, and only under certain lighting conditions. The great thing about your setting choice is that it will cover most of the profile view (unlike mine, which draws attention to the side view). If you can, try to see G-J range diamonds (GIA- or AGS-graded) in person and decide for yourself where your threshold is. For me, J is the warmest I'd go for a round brilliant and I for a fancy shape.

At this point in time I do wish I would have chosen something in the F-H range. However, if I had to do it over again under the same budgetary constraints, I still would have bought the I. It allowed me to get the cut (nothing less than ideal), size (1ct), clarity (VS2 or higher since I have eagle eyes), and custom designed platinum setting I wanted while staying in budget.

You may also want to consider a diamond with medium to strong/very strong blue fluorescence to help the color appear whiter.
 
rubybeth: Yes these were GIA stones. I am not willing to take a stone with any other certification. And I doubt that I will want to mix them up. More than likely I will want all the stones (including the center) to be the same color. The setting that we picked out has relatively large (1.8mm) halo stones. So I don't want the colors to clash too much. I am just not completely sure which color yet.

TC1987: The more and more I think about it, the more I am leaning towards something like an I color stone with a top end cut/symmetry. This way I can hopefully maximize the size. She said she would want white gold over platinum.

ecf8503: I would like to keep the stone under the 10k mark. I think for that price I should be able to find a 1.5-1.7ct, SI1/VS2, I or maybe even J, xxx stone. I know I won't be able to get the ACA or BGD Signature for that price in that ct size, but as long as the performance is close, that would be enough for me.

jstarfireb: Thanks for the feedback. I have thought about having a stone with florescence and don't think it would be bad at all.

I guess now the search is on for the right stone. Man, my head is spinning :shock:
 
I'd go to H color.
 
Julie, that is definitely a possibility.

My other question is if I go J color with some fluorescence for the center and I wanted to keep the colors the same throughout, would you recommend J stones on the halo or would H/I in the halo essentially look the same as a J center especially in the sun?

Thanks
 
The tiny melee stones on a halo are not going to look the same as a much larger stone of the same color. I would advise you not to go to J color because most people can see the tint in J. If you want to go to I color, fluorescence can be a great boost to I color.
 
The stone Julie posted looks like it has a lot of potential. Scrores well (1.7) on the HCA tool. That would be worth getting more info on. They will do 3 stones so you would want to pick out 2 more and request ideal scope images.

Here is a 1.50 I vs2
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-VS2-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1519151.asp

Not quite 1.5 but here are a couple of WF options. They are expert selection so they just miss ACA.

1.328 H Si2 (says eye clean but would want to verify it meets your definition).
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2681925.htm
The clarity plot has a lot going on.

1.306 I VS2
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2690312.htm
 
Thank you for all the suggestions. I think I am begining to agree with those who are suggesting satying with an I stone with some florrescence. I think so long as the stone is eye clean and has everything else going for it, the almost indetectable warmth of an I should not take anything away. Hopefully the trade off will just allow me to go up in size. Now if I could only find something closer to a 1.6 or higher mark, that would be ideal.

I did see a nicely priced 1.71ct on BN. But the lack of any info aside from the report makes that stone a lot harder to evaluate :(
 
personally, i'd go for a G-H colored stone and larger size. that additional size will be 110% more noticeable than the drop in color
 
If you are interested in that stone one of the other vendors could probably get it. I believe as long as it isn't one of their signature stones that most of the Blue Nile virtual stones can be pulled by others. Maybe try James Allen or IDJ and see if they can get it and then give you more information.

I have no idea what that would do to the price of it though.

Here is a good page on inclusions and what they might look like:
http://www.goodoldgold.com/classic.php?page=gallery_of_inclusions.htm
 
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