SI2 for studs?

[milton333]

I 'm looking for a pair of diamond studs, bezel set, between .75 and 1 ct tw. Budget is around $1600. I've seen the WF preset bezels at .75 tcw for $1650 in 18k WG. They are H "SI." I'm thinking I want higher color. I have H for my e-ring, but earrings won't get much light and in small stones there's not a huge price jump to go higher in color.

I put together a set on Blue Nile, 14k WG bezels for $150, plus .86 tcw F SI2s with GIA ex/ex/ex cert, HCA scores of 1.1 and 1.3, total for earrings $1632. I won't be able to see before buying, and wondering about thoughts on SI2. I mean, with "SI" grade for presets, they could be SI2, and will be unseen. Buying cert'd stones from WF gets too far above budget. I don't need cert'd, necessarily, but want the biggest stones in my budget, and am really only finding .75 and 1 tcw, with about an $800 jump from .75 to 1.

Should I be worried about clarity? Am I wrong to aim for higher color?

 

[flippingdiamonds]

Because you are shopping for studs, SI2 is fine and you will be saving a lot of money. I think going as low as I or even J will still be ok for studs because the color won't show much face up with small diamonds. Make sure the diamonds are eye clean though!

SN: most people will say to get certified diamonds on here. I don't believe that for studs but that's my opinion but you will get a lot of people that will disagree with me...

 

[madelise]

Have you called IDJ? I've read here on PS multiple times about having Yuketiel pick out some good stones for earring studs, for a great price. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe you don't have to aim to have a perfect, HCA <2 score for studs, since they're not viewed so closely, and don't have a head in front of it to block light.

A little trick I do to see if an inclusion bothers me (from photos online) is to download the photo, and resize it to a to-scale size on your screen. Then you can step back from your screen to view it as you would IRL. So if you're aiming for a 1ctw, resize the photo to an approximate 0.5 ct round's 5mm.. (check that it's actually showing it as 5mm, as sometimes the "view actual size" doesn't actually show actual size -_- i'm not tech savvy enough to figure out why).. and then step backwards about 15 inches from the screen. That's the closest anyone's face will ever be to your face (or ear), seriously, short of kissing you. For actual conversation distance, I'd estimate 2-3 feet. THEN, see if you'd even be bothered by a tiny feather or pin dot on the diamond.. IMO, I wouldn't be bothered by even an included grade on earring studs.. given that it wasn't spit wad looking. For earrings, my preference is more for size.. and I'm more lenient on the other C's.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

With studs, you would want to get the best cut possible! Reason is that hair products, face cream, makeup, etc., all tend to get in contact with the stones and can gunk them up pretty easily and they'll dull more quickly. Better cut means they won't look as dull with all that stuff on them.

I would think that I/J stones with better cut would be ideal over lesser cut with H color stones.

Can you return the BN earrings once they've been set if you can see the inclusions with your eyes? You're right though that with the WF stones, the SIs could be SI2. You can call them and ask about that. I've wondered the same thing! There pre-sets are expert selection, right? I did have an ES stone and it was incredible! It looked as good as the ACAs I had.

 

[Amys Bling]

With studs, you would want to get the best cut possible! Reason is that hair products, face cream, makeup, etc., all tend to get in contact with the stones and can gunk them up pretty easily and they'll dull more quickly. Better cut means they won't look as dull with all that stuff on them.

I would think that I/J stones with better cut would be ideal over lesser cut with H color stones.

Can you return the BN earrings once they've been set if you can see the inclusions with your eyes? You're right though that with the WF stones, the SIs could be SI2. You can call them and ask about that. I've wondered the same thing! There pre-sets are expert selection, right? I did have an ES stone and it was incredible! It looked as good as the ACAs I had.

great input.