Oh dear, a little confused.

[Indylady]

I''m all set to order a diamond for a diamond pendant, until I realize. I don''t understand diamonds at all; in terms of pavillions and angles and depth, I barely have a clue. It made me question whether or not I want a diamond at all, and why I even want a diamond pendant (.60 ct diamond, thinking of a solitare pendant).

Then, I started thinking about this CS that I''ve had my eye on for some time now. If I got the CS, I''d want it in a ring, but my parents are against RHR''s for young ladies and wouldn''t like their gift to go into a ring. EEK! Now what?

I''m totally confused, and tonight''s the night we''re supposed to order my present. There isn''t a rush, per se, but I don''t want to put this project off for too long, mainly cause I''ve been looking forward to this all semester!

Contenders: .60 round brilliant, warm color
.50 OEC, also warm color (I like color!)
.60 precision cut sapphire, in a bright and pretty color, also warm family

They''re all about the same diameter, around 5.3-5.4mm, and so is the cost. What do I pick? I know, we''re comparing apples to oranges to mangoes. It makes no sense. I''ve asked from family, and they just do a little stare and go "I dunno..." Please help me decide!

 

[LD]

I feel your pain!

Let''s see if this helps ............ diamond junkies are diamond junkies and seek the best cut possible. CStoners are more used to seeing native cut stones and judging things by colour and with our eyes rather than numbers. Soooooooo, I use the same philosophy when picking my diamonds - I use my eyes and ignore numbers, angles etc. However, if you want a precision cut diamond (and if you''re looking at OMCs then I guess not) then why don''t you run the numbers by the experts in the diamond forum? They''ll be able to tell you how the numbers match up.

 

[Indylady]

Good advice LD!

The diamond business is sort of weird IMHO; there are so many sites like Blue Nile where you never get to see a picture of what you''re purchasing. That''s especially scary when it comes to inclusions! There was a .78 I1 at Excel that fell within my budget with an inclusion smack dab in the middle; ok, no problem...except that it reaches the surface!

If I hadn''t asked for a photo, I would have never known!! It was quite frightening.

 

[LD]

Eeeek! Lucky escape!

I guess that even diamond junkies will tell you that scopes, images, numbers etc etc really only act as a screening tool to tell you what might perform best but those tools are at their best for round brilliant cuts. You''re so used to looking at coloured stones that your eyes are probably very well equipped to "see" what the average person on the street won''t (and won''t even know what to look for), so I''d say to go with your gut feeling.

If you narrow it down a bit ......

1. Do you want another coloured stone?
or
2. Do you want something different?
or
3. Do you want a mixture of both i.e. a diamond with colour?
and
4 Will your choice be good as a pendant (as it seems that you have to go that way?).

Once you''ve got that nailed, then your choices should be easier!

 

[Gempassion]

This site is pretty helpful re: value for money when buying diamonds:

http://www.truthaboutdiamonds.com/http://www.truthaboutdiamonds.com/

http://www.truthaboutdiamonds.com/

 

[Indylady]

1. Do you want another coloured stone?
I do love colored stones. I''m thinking ruby or pad (or pinkish orange, or orangish pinkish, or orangish pinkish brownish) for an e-ring, but we''re leaning most towards ruby, so for once in my life, I don''t want a ruby.

2. Do you want something different?
Different is nice.

3. Do you want a mixture of both i.e. a diamond with colour?
That would definitely be lovely! Diamonds by Lauren has a 1ct silver diamond that is TDF and Fancydiamonds.net has a pinkish purple diamond in a decent size, something like .38, that fits my under $500 budget. Drats, I think its sold.

4 Will your choice be good as a pendant (as it seems that you have to go that way?).
The only think holding me back about the sapphire is that I''m worried it won''t shine as a pendant, especially since its about 5.5mm. On my hands, I think it would look great. On a pendant, no idea.

Can any other CS pendant owners chime in? Or diamond pendant owners?

 

[Indylady]

Thanks for the link Gempassion! Very neat.

 

[vinkalmann]

Date: 5/6/2010 7:10:01 PM
Author: IndyLady
Thanks for the link Gempassion! Very neat.

Yep, there's some really good information on there...though the page does appear to be a advertisement for www.http://www.jamesallen.com. The page seemed a little too good to not have an alternate purpose

One thing that's definitely worth reading (linked on the http://www.truthaboutdiamonds.com site ) when it comes to diamonds is:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you-ever-tried-to-sell-a-diamond/4575/

A fascinating read!

 

[Indylady]

Thanks Vinkalmann!

Its frustrating to read about the DeBeers and the diamond market.

I am mainly a colored stoner type of gal, but for once, I''m really intrigued by a diamond.

 

[Stone Hunter]

OK here is my opinion. I think that a pendant is the way to go since that will honor your parent''s gift. That said a diamond pendant will go with everything else that you ever want to wear. So you could layer a diamond pendant on a 16 inch chain and then have a CS in a larger mm size on an 18 inch chain and they would look great together.

Or you could have rubies and sapphires all over your hands and your diamond pendant would look great with them. I''m just thinking of your future here!!

Personally I would try to view some ideal cut stones and some OECs and decide which style is an everyday wearer for you.

HTH

 

[Indylady]

A little update: I ordered the diamond last night. I left the final decision up to parents, and they chose the OEC! I''m ecstatic and will post pics as soon as I get it.

 

[VapidLapid]

I would have gone with the OEC too. I think it''s a good choice, especialy since it is what the giver wants to give you!

 

[LD]

Date: 5/8/2010 1:21:06 PM
Author: IndyLady
A little update: I ordered the diamond last night. I left the final decision up to parents, and they chose the OEC! I''m ecstatic and will post pics as soon as I get it.

Brilliant solution. Can''t wait to see it!

 

[Indylady]

Thanks SH, VL, and LD!

LD, I might need to reference your warm/vanilla colored diamonds for setting options!

 

[LD]

Wait till it arrives because what I''ve found is that some of the paler yellow diamonds benefit from yellow gold and some from white gold. There doesn''t seem to be one gold colour that works all the time. It really depends on the shade of your diamond. I got it hideously wrong once and put one in w/gold with a y/gold shank and it just looked cold and uninteresting.

 

[Stone Hunter]

Date: 5/8/2010 1:21:06 PM
Author: IndyLady
A little update: I ordered the diamond last night. I left the final decision up to parents, and they chose the OEC! I''m ecstatic and will post pics as soon as I get it.

Excellent!! Can''t wait for you to get it!

 

[Lovinggems]

Congrats on your lovely gift!

 

[Bella_mezzo]

I just saw this thread I would have got the OEC too

Can''t wait to see your necklace