studs

[plaut]

i''m looking at purchasing some round diamond studs for my wife (approx. 1 ct t.w.)
does anyone have an idea of the "typical" quality one should purchase in a stone for earrings as compared to a ring?
I''m fairly set at getting something G-H color and SI1-SI3 clarity, but I''m not sure what i should be looking at for cut (table and depth %, and crown and pavillion angles)
I''ve found a lot of good info on Firescope.com but just don''t have a good feel what I should be paying for diamonds that will be in earrings.
I''ve seen prices (where no cut info is given) ranging from $1200-4000 (set stones).
anybody have any suggestions? thanks

 

[valeria101]

Tastes vary as much as do prices for these little studs! There are a few criteria most people I've ever heard talking about these would mention, and they all have to do with what one gets to see without rudely staring at the wearer. For example, a slight tint (say, and I-J color) may not be so striking, especially if the stones are small (relative to other things you may have to aesthetically critique) and decently cut. Also, who on earth will look up close to detect inclusions in the earring stones? So, this argument may lead to go for stones with medium clarity rather than IF. Similarly, the match of the stones is only striking in the jewelry box where one may pick up a tenth of a millimeter in difference, but this (and more) would disappear during use for obvious reasons. However, people buy diamond studs for the sparkle, so neither color, inclusions or cut should prevent the stones from glistering appropriately. No white grade(down to fancy yellow) would impede light but the swath of inclusions would make an SI3 and the average SI2 less sparkling, so SI1 should do and any better would need justification. As for the cut, it would help to have them in decent shape (on the shallower side, and perhaps not exactly in the premium-bearing ideal range) while a branded cut would be overkill. Oh, by the way, pieces just above 0.5ct tend to cary a weight premium, so if you want to spend on quality rather than size alone, maybe pick them slightly under 0.5and better in every other way. This depends on seller, but it is worth checking though.

 

[Mara]

There were some recent posts on this in the last few months, run an archive search for 'diamond studs' or 'diamond earrings' or 'stud earrings' and see what you find. I recall some rather elaborate explaations of the questions you just asked.




The jist of it is that most regular diamond stud quality at a maul store or a pre-set pair would be something around an H/I/J color with SI1/SI2/SI3/I1 clarity. The cuts usually are not going to be good, because the stones are pre-set and people don't normally buy diamond earrings with the same type of scrutiny they would a diamond ring or similar. I always like to say that if a diamond is pre-set into earrings, the jeweler probably felt that it would not sell as a standalone stone. I certainly have not seen any pre-set/bought type sets from friends or relatives that would prove that wrong. Our first pair of pre-set were supposed to be H VS and when we got them appraised 2 years later, we found out they were N SI/VS. Wow that's a big difference. Cuts were horrible too. We took them back, jeweler replaced them, now we have G VS with very good cuts.




I always recommend building your own. You will pay about the same as you would anyway for a pre-set pair, esp at a B&M where they mark them up hugely, and you have the fun of making a set of earrings as a gift or similar, more personal. Hand picked stones, etc.




About 2 months ago a poster wanted 1ctw and we posted tons of stones online through great vendors that would be lovely for earrings (ecxeptionally well cut and good color/ctw etc). I think the consensus was something like he'd be paying about $2500 for around 1ctw (or slightly lighter..maybe .95c to save $$$) for something like a G/H SI1 eye clean pair of stones. In the stores, a similar set of pre-set but not with ANY cut grade notations (e.g.could be crap) with markup would be around $2500-3500 depending on your vendor and markup. I would much rather go with a hand-built set, you know the cut, they each come with certs, etc--for at least the same price if not saving $$.




So check out the previous posts and see what your thoughts are. But I would hands down always suggest to build your own or at least research the differences. From what I have seen, in pretty much every scenario, that is the better way to go for quality of stones, and for your wallet too.

Oh and as for your huge price range, any set of 1ctw stones that are $1200 pre-set are 99% of the time going to be DOGS. You get what you pay for IMO.




Here is a short comparison. I grabbed all this info in about 2 min.




Found on the cut quality search on Pscope this pair of stones, both brokered from GOG:




.46c G SI1 AGS 0 Hearts and Arrows HCA score : 1.2 $986


.46c G SI1 AGS0 Hearts and Arrows HCA score 1.6 $998


So right there for a pair of .92ctw stones you miss the 1ctw markup and you get a visibly as large pair for less than $2k. Add in the mountings etc...maybe $200 or similar. So around $2200.




On BlueNile.Com (I use BN because its well known and people tend to like the fact that they are one of the more well-known brands):




Pre-set pair of at least .96c (they call them 1ctw but you may get something like .96c min) I SI2 stones in white gold settings, no information on cut at all: $2300




So for a very similar price if not less, you get hand-built set.




Good luck!

 

[plaut]

Thanks. All great points but especially on size. I hadn't quite made up my mind on size yet (at first I was looking at 3/4 c.t.w. and decided that perhaps those were to small. Her center stone on her ring is approx. 0.8 ct and I figured that one would wear an earring stone smaller than one's ring (not that 0.8 is enormous and not that some people don't wear bigger on their ears, but I'm referring to those of us that don't have endless means!)She has small ears too so perhaps a slightly smaller stone would look better?
I will go look at some stones just under 1/2 ct. each.

 

[barry]

plaut;

I'd recommend that you make "Cut" your first priority.
The better the Cut, the more light coming to your eye,
and the 'bigger' the stone will appear.
Stick to the .90-1 ct TW and H-I color/ SI-1/SI-2 clarity.
In a maximized cut, these stones will face up white-white and appear eye-clean. Set them in 4-prong basket settings
so that more diamond surface area will be visible and
ask for the La pousette double-spring tension backs which offer greater security and comfort wear than the
screw-backs.

Good Luck.

Barry
www.superbcert.com

 

[plaut]

Mara thanks for all the help.
I looked up all the old threads you suggested and they were very helpful, especially all the info you give to everyone.
I thought I would share w/ you my new purchase for my wife
I'm getting these AG0 cut H&A's from Jonathan at Good Old Gold who I highly recommend working with if you haven't already, he is fabulous

#1 #2
size 0.484 ct 0.478 ct
avg. diameter 5.02 (5.01-5.03) 5.02 (5.00-5.05)
color G H
clarity SI1 VS2
depth 62.1 62.1
table 55.2 56.2
crown angle 34 34.9
pav angle 40.9 40.8
girdle 1.5-2.4 1.2-2.2

even though #1 is bigger both have the same avg. diameter so they should match well
bought both stones for around $2500 could have got some similar ones for about $400 less but wouldn't have seen all the data and the full workup w/ the Sarin report, light scope, brilliance scope etc. which I really wanted.
will have them mounted in 14K white gold baskets
here's links if you'd like to see them

http://www.goodoldgold.com/0_484ct_g_si1__h%26a.htm
http://www.goodoldgold.com/0_48ct_h_vs2_h%26a.htm

thanks again

 

[Mara]

yay plaut I am so happy for you!! The stones look lovely!! Very nice! I always like the thought of having something cool like hearts and arrows for earrings because 99.9% of the earrings out there are going to be crap. So you've got something really cool and special, handmade and for the same price..that is always a fun thing.




would love to see pictures when they are done, maybe Jonathan can snap a few pictures with his camera for you. Did you ask about the G vs H color differentiation, will they look the same...did he only have these in stock and that is what you meant about not seeing others (e.g. were the others brokered?).




congrats and I am so glad that coming to Pscope possibly helped save you from buying some horrible maul pre-set stones for the same price if not more!!

your wife will be blown away when she sees them!

 

[Mara]

Update to this post...Plaut emailed me with his LOVELY picture of his studs and asked that I resize the photo to attach to this thread....here it is. These are handpicked and oh-so-pretty...I think this is a great educational thread for anyone in the future asking the same question about handpicked stones vs. pre-set...this picture is amazing. 99.9% better than any other studs floating around out there thats for sure!

Here are the links to the stones on GOG...now posted as 'educational stones' for people to view their information:




http://www.goodoldgold.com/0_48ct_h_vs2_h%26a.htm
http://www.goodoldgold.com/0_484ct_g_si1__h%26a.htm




Congrats Plaut and happy wearing to your wife!