price on stud earrings?

[gailrmv]

I was getting my prongs tightened today when I decided to look at stud earrings. This is at a very good family owned B&M, not a maul store. They carry very high quality merchandise and I like supporting local businesses (unless the markup is ridiculous that is.)

I found a pair of 0.30 each, J SI-2 eye clean stud earrings. They are non certed and cut info was not readily available. They looked very sparkly to me. Probably not ideal cut or would be marketed this way. They were set in 14K WG martinis for $595. What do you think? The price makes them very tempting - they were a great size on my ear and I could wear them every day w/o worry. I probably need more cut info, right? At this price I could get them soon. My sweet hubby says wait a while and he''ll get me bigger ones from whiteflash - but it will probably be a couple years as we have a bunch of other expenses coming up. Thoughts?

Another question - is SI1 and SI2 always eye clean? I didn''t think so, but my sales gal was telling me that according to GIA, if an inclusion can be seen with the eye at all it is graded I1 or lower. She told me that SI1 and SI2 are seen easily in the loupe but should not be seen with the eye. What do you all think? Just curious.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 10/24/2006 11:41:53 PM
Author:gailrmv
I was getting my prongs tightened today when I decided to look at stud earrings. This is at a very good family owned B&M, not a maul store. They carry very high quality merchandise and I like supporting local businesses (unless the markup is ridiculous that is.)

I found a pair of 0.30 each, J SI-2 eye clean stud earrings. They are non certed and cut info was not readily available. They looked very sparkly to me. Probably not ideal cut or would be marketed this way. They were set in 14K WG martinis for $595. What do you think? The price makes them very tempting - they were a great size on my ear and I could wear them every day w/o worry. I probably need more cut info, right? At this price I could get them soon. My sweet hubby says wait a while and he''ll get me bigger ones from whiteflash - but it will probably be a couple years as we have a bunch of other expenses coming up. Thoughts?

Another question - is SI1 and SI2 always eye clean? I didn''t think so, but my sales gal was telling me that according to GIA, if an inclusion can be seen with the eye at all it is graded I1 or lower. She told me that SI1 and SI2 are seen easily in the loupe but should not be seen with the eye. What do you all think? Just curious.

You can''t generalize here. Some SI1''s are eye clean and some aren''t. Same goes for SI2''s you have to take it on a stone by stone basis. I''m all for finding an eye clean SI stone, great value, etc.. But what she told you is incorrect. Heck some VS2 stones aren''t eye clean for that matter.

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 10/25/2006 12:34:33 AM
Author: Kaleigh

Date: 10/24/2006 11:41:53 PM
Author:gailrmv

Another question - is SI1 and SI2 always eye clean? I didn''t think so, but my sales gal was telling me that according to GIA, if an inclusion can be seen with the eye at all it is graded I1 or lower. She told me that SI1 and SI2 are seen easily in the loupe but should not be seen with the eye. What do you all think? Just curious.

You can''t generalize here. Some SI1''s are eye clean and some aren''t. Same goes for SI2''s you have to take it on a stone by stone basis. I''m all for finding an eye clean SI stone, great value, etc.. But what she told you is incorrect. Heck some VS2 stones aren''t eye clean for that matter.

I gotta disagree a bit; I think the essence of what Gail''s jeweler was trying to say is true.

In this thread, Rich Sherwood (expert appraiser with more than 25 years experience) says this about ''eyeclean'':

"You''ve got to keep in mind the proper definition of "eyeclean". A stone that is considered eyeclean is one that the average person with average eyesight viewing the diamond under average lighting conditions at a distance of about 12 inches without having louped the stone first, and the inclusions can''t be seen.

A lot of people will loupe a stone first under a powerful light source, locate the inclusion(s), then back off a couple inches, memorizing where they saw the inclusion under the loupe, and locate it with their naked eye (while still under the powerful light source).

This is not the proper technique for determining if a stone is "eyeclean". Nor is examining it from the side or table down, as inclusions easily show up in this manner."

He also says "Most SI stones are yeclean. Almost all SI1''s are eyeclean, and the majority of SI2''s."

That seems to be in line with what Gail''s jeweler is trying to convey.

 

[gailrmv]

thanks, this is interesting discussion on the clarity and definition of eye clean.

So, any thoughts on whether I should buy these stud earrings?

 

[FacetFire]

Was this at Grimball''s?

Honestly, I''m thinking about buying a pair of uncerted studs myself. For my ears, I don''t require ideal cuts at all. Just bright and sparkly. If you like them and they seems to sparkle in a lot of different lights, I''d probably go for it at that price. I couldn''t wait a couple years for bigger ones. Also, at that price, it wouldn''t take much away from getting bigger ones in the future.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

gail, my sincerest advice is to go ahead and get whatever individual stones you can afford at WF now, and then upgrade them as time passes. Diamonds in studs in even good jewelry stores are usually pretty crappy quality. Yeah, they may sparkle, but they can''t be compared to to ideal cut diamonds. I wouldn''t even want to throw away $595. I''d wear small cz''s until I could get good ones. I''ve wasted money on poor quality (but pretty) stones before, and I could never be satisfied with that again after seeing excellent diamonds. I just hate to see anyone make the same mistake I did!