What makes the most difference?

[DG8]

As all girls are in search for that perfect diamond (of course within our budgets) I want to know what matters the most. In your opinion, do you think color or clarity makes a huge difference? I know size obviously makes a difference, but I''m curious to know if let''s say a h color diamond is a big difference from a g color or even a f color? Or if a sI1 is much different from a sI2 or a vs2?

I am looking to purchase a Brian Gavin h&a diamond. Since the cut is at it''s best, will the colors and clarity be as important? I''ve looked at HOF diamonds and couldn''t tell the difference between g, h, or I. Can I save here and there on colors and clarity? I''m stuck again! =(

 

[stone-cold11]

Clarity makes the least difference, as long as it is eye-clean, it is eye-clean.

 

[jet2ks]

Date: 9/14/2009 11:33:25 AM
Author: Stone-cold11
Clarity makes the least difference, as long as it is eye-clean, it is eye-clean.

Ditto. Just that some people have better eye-sight than others.

I''ll add that color perception varies from person to person. Some people can start to detect color around G, others can''t really see any until J. A superb cut also helps mask color from the top, due to the increased light reflection.

 

[Cehrabehra]

I have seen clarity impact light performance though so there are limits of acceptable.

I was just posting this in another thread - it''s good to rank the 5 C''s in order of personal importance.

If I were on the market to purchase a round right now I would do: cost.... cut.... carat.... clarity.... color.

I would set a firm budget, I would only look at the best cuts then I would look for the biggest eye clean one I could find and I wouldn''t care at all what color it was.

some people still think that ''lower'' colors mean an inferior stone or just prefer having no color at all and they might put color before carat. Some people might put clarity higher than carat as well.

Figure out your own priorities and go from there

 

[Dreamer1116]

Ranking the 4c''s (disregarding cost), my list would go as follows:
1. Cut
2. Carat
3. Color
4. Clarity (as long as it is eye-clean)

So to answer your question in short: color matters more to me than clarity. I am pretty color sensitive and can begin detecting hints of color around G, and definitely in an H.

 

[Lynn B]

Interesting question.

Me? I prefer not to pay for what I *cannot see*. (Now, please note: I do not want a *yellow* diamond and I do not want visible inclusions, even at close scrutiny.) I want to put my money towards cut and SIZE!

(Although cut rules, because even a big diamond isn''t beautiful if it doesn''t sparkle!)

Anyway, I think it helps to remember that diamonds are color graded by a lab under a special lighting environment, loose and unset, upside down, on a white paper with a white background, with a set of master stones to compare to. Under those circumstances, obviously a D does look different than a G, and a G does look different than a J... etc. But IRL, table side up

and set in a piece of jewelry, those differences tend to (IMHO) disappear, or at least be significantly minimized.

I have a beautiful 2.36 J/SI2 RB (Link) and it is completely eyeclean and faces up very white. I love an eyeclean SI stone... it really helps maximize the budget and lets you put the money towards... size, of course!

 

[swingirl]

I put clarity at the bottom of the list. As long as I can't see some big black dot right in the middle of a stone I can take small inclusions off to the side. I have purchased an I1 with a feather that I have to hunt to find. The beauty of a stone is in it's cut IMO.

 

[Black Jade]

People are different in what they value, so I''d try to get input from the woman you are buying this ring for.
Most women like their ring to sparkle as much as possible, which makes cut important. It may not necessarily be the MOST important, as I have known women who prefer size above everything and would rather have, say, a 1 carat with less sparkle rather than 1/2 carat ideal. Some women are color sensitive and don''t want to accept other than the whitest stones. Some (I fall into this category) are annoyed by the idea of inclusions, regardless of whether they can see them or not--they just don''t wnat to know they''re there.

For an e-ring I would rank
1. cut (sparkle)
2. clarity (doesn''t have to be VVS but I don''t want to go down to SI2. I like having a VS)
3, 4 Color and size. I wouldn''t want what appeared to me to be a off color diamond, either yellowish (truly yellow is different) or worse, greyish. I''m not a size girl--big stones don''t suit my particular fingers--and a .33 made me happy for many years.
But I want what looks like a quality stone, because I like really simple settings--plain solitaire Tiffany style with no sidestones--so the stone really has to look nice.