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size trumps all?

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Boatshoes

Rough_Rock
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
7
She's right behind me. She's been driving herself insane to the point of a small hive. Any advice or help on this perennial question, does size trump all?

My gf is particular. Very particular. We’ve been involved in this process together because she wants a very specific look, one that I would never have thought to pick out. Frankly, I don’t understand the obsession that she and most women seem to have with these shiny little things but the bottom line is I just want her to be happy.

We’ve seen some really bad stones from stores not worth mentioning and some really great stones from a great PS vendor. We finally found a setting that we both really like and we asked the vendor to pull some stones with these specs:

Round brilliant
At least .90 carats (trying to get as close to 1ct)
Will go down to an SI2 as long as it’s eye-clean
Not color sensitive, have seen J stones that faced up white
Cut is most important, either GIA excellent or AGS ideal
The setting is a cushion shaped halo for a round stone.

When we went to see the vendor he had pulled a beautiful stone for us. It was an E SI2, GIA Ex/Ex/Ex. Scores under 2 on the HCA, perfect H&A, great ASET image, and eyeclean. My gf and I both louped it and we couldn’t see anything, it’s also very sparkly and fiery. The only drawback? It’s .82 ct but it faces up well at 6.09mm. The stone is on reserve for us and even though it’s at the top of the my budget, I think it’s perfect.

She loves the stone but is having some doubts. She knows rationally that there isn’t that much of a visual difference between an .8ish and a .9ish ct stone but really wanted to get closer to the 1ct mark. What are your opinions on this? I don’t think it’s possible to find a larger stone that meets all the other criteria of this stone and we would like to stay high in color since it will be going in a halo. I would like to reassure her but think she would really benefit from the opinions of experts such as yourselves.

Has she lost her mind? Has anyone else gone through this? Thanks in advance.
 
It may be that the 0.82 doesn't look quite 'right' with the setting she prefers. Different settings have a 'sweet spot' of a carat size they look good with. If she's very particular about the setting that could be driving some of her size concerns. A lot of the settings that you see online look so great because the particular size stone brings out the settings proportions to their advantage. That's why vendors like James Allen provide shots of their settings with different sizes so you can get a clearer idea of how the setting will look with your size stone.
 
Boat,

If your girlfriend is confessed not color sensitive, and like anybody is size sensitive...I'd hate to see you paying extra for an E because it happened to be around.

Ira Z.

P.S. (edited to add)...oops...I read the second time through: "and we would like to stay high in color since it will be going in a halo." If that's the case, not sure what to say. Is that the case? Can you change something about the halo requirements, so associated colors are lower, lowering your cost to boot. Are you in a rush? Lowering color will lower costs, but if you have reasons not to do that...this is not an escape route.
 
What's your budget?
 
Some eyes are just as sensitive to size as some are sensitive to color. It's all a matter of perspective and sensitivity. Perhaps she does notice the difference between both stones, and doesn't like how it would (like AmeliaG already said,) match up with the setting. You said yourself she's particular, and that might be very true in this case. Have another look around, maybe this isn't the stone that "blows her out of the water", as they say. By the way, what's your budget?
 
Why dont you drop your color? If you tell us your budget we can see what is out there.
 
I am a diamond noob, but I would like to keep the stone under 5k...is that even possible?


When we saw the setting, it had been set with a stone less than 1ct and she loved it. I don't know that she could really tell the difference with her eyes between this .83 and a high .9 or even a 1, but she will KNOW it is under a 1ct.


How important is it to have it be at least 1ct?
 
An 0.82 is not that visibily different from a 0.9ish but it definitely looks smaller than a true 1 carat. If she wants the look of a 1 carat without paying the premium then an 0.82 is not going to make it. You'll have to stick to 0.9 and above which are a bit harder to find so you may have to do some searching.

ETA. Just go back and ask her the same way you asked us. 'How important is it to you that it be close to a carat?' Hers is not an unreasonable request and it should definitely be doable.
 
You could ask the vendor of the setting to make the setting with G/H melee. Though, honestly, I suspect that dropping to a G at least, possibly H, would be totally fine. Melee is *always* going to look whiter even if an exact color match because the optical properties of tiny stones are simply different. If matching the halo is the only reason to go with an E, I don't think it's necessary at all. And dropping color should let you increase size. If this vendor doesn't have anything that fits those parameters, look elsewhere. You already are on the right track with looking for a great cut it sounds like! I do think you can get much closer to 1 ct with a slightly lower, but still extremely white, color. Especially if neither of you is color sensitive.
 
I think she should ask herself what is most important to her. I don't think that size trumps all for everyone, but it does so some and it seems like it may be very important to your gf. Personally, size and clarity were important to me and I found that I am not very color sensitive. I worked within our budget and found a stone with a size that I like and was happy dropping the color to a J. Some PSers would never want a J color stone and would be happy to compromise in another criteria. For me, I wouldn't want to spend my budget on an E stone, but the only opinion that matters is your gf's!
 
There was a thread on here recently about mind cleanliness, and for some people, knowing that their diamond was a certain size was important. If she's not totally and utterly okay with the size now, she might always have a tiny niggling feeling in the back of her head that she should have gotten something bigger.
 
Ok, thanks everyone. Heading back to vendor!
 
Good luck! To give you fair warning, it may take some time to find another eyeclean SI2 within your parameters. Diamonds between 0.9 and 1.0 are not so common to begin with and while there are a great many eyeclean SI2s, there are also a great many SI2s that AREN'T eyeclean.

Patience is the key.
 
I also would drop to H color to increase the size!
 
I am usually very rational, but when it comes to shiny things, I am not. For example, I cannot tell the difference between a fake diamond and a diamond, but I want the real thing.

I think it's great that you just want to make your GF happy. In the grade scheme of things, it bodes well for your future together :). You'll get through this.
 
What about maximizing the specs now and upgrade in a few years?
 
I'd keep looking for a stone. maybe you should focus on G-H in color, SI2 clarity, and excellent cut. Then see how close one carat you can get..
 
Boatshoes|1313679838|2993371 said:
She's right behind me. She's been driving herself insane to the point of a small hive. Any advice or help on this perennial question, does size trump all?


Has she lost her mind? Has anyone else gone through this? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

of course not. :!: ..tell her SIZE means nothing if IT doesn't perform.. :naughty: women don't like the no sparkle dead looking ones. :wink2:
 
I don'tt think it is worth stretching the budget for a larger stone or hunting for an elusive H Si2 eye clean blah blah blah. You are going to HALO the diamond! It makes any tenth of a mm difference in size completely irrelevant. Add 4mm in diameter and you cannot notice .2mm anymore.

In fact, the same size halo will likely be used for both a .83 and a .95 carat stone, and your eye will only notice the halo in terms of size, so it is an utter waste to go bigger.

Now let you gf read my post ;))
 
Dreamer_D|1313728111|2994034 said:
I don'tt think it is worth stretching the budget for a larger stone or hunting for an elusive H Si2 eye clean blah blah blah. You are going to HALO the diamond! It makes any tenth of a mm difference in size completely irrelevant. Add 4mm in diameter and you cannot notice .2mm anymore.

In fact, the same size halo will likely be used for both a .83 and a .95 carat stone, and your eye will only notice the halo in terms of size, so it is an utter waste to go bigger.

Now let you gf read my post ;))
Click to expand...

Ditto.
 
Well, I'll be at the vendor in about an hour, I'll give an update when I get back.


Thanks again.
 
It's a matter of personal opinion obviously but I say no, I don't think that at all.
 
IMO, I don't think so. Since you are putting the diamond in a halo I don't think you would notice a big difference if the diamond is .80 or .90.
 
Boatshoes|1313766937|2994269 said:
Well, I'll be at the vendor in about an hour, I'll give an update when I get back.


Thanks again.
Click to expand...

How'd it go?
 
I can't say too much, as I know she frequents these forums, but I took all of your much welcomed advice and...
 
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