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Opinion on H color diamonds

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3shebabes

3shebabes

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Aug 8, 2007
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170
Hey everyone! I''ve mostly been a lurker but have occasionally posted about my burning desire to upgrade my original e-ring (1 CT pear, E, VS2) to a new stone for my upcoming 10th anniversary. Now that my hubby has "signed on" as a willing participant in this little project, he actually took me loose diamond shopping last weekend in a city near us that is much larger with many more jewelry stores available for us to do some looking & get some ideas, etc. It was a BLAST for me --and he was quite a good sport about it all, I must say! Anyway, we both actually became interested in a very well cut (GIA "excellent" cut) RB stone, totally eye-clean SI1, H color. I thought the stone looked WAY whiter than my E color pear cut, and its sparkle put my e-ring to shame.
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Anyway, I have always considered myself to be a color-sensitive person when it came to diamonds and I thought I''d be zero-ing in on F colors -- possibly G if it looked white enough--but going from an E color to an H color concerns me. I am afraid as time goes on, once the thrill of a carat size increase wears off a bit, I will see more color in it. I love the fact that in the H color, my budget stretches to a much bigger carat size than I thought it would ..and like I said before, it looked fabulously white and sparkly to me. I sensed absolutely no yellow in the stone at all. I guess I''m just afraid we''ll spend all this $$ and later I will start seeing more color in certain types of lighting and feel sad that I didn''t go smaller in size but higher in color.

I''d love to see pictures of any H color stones (especially if they''re mounted in white metal, as I would do) that you''d like to share with me -- or stories about any of you moving down in color several grades and how that turned out for you. I know H is still considered "near colorless" , but I''m so used to my E color stone. Any advice or thoughts?
 
I have been shopping for a while and finally decided on a G color stone. I was also considering a few H and one I color stone that was a very close to an H. It is definitely a matter of preference but I personally couldn''t see much of a difference in the end. I know that they say women see color better than men so that may have played a part, but the truth is that unless you start dipping into J''s, you won''t really see much yellow unless you are putting diamonds back to back.

Depending on your budget you may want to shop and compare, but if you don''t notice the H''s color, than that may be your sweet spot.
 
H is still very very white when the stone is well cut. From the face up it is absolutely white and from the side only a very good eye can see a tint. The tint is slightly more visible compared to higher color stones, but the overall color is still very *white* and totally acceptable in my opinion. You can search the show me the ring thread to see a ton of H colored stones.
 
My stone, see attached is an H SI2 and it''s very white. I am a true believer however in a fabulous cut. I compared two H stones when we were shopping and one was a lesser quality cut. I noticed the color a lot more in that one. The one we chose was brighy and sparkly white.
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There are lots of pictures of H colour stones in the SMTR etc, but the thing is that you won't get an accurate idea of colour through a computer monitor unfortunately. It would be best to take the time to go to see similar sized and graded same shape H colour diamonds to look at in person, to see if the H is too warm for you, individual colour perception varies and some have indeed found an H to be not quite what they wanted, this is unusual though. An H is a softer white, not ICY so much - still white but not as crisp if that makes sense to me. This is too important a purchase, so to try to get it right, get out to your jewellery stores again and start perusing! Hope this helps.

Your ring is gorgeous HH!
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Thanks everyone for the responses! I like your description, Lorelei, of H being a softer, less crisp white. And Hudson Hawk--your ring is stunning and looks very white to me. I would have guessed E or F color!

Thanks again-- any other H color opinions to add??
 
Take a piece of white paper. Get another piece of white paper from a different source (say, two random pieces of mail that just arrived). I can just about guarantee that the difference in color between those two pieces of white paper are greater than the difference between an F and an H diamond. Yet we think of both pieces of paper as white, even though they are both far yellower than new fallen snow. Your H diamond is going to be white, as well, and muchy whiter than the average sheet of white paper.
 
I have a GIA "H" Asscher that my appraiser guessed was a "G" at first. There are plenty of pix of it one here somewhere (will try to post links)

It''s a mistake to think that the "tint" in stones is only ever YELLOW. If there''s *any* smidge of undertone in my stone it HAS to be SILVERY. There is just *no* yellow. But I''ve heard of stones having grey/silver or brownish understones that make the color grade lower *RATHER* than yellow. Perhaps the stone you''re looking at has a teensy little hint of silver (which I think would look lovely in white metal).

Maybe you are color sensitive to YELLOW but other hues don''t disturb ya ... or perhaps there just isn''t much of any tint to your future "H"!
 
If you were upgrading to another pear I might tell you to think about it more, as color shows more in the tip, but since this is a round, you''ll likely not notice that much.

Just curious - how big a round are you looking at? It will take a larger size than normal to look bigger than a 1 ct pear vs a 1 ct round!
 
Thanks for the replies -- I especially like the white paper analogy!

Since I am going for a Round Brilliant this time, I have heard that RBs hide color better than fancy cuts often do.

As for the size, we are shopping around for a 10 year anniversary "upgrade". My husband gave me a "budget" and I think we''ll be able to make a nice size jump from 1 carat. Anyway, the stone we became interested in is a 2.72 carat RB H color SI1. It is GIA certed and, if I''m plugging the numbers in correctly, the HCA score is a 1.

When I looked at the stone in natural light, it looked quite white -- actually looked brighter than my E color -- but perhaps that was because it sparkled more. I did not see any yellow at all. I agree with the description of "silvery" -- it looked perhaps a touch more silvery-gray-white than snow white, like a D or an E stone might.

My husband ended up putting a deposit on the stone to "hold" it so we could think about it for a few days or so. Funny thing is, we did this during a nice weekend away from our kids (Mom kept our 3 little girls) and putting the deposit on the stone seemed to put my husband in a really happy mood. I mention this only because when I first started bringing up the possibility of an anniversary upgrade, he seemed to ignore me at first. I guess he saw the sheer thrill on my face when I was admiring it...?!

Anyway, the deposit is fully refundable, so we felt okay about that. I think it is just a mental thing I have about the stone being H color because I have always sought out E and F color stones and never thought I''d be looking at an H so seriously. Of course, now I wish I could have the stone with me to play with in various lighting situations, but the only way to do that is to cough up the balance and buy the thing! Though we have 60 days to change our minds, it still makes me nervous to actually buy it! The vendor is actually 3 hours away also --so I can''t "visit" it daily to see what I think of it on that particular day!
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It''s so, so exciting though. The stone looked amazingly beautiful to me. I still don''t know exactly what setting style I might go for should this become a reality.

And that creates another question: I wanted to use 6 smaller diamonds (.13 carat each) that I currently wear in a "wrap" around my solitaire -- in the setting around the new stone or as a semi-eternity style wedding band to wear right next to the new e-ring. They are F-G color stones. If we buy this larger H color RB, will the small F-G color stones be "too white" to wear next to it -- or are they close enough in color since they''re small? How far off the center stone color can accent stones be without causing the center stone to look too tinted?

Another thought is that we could buy a setting with G/H color small stones and I could use my F/G small diamonds later to make a Right Hand ring in the future.


Any thoughts on this?? I may post a new thread about this side stone/color difference issue as well...

 
I am the proud owner an H SI1 Med Bl. Fl. RB 2.03ct, and it faces up absolutely white to me. I have worn an E, G, H, and J. I started seeing color in the J. I agree with your G/H side stones choice. That''s what I have. When I had my E color stone in this setting, I could see a slight difference, but the H matches perfectly. Here is my H below!

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H&A girl, that diamond is FIERCE!!!!!!

Wow. That is one gorgeous rock.

OK, so first of all... Congrats on the upgrade!!!! What a nice dilemma you have! I have to say that in anything up to 2 carats, I could not notice the color difference between an H and an E/F if they weren''t side by side. H color looks very very white and no one would ever call it warm or tinted up to a certain carat size.

At about 2.5-3 carat range, I can start seeing body color in a G. It''s still gorgeous, but I can see the warmth and it''s not an icy icy white. (Weird because I still consider Gs to be icy white but in larger carat sizes, they can look warmer/tinted to me.)

I personally love warmer colors... it''s like candlelight. And in certain lighting, it will look very very white. But in other light, you will see the warmth especially if you have an E/F next to a G in a 2.5-3c stone.

It''s just personal preference. I predict you will not be bothered at all with the large H. First of all, it sounds just lovely and well cut. If you''re a color sensitive person, it will bother you. But most people will just see the huge carat size and sparkle!!!!
 
H&A, that is not a fair picture at all. You totally busted out a box of Crayola didnt you?


But honestly, what the heck is that puppy reflecting?
 
In all honesty, it *might* bother you as time goes on. Some people are just more sensitive to colour than others. I''m not colour sensitive, but my husband is. I have G-H''s in my anniversary band, and they are white as can be. I have a 1.77 RB J, and it is definitely warmer, but side by side, they face up almost the same. With bigger stones though, IMO the colour is more evident, although it does also depend on the setting. There is also the intangible but nevertheless valid mental aspect. If you''re used to E coloured stones, you might constantly be looking for the perceived "warmer" or "yellowish" colour. It happens. Take your time with this, and decide what you can live with. Or make sure the source has a good upgrade policy, just in case. An ideal cut stone would be your best choice obviously.
 
oh, and you are from SC 3she?
 
I have an I colored stone that faces up very white. Mine is definitely "warmer", but it''s not yellow or yellow tinted. I don''t now how to explain it other than to say it''s warmer, like a darker white. I actually love it and don''t think I would get anything above a G again, but would probably seek out an H or I. However, mine is only 1.74ct, so I don''t know how much of a difference the warmer color makes in that extra carat. I have G cololred side stone and you cannot tell the difference.

Congratulations on the big upgrade! Please share pics when you do get it!
 
not that this would make a huge difference but....

is your original pear stone GIA certified also? because if it is IGI or some other certification, then your E may likely be closer to the H than you think...

definitely also consider how the cut quality of your pear affects the color. i think you would be safe with the H RB!
 
Date: 9/11/2007 6:08:36 PM
Author: WorkingHardforSmallRewards
H&A, that is not a fair picture at all. You totally busted out a box of Crayola didnt you?


But honestly, what the heck is that puppy reflecting?
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Thanks Glow, I love my stone! It was just a lucky shot. I''m still waiting for more pics of yours.

WHFSR, I was outside during the day and it was reflecting a dark green leafed plant with hot pink flowers on it. ("Riding Hood" vine). I always use macro lens, no flash, in the shade.
 
Hey everyone--Thanks for all the helpful advice. Here are my comments and/or answers to your questions:

First of all, hearts-and-arrows girl, your H sI1 stone is absolutely to die for in that picture. I was also curious as to how you managed to have it reflect all those gorgeous pastel shades --especially the pink! BEAUTIFUL!! My only concern from your post is that you mention your stone has flouro, but the one I have on hold does not.

My E color pear cut 1 carat e-ring stone is GIA certed as well, so I am confident in its E-whiteness! But I will say when I tried on the H stone in shaded natural daylight outside this vendor''s store, it faced up tremendously white beside my E. My husband kept saying it looked whiter to him, but the cut was so much sparklier, I think it gave the whiter look for that reason.


This vendor does have an excellent trade-up policy, but I guess I just feel like I need to choose what works for me long-term, but I guess if that were to happen it wouldn''t be the end of the world.

I do worry about the mental effect. I have always looked around and appreciated the fact that I felt my diamond looked way whiter than most. Because the cut is so nice on this one we''re considering, it may continue to look way whiter. I guess I also just enjoyed saying, whenever I was asked (which believe it or not I occasionally was asked) "My diamond is an E color." I think people noticed it was ultra-white and I was always kinda diggin'' that!!
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James Allen has a stone right now that is 2.86 carat, G color SI1 AGS 000. Of course it is $3k more than the stone we have reserved and I am wimpy about bringing it up with my hubby. I''m afraid, after he has embraced this upgrade idea dn has been so generous in helping me to budget for it, he''ll just think: Greedy girl!!
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BUT- in my defense, I just wanna be absolutely in love with my final decision because I really expect for this diamond to last me through the long-haul. I know what some of you are thinking: not gonna happen once DSS (Diamond Shrinkage Syndrome) hits...Let''s hope not - but I know it has happened before!

nyway, I appreciate all the advice & feedback and should this come to pass, I will definitely whip out the digital camera. Can''t figure out the macro mode on my camera though..and I know it must have one. It''s fairly new and I am so non-mechanical, I have not figured it all out yet...but I will.


 
James Allen has a stone right now that is 2.86 carat, G color SI1 AGS 000. Of course it is $3k more than the stone we have reserved and I am wimpy about bringing it up with my hubby. I'm afraid, after he has embraced this upgrade idea dn has been so generous in helping me to budget for it, he'll just think: Greedy girl!!

I would mention that diamond to your Hubby as that size and specs are highly desirable and it will get snapped up, you want to do this right and in my experience, men appreciate some guidance and ideas on what will make you happy. I think he may appreciate that and not think you are greedy at all, but be glad of your input as you will be the one to wear it.

Also a G may be a better 'mindclean' choice for you after wearing an E for so long, a G may be and feel like a good compromise for extra size, especially 2.86 AGS0 size....hehehe....
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Oh--forgot to anwer one question -- for Working Hard for Small Rewards!

No, contrary to my avatar, I am not from SC truly. Actually lived there for a while as a baby and learned to talk while there, which may explain my slightly more powerful southern accent than what you normally find where I actually grew up. I have lived in VA since I was 3, but my Dad was a Navy dentist and was stationed down in SC for a while when I was tiny.

The reason I use this for my avatar, is that my hubby and I honeymooned in Hilton Head Island, SC -- and have spent some anniversary weekends there, and we continue to go there every summer with our little girls. It''s our favorite beachy place...plus I just love the palm tree and crescent moon. I have a pink one on the rear window of my van! Goes well with my PINK X3 license plate (it means three daughters, of course)...
 
In regards to the stone the cut is going to be the most important factor. The better the cut the more you can cheat with color. With that being said you are not going to notice any yellow in an excellent cut stone with an H in color. What I would say is to either go AGS or GIA for your cert. Shop around online also. THere are numerous vendor here that have pretty amazing prices. I myself purchased from WF and I can vouch for them as many others from this board can. Not to say that the other vendors are not as good but I have had my best dealings with them
 
Oooh, I'd definitely bite the extra 3K and go for that James Allen stone asap. I think it is a great compromise, and you may be very happy with that choice! (enable, enable, enable) Seriously though, in the long run, it would be worth it for the AGS 000. If it is eye clean, it will be stunning.
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Thanks, guys! I am still seriously toying with the idea of the James Allen 2.86 G SI1. My only concern there is that the trade-up policy the other vendor has (the one who is holding the 2.72 for us) is outstanding. Trade-up anytime and receive credit for 100% of the amount you spent on the first stone and there is NO REQUIRED AMOUNT of increase to spend. Their trade-up policy specifies that you can trade-in later and buy a diamond that costs $1 more than what you have and you''ll pay $1 more. Silly analogy, maybe, but it works that way. I don''t think James Allen has a trade-up policy at all. Or if they do, I know it isn''t a great one. Am I right? I may investigate that right now...

I have mentioned the 2.86 stone to my hubby but the additional $3K didn''t thrill him. He does not see diamond color the way I do at all, but I also chimed in that it is an AGS Triple 0 cut, etc, etc--but he sorta ingnored me. I kinda got the hint.

Phewy! Wouldn''t it be great if you could just have two stones side by side to study them WITHOUT having to pay anything?Like order them "on approval". I know they can each be returned but there isn''t a realistic way to look at them side by side. That''s what I really want to do.

Anyway-- I will add that on my way to the gym this morning, I stopped into a local B & M jewelry store that carries very nice things -- and they happened to have a 2.00 carat RB H color SI1 mounted stone that I tried on. They let me take the ring outside to study it in natural light, and it looked great to me. Didn''t look yellow at all. That made me feel better. Of course, I also enjoyed telling my hubby that this B & M store is asking the same for that stone as the vendor wants for the 2.72 we are holding. Isn''t that awesome!? I love a good deal!

Anyway, maybe I will investigate the James Allen return policy/trade-up policy, etc. Like I mentioend before--I think they let you return things easily, but I think there is no trade-up policy there. That is a drawback, even though in my mind, this would be my forever stone...
 
I just checked the James Allen site -- and they do have a trade-up policy, but it has to occur within 5 years. Also, they state you''ll receive 80-100% of the amount you spent as trade-in credit. My big concern would be the 5-year limit. I seriously,seriously doubt I''d be trading in within 5 years!

The other vendor, with the 2.72 stone, offers 100% credit, anytime (lifetime trade-up), with no spending minimum.

Hmmmm. This is so hard. I know I can''t really lose either way and believe me I am thrilled to be in this quandry, but like anyone, I''d like to make the best decision for the money....
 
Here''s my H. I had lunch today with my best friend who has a F color Princess my ring still looked lovely and white!

Hcolorringmontage102345.jpg
 
It sounds like you really like this H colour stone, and it does come with a decent trade-up policy. I don''t see a problem there then. If you just can''t live with it, you can trade to another colour. As long as the cut is excellent, you should be very happy with it. It will definitely face up very white. Have you decided on a setting?
 
I may run the 2.86 G stone by my hubby once more, but if he "ignores" me or looks miserable, I will drop it. I''m pushing the limit of my upgrade budget as is.

Iwannaprettyone -- thanks for your pics and input! Funny -- I actually have printed pictures of your ring (the profile, actually) from my computer to show a jeweler an example of graceful prongs I like!! By the way..it appears you may be a redhead. Me, too! Actually, sorta strawberry-blonde is more accurate I guess...

Curiopotter -- your halo''d H ring is gorgeous. I have admired it in the past also --I specifically know it was your ring because I remember the cute picture of your snoozing fiance!!

Lyra -- not certain of the setting style I want yet but know I want platinum (which I wear now) but I am leaning toward eternity prong-set style e-ring band and wedding band...(think of Mara''s pictures..have you seen those?) I currently have a ring wrap ( a 5 year anniversary gift) that goes w/my pear that has 6 .13 diamonds in it and I had thought I''d have them made into the w-band, and set the center stone in an eternity-style e-ring setting, but I actually think my 6 stones are too chunky. I really, really wanna play up the center stone to best advantage...but I''m not sure yet. Still playing with ideas...Actually, I don''t want eternity style as much as I want semi-eternity. As beautiful as eternity rings are -- I don''t wanna pay for diamonds that won''t be seen much! I would actually like a semi-eternity w-band and e-ring setting, but with a very slight cathedral shape to the e-ring band -- I have seen rings like this that are pave-style, but I think I want shared-prong set.

Anyone know of an e-ring band that has shared-prong small side diamonds and has a slight cathedral rise near the center stone?? I''d love to know about it..if you have.....

Thanks guys!!
 
mine is H... in white gold, in natural light it is super white - even compared to my CZ replica ring! I'm sure cut has a ton to do with it, mine has a ton of fire, so in a lot of indoor lighting situations it has a lot of sparkle and rainbow colors that interfere with noticing what color it is! It's got no fluor, ideal cut proportions, vs1. I wouldn't worry about the colour H at all if you are happy with the cut.
I'm really sorry about this pic, its the only one i have on my laptop!

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