shape
carat
color
clarity

size trumps all?

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.
 

AmeliaG

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 8, 2011
Messages
880
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.
 

Regular Guy

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jul 6, 2004
Messages
5,962
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.
 

centralsquare

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 18, 2009
Messages
2,216
What's your budget?
 

Verdy

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Messages
319
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?
 

tyty333

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Dec 17, 2008
Messages
27,198
Why dont you drop your color? If you tell us your budget we can see what is out there.
 

Boatshoes

Rough_Rock
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
7
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?
 

AmeliaG

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 8, 2011
Messages
880
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.
 

LGK

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 27, 2007
Messages
2,975
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.
 

SC86

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jul 25, 2011
Messages
195
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!
 

mogster

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jul 7, 2011
Messages
364
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.
 

Boatshoes

Rough_Rock
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
7
Ok, thanks everyone. Heading back to vendor!
 

AmeliaG

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 8, 2011
Messages
880
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.
 

diamondseeker2006

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
58,547
I also would drop to H color to increase the size!
 

pregcurious

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
6,724
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.
 

centralsquare

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 18, 2009
Messages
2,216
What about maximizing the specs now and upgrade in a few years?
 

Amys Bling

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
11,025
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..
 

Dancing Fire

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
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Messages
33,852
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.

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:
 

Dreamer_D

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Dec 16, 2007
Messages
25,238
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 ;))
 

Gypsy

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
40,225
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 ;))

Ditto.
 

Boatshoes

Rough_Rock
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
7
Well, I'll be at the vendor in about an hour, I'll give an update when I get back.


Thanks again.
 

Imdanny

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
6,186
It's a matter of personal opinion obviously but I say no, I don't think that at all.
 

marcy

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Feb 27, 2007
Messages
26,275
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.
 

centralsquare

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 18, 2009
Messages
2,216
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.

How'd it go?
 

Boatshoes

Rough_Rock
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
7
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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