Question about melee specs

[Eilonwy]

I saw a very impressive ring. The diamonds were E-F, Si1. Very bright. Admittedly they were 15 pointers so I imagine the fact that they were larger helped. Oooo I really loved that ring.

However most of the wedding bands/eternity etc that I have seen appear to be either F-G VS2 or G-H VS2. They don't look bad but the ones I have seen have much smaller melee.

My question is should I go to the effort to source higher colour diamonds for these? What's your opinion do you notice the difference in colour?

I imagine the clarity doesn't matter at all for diamonds so small...

 

[Dreamer_D]

I do not think color or clarity matter much in the distinctions you describe. Melee does come in different cut qualities though. Not with lab reports, but there are different grades the vendors have access to. Perhaps the ring you liked had high qualoty cut melee. Or perhaps it was the size -- 15 point stones will look VERY different than 5 point stones, for example, it is just the nature of diamond optics.

 

[druidtime]

At around 5pts I wouldn't be picky about a few color or clarity grades as the size of the stone is so small.

I think when you get up to 15-20-25 thats when you want to be paying a little more attention.

 

[lbbaber]

Hi, I asked a similar question when I first joined Pricescope a few months ago: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/wf-aca-melee.157264/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/wf-aca-melee.157264/[/URL]

I ended up upgrading to a higher cut melee and I AM SOOOOO GLAD I DID!!! It really does make a difference. I am not sure if it is the color/clarity as much as the cut. The melee in my ring are very small (1-2 pointers) but they sparkle more IN ALL lighting than ANY OTHER rings I have seen (in the stores and in real life).

The reason I got curious was because I could notice that some melee in rings looked GREAT while others just looked average. I was obsessed going to stores to check out similar settings and looking at friends' rings. In the end, I am so glad I upgraded (plus my center stone is an E so I thought the higher color melee was a better match).

If you have the chance, use a vendor that has branded melee or INSIST on high quality cut melee stones. In the end, regardless of how small the stones are, it really does make a difference.

Good luck!

 

[Eilonwy]

Hi, I asked a similar question when I first joined Pricescope a few months ago: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/wf-aca-melee.157264/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/wf-aca-melee.157264/[/URL]

I ended up upgrading to a higher cut melee and I AM SOOOOO GLAD I DID!!! It really does make a difference. I am not sure if it is the color/clarity as much as the cut. The melee in my ring are very small (1-2 pointers) but they sparkle more IN ALL lighting than ANY OTHER rings I have seen (in the stores and in real life).

The reason I got curious was because I could notice that some melee in rings looked GREAT while others just looked average. I was obsessed going to stores to check out similar settings and looking at friends' rings. In the end, I am so glad I upgraded (plus my center stone is an E so I thought the higher color melee was a better match).

If you have the chance, use a vendor that has branded melee or INSIST on high quality cut melee stones. In the end, regardless of how small the stones are, it really does make a difference.

Good luck!

That's my dilemma at the moment, my current ring is D colour and after looking at every option I can from every angle possible I believe I am stuck with my bright yet very small diamond... so I want my wedding band to steal the limelight! (Or at least provide very strong competition). This ring I was looking at definitely seemed to be well cut! But I will make sure to ask the question and find out more before committing. I think melee should get just as much attention as larger diamonds, I hate the thought of having a ring with a high quality diamond and high quality metal and then this not-so great melee.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Melee does nto get the same attention for cut that larger stones get because you cannot get a lab report on melee, and also because it takes so much time to cut diamonds to perfection, the cost benefit is just not there on teensy little diamonds! But that said, there are a number of PS vendors who offer very high quality melee, and I suggest you work with one of them.\


If you want a really blingy wedding band, I suggest you move your lovely solitaire to your right hand and then get a 5 or 7 stone wedding band to wear on its own. Really, nothing beats a 5/7 stone band made with 2- - 30 point stones for bling. It is really spectacular. But it would not match your solitaire. But wearing them on different hands gives the best of both worlds!

 

[Eilonwy]

Melee does nto get the same attention for cut that larger stones get because you cannot get a lab report on melee, and also because it takes so much time to cut diamonds to perfection, the cost benefit is just not there on teensy little diamonds! But that said, there are a number of PS vendors who offer very high quality melee, and I suggest you work with one of them.\


If you want a really blingy wedding band, I suggest you move your lovely solitaire to your right hand and then get a 5 or 7 stone wedding band to wear on its own. Really, nothing beats a 5/7 stone band made with 2- - 30 point stones for bling. It is really spectacular. But it would not match your solitaire. But wearing them on different hands gives the best of both worlds!

haha yeah I didn't really think about the fact that you can't really make that much $$$ on baby diamonds!

Your suggestion about the 5/7 stone band is so tempting. But there is something that saddens me about not being able to wear my wedding "set" on one hand so I don't think I will. But this particular ring that I saw I think would give me the best of both worlds. When I looked at the ring, and then looked at my engagement ring, I thought that it would most likely be overkill but when I tried them on together I fell in love with the combo. I think a lot of people would agree with me if they saw it too! I asked the saleslady to write it down so I can get it made up when I am ready to buy it. So if I do get it, I'm going to post it on here and see what everyone thinks of the unusual combination!

I was pretty happy with the E-F coloured diamonds. They were Si1 though. They can make it up to whatever specs I want however and with larger or smaller diamonds which is why I decided to pose the question about melee and see what people thought. It certainly looked good but perhaps I can save money by asking them to get diamonds in in a lower colour.