What Carat Size Do you Consider To Be Big??

[Lynn B]

This subject always interests me!

Before I had my diamond I thought 1 carat was pretty big... and that''s what I was looking at first. Then I thought, hmmm, maybe 1 1/3 carats would be the way to go. Then the more I thought about it, I finally just said, "Aw, why not just get it right the first time?!" and ended up getting my 1.53. Which, for where I live (rural PA) is a pretty big stone. With the exception of a few, most people here have diamonds under .5 or .75 carat. Except for mall stores, and one very uppity and over-priced jewelry store, there''s really nowhere for people to go who don''t know about PS and all our excellent internet vendors. I''m trying to educate my little corner of the world, but I''m finding out to my astonishment that most people just aren''t interested in learning about diamonds.

Hard to imagine, huh?!!

And sometimes I think shrinkage is occurring and other times I look at it and think,

"Ohhhh, I could never part with this!" But I THINK I could happily and easily wear a 3+ carat... I don''t think it would be too big!

Lynn

 

[jaysonsmom]

Codex and ForteKitty,

You guys are both really close! Yes, I meant south Orange County, especially Irvine and South. I actually live in Rancho Santa Margarita. Surrounding cities are Coto De Caza, Dove Canyon, Mission Viejo, Ladera Ranch, Laguna Hills etc etc. Luckily we bought our townhome 3-4 years ago, or we''d never be able to afford living here. Thank goodness the kids are still really young, and our townhome is the biggest in the tract because it''ll be a while before we can afford a single family detached house at $800k+

ANYHOO, the biggest diamond I''ve ever seen in my area was a mere 3.5ct rb. It was a lady shopping at CVS pharmacy. The pharmacist grabbed her hand to ogle it, and everyone in line (myself included) got to hear about this wonderful ROCK. It was for a 15 yr upgrade...so I doubt she started with anything close to that size.

 

[websailor]

Astronomers have discovered a diamond star weighing 10 billion trillion trillion carats. The cosmic gem is the crystallized carbon core of a white dwarf star. Credit: Travis Metcalfe and Ruth Bazinet, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Yup, I''d consider this BIG!

 

[Dancing Fire]

Jenn
i knew it...i knew it,i see that 4+ ct comming towards you.

 

[treysar]

Where are all the 3 and 4 ct rings in Manhattan? I always hear people say this but I rarely see them. ex: If I got to the city for the day (I live about 20 min North of Manhattan) I''ll see maybe 2 rings over 2.5 ct. I see a lot that look in the almost to slightly over 2 range, but that''s it.

(Can you imagine the GAWKING I DO? I must look like a THIEF!)

Anyway - I have a friend with a 3+ ring and it looks silly on her, but I have an old boss of mine with a 3ct and it lookes PERFECT on her! So it depends on the person, the age, etc, I guess.

I already feel a littel bit like "dress up in moms clothes" with my ring, and it is barely over 1 ct. But don''t get me wrong folks, I would take a 3 ct in asecond, even if it looked silly. If forced, I could learn to live with looking silly with a WHOPPER on my hand!

 

[fortheloveofdiamonds]

Before PS, I thought that 1 carat was large and all that I wanted. Then I found PS and decided that 2 carats would be perfect. Then, I fell in love with the Michael B. three-sided pave and decided that a *smaller* stone would work as long as I had the Michael B. I ended up with the 1.5c! which is a good size for my hand. I could easily have gone for 2 carats.

Where I live, Ontario, Canada, I have yet to see anything more than .5ct, i maybe have seen a .75..but the norm is about 1/3 carat. My ring is the talk of the office where I work, people i don''t know ask me to see the ring they heard about.

What is too big for me. I saw this honker in the window of a local jeweler. I don''t know how big it was...but it was TOO big! I think maybe 4-5 Carats b/c it made mine look like diamond dust.

 

[moremoremore]

LOL- Yes, I too would be happy to live with the fact that "my" 4 ct round was a little "much" LOL...I could live with the shame.

 

[aljdewey]

Honestly? No shrinkage here at all. My stone is 1.25 ct, and I think that''s plenty big on my 6.5 finger.

It took me 6 mos to decide what I wanted to live in for a setting, and I put .30 sidestones on either side and paired that with a .35 7-stone w/ring.

Even though I like "commanding" jewelry in other stones, I still think that my e-ring is quite large. No upgrade plans here.

 

[windowshopper]

i think 5 carats is the line for wearing during the day --just an "everyday" ring ha seriously though....................over 5 for an EC and honestly about 3 for a round gets silly for just wearing at the market etc

 

[solange]

We live in Manhattan and I see many people wearing rings that are 3 carats and well over. My engagement ring is a very nice 2.95 pear shape that I wear a lot and it does not attract much attention. I got it many years ago when diamonds were a lot cheaper.

I just got a 4.10 round stone as an anniversary present. I do not wear that every day but when I go to restaurants and events I see many women with stones much larger than mine along with other fabulous jewelry.

We live in an affluent neighborhood where a one bedroom apartment sells for up to a million. We were fortunate in that when our building went coop about twenty years ago, we bought our large apartment in a luxury building for a very low price compared to today's market.

It is interesting to see how stone sizes vary depending upon where you live. What looks enormous in one area is small in another. I guess it is like Gulliver's Travels. In the land of midgets you look like a giant and in a land of giants you look like a midget.

 

[Christy42]

That''s true, I am the only diamond nut in my circle of friends and the only one with a husband who sees the rage. That''s not true really about the diamond nut. I''m just the only one that will buy a diamond instead of a small car. So, my diamonds do tend to get noticed a lot. I definitely get the "grab and gawk" thing all the time in stores. The funny thing is my 2 carat marquise gets a lot more attention than my 2.5 carat princess. Go figure. I may just start over again with this princess cut, though. Y''all have gotten me so confused! I keep seeing all of these gorgeous settings and stone shapes that now I feel like I''m fickle as a pickle!

 

[Sashabella]

I live in Toronto and most rings I see are 1 carat to 2 carats. I have a friend with a D-flawless three carat ring (and also has blue diamonds) and three carats rings are supposed to be popular. My jeweller sells a lot of 3 carat + stones.

With my friends, I have noticed that the smaller stones tend to have higher specs (colourless, excellent cut/ideal cut and higher clarity) while most of the larger stones are a lower colour grade.

 

[fortheloveofdiamonds]

Date: 3/4/2005 11:56:35 AM
Author: Christy42
I'm fickle as a pickle!

A true trait of the Pscoper! well.. for diamonds anyway!

 

[Christy42]

Thanks, ForTheLoveOfDiamonds! It''s good to know that my confused state is contagious and I''m not alone. Misery loves company! It''s an addiction, I tell you........I can''t even get any work done for lurking out here!

 

[abbott]

Funny how shrinkage occurs... When I married 12 years ago... I told my husband I wanted a "rock"..a mink, and a BMW... He asked me to define "rock"... My definition of a rock was 1ct.

... I received a 1.5ct... Now I have a 2.05ct, a 5 ct RB, and a 2 ct canary.... I have my mink... No BMW,... Lexus....

... For "everyday" I want to trade my 2ct for a 3ct. Abbott

 

[Jennifer5973]

Date: 3/4/2005 1:48:12 AM
Author: Dancing Fire
Jenn
i knew it...i knew it,i see that 4+ ct comming towards you.

But here's "the thing:" Even if you can afford it, how much money can you spend on a single diamond? If I really wanted to, I could get a 4ct now if I found a clean Si2, G-H... but I just can't see spending that much money on a diamond for us now. We are very fortunate and have good jobs but maybe it's like driving a fancy car--I just can't get into it. I want to know that if one of us loses our job, things would carry on and that's the position we're in. If I won the lotto, or maybe in 10 years, maybe I'd feel diffferently, but now, I just can't see taking money that should be invested or in savings to spend on a $600 month car payment or a $45,000 diamond. Plus, there is no tax write-off.

We're looking at maybe getting a vacation prperty in the next five years...another $20,000+ would sure go a long way towards that down payment vs. on my hand.

So, DF, don't hold your breath.

Then again, I guess you could make the same argument for the aggragate of all the other cr*p I buy...

ETA: I am talking about me/us--if you can do 4, 5, 6 carats and still accomplish all your other goals, I say bring it on!

 

[Mara]

I agree Jen...at some point it becomes foolish to have to give up other things or make other sacrifices just to have a bigger and bigger rock on the hand. For me now, the way my ring is...I know I want bigger and I am willing to make other sacrifices on luxury items to get the diamonds I want. BUT at some point in the future there has got to be that limit. I can definitely see other priorities down the line when we are older that would trump a bigger diamond. So I figure I might as well do it while I can...before Greg puts the kabosh on huge sparklies in favor of another big truck!

 

[valeria101]

Date: 3/4/2005 9:31:13 AM
Author: fortheloveofdiamonds

My ring is the talk of the office where I work, people i don''t know ask me to see the ring they heard about.

Aha!

That''s proof enough that a diamond is "BIG"

 

[elepri]

I agree, it really depends on where you live. For me, it would have to be well over 3 carats to be so big as to draw attention (I live in New York). But to wear, over 2 carats would be too big for me (at least in RBs).

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 3/6/2005 8:28

5 PM
Author: Jennifer5973

Date: 3/4/2005 1:48:12 AM
Author: Dancing Fire
Jenn
i knew it...i knew it,i see that 4+ ct comming towards you.

But here''s ''the thing:'' Even if you can afford it, how much money can you spend on a single diamond? If I really wanted to, I could get a 4ct now if I found a clean Si2, G-H... but I just can''t see spending that much money on a diamond for us now. We are very fortunate and have good jobs but maybe it''s like driving a fancy car--I just can''t get into it. I want to know that if one of us loses our job, things would carry on and that''s the position we''re in. If I won the lotto, or maybe in 10 years, maybe I''d feel diffferently, but now, I just can''t see taking money that should be invested or in savings to spend on a $600 month car payment or a $45,000 diamond. Plus, there is no tax write-off.

We''re looking at maybe getting a vacation prperty in the next five years...another $20,000+ would sure go a long way towards that down payment vs. on my hand.

So, DF, don''t hold your breath.

Then again, I guess you could make the same argument for the aggragate of all the other cr*p I buy...

ETA: I am talking about me/us--if you can do 4, 5, 6 carats and still accomplish all your other goals, I say bring it on!

Jenn
forget about the car it only sparkles for a couple of yrs before it gets nicks and dings.a diamond sparkles forever

hmmm...... let see, when is your birthday?

 

[kaylagee]

For rounds: over 3ct. gets to be too big(depending on the setting).

However for ECs and Ovals, I haven''t seen one I''d call too big, even in basic spare settings.  If they''re well-cut and decent color/clean they just get more gorgeous as they get larger!

Maybe 11cts starts to get a bit chunky in a fancy. LOL!

 

[Maxine]

When I tried on that 15ct modified Asscher w/1ct sides (on EACH side), it felt heavy...but I''m sure I could get used to it....I think I like the idea of 2-2.5 ct. max...

 

[kaylagee]

OMGoodness! That sounds amazing. An EC/square cut/asscher can be the size of a coffee table before it starts to bother me in the least. Even then...

for real life, 5ct could be awesome for an EC.

 

[kaylagee]

*bump*

 

[sjz]

I don''t remember this thread from before, and I don''t think I''ve commented. My thoughts are probably not so much about what carat size I would consider to be too big, but how much money would be too much to spend on a diamond. I suppose I''d have to say that 2 carats in a solitaire would probably be nearing the outer limits of the size I''d ever want to wear on my finger. But knowing that carat size is one of the major determining factors in the cost of a diamond, and knowing in my heart that I would feel guilty ever spending more that 10 grand on a diamond (and that''s only if we are more than financially able to handle the investment) I''d say that the largest carat weight I''ll ever own will be something closer to half that size. I know I could probably go bigger if I allow myself to compromise on some of the other C''s, but I''ve recently realized that I need a more or less mind clean stone, and would probably require something in a higher clarity grade than most people would be willing to accept. My husband is wanting to upgrade to a 1.5 carat stone next year, but I think that my unwillingness to exceed my preset "budget" of 10 grand along with my self awareness that I would never be happy with a stone of anything lower than a VS clarity is going to make it impossible for me to get a stone of that size...sigh.

 

[sarita]

Wow, do these places change your perspective. I think a lot of things come in to play here including diamond exposure (be it at diamond sites and IRL), area you live in (affluent or average), and the size (and shape!) of the rock in relation to your finger size. Age is important too, because at this place in my life even though I may dream of owning a 3ct EC someday I think realistically it would look "too big" on me and I''d be uncomfortable wearing it. I''m uncomfortable with my 1.35ct pear as it is, but pears are also spreadier and blingier in comparison, and mine is also a bright F color.

I realize I am blessed to have a ring size of 3.5 (3.75 max) on my E-ring finger and although I still do think 1ct is still average (despite growing ct starter diamonds) places like PS only seem to encourage shrinkage.

What you think is huge or gaudy before ever seeing becomes "possibly wearable" soon after exposure.

I also like this quote:

Date: 3/3/2005 2:41:29 AM
Author: lostdog
What seems big?
Probably just about 3/4 of a carat or so larger than whatever you actually have.

How true.

So for right now in this time bracket I would say anything over 2cts is big, and anything over 3cts is a HONKER.

Side note: I have this (supposedly) 2ct cz (I have to find that size mm chart again, I think that''s 7mm?) pendant that I bought for the silver chain because I always break them and it was cheap - laying it over my left ring finger it looks HUGE. So for a RB I couldn''t see going close to this size.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

For me, 6 carats and above is ''big''.

 

[laney]

Well, I live on Long Island NY - and there are certain places you can go. Where everyone has fabulous HUGE stones - 3cts.. and sometimes more on. It''s a grocery store around here.. and I tell ya'' the shopping is just as good as the gawking at the beautiful jewelery.. It''s funny - that one store is the place I''ve seen the largest diamonds.

Other than that - typically I see 1cts - sometimes up to two. The only stone I can''t really tell is pear shapes - of how big they are. My recent upgrade to 2 cts - I think it''s the biggest stone of the people I work with now..

I guess I don''t hang out in the circles that are bigger.

So big to me is 3cts +

>1 to 2cts is normal..

Although I had a Dr once that had at least a 3.5 tp 4ct round brillant. It was like a stoplight - it was beautiful but HUGE HUGE HUGE to me. Probably because it was well cut -and was just so blinding...

 

[CdnBlingGal]

Here in ''burbs of BC, Canada 1-2 Carat is HUGE. Most typical poeple here is under the 1 carat mark, the odd person has a bigger bling of 1ct or more. I have a .904ct H&A and people think it''s humungus.

My Dh would get me a bigger bling if our finances allow it. Maybe a 1.5 -2.00cts in the near future.

IMO, a 3 carat would be just way too big for my short fingers but if I had longer and sleeker fingers, I think a 5 carat would be too big.

 

[kaylagee]

I've got short fingers too...So, even though I adore those boulders, I'm beginning to realize my limits. Still sticking with the 5ct-ish EC and slightly less, say 4.5-4.75, for an oval center.

So my 'too big' is, unfortunately, 6cts for an EC or rectangular cushion on the hand, and 5ct for an oval. I've already eliminated RBs and balanced squares/octagons from my wish list. They don't look so hot on my paws. I need the vertical eye-interest.

In my dreams, I'd move on to pendants but necklaces don't suit me at all. sigh.

So I suppose earrings and bracelets would my only alt. I don't think there's a too big for bracelets. I'd love a line bracelet of 6-8mm Cushions or ECs...I'm a 6.5 -6.75 wrist size). I wish I could find or draw a pic of what I have in mind.
Hey, as long as I can kinda lift my arm.