about2begin
Shiny_Rock
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2008
- Messages
- 121
So thanks again for all the advice. This morning I received my SI2, I, GIA ex ex ex (Both HCA''s were great), 0.82 cttw martini studs from Bluenile. I have to say, I was very very impressed! The price for each stone was $481 and the settings were $250 total but the BN service rep applied a 10% discount to the setting. The total for the set was just under $1200. Not too bad.
Here''s a detailed review:
Stones:
Size -- I''ll start here b/c this is where I think I can be most helpful to fellow shoppers. 0.82 cttw looks REALLY big on the ear. Yesterday, before receiving these, I was in the Saks outlet and they had a pair of Roberto Coin studs (Price after 30% off was ~$1800). I asked one of the reps to hold them by her ear. She put them in and I was stunned at how large they looked. I thought she was wearing a 1.2 cttw set that they also had (close to $5k). Just FYI, the Coin''s were very nice. You could see arrows and they have lots of life.
Basically, I had agonized over whether to get something closer to 1.2 cttw or save money and roll with the 0.8 cttw. I couldn''t be more pleased. To go from a 0.4 ct stone to a .5 ct stone, you''re gaining literally fractions of a millimeter and paying a huge premium for that .1 ct. I think a similar set of 1.0 cttw studs was roughly $2000.
I can see the appeal of getting a 2.0 ct ER or 1.0 ct, but for studs, nobody is going to know (probably). The size difference b/w .4 and .5 was undetectable to me and both will look pretty big (esp on small earlobes).
Clairty -- The SI2 was a great decision. BN verified that they are eyeclean, and they passed my 3" every angle inspection. I saw nothing. One stone had a crystal and the other had a cloud and crystal. They look totally clean. Perhaps in a larger stone this wouldn''t have been the case, but at this size, I would guess that inclusions get very tough to see. I would consider I1 for a set.
Color -- The I looks great. Her ER is H and it''s white, so I trusted that I would look fine. Face-up, it looks like a D. Very happy with the choice.
Cut -- Just did a brief inspection of under various types of lighting. Looked very nice. Great fire and scintillation. Really popped and that light return makes the stones look even larger. I said I would sacrifice color, clarity, and size, but DO NOT skimp on cut.
Settings -- They''re really nice. They''re delicate and not too bulky. I went 18K WG to save a few bucks. Are these Leon Mege quality? Of course not. But Leon wanted $1000 just to make martini baskets and that sounded like a waste to me. From 8" away, these look great. If you compared these to her Leon ER prongs, you''d see a difference, but that''s not something that anyone will see in real life.
Service -- Great stuff from BN. No, they don''t offer pictures and they don''t give you a H&A viewer. But they do charge considerably less than other vendors (at least they did for this purchase). They also have a 30-day return policy, so if you''re not happy, just send them back.
I considered buying from a place with an upgrade policy, but Whiteflash only said stones like the ones I wanted would be eligible for a 75% upgrade. That wasn''t what I wanted to hear...I didn''t want to lost $300 to upgrade my stones. WF was also unable to match BN''s price. They did, however, provide things like images of the stones which might be valuable to some people...I just didn''t really think they were worth the $300ish extra the project would have cost.
WF service was awesome to deal with. Their "ACA" prices are a bit steep, though. I think you can find a non-branded ideal cut on james allen or BN for a lot less money. I know some people swear by WF, but for me, I think your money can go a bit further with some other vendors. If you love ACAs, WF is great to work with.
I hope this helps! In sum, I''d roll with a low clarity grade, drop to I or H (maybe even J), don''t pay for 1/2 carat stones (stick to .4_), CUT IS KING, BN pricing seemed to be the best out there.
Here''s a detailed review:
Stones:
Size -- I''ll start here b/c this is where I think I can be most helpful to fellow shoppers. 0.82 cttw looks REALLY big on the ear. Yesterday, before receiving these, I was in the Saks outlet and they had a pair of Roberto Coin studs (Price after 30% off was ~$1800). I asked one of the reps to hold them by her ear. She put them in and I was stunned at how large they looked. I thought she was wearing a 1.2 cttw set that they also had (close to $5k). Just FYI, the Coin''s were very nice. You could see arrows and they have lots of life.
Basically, I had agonized over whether to get something closer to 1.2 cttw or save money and roll with the 0.8 cttw. I couldn''t be more pleased. To go from a 0.4 ct stone to a .5 ct stone, you''re gaining literally fractions of a millimeter and paying a huge premium for that .1 ct. I think a similar set of 1.0 cttw studs was roughly $2000.
I can see the appeal of getting a 2.0 ct ER or 1.0 ct, but for studs, nobody is going to know (probably). The size difference b/w .4 and .5 was undetectable to me and both will look pretty big (esp on small earlobes).
Clairty -- The SI2 was a great decision. BN verified that they are eyeclean, and they passed my 3" every angle inspection. I saw nothing. One stone had a crystal and the other had a cloud and crystal. They look totally clean. Perhaps in a larger stone this wouldn''t have been the case, but at this size, I would guess that inclusions get very tough to see. I would consider I1 for a set.
Color -- The I looks great. Her ER is H and it''s white, so I trusted that I would look fine. Face-up, it looks like a D. Very happy with the choice.
Cut -- Just did a brief inspection of under various types of lighting. Looked very nice. Great fire and scintillation. Really popped and that light return makes the stones look even larger. I said I would sacrifice color, clarity, and size, but DO NOT skimp on cut.
Settings -- They''re really nice. They''re delicate and not too bulky. I went 18K WG to save a few bucks. Are these Leon Mege quality? Of course not. But Leon wanted $1000 just to make martini baskets and that sounded like a waste to me. From 8" away, these look great. If you compared these to her Leon ER prongs, you''d see a difference, but that''s not something that anyone will see in real life.
Service -- Great stuff from BN. No, they don''t offer pictures and they don''t give you a H&A viewer. But they do charge considerably less than other vendors (at least they did for this purchase). They also have a 30-day return policy, so if you''re not happy, just send them back.
I considered buying from a place with an upgrade policy, but Whiteflash only said stones like the ones I wanted would be eligible for a 75% upgrade. That wasn''t what I wanted to hear...I didn''t want to lost $300 to upgrade my stones. WF was also unable to match BN''s price. They did, however, provide things like images of the stones which might be valuable to some people...I just didn''t really think they were worth the $300ish extra the project would have cost.
WF service was awesome to deal with. Their "ACA" prices are a bit steep, though. I think you can find a non-branded ideal cut on james allen or BN for a lot less money. I know some people swear by WF, but for me, I think your money can go a bit further with some other vendors. If you love ACAs, WF is great to work with.
I hope this helps! In sum, I''d roll with a low clarity grade, drop to I or H (maybe even J), don''t pay for 1/2 carat stones (stick to .4_), CUT IS KING, BN pricing seemed to be the best out there.
When do we get to see pics? 
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