Which would you chose? Color vs size?

[MissGotRocks]

There is no doubt that cut is far and away the most important aspect of beauty of any diamond. Color is very personal and also I think, very emotional. As we see so often, folks have to weigh many aspects of a diamond to get the correct balance they can live with. Sometimes people are surprised that diamond colors aren't as bad as they had thought, sometimes surprised that they had problems with even higher colors. And then there is that emotional thing - it is a _____ color on paper and I don't know if I can live with that fact - even if they like what they see. For me, I would choose the higher color in a lower carat weight but that is not the correct answer - it is correct only for me. If the color of the stone is going to niggle at your mind much as a small, black goober in the middle of the table of a stone would, then you are probably making the wrong choice. I can somewhat understand the rationale that the stone faces up white but the side view is compromised in color, but I couldn't fathom paying for a larger stone only to want to cover up a significant portion of it due to its color. When you are into these size and price stones, I think you have to be able to embrace the entirety of the stone - even if it means that you love the face up view and might feel that the side view is a bit color compromised but accept that as a fact you can live with. If you can't, then it is back to the drawing board to once again try to prioritize your criteria for a stone. You truly can't talk yourself into loving a stone - not for the long haul - and I say this from the experience of owning several diamonds over my lifetime. If you need to compromise on size to get a color that you can live with, do it. If you can live with some inclusions to get the size you want, do it. With enough thought, I think you can finally conclude the attribute that is most important to you and then carry it out with the others. I know this is not always easy and I wish you all the best with your decision. In the end, you need to be able to love your choice!

 

[diamondlove123]

Thank you all for your thoughts. I have asked vendor to go back and forth and then hard part is in on paper, the J is better. In real life, I did not notice the color difference much but I noticed the size difference more.
But in my mind, the J is a safer color choice. I am driving myself insane because I could not decide.
Kayla, I wonder if my decision would be similar to yours in the sense that you chose the 3.5J because you noticed the size difference between the 3.3i and 3.5j but now you're not sure if color bugs you. Thank you for all the pictures and the comparison shot!

 

[ringbling17]

Thank you all for your thoughts. I have asked vendor to go back and forth and then hard part is in on paper, the J is better. In real life, I did not notice the color difference much but I noticed the size difference more.
But in my mind, the J is a safer color choice. I am driving myself insane because I could not decide.
Kayla, I wonder if my decision would be similar to yours in the sense that you chose the 3.5J because you noticed the size difference between the 3.3i and 3.5j but now you're not sure if color bugs you. Thank you for all the pictures and the comparison shot!

You're welcome!
For me, I chose the J based on three things. One was I really liked the numbers on paper. I also liked its AGS number. My favorite number is 17 and I thought it was cool that I had a diamond laser inscribed with my favorite numbers. My previous H also had those number in its AGS. Lol!
Second, it was cheaper. I originally was going to upgrade to a 3 carat. So my budget was for a 3 carat. To upgrade to the 3.5 was another $6800 more. To upgrade to the 3.3 was another $11000 more. Pricewise the J was cheaper (and bigger).
Lastly, the J was recommended by my salesperson at WF. Below is the email she sent me.
So based on all those things I thought the J was for me.
Well, WF just sent me back the numbers, with the return on my setting, the difference is now only $2.5k more to get the I, so I decided to just get the I!
It will be a while to get it though bc I asked them to send it back to AGS to be recerted. The cert date is from 2015 so I wanted an updated one.
The nice thing about getting the smaller diamond is that my favorite setting is the CVB Dahlia and now that I am getting the smaller diamond, I can go ahead and get it if I still want it. I didn't want that setting again with the 3.5 J bc I was worried it would make it look too big.
Does your vendor have an upgrade policy!? You can always get the J and when you have more funds get a 3.5 J.
I know for me personally, the 3.3 I VS2 will hit my sweet spots in terms of cut, size, color and clarity, so there will be no reason to upgrade after I get it.

 

[MissGotRocks]

You're welcome!
For me, I chose the J based on three things. One was I really liked the numbers on paper. I also liked its AGS number. My favorite number is 17 and I thought it was cool that I had a diamond laser inscribed with my favorite numbers. My previous H also had those number in its AGS. Lol!
Second, it was cheaper. I originally was going to upgrade to a 3 carat. So my budget was for a 3 carat. To upgrade to the 3.5 was another $6800 more. To upgrade to the 3.3 was another $11000 more. Pricewise the J was cheaper (and bigger).
Lastly, the J was recommended by my salesperson at WF. Below is the email she sent me.
So based on all those things I thought the J was for me.
Well, WF just sent me back the numbers, with the return on my setting, the difference is now only $2.5k more to get the I, so I decided to just get the I!
It will be a while to get it though bc I asked them to send it back to AGS to be recerted. The cert date is from 2015 so I wanted an updated one.
The nice thing about getting the smaller diamond is that my favorite setting is the CVB Dahlia and now that I am getting the smaller diamond, I can go ahead and get it if I still want it. I didn't want that setting again with the 3.5 J bc I was worried it would make it look too big.
Does your vendor have an upgrade policy!? You can always get the J and when you have more funds get a 3.5 J.
I know for me personally, the 3.3 I VS2 will hit my sweet spots in terms of cut, size, color and clarity, so there will be no reason to upgrade after I get it.

And that is exactly where you need to be and what you need to be able to say. I think you have made a very wise choice and I hope you love the diamond!!

 

[MichelleMaya]

What website did you use for this?

Diamondlove123...here is a relative size difference between a 9.5 and a 9.8 on a size 6 1/2 finger.
(I had to mess with the carat size to get the right l/w on the stones so ignore carat size) 9.5 on left/9.8 on right

 

[BlingDreams]

What website did you use for this?

Www.diamdb.com