Studs for the Wife -- Two Options, Need Help

[teambayern]

I am buying my wife a present for her birthday next week, and have settled on getting her first set of real studs for her to wear on a daily basis. She currently wears some small fakes, which I believe are around .5tcw. I know from past conversations that she prefers princess cut, and I've narrowed my options to two main choices on Blue Nile (WhiteFlash doesn't let me search for princess pairs, and Blue Nile seems to be reliable and affordable), that I'd like input on:

1) .6 tcw Build Your Own Set with Signature Ideal cut, G, VSI

2) .75 tcw preset, with minimum cut Good, I, I1

My wife has small ears, but even so I recognize these are on the smaller side of things. My main question is whether the brilliance of the .6 tcw pair will make a significant difference at this size, or whether I should go for the larger carat. Price difference is negligible. In essence, what would you get between these two?

 

[Todd Gray]

So you're getting lots of looks at this post, but no answers because you didn't provide a direct link to the pair of diamonds that you are considering... Is http://www.bluenile.com/build-your-...E|pid=LD03602127|pid=LD04059085]this the pair?

In which case, the reality is that nobody can really tell you very much about them because they are graded by the GIA in the diamond dossier format, which does not provide a plotting diagram that indicates the facet pattern of the diamond and there's no way to really judge how a princess cut diamond is going to look without it because the number of chevron facets located on the underside of the diamond has a lot to do with how the diamond will reflect light, size of the lighting events, etc., but I don't know that you are looking to get all that complicated, but if you are then I'd suggest looking for a pair of princess cut diamonds which are graded by the AGSL on their proprietary light performance grading platform which has the ASET image and a plotting diagram of the diamond... the problem is that you probably won't find them.

As far as the measurements of the two diamonds go, one measures 3.68 x 3.70 mm and the other measures 3.73 x 3.81 mm in outside diameter, so they are slightly different in outside diameter with one having a length to width ratio of 1.02:1.00 and the other having a length to width ratio of 1.05:100 so they're not a perfect match, but realistically they are most likely the best option that you're going to find in this range of carat weight.

I-1 and VS-1 clarity are MILES apart... the first is going to contain inclusions which will be readily noticeable without magnification, the second contains inclusions which will appear "very slight" when the diamonds are viewed through magnification... it's a matter of personal preference.

I looked around White Flash and Brian Gavin to see if either of them had any options available graded by the AGSL and unfortunately neither do, but it's not really surprising because the reality is that it can be extremely difficult to find princess cut diamonds which are well cut as individual diamonds, let alone in pairs... one thing to keep in mind with diamond earrings is that they spin in the ears, so the corners of the diamonds will always be pointing in different directions. A lot of people don't take this into consideration when buying princess cut diamonds for earrings, so I like to mention it just in case... if you like things to look more uniform, you might consider a matched pair of rounds for earrings and a princess cut diamond as a pendant at some point in the future? It's much easier to find matched pairs of rounds

 

[teambayern]

Yes, that's them, and thanks for the hugely helpful post. Extremely helpful on all fronts. The truth is I don't know too much about this, but know much more now.

 

[tyty333]

Can you tell us what your budget is so we can make some suggestions?

 

[Todd Gray]

Yes, that's them, and thanks for the hugely helpful post. Extremely helpful on all fronts. The truth is I don't know too much about this, but know much more now.

That's all right, it's why we're here

As tyty333 stated, a budget would be helpful, along with an understanding of what your ultimate goal is... largest size, best visual performance, a preference for clarity over color, etc.

 

[teambayern]

Budget is around $1200, so I'm scraping against it, but could be persuaded to go a little higher if there's a big value gain in doing so. As for preferences, my wife made it clear she prefers princess cut, so I'm sticking with that (despite the comment about them spinning), and beyond that, my goal is to get her something versatile she could wear to work or the movies that she will be happy with. As for size, I want them to be big enough that she doesn't feel like they're tiny, but otherwise would rather have them be well cut and sparkly rather than have incremental gains in carat. Clarity and (especially) color just have to be passable, as I think these would be secondary to her since they are studs (and not her ring). Hope that helps.

Edit: I suppose this could all be summed up by "best visual performance", so long as they're not considered tiny. Also, to the extent its helpful to give actual metrics assuming there was an infinite selection, I'd go down to J for color, and SI2 for clarity, and have cut be very good or ideal. Obviously that favors 1 more than 2, but my main concern with 1 is it will just appear too small.

 

[Todd Gray]

Right, so the pair of earrings which she's wearing now are around a half carat total weight? Round or square? If round, the outside diameter is around 4 mm, so whether the new pair of diamond studs looks larger or smaller will depend on whether you gauge that by comparing the diamonds from edge-to-edge (north, south, east, west) or tip-to-tip which will be longer... they don't say what the dimensions are for the preset pair, it can vary depending on the total depth, but the odds are that the three quarter total weight pair will face-up larger.

I looked over BN's inventory trying to find a larger pair, I'm just not finding a pair which thrills me in terms of how they match up, but I can be kind of overly precise

If I back off my parameters a bit, this pair has a diameter close to 4 mm: http://www.bluenile.com/build-your-own-diamond-earrings?builder=BYOE&forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP&pid=LD02976579&pid=LD03473235

 

[teambayern]

I am guessing, but I think her current ones are .5 tcw, and yes, round. Thanks for suggesting the other set. Is the difference between "signature ideal" and very good for cut likely to have any real impact at this size, in your opinion?

 

[RockyRacoon]

I know BGD is offering some specials on earrings right now, but I'm not sure if these might be included:


http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamond-earrings/studs/4-square-18k-white-gold-5660w18


These have considerable presence, and since they're earrings and not a ring, the '4-square' aspect should be less readily apparent.

 

[tyty333]

Everything I'm finding on JA has larger tables...I like smaller, but I'll throw some out there for you to see. Settings are $280.

http://www.jamesallen.com/earrings/design-your-own-studs/18k-white-gold-stud-earring-settings-item-16584

Stones...
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/0.34-carat-e-color-si1-clarity-sku-242598 $520
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/0.33-carat-f-color-si2-clarity-sku-218410 $430 (have to ask if eye-clean)

These are 1.04 ratio...not sure if that is square enough for you. Would have to ask gemologist if size difference is noticeable but
I doubt it is.
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/0.33-carat-f-color-si2-clarity-sku-256571 $440
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/0.32-carat-f-color-vs2-clarity-sku-258822 $470

Lower colors/ever so slightly bigger...I think these are my favorite pair.
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/0.38-carat-i-color-vs2-clarity-sku-242607 $530
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/0.34-carat-h-color-vs1-clarity-sku-242088 $470

You would need to ask the gemologist and make sure they are the same cut. I cant always tell with my eyes.
You could ask them for their recommendation.
If you want larger try ID Jewelry Online. They could probably get you something a little larger in PS quality for a good price.

 

[Candygrl]

I second the IDJ recommendation. They are really really helpful when working with a budget. I recommend either calling them or emailing them with the criteria that you are looking for. Very nice people to work with.

 

[Todd Gray]

I am guessing, but I think her current ones are .5 tcw, and yes, round. Thanks for suggesting the other set. Is the difference between "signature ideal" and very good for cut likely to have any real impact at this size, in your opinion?

There isn't actually any real difference between the "signature" pair and the non-signature pair, other than Blue Nile slapped their brand on the one pair and it is accompanied by a supplementary report from GCAL which provides no real value from a gemological standpoint from my perspective as a diamond buyer, I'm sure that GCAL's opinion would differ

The option presented from Brian Gavin would be amazing in terms of the overall visual appeal, understand that four smaller princess cut diamonds are set together in a cluster to create the illusion / look of one larger stone, it's beyond your budget but 6.67 millimeters is larger than the outside diameter of a standard #2 pencil (which is 6.5 mm). They are not however part of the promotion which they are running at the moment, which is only for matched pairs of Brian Gavin Signature round or cushion cut diamonds purchased for earrings, or Brian Gavin Blue, as confirmed with Lesley a moment ago.