Need your thoughts on earring design!

[DelsFan]

Five years ago I got my wife a five-stone engagement ring, which she loves; it features a graduated setting and is pictured in my avatar - she likes it so much she hasn't added a wedding band; she just wears the ring by itself. Last year I saw (an entertainer, on television, wearing) a set of earrings that I really liked; partly because of the graduated design, like my wife’s ring.



Also I like the “triangular” design because with these earrings (shown above) it seems the first (or top) three diamonds face upwards with the forth being horizontal, and only one facing down. (I’m sorry the photo of the original earrings isn’t great; they were they best I could do with “pause” on the DVR and my camera.)

Whereas with a round earring (shown below) two diamonds point upwards, the middle one is perpendicular to the ground, and the two bottom ones face downwards (in this photo, five 20 point diamonds were used). These would be beautiful, but I'm just not enamored with them.

< < Five 20 point diamonds

I’m looking to have earrings custom made, but of course that is a big hassle. One thought I have is: if the triangular shape is such a superior idea why don’t jewelers just have these “ready-made”?

Below is a photo (photoshopped to show the graduated “style”) of what I think I want, with a triangular shape, which resembles what I originally saw and liked. Very approximately, the five stones (bottom left) are sized 25-20-15-13-10 points.

original:

I seldom worry about jewelry and can’t believe my ideas are original or better than the ideas of people who are actually in the business. Conversely, I had to have my wife’s engagement custom-made and she gets compliments on it all the time. (E-F color super-ideal-cut diamonds don’t hurt the look, regardless of the design.) She is not the first to wear a five-stone ring with a trellis setting, but it seems there are very few... I’ve always thought the (somewhat) custom design turned out to be spectacular.

What do you guys think about the graduated earrings and the triangular setting? The simple way is to just do five round (20 point) diamonds the same size in a round setting – this is nearly an off-the-shelf item. Or we could do a graduated setting in a round earring, but...
<< Round, vs Triangular > >

I just don’t like it as well – I really like the graduated design with the triangular shape better. Is the triangular idea silly, or do you think it shows the diamonds a lot better? Seeing the round shape next to the triangular shape, I do feel I am more attached to the graduated design (as opposed to five 20 point stones); maybe if the round is easier to do it would be OK. But I just can't get over the idea that I don't like my largest diamonds... facing downwards!

This is always a great place to get comments from people with a clue, who care about jewelry and have good taste. So, thanks very much, in advance, for your advice and opinions!

 

[AprilBaby]

Get what you like but I prefer the rounded shap with the diamonds all the same size. Is the triangular shape the one she wants? You could have them custom made.

 

[FancyDiamond]

What does your wife prefer? Her opinion counts the most.
You can create a poll to see which option is more popular here. By creating a poll, you will likely get more response, as it is easier to take a poll than to type comments.
Personally, I prefer all diamonds of the same size, and especially, try to get largest possible diamonds to get maximum bling but still have proportional design. I have 20-point stones in mine, and can feel comfortably wearing my earrings to most occasions.

 

[FancyDiamond]

Ear shots.

 

[facetgirl]

What a lovely gift! You have great taste.

I prefer the first, which looks like a huggie. The second picture looks like a drop earring. My personal preference is a huggie with stones of the same size.

I agree with others have said- your wife's preference is the one that matters

 

[Lookinagain]

I prefer the huggie shape too especially if it is for mostly everyday wear. I think the triangular with graduated diamonds looks a bit more dressy. I'm in the minority I think too, because if for everyday wear I wouldn't want the stones to be more than something like .10 or .12. If they are meant to be worn for going out and not everyday, then I think .20 is a great size. But I'm probably in the minority as as far as size goes. This is, after all, PS!

 

[AGBF]

Have you looked at inside/out earrings? I had never wanted diamond hoops, but I fell in love with inside/out hoops because one always sees diamonds from every angle.

 

[DelsFan]

First, thanks very much for your replies, and (FancyDiamond) for the photo of your earrings. It seems a lot of people like the round style of earring with five similarly sized (20 point) diamonds!

1) I got started in this direction (well, first I saw the graduated style earrings on TV) because my wife's engagement/wedding ring is graduated. Here is a view from the top:
]

2) Do you see what I mean, with the triangular shape, that only one diamond faces downwards rather than two, which occurs with the round shape? Like many things with jewelry, it may sound like a big advantage but in real life maybe not so much? This "gradation" is 25 - 20 - 15 - 13 - 10.

Graduated with triangle

Graduated with round

The larger the first (top) three diamonds, the larger the hoop. OR, with the huggie, the last two diamonds point downwards more - however, with five 20 point diamonds I'd suggest the person looking at the earrings already sees three 20 point diamonds, so it's not like they are missing out, whereas with the graduated setting the largest stones are the harder ones to view...

IF I go with the graduated style, I think it is more important to have just one (the last, bottom) diamond facing slightly downwards - so, graduated might dictate triangular.

3) In theory, the triangular setting should hug the ear more than a round setting - especially if with the triangular style the first (top) three diamonds are 10, 13, and 15 points, and with the round the first three diamonds are 20, 20, and 20 points. Yes?



4) The earrings are for our fifth wedding anniversary, so I want them to be a surprise.

5) From a cost standpoint, the "ready-to-be-made" round with 20-20-20-20-20 diamonds is similarly priced to the "custom" triangular shape graduated earrings, with 25-20-15-13-10 diamonds, so that is not a big factor.

6) Maybe I should do a poll...

 

[DelsFan]

Have you looked at inside/out earrings? I had never wanted diamond hoops, but I fell in love with inside/out hoops because one always sees diamonds from every angle.

I'd hate to have to re-group ... those are spectacular!

What size diamonds did you use? Those might be the most beautiful earrings I've ever seen (without going to five figures... for the price of a new car you might could do better).

 

[facetgirl]

Have you looked at inside/out earrings? I had never wanted diamond hoops, but I fell in love with inside/out hoops because one always sees diamonds from every angle.

I love these hoops. The scalloping of the diamonds is to die for.

 

[MarionC]

Graduated with triangle! No contest. Those are beautiful and striking.

 

[AGBF]

I'd hate to have to re-group ... those are spectacular!

What size diamonds did you use? Those might be the most beautiful earrings I've ever seen (without going to five figures... for the price of a new car you might could do better).

I used the size I wanted (I will have to look up the size)*, but you could use whatever size you wanted. There is also this pair of inside out hoops (just to show you that Whiteflash will make you any style of inside out hoops that you like) that they have up on their website as well as the style they sold me. These are more like traditional hoops; mine are more like huggies.

Link...https://www.whiteflash.com/gallery/diamond-earrings/inside-out-diamond-shared-prong-hoops-8207.htm

AGBF

*I did look it up. My stones are 25 points each. Many other Pricescopers have Whiteflash hoops that are beautiful with stones that are just slightly smaller than 25 points. I have a vague recollection of wanting to have earrings like diamondseeker's! She always has the most beautiful and tasteful jewelry.

 

[DelsFan]

I used the size I wanted (I will have to look up the size), but you could use whatever size you wanted. There is also this pair of inside out hoops (just to show you that Whiteflash will make you any style of inside out hoops that you like) that they have up on their website as well as the style they sold me. These are more like traditional hoops; mine are more like huggies. AGBF

They made my wife's engagement ring so I am familiar with their/the custom process. If you can think it, they can make it!

Your earrings are a little larger (hoop diameter) than I thought, as they would have to be with the larger sized diamonds. Whiteflash has two examples on their site; one is like yours but fewer diamonds and smaller diameter, and the other utilizes 20 or 25 4-point diamonds, per earring - a completely different look. It's too bad they don't offer a photo of the earrings like yours on a person's ear; I find that extremely helpful!

Thanks very much for sharing and looking that up.

 

[scarsmum]

I like the graduated. I would check with WF.