Opposite to DSS?

[HGar]

Has anyone ever ended up choosing a diamond smaller then they originally thought they would like and been pleasantly surprised?

I started looking into upgrading my teeny 1/3 carat marquise over 18mths ago however had put it on hold whilst we went through lots of changes in our lives. Anyhoo when I started looking I thought I’d go to a 1ct. Then as another year passed, this morphed to no, I think I’ll go to a 2ct instead.

Today I walked past a local jeweller who had a haloed marquise in her window. Whilst I personally don’t like haloes, this was a pretty delicate thin one around a 1 carat so I thought I’d try it on as an experiment. I have pretty small fingers, the internal diameter of my rings is approx 14.5mm (from memory about size 3.5) and is just under 6cm in length so I was surprised to see how big it actually looked on my finger. The sales assistant had this template showing different cuts and sizes which made me think maybe I should be looking at 1.5ct as 2ct may just be too big?

I’ve looked on eBay to see if I can find a fake to trial but I never seem to find ones small enough to fit my finger (maybe I’m just bad at searching).

So has anyone experienced the opposite of DSS?

 

[kenny]

A while back I got DES, Diamond Expansion Syndrome.

Actually the main reason I went down in size because a new Asscher cut was born that IMO has the light performance rivaling that of the best-cut rounds - previously unheard of in Asscher cuts.
Octavia was designed by our own genius diamond cut engineer KarlK, and cut by our own Yorman aka Diagem in Israel.
A minor reason I went down in size is the 2.26 just felt a bit uncomfortably large for my lifestyle.
I felt a bit self-conscious.

For years I wore a beautifully-cut 2.26ct asscher, the largest of the four rocks below.
Then I went down in size to a 1.51 ct Octavia asscher.
The Octavia on the far left is 1.34 ct; it's the first Octavia sold which I gave to my SO.
After I sold the 2.26 I bought a 1.51 G VS2 Octavia for myself.

From left to right:
Octavia 1.34 H VS2, No Fluor, GIA
ACA 0.82 ct E VVS1 Negligible Fluor, AGS
Asscher 2.26 ct F VVS2 Med Blue Fluor, GIA
Solasfera 0.83 ct F VS1 No Fluor, GIA

The left 3 are Bruce Boon tension settings.
On the right is a Gelin Abaci platinum tension setting.
I had Bruce set my 1.51 Octavia in Cobalt Chrome because it's brighter than titanium.

 

[missy]

I wish!

 

[HGar]

@missy - my heart says keep looking at large stones whereas my head talks about sensibilities of size vs fingers.

@kenny all of your rings are just stunning

 

[MamaBee]

No..unfortunately..

 

[Alybetter]

I have been all over the place. My very first was a 1.5 princess from Reeds, cut like crap. Returned it for a better (but still bad) .75. Then got a .50 ct MRB in a halo, which was also lovely. Returned it. Then got a 1 ct Asscher. Upgraded it for a 1.24 very lovely MRB. Sold that and bought 3 small stones for a 3 stone totaling 1.05 ct. Sold that and bought an antique OMC. Sold that and bought a 1.07 AVC.

My favorite by far is my 1 ct 7 stone shared prong band. It fits me, my lifestyle and my personal aesthetic. It’s effortless to wear.

Next time around I will go smaller. Not that I’ve ever had large, but I simply prefer a smaller stone. I wear tiny gold hoops, ultra thin gold box chain necklaces and I like my rings to be unassuming and effortless.
Sure love looking at the big rocks though. A lot.

 

[oncrutchesrightnow]

Yep… Started with a 1 ct princess, got DSS, upgraded to a 2 ct MRB, but it was too bulky (not to mention low-color) and I traded it.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

I have more CS, but I will never buy larger than a 9x7 in an oval or an 8.5mm at the largest in round/fancy CS. My ring size is 6.5. If, and when, I buy a diamond I don't think I'd go larger than 7.5mm round/fancy shape or 8x6 in an oval. Those look the most balanced to me and the least likely to 'get in the way'. I could easily go smaller. The funny part is I love big rocks on other people. Love them. I really thought I'd be a big rock girl but I couldn't get comfortable with them. I would always settle in the same range. It has to fit proportionally.
Turns out, I prefer to wear stacked bands more often than not.

 

[HGar]

I’ve found a 12mm x 6mm cz ring on Etsy in size 3.5 so I’ll see how it looks and feels over the coming months.

As a family we’ve still got lots of our plates this year - we are busy selling investment properties as one of our children has joined a team to race in the USF Junior series later this year (Indycar for teenagers) so that is going to take a few hundred thousand out of our retirement funds as he will have to travel to and from Australia / USA for 6mths. If a separate development plan happens in December I’ve earmarked some money out of that for my upgrade.