shape
carat
color
clarity

Update: my visit to OWD

iwantsparkle

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 25, 2016
Messages
308
I ended up choosing an L colored diamond. I had it narrowed down to three stones, one of which was a K. To my surprise, I liked the L better than the K. It's a VVS2/L. 1.81 carats.

Adam was great to work with and he spent a lot of time explaining things to us and showing me a wide variety of options.

He is going to ship the stone to me, so I don't have it now to stare at and obsess about how white it faces up. Lol.

I left very happy but I'm wondering if I will regret not going for the K?* I honestly couldn't tell much of a difference between the K and L. Not enough to sway me to pick the K. I liked the cut of the L more.

For those that care about color, in that they want it to seem like a not-intentionally-yellow stone, would my choice give you pause? For the long-term? I'm wondering if anyone here went too warm and has regrets?

I'm planning to set it in platinum, if that matters. I am leaning now towards a bezel. I did see more of a tint from the side, but that was the same for the K.

I'm worried about finding a band that doesn't have stones that are too white next to it. But I think whether I got a j, k, or l I would have that concern when looking for a band. I don't want big stones in a wedding band so maybe it won't be a big deal.

Ok, going to try to figure out how to post pics from my iPad. I don't have great photos but you can kind of see. :)





*I am an obsessor in general, so I would likely be doing this no matter the scenario. Still, I hope it doesn't look like I chose a yellow diamond. (An I or J wasn't really in my budget when you factor size, I didn't want one that wasn't perfectly round, etc, etc.)

_5881.jpeg
 

iwantsparkle

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 25, 2016
Messages
308
One more. These aren't great pics, sorry.

_5883.jpeg
 

Sagefemme

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Oct 8, 2015
Messages
290
I have an L OEC from Adam. Its color (a definite ivory) is very evident is some lighting situations, and in other lighting situations it is very white and bright appearing. The "ivory" situations are much less frequent than the white and bright situations. But I am not put off at all by the color when it is noticeable; I like that part of its personality. If you want NEVER to be aware of its L-ness, you will be unhappy. But if you are ok with it appearing colored in some situations, it should be fine. My stone is also a bit bigger which I think accentuates the low color.
 

iwantsparkle

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 25, 2016
Messages
308
Sagefemme|1474068875|4077558 said:
I have an L OEC from Adam. Its color (a definite ivory) is very evident is some lighting situations, and in other lighting situations it is very white and bright appearing. The "ivory" situations are much less frequent than the white and bright situations. But I am not put off at all by the color when it is noticeable; I like that part of its personality. If you want NEVER to be aware of its L-ness, you will be unhappy. But if you are ok with it appearing colored in some situations, it should be fine. My stone is also a bit bigger which I think accentuates the low color.

This is helpful, thanks. I think I also find it part of the overall charm. I suspect I will be okay with it and I was just having a moment of panic. Haha.

I did see he has a video of my stone. It doesn't look too yellow to me in this video:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oStj_6MCC3s
 

missy

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
53,978
Hi there your L OEC looks lovely from the video and I hope you *l*ove it when it arrives. I have an L from Adam and I always thought I *was* color sensitive and my original ER was a GIA G. But the GIA L I have doesn't appear *not* white to me in most environments. That is, my L OEC appears just perfectly white and bright in most situations and I am very pleased with it. Having said that there are times (maybe less than 10% of the time) it does appear a bit warmer than I would like but that is so infrequently that it doesn't bother me.

I have my OEC set in platinum as well and I also wear band(s) next to it that don't show the contrast b/w diamonds. One is a plat engraved band and one is a suisse cut band and neither highlights the L color of the OEC so they work perfectly IMO. I agree you don't want to set your OEC next to higher colored diamonds if you don't want to highlight the difference in color b/w the diamonds.

So that was my long winded way of saying I still love (and am pleased with) my L OEC from Adam despite being color sensitive and I hope you are too! :appl: Please keep us posted.

Attaching 2 pics. One is my OEC with the platinum engraved band and one with the suisse cut band. HTH.

_38263.jpg

_38264.jpg
 

Tourmaline

Ideal_Rock
Trade
Joined
Nov 17, 2013
Messages
2,560
I have an L, but it's not an OEC. The color did bother me in platinum after a while, and I switched to rose gold, which I have never regretted. Pairing the L with a band with whiter diamonds also bothered me, so I had a band made with yellower diamonds, and that solved that!

image_589.jpg
 

Tekate

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
May 11, 2013
Messages
7,570
it's beautiful.. I would love it.. I had a K AVC and loved it, I would highly doubt the difference between a K & L is very if at all noticeable.
 

tyty333

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Dec 17, 2008
Messages
27,198
All these L colored stones are just Luscious!
 

rubybeth

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 12, 2007
Messages
2,568
I think the L 1.81 looks awesome! The patterning is lovely. That's why it's important to see lots of OECs and find out what your priorities are; with this stone, you're getting a larger stone that you first were looking for, plus you love the pattern.

I also had similar concerns with a lower colored center stone next to whiter diamonds in a band. I started this thread (in 2012? :shock:) that might help you: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/paging-haven-and-any-other-m-and-lower-color-omc-oec-owners.174639/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/paging-haven-and-any-other-m-and-lower-color-omc-oec-owners.174639/[/URL]

I think you will just want to try bands next to your ring once you get it. I have the band in my avatar, the Danielle bezel band, and it looks fine next to my AGS L/GIA M OEC. This is the ring: http://www.whiteflash.com/right-hand-rings/danielle-jazz-bezel-diamond-right-hand-ring-174.htm
 

AnnaH

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Feb 12, 2013
Messages
1,262
All the posted diamonds are gorgeous! And big!
I'm partial to the antiques, so I'm also loving Missy's setting and bands.
 

iwantsparkle

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 25, 2016
Messages
308
Sagefemme|1474068875|4077558 said:
I have an L OEC from Adam. Its color (a definite ivory) is very evident is some lighting situations, and in other lighting situations it is very white and bright appearing. The "ivory" situations are much less frequent than the white and bright situations. But I am not put off at all by the color when it is noticeable; I like that part of its personality. If you want NEVER to be aware of its L-ness, you will be unhappy. But if you are ok with it appearing colored in some situations, it should be fine. My stone is also a bit bigger which I think accentuates the low color.

So happy to hear this! On some level it shouldn't matter what anyone thinks but me -- but this helps me to feel like I'm not out of line in my thinking. Thanks!
 

iwantsparkle

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 25, 2016
Messages
308
Tekate|1474118945|4077693 said:
it's beautiful.. I would love it.. I had a K AVC and loved it, I would highly doubt the difference between a K & L is very if at all noticeable.

Glad to hear that others may have the same perception between the two. I'm relieved in my selection. :) Thanks.
 

iwantsparkle

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 25, 2016
Messages
308
rubybeth|1474130888|4077751 said:
I think the L 1.81 looks awesome! The patterning is lovely. That's why it's important to see lots of OECs and find out what your priorities are; with this stone, you're getting a larger stone that you first were looking for, plus you love the pattern.

I also had similar concerns with a lower colored center stone next to whiter diamonds in a band. I started this thread (in 2012? :shock:) that might help you: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/paging-haven-and-any-other-m-and-lower-color-omc-oec-owners.174639/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/paging-haven-and-any-other-m-and-lower-color-omc-oec-owners.174639/[/URL]

I think you will just want to try bands next to your ring once you get it. I have the band in my avatar, the Danielle bezel band, and it looks fine next to my AGS L/GIA M OEC. This is the ring: http://www.whiteflash.com/right-hand-rings/danielle-jazz-bezel-diamond-right-hand-ring-174.htm

Gorgeous!

Thanks, rubybeth! I'm boarding my flight back home from NYC - and I'm definitely going to check out these links when I get a chance.
I knew the regs here might have good suggestions. (Of course!)

Thanks!
 

Bron357

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 22, 2014
Messages
6,532
My 5 cents worth. To me, size and cut are my two top factors. Colour for me comes last. Personally I find warmer colours ie lower colour grade more natural and pleasing to the eye. And cut, a diamond has to sizzle! My mother has a "to die for" large D colour diamond and some people don't believe it's a diamond, they think it's a CZ! It's just a bit too perfect I guess. Unless you put your L colour stone in bright white gold or G colour diamonds directly alongside,the warmth won't turn to a less pleasing "yellowish". And trust me people will say "OMG it's huge and so sparkly" rather than "oh, I see you have a lower colour grade diamond"!
 

iwantsparkle

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 25, 2016
Messages
308
missy|1474113491|4077680 said:
Hi there your L OEC looks lovely from the video and I hope you *l*ove it when it arrives. I have an L from Adam and I always thought I *was* color sensitive and my original ER was a GIA G. But the GIA L I have doesn't appear *not* white to me in most environments. That is, my L OEC appears just perfectly white and bright in most situations and I am very pleased with it. Having said that there are times (maybe less than 10% of the time) it does appear a bit warmer than I would like but that is so infrequently that it doesn't bother me.

I have my OEC set in platinum as well and I also wear band(s) next to it that don't show the contrast b/w diamonds. One is a plat engraved band and one is a suisse cut band and neither highlights the L color of the OEC so they work perfectly IMO. I agree you don't want to set your OEC next to higher colored diamonds if you don't want to highlight the difference in color b/w the diamonds.

So that was my long winded way of saying I still love (and am pleased with) my L OEC from Adam despite being color sensitive and I hope you are too! :appl: Please keep us posted.

Attaching 2 pics. One is my OEC with the platinum engraved band and one with the suisse cut band. HTH.

I ran out of time earlier when I was typing replies - I meant to reply to you, too!

I absolutely love the look of your band (your whole set, really!) -- it's just so dazzling. I'm like THAT is an L?! It looks more than fine in platinum. I've read mixed things about setting plat. versus something warmer like rose or yellow. It probably depends on the stone + personal tastes - of course. But I think your set looks fantastic in platinum.

So happy to her yet another positive anecdote about an L/OEC/from Adam - esp from someone color sensitive! :)

Gorgeous GORGEOUS set you have.
 

iwantsparkle

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 25, 2016
Messages
308
Tourmaline|1474115310|4077685 said:
I have an L, but it's not an OEC. The color did bother me in platinum after a while, and I switched to rose gold, which I have never regretted. Pairing the L with a band with whiter diamonds also bothered me, so I had a band made with yellower diamonds, and that solved that!

image_589.jpg

Yours faces up nice and bright! And what a rock! So big and pretty!

May I ask where you went to have your band made? It matches your ER so well. Made for each other (literally)! :)

I may just go for a thin band with cuts/engraving - not sure yet. (I think it will depend on the exact setting.) But I am loving confirmation that choosing a warmer stone doesn't mean you are cornered into more limited options.

Beautiful rings!
 

iwantsparkle

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 25, 2016
Messages
308
Bron357|1474234928|4078156 said:
My 5 cents worth. To me, size and cut are my two top factors. Colour for me comes last. Personally I find warmer colours ie lower colour grade more natural and pleasing to the eye. And cut, a diamond has to sizzle! My mother has a "to die for" large D colour diamond and some people don't believe it's a diamond, they think it's a CZ! It's just a bit too perfect I guess. Unless you put your L colour stone in bright white gold or G colour diamonds directly alongside,the warmth won't turn to a less pleasing "yellowish". And trust me people will say "OMG it's huge and so sparkly" rather than "oh, I see you have a lower colour grade diamond"!

The bolded made me laugh because I was thinking "I must be a such a basic OEC first-timer!" Haha. :D

I shouldn't care, but I do! To keep repeating myself - these posts/words are all very comforting.

That is interesting about your mom's ring. Some people probably really do think she is fibbing about it being a diamond. Crazy.

Before I left home to visit OWD, a friend of ours said "Guys! Just get a CZ! It's really fine. They look the same!" --Thanks for the advice, dude. I should add he has been married three times/bought four rings and no one ever accepted a CZ. :lol:
 

Bron357

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 22, 2014
Messages
6,532
Trust me, size does matter. Diamonds have an inbuilt "shrinkage" factor, over time they look smaller! In mt 20s I thought 1 carat was HUGE, now I'm over 50, it has to be 2 carats plus before I even notice. Mind you if I had a size 4 finger it wouldn't matter, but a big fat size 8 needs some "spread"! And yes, mums ring is big and very white with fluorescence so it literally glows in some types of lighting. I've been with mum when a store cashier says "I love CZs too, they're so white and sparkly aren't they!" Mum just smiles and says nothing whereas I want to say "it's not a CZ you silly goose, it's one of the purest and most perfect amazing diamonds you can find" but mum "glares me quiet" and off we go.
 

Tourmaline

Ideal_Rock
Trade
Joined
Nov 17, 2013
Messages
2,560
iwantsparkle|1474235765|4078161 said:
Yours faces up nice and bright! And what a rock! So big and pretty!

May I ask where you went to have your band made? It matches your ER so well. Made for each other (literally)! :)

I may just go for a thin band with cuts/engraving - not sure yet. (I think it will depend on the exact setting.) But I am loving confirmation that choosing a warmer stone doesn't mean you are cornered into more limited options.

Beautiful rings!

Thanks! I got the 7 AVC diamonds from Good Old Gold, and I had the band made by Brilliantly Engaged. Bot my ER and band are 18k rose gold.
 

LLJsmom

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Oct 24, 2012
Messages
12,633
Trust yourself and what looks beautiful to you. I am sometimes bothered with the color of my K when I think about what other people will think when they see pictures of my diamond. Will they think, "K? That is yellow!" Or when I'm in a darker environment with a lot of yellowish tones, I see more tint in my stone. Whereas when I had my F, it was super white even in a gold colored elevator. However, what is easy for me to forget was how much I wanted the big flashes of an OEC while I had my colorless F MRB. If I don't think about what others may say, I love how my OEC looks most everywhere.

So far, no diamond is perfect for me yet. Well, there are probably perfect ones out there that I certainly could not afford. But I can say with certainty that I like how my OEC looks more hours in a day than I liked how my MRB looked. I'm a numbers person so that translates to liking my OEC about 80% of the time, whereas I probably liked my MRB 55% of the time. I love the big flashes of light.

I do remember seeing a D OEC, that was very well cut. It was just over 3 carats, and I think it was about $150K. However, in all honesty, when I saw it I was more impressed that there existed a D OEC in that size rather than how it looked. It was actually too white. I couldn't see much pastel at all or the separate crisp faceting. I think it's a combo of the large facets reflecting large flashes, which were mostly white light. I could not see the faceting as clearly as with a more colored OEC. But thing was a D. Some people are impossible to please. :lol:

Nothing is perfect for me. At some point I will find something to complain about so I just have to remember that. :)

Don't worry. When it comes back set, you are going to love it.
 

Gypsy

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
40,225
LLJsmom, if you ever sell your stone, I will have to consider selling a kidney. Your OEC is perfection to me. I adore it, color and all. 8)
 

diamondseeker2006

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
58,547
That is a beautifully cut stone! :love: To me, cut is the most important factor. Once you narrow things down according to budget and a great cut, it's not like you have an almost unlimited supply like modern round brilliants!

I have an I color AVR, and I can tell you there are times it takes on environmental tint (tinted car windows are the worst!), so you won't escape that even if you go up 2-3 color grades! Just to give fair and balanced info, though, I do know a person who had an L from Adam and changed to a higher color stone. Color is SO personal and really no one but you can decide that! Just decide within your 30 day return policy so if you have to start over, you can look at more than one vendor.
 

iwantsparkle

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 25, 2016
Messages
308
LLJsmom|1474250971|4078227 said:
Trust yourself and what looks beautiful to you. I am sometimes bothered with the color of my K when I think about what other people will think when they see pictures of my diamond. Will they think, "K? That is yellow!" Or when I'm in a darker environment with a lot of yellowish tones, I see more tint in my stone. Whereas when I had my F, it was super white even in a gold colored elevator. However, what is easy for me to forget was how much I wanted the big flashes of an OEC while I had my colorless F MRB. If I don't think about what others may say, I love how my OEC looks most everywhere.

So far, no diamond is perfect for me yet. Well, there are probably perfect ones out there that I certainly could not afford. But I can say with certainty that I like how my OEC looks more hours in a day than I liked how my MRB looked. I'm a numbers person so that translates to liking my OEC about 80% of the time, whereas I probably liked my MRB 55% of the time. I love the big flashes of light.

I do remember seeing a D OEC, that was very well cut. It was just over 3 carats, and I think it was about $150K. However, in all honesty, when I saw it I was more impressed that there existed a D OEC in that size rather than how it looked. It was actually too white. I couldn't see much pastel at all or the separate crisp faceting. I think it's a combo of the large facets reflecting large flashes, which were mostly white light. I could not see the faceting as clearly as with a more colored OEC. But thing was a D. Some people are impossible to please. :lol:

Nothing is perfect for me. At some point I will find something to complain about so I just have to remember that. :)

Don't worry. When it comes back set, you are going to love it.

Thanks, LLJsmom!

The D/OEC you mention - yes, so interesting. I can definitely see how they can be too white. I can also appreciate the fact that you can only do so good unless money is no object. Ha.

Today a co-worker asked about my trip. I am trying NOT to be obnoxious about my newfound love of OECs - but I did want to mention it's not a MRB. She was like "aren't all stones really old, though?" So, I am reminded that people here can appreciate my diamond mission. Lol.
 

iwantsparkle

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 25, 2016
Messages
308
diamondseeker2006|1474291244|4078308 said:
That is a beautifully cut stone! :love: To me, cut is the most important factor. Once you narrow things down according to budget and a great cut, it's not like you have an almost unlimited supply like modern round brilliants!

I have an I color AVR, and I can tell you there are times it takes on environmental tint (tinted car windows are the worst!), so you won't escape that even if you go up 2-3 color grades! Just to give fair and balanced info, though, I do know a person who had an L from Adam and changed to a higher color stone. Color is SO personal and really no one but you can decide that! Just decide within your 30 day return policy so if you have to start over, you can look at more than one vendor.

Thanks, diamondseeker2006!

To the bolded part - so true. It really is so personal. Even though I am pretty confident this is IT, it is nice to know there's time to change my mind. (Talk about pressure, otherwise!)

There are so many phases to this process. Patience is required. :D

Now I am going to shift my search to settings/bands.

Maybe others will chime in, too, for this question: Has OWD made a lot of custom settings around here? He offered me a quote that was slightly higher than DK, but still reasonable.

(I am trying to decide where to go for that.)
 

distracts

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Oct 11, 2011
Messages
6,131
re: lower colors, I also think it's helpful to remember that the vast majority of engagement rings come from maul stores and are not... like the ones PSers buy. I have seen plenty of maul store diamonds that are clearly way misgraded - d/e/f that are more like h/i/j, g/h/i that are more like k/l/m, etc. I actually think this is why a lot of people think you must have d/e/f if you don't want to see any yellow, because tbh at most stores that is the case. From what I've seen on plenty of people, I think k/l diamonds are much more common than you'd think. I see diamonds that I can notice tint in, from normal viewing distance of someone else's ring, far more frequently than I see white-white diamonds (and I consider GIA H and above to be white-white).
 

LLJsmom

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Oct 24, 2012
Messages
12,633
Gypsy|1474251337|4078228 said:
LLJsmom, if you ever sell your stone, I will have to consider selling a kidney. Your OEC is perfection to me. I adore it, color and all. 8)
Gypsy, please keep your kidney. I'll give you the stone. :lol:
 

iwantsparkle

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 25, 2016
Messages
308
distracts|1474307655|4078426 said:
re: lower colors, I also think it's helpful to remember that the vast majority of engagement rings come from maul stores and are not... like the ones PSers buy. I have seen plenty of maul store diamonds that are clearly way misgraded - d/e/f that are more like h/i/j, g/h/i that are more like k/l/m, etc. I actually think this is why a lot of people think you must have d/e/f if you don't want to see any yellow, because tbh at most stores that is the case. From what I've seen on plenty of people, I think k/l diamonds are much more common than you'd think. I see diamonds that I can notice tint in, from normal viewing distance of someone else's ring, far more frequently than I see white-white diamonds (and I consider GIA H and above to be white-white).

You make a great point. I had not thought about this.
 

edelweissmaedl

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jan 20, 2013
Messages
137
Congrats on finding your stone!
 
Be a part of the community Get 3 HCA Results
Top