shape
carat
color
clarity

WHY do people want whiter diamonds?

I'm going to have to +1 the last 4 posts... Aljdewey's post, Yssie's post and Circe's post. Very strongly +1!!!

Alj-I got what you meant and I completely agree.
 
aljdewey|1387068675|3574398 said:
Jon, I agree that people's tastes do vary.

That's why I was exceptionally careful to say that MRBs are boring to me, and not "MRBs are boring." I was careful to say they don't appeal to me, and not "they aren't appealing".

The fact that I like something or don't care for something is a singular opinion, not a put-down of others' preferences, and I was incredibly careful to make that distinction. It's a shame that you still missed it, but I'm glad most people got what I meant.

I totally get what you mean and I can so relate to your earlier post.
My first serious diamond was a colourless princess. A perfect icecube. Loved it and appreciated the perfection, but ended up hating it as I found it boring. I then discovered antique stones and never looked back. My stone is very warm (U-V) and I love that it's such a chameleon: on some days and in specific lighting the stone looks very warm but it can also look very white. It also faces up rather white compared to the body colour.

I still appreciate MRB's but my personal prefererence are the antiques. Especially if they are warm and quirky. I also love that different people can have so different preferences. I still own jewelry with colourless diamonds and I appreciate it for what it is. To me, nothing beats a bit of warmth :love: :love: also, the warmer tint makes my 5+ ct diamond a bit more understated and quirky, making it easier to wear every day.
 
Argh, I just typed out a long reply and PS ATE it. When will I learn to write it all in Word and transfer????

Anyway. From memory, what I was saying is ... taste doesn't grow in a vacuum. We live in a highly materialistic society that uses the carrot of STUFF to justify the stick of WORK. How can we get people to work 80 hour weeks without some reward? In the growing absence of a central moral code implying that hard work will, a) get you into the VIP room of the afterlife, or, b) is its own reward, we do it by convincing people to identify with their stuff, and we do that by establishing a clear hierarchy of value.

We're supposed to prefer the filet mignon to the Grey's Papaya, the Champagne to the PBR, the D IF bling to its more colorful brethren. And, for the most part, we do - people are generally conformist. Of course, now we also have the counterculture movement that makes the "ironic" choice into an identity marker that can speak volumes (which is, I think, the only possible explanation for the continued existence of PBR), and that probably accounts for some of the growth in interest in "alternative" choices, from old cuts to fancy colors to simulants to, like, wooden wedding rings carved from indigenous North Eastern fir trees by starving artists in Brooklyn. And none of this is news to anybody here.

But as relates to DIAMONDS ... I wonder how much of it is simply consistency in identity-formation, as opposed to a pure aesthetic preference? Typing out the wordy reply to Smith above made me think about it. I'm pretty much 10 for 10 across the board in my tastes, regardless of medium. Is there anybody out there who isn't? Who eats their nouvelle cuisine off their sleek aluminum plate while seated at their iconic Eames dining table ... while wearing some great big gaudy Georgian stomacher?
 
Yssie|1387083642|3574521 said:
Some of us just genuinely prefer lower colours for aesthetic reasons, believe it or not!

Yes, I am definitely in this camp. I told my story early in this thread about the lighting in my living room. I have thought about it more and have remembered that, whenever it came time to pick a paint color, I ALWAYS chose something off-white or ivory, never bright white. I wouldn't wear any bright white clothing, either.

Also, with the whole "cut is king" thing, I realized that I have specific preferences there, too. I am very much into symmetry. I do not like asymmetry, but I don't need the most contrast or the brightest angles. I live in a rural area, far from the harshness of the city, and city lights and sounds bother me, whereas I know that a lot of people thrive in that environment.

When we were shopping for my diamond, which is a 5.01ct GIA L/VS1 Round brilliant without a perfect crown angle, we could have gone in a lot of directions and still ended up with a beautiful, sizable stone. I stuck to my true preferences, and I am really glad I did. :)
 
Circe - I think you are much more knowledgeable about clothes than I am. I've never been very interested in them and probably wouldn't recognise a gorgeous bias cut if it lay down in front of me and waved. Like I said, I do see that some lovely well-made designer clothes from yesteryear could be great vintage finds if they have been well-cared-for, but I have certainly never found anything like that. It just so happens that there are a number of vintage shops in my hood, and I go in, and the shoes have worn-down heels and I look at the clothes, and I imagine other people sweating into them, and as it happens none of the clothes have grabbed me, anyway. If I saw something really gorgeous, I'd probably feel differently. But like I said, I do not "know" clothes. Whatever language of expression clothes speak, I'm pretty deaf to it. I'm Woman at Gap! :lol:

I also grew up in a Sixties house, and my entire life I fantasised about living in old places and frequently reflected that I would never live in a new place. Four old dwellings on (currently in an oldish place, about a hundred years old) next time I'm getting something newer! I have found old houses to be, on balance, depressing. They are dark, and dirty, and cold, and require so much more cleaning. I mean, sure you can fix all those things, but only if you're willing to gut it and spend lots of bling-money on renovations. When I had this brand-new flat in London, it was cookie-cutter but it was so much more cheerful, because it was really light, bright and warm. It made me feel so much better than the other places.

When I was in my late teens and still living with my parents, I think I flattered myself that I was so much more unique than my upbringing, and that I would live in fascinating old houses and wear opera cloaks for dinner, etc etc. But as I got older I realised that life is really busy and the convenience of an efficient modern flat and modern washable fabrics free up time because they don't require the same time and care as old houses and old clothes. I gave in to my inner cookie cutter a few years ago. And anyway, I take my inner 18th century vampire with me wherever I go, so it doesn't matter about my Gap clothes or modern house. :lol:

ETA: I love the design of the metalwork and the emeralds on the bracelet that you posted, but the metal looks dark to me. I find a lot of vintage pieces have that dark look to them, which I don't like, personally. Dark metalwork, to me, is a little depressing. I guess, like the modern flat, I'm used to lighter, brighter jewellery. To me, it gives more of a "lift" to an outfit. Anyway, if you ever have cause to visit the UK, you should go to my hometown. It is a MECCA of antique jewellery shops, about 100 of them, and has many vintage clothing shops. You'd love it! Here's an example: http://www.beyondretro.com/en/help/stores/brighton/ I actually just looked and saw a couple of vintage dresses that weren't bad. Have a browse. They do international delivery. :naughty:

And you and your hubster could stay in this saucy hotel: http://www.hotelpelirocco.com/ The rooms come complete with handcuffs, some have a pole in the room, and some have letter-box-size peepholes in the bathroom doors. Only in Brighton! I've stayed there twice so can vouch for it.

My D diamonds have read this thread and they are currently in bed with depression. I hope you're proud of yourselves! :D
 
I just wanted to point out that the original posted question was "Why do people want whiter diamonds?" And not why a subset of people don't want them. The question was a general question that applies to most people shopping for diamonds. Certainly not all but the vast majority. We know this to be true based on the diamond market and industry as it exists today.
 
aljdewey|1387068675|3574398 said:
Jon, I agree that people's tastes do vary.

That's why I was exceptionally careful to say that MRBs are boring to me, and not "MRBs are boring." I was careful to say they don't appeal to me, and not "they aren't appealing".

The fact that I like something or don't care for something is a singular opinion, not a put-down of others' preferences, and I was incredibly careful to make that distinction. It's a shame that you still missed it, but I'm glad most people got what I meant.

Thank you for clarifying and my sincere apologies for any misunderstanding Alj.

Kind regards,
Jonathan
 
bgray|1387133282|3574765 said:
I just wanted to point out that the original posted question was "Why do people want whiter diamonds?" And not why a subset of people don't want them. The question was a general question that applies to most people shopping for diamonds. Certainly not all but the vast majority. We know this to be true based on the diamond market and industry as it exists today.


Because (in my opinion) people like white sparkles like driven snow, white glass, pure, crystal clear water, icecubes, like czs are supposed to immitate - the best diamond. They don't want
the look of snow after it has been trucked on by 200 people and is dirty and yellow. Now that is
how I see it.

I know for sure many here will disagree and say,

lower colored diamonds are romantic, in night light and sparkle different darker (seductive)colors from the pastel shades that a D color diamond does.

I would say the outcome is though that most people like brighter white as brighter is more cheerful and appeals to younger people more who have not developed an offshoot taste perhaps.

Diamonds in films, Tiffanys all adverts in my childhood have always looked bright and white, infact the adverts don't usually see shown any of the pastel colors of high color diamonds but usually just the bright white ie. in diamond drawings a diamond is white. That is the stereotype of diamond. Same way we don't see much advertising of colored diamonds because they are way more expensive in good stones and most cannot buy so have not been advertised to the general populace. The masses. The masses only know of white diamonds maybe.

I like colorless diamonds best but maybe I was brainwashed. I like to look at it from both sides as I do with everything, but still I like and love the brightness of the white best.

I see a diamond of J and below no matter what tone like dirty dishwashing water rather than a D which is the water and bubbles before the first plate is washed.

Used to be referred to on these boards years ago as pee colored.

I appreciate the term of antique lace though and love cream and new cream lace but antique lace to me is just dirty
 
I like really icy diamonds too, Pyramid, and possibly I'm "against" warmer diamonds for myself mainly because I've had a bad experience with my I coloured engagement ring (discussed earlier in the thread).

I have been very surprised to read in this thread and in a couple of others, recently, that icy diamonds are considered boring by some. My Ds and Es are very fiery and throw out the full colour spectrum of light, which dances against a pristine white background. So they are the embodiment of fire and ice, and they sparkle like the blazes. Imagine a fire burning on a frozen lake. Most people's reaction to them is something along the lines of, "Ohhhh, how lovely." I think if I called warm diamonds "boring" on here, I'd get eaten alive - not that I think they're boring. I could never think of any diamond as boring. But despite our "people vary" mantra, people feel very free to insult icy diamonds on here, which is why mine are currently so upset. :D
 
Wink|1386981717|3573927 said:
Yssie|1386967979|3573812 said:
Wink, I just have to say that THIS is how I finally understood what you meant by "crispness". That it isn't so much the presence or absence of the artifact itself, more how sudden the shift from one artifact to another is - so a "crisp" shift in behaviour between two adjacent facets should be a step-function, not a smoothed curve. I don't think I really understood until I started buying OECs and was able to see some examples of "non-crispness" greatly exaggerated... and it must be one of those things that once you see, you can't unsee!
Seeing this explicitly stated like this does make a lot of sense.

Yssie, I am so glad this helped. Especially for a prolific and knowledgeable poster like yourself. I felt the same way when Paul shared it with me.

Have a great weekend.

Wink

I am late to this party, but to add to Wink's comment, even the best H&A's CZ's lack that crispness because the facets do not have such a crisp polish, there is often some rounding at the facet edges, and facets are very often ever so slightly concave.
Try it and you will see that its one way to be able to pick the ladies wearing CZ's at a party :eek:
 
Pyramid|1387137961|3574808 said:
bgray|1387133282|3574765 said:
I just wanted to point out that the original posted question was "Why do people want whiter diamonds?" And not why a subset of people don't want them. The question was a general question that applies to most people shopping for diamonds. Certainly not all but the vast majority. We know this to be true based on the diamond market and industry as it exists today.


Because (in my opinion) people like white sparkles like driven snow, white glass, pure, crystal clear water, icecubes, like czs are supposed to immitate - the best diamond. They don't want
the look of snow after it has been trucked on by 200 people and is dirty and yellow. Now that is
how I see it.

I know for sure many here will disagree and say,

lower colored diamonds are romantic, in night light and sparkle different darker (seductive)colors from the pastel shades that a D color diamond does.

I would say the outcome is though that most people like brighter white as brighter is more cheerful and appeals to younger people more who have not developed an offshoot taste perhaps.

Diamonds in films, Tiffanys all adverts in my childhood have always looked bright and white, infact the adverts don't usually see shown any of the pastel colors of high color diamonds but usually just the bright white ie. in diamond drawings a diamond is white. That is the stereotype of diamond. Same way we don't see much advertising of colored diamonds because they are way more expensive in good stones and most cannot buy so have not been advertised to the general populace. The masses. The masses only know of white diamonds maybe.

I like colorless diamonds best but maybe I was brainwashed. I like to look at it from both sides as I do with everything, but still I like and love the brightness of the white best.

I see a diamond of J and below no matter what tone like dirty dishwashing water rather than a D which is the water and bubbles before the first plate is washed.

Used to be referred to on these boards years ago as pee colored.

I appreciate the term of antique lace though and love cream and new cream lace but antique lace to me is just dirty

Hi Pyramid!
Its been a while.....
:wavey: :wavey: :wavey: :wavey: :wavey:
 
Smith1942 said:
I like really icy diamonds too, Pyramid, and possibly I'm "against" warmer diamonds for myself mainly because I've had a bad experience with my I coloured engagement ring (discussed earlier in the thread).

I have been very surprised to read in this thread and in a couple of others, recently, that icy diamonds are considered boring by some. My Ds and Es are very fiery and throw out the full colour spectrum of light, which dances against a pristine white background. So they are the embodiment of fire and ice, and they sparkle like the blazes. Imagine a fire burning on a frozen lake. Most people's reaction to them is something along the lines of, "Ohhhh, how lovely." I think if I called warm diamonds "boring" on here, I'd get eaten alive - not that I think they're boring. I could never think of any diamond as boring. But despite our "people vary" mantra, people feel very free to insult icy diamonds on here, which is why mine are currently so upset. :D

Smith, I'm sorry you're insulted ... could you maybe say more about why? I've seen warm diamonds associated with everything from dingy linen to dirty teeth to urine, and, that doesn't bother me, for whatever reason (possibly because so many of my choices are, ah, unorthodox that somebody disliking my diamonds is a drop in the big platinum bucket that is my life). And that's not to say my reaction is "right," just that I'd like to understand yours. You have the stones that ARE approved of by a huge majority, so why does little-league dissent - not even insults, as far as I recall, just a general "not my thing" - bother you? I hate to think of your poor diamonds dimming their shine in a strop!
 
My D diamonds have read this thread and they are currently in bed with depression. I hope you're proud of yourselves! :D[/quote]


Nonsense! D IF's are my idea of heaven. And if I could afford it, in diamonds, I'd wear nothing else.

cheers--Sharon
 
Back to topic, this slide shows how and why cut has such a big influence on the face up and real color of a diamond.
A well cut round brilliant should have about 2.5 times the stone diameter as an average of all ray paths. Some radiants and cushions can go 3 times longer, which is why those cuts are used to make pale yellow, pink, orange, green and blue diamonds face up with a deeper more intense color. It is also why Fancy colored gems are graded for color 'face up'.

Most old cuts improve or get less face up color when recut.
When Jon's modern 'old cuts' are at their best, then the color will be reduced.

color_and_cut.jpg
 
Gary, that is a fabulously compelling graphic. Thank you for making that up.
 
Yssie|1387083642|3574521 said:
bgray|1387063173|3574367 said:
psychology. prestige. aesthetics. i dont think that there is really one reason. if one is looking for a stone and must "compromise" on color and clarity to stay within budget to get to the desired size then that implies that lower color and clarity are inferior. most people are looking for a certain size (carats)in the desired shape based on budget as the driving force. you never hear i want a D flawless stone I dont care what size it is. is there anyone that wouldnt take a D over a J if there was no price difference or budgetary constraints, all other things being equal?

Well... yes, there are people who would do exactly that.
I would.
Circe would.
Certainly the majority would agree that most settle for lower colours than they'd ideally prefer due to monetary constraints, but "most" is most certainly not "all". Some of us just genuinely prefer lower colours for aesthetic reasons, believe it or not!
Cue Kenny - people vary!


you can put me in that camp.

I find this to be an important point in this thread from Wink

I tell them nothing about the stones and ask them to choose either the one they like the best or the one they like the least.This way they are actually buying the diamond not the paper.... Often, people will have chosen a diamond well below the color range they have asked me to show them. ... More often, my clients are relieved at having chosen the diamond they truly liked best, regardless of what the paper says. For what it is worth, more of my clients choose G, H, I colors than D, E, F colors.
 
Circe|1387143357|3574856 said:
Smith1942 said:
I like really icy diamonds too, Pyramid, and possibly I'm "against" warmer diamonds for myself mainly because I've had a bad experience with my I coloured engagement ring (discussed earlier in the thread).

I have been very surprised to read in this thread and in a couple of others, recently, that icy diamonds are considered boring by some. My Ds and Es are very fiery and throw out the full colour spectrum of light, which dances against a pristine white background. So they are the embodiment of fire and ice, and they sparkle like the blazes. Imagine a fire burning on a frozen lake. Most people's reaction to them is something along the lines of, "Ohhhh, how lovely." I think if I called warm diamonds "boring" on here, I'd get eaten alive - not that I think they're boring. I could never think of any diamond as boring. But despite our "people vary" mantra, people feel very free to insult icy diamonds on here, which is why mine are currently so upset. :D

Smith, I'm sorry you're insulted ... could you maybe say more about why? I've seen warm diamonds associated with everything from dingy linen to dirty teeth to urine, and, that doesn't bother me, for whatever reason (possibly because so many of my choices are, ah, unorthodox that somebody disliking my diamonds is a drop in the big platinum bucket that is my life). And that's not to say my reaction is "right," just that I'd like to understand yours. You have the stones that ARE approved of by a huge majority, so why does little-league dissent - not even insults, as far as I recall, just a general "not my thing" - bother you? I hate to think of your poor diamonds dimming their shine in a strop!


Well, because they've been called boring and fake-looking - i.e. looking like CZ (in another recent thread.) I don't care, but they do. Their little eyes grew wider and wider, and they went a funny grey colour. One of them swallowed hard and whispered to me, "Mommy, I don't want to go to the GTG with all those people. They don't like us." And then they went and put themselves to bed, in the middle of the afternoon, and they haven't spoken since.
 
bgray|1387133282|3574765 said:
I just wanted to point out that the original posted question was "Why do people want whiter diamonds?" And not why a subset of people don't want them. The question was a general question that applies to most people shopping for diamonds. Certainly not all but the vast majority. We know this to be true based on the diamond market and industry as it exists today.

and again i will repeat myself. ... the defensiveness from people who prefer other colors is unnecessary.
 
Smith1942|1387145008|3574873 said:
Circe|1387143357|3574856 said:
Smith1942 said:
I like really icy diamonds too, Pyramid, and possibly I'm "against" warmer diamonds for myself mainly because I've had a bad experience with my I coloured engagement ring (discussed earlier in the thread).

I have been very surprised to read in this thread and in a couple of others, recently, that icy diamonds are considered boring by some. My Ds and Es are very fiery and throw out the full colour spectrum of light, which dances against a pristine white background. So they are the embodiment of fire and ice, and they sparkle like the blazes. Imagine a fire burning on a frozen lake. Most people's reaction to them is something along the lines of, "Ohhhh, how lovely." I think if I called warm diamonds "boring" on here, I'd get eaten alive - not that I think they're boring. I could never think of any diamond as boring. But despite our "people vary" mantra, people feel very free to insult icy diamonds on here, which is why mine are currently so upset. :D

Smith, I'm sorry you're insulted ... could you maybe say more about why? I've seen warm diamonds associated with everything from dingy linen to dirty teeth to urine, and, that doesn't bother me, for whatever reason (possibly because so many of my choices are, ah, unorthodox that somebody disliking my diamonds is a drop in the big platinum bucket that is my life). And that's not to say my reaction is "right," just that I'd like to understand yours. You have the stones that ARE approved of by a huge majority, so why does little-league dissent - not even insults, as far as I recall, just a general "not my thing" - bother you? I hate to think of your poor diamonds dimming their shine in a strop!


Well, because they've been called boring and fake-looking - i.e. looking like CZ (in another recent thread.) I don't care, but they do. Their little eyes grew wider and wider, and they went a funny grey colour. One of them swallowed hard and whispered to me, "Mommy, I don't want to go to the GTG with all those people. They don't like us." And then they went and put themselves to bed, in the middle of the afternoon, and they haven't spoken since.

Hee, well, you can reassure them that they're not alone - they make CZs in a variety of colors, I believe! So the same could be said of everything from warm diamonds to zircons to goodness only knows what else.

I DO think the biggest difference is in craftsmanship, when it comes to CZs vs. diamonds. A good setting? Almost (almost) inevitably signals quality. And since you shop the likes of Asprey .... :love:
 
Circe|1387145222|3574875 said:
Smith1942|1387145008|3574873 said:
Circe|1387143357|3574856 said:
Smith1942 said:
I like really icy diamonds too, Pyramid, and possibly I'm "against" warmer diamonds for myself mainly because I've had a bad experience with my I coloured engagement ring (discussed earlier in the thread).

I have been very surprised to read in this thread and in a couple of others, recently, that icy diamonds are considered boring by some. My Ds and Es are very fiery and throw out the full colour spectrum of light, which dances against a pristine white background. So they are the embodiment of fire and ice, and they sparkle like the blazes. Imagine a fire burning on a frozen lake. Most people's reaction to them is something along the lines of, "Ohhhh, how lovely." I think if I called warm diamonds "boring" on here, I'd get eaten alive - not that I think they're boring. I could never think of any diamond as boring. But despite our "people vary" mantra, people feel very free to insult icy diamonds on here, which is why mine are currently so upset. :D

Smith, I'm sorry you're insulted ... could you maybe say more about why? I've seen warm diamonds associated with everything from dingy linen to dirty teeth to urine, and, that doesn't bother me, for whatever reason (possibly because so many of my choices are, ah, unorthodox that somebody disliking my diamonds is a drop in the big platinum bucket that is my life). And that's not to say my reaction is "right," just that I'd like to understand yours. You have the stones that ARE approved of by a huge majority, so why does little-league dissent - not even insults, as far as I recall, just a general "not my thing" - bother you? I hate to think of your poor diamonds dimming their shine in a strop!


Well, because they've been called boring and fake-looking - i.e. looking like CZ (in another recent thread.) I don't care, but they do. Their little eyes grew wider and wider, and they went a funny grey colour. One of them swallowed hard and whispered to me, "Mommy, I don't want to go to the GTG with all those people. They don't like us." And then they went and put themselves to bed, in the middle of the afternoon, and they haven't spoken since.

Hee, well, you can reassure them that they're not alone - they make CZs in a variety of colors, I believe! So the same could be said of everything from warm diamonds to zircons to goodness only knows what else.

I DO think the biggest difference is in craftsmanship, when it comes to CZs vs. diamonds. A good setting? Almost (almost) inevitably signals quality. And since you shop the likes of Asprey .... :love:

I just did an ETA above but will move it here since you were quick off the mark with your reply:

Nah, I'm not insulted, I don't care at all. I just think it's funny the way that people freely say negative things about icy diamonds on here and no one really says a thing, but if an icy diamond lover insulted the warmer stones - not that I have any urge to do so, as I think all diamonds are beautiful - I am sure there would be some very fiery responses! To put it another way, you can escape unscathed criticising icy diamonds here but you'd get verbally burnt if you tried that with warmer stones.

The things you repeat about warmer diamonds above are awful. I think they haven't been said here on PS though, have they?

Sadly, I don't really shop at Asprey. The only things I can afford in there are the silver pendant that I bought, and the silver compact, Which. Shall. Be. Mine. :naughty:
 
bgray|1387145060|3574874 said:
bgray|1387133282|3574765 said:
I just wanted to point out that the original posted question was "Why do people want whiter diamonds?" And not why a subset of people don't want them. The question was a general question that applies to most people shopping for diamonds. Certainly not all but the vast majority. We know this to be true based on the diamond market and industry as it exists today.

and again i will repeat myself. ... the defensiveness from people who prefer other colors is unnecessary.

Well, yes and no. If they (we?) were just barreling in, it'd be odd and distracting. But since it's mostly been in response to people saying "Because the alternatives are icky," that seems relevant to the topic. Do people only want white diamonds because they don't want the others? If that's the case, why want diamonds at all? It's an interesting sociological issue! I say we delve as deeply as possible.

Let's try this: say why you (plural you) like the hue you like without comparing it to anything else. I like the J-M range because I appreciate the chameleon-like qualities, and because I think fire is affected, even if it's only incrementally, and I want the fieriest fiery stones I can get my grubby little hands on. I also find those hues to be in line with the cuts I like (also, oddly, also lend themselves to increased fire), and since that means antiques, it reinforces a general aesthetic preference for old things, making it in keeping with my general image, self-and-otherwise.

Anybody else wanna play?
 
Smith1942|1387145482|3574878 said:
Circe|1387145222|3574875 said:
Smith1942|1387145008|3574873 said:
Circe|1387143357|3574856 said:
Smith1942 said:
I like really icy diamonds too, Pyramid, and possibly I'm "against" warmer diamonds for myself mainly because I've had a bad experience with my I coloured engagement ring (discussed earlier in the thread).

I have been very surprised to read in this thread and in a couple of others, recently, that icy diamonds are considered boring by some. My Ds and Es are very fiery and throw out the full colour spectrum of light, which dances against a pristine white background. So they are the embodiment of fire and ice, and they sparkle like the blazes. Imagine a fire burning on a frozen lake. Most people's reaction to them is something along the lines of, "Ohhhh, how lovely." I think if I called warm diamonds "boring" on here, I'd get eaten alive - not that I think they're boring. I could never think of any diamond as boring. But despite our "people vary" mantra, people feel very free to insult icy diamonds on here, which is why mine are currently so upset. :D

Smith, I'm sorry you're insulted ... could you maybe say more about why? I've seen warm diamonds associated with everything from dingy linen to dirty teeth to urine, and, that doesn't bother me, for whatever reason (possibly because so many of my choices are, ah, unorthodox that somebody disliking my diamonds is a drop in the big platinum bucket that is my life). And that's not to say my reaction is "right," just that I'd like to understand yours. You have the stones that ARE approved of by a huge majority, so why does little-league dissent - not even insults, as far as I recall, just a general "not my thing" - bother you? I hate to think of your poor diamonds dimming their shine in a strop!


Well, because they've been called boring and fake-looking - i.e. looking like CZ (in another recent thread.) I don't care, but they do. Their little eyes grew wider and wider, and they went a funny grey colour. One of them swallowed hard and whispered to me, "Mommy, I don't want to go to the GTG with all those people. They don't like us." And then they went and put themselves to bed, in the middle of the afternoon, and they haven't spoken since.

Hee, well, you can reassure them that they're not alone - they make CZs in a variety of colors, I believe! So the same could be said of everything from warm diamonds to zircons to goodness only knows what else.

I DO think the biggest difference is in craftsmanship, when it comes to CZs vs. diamonds. A good setting? Almost (almost) inevitably signals quality. And since you shop the likes of Asprey .... :love:

I just did an ETA above but will move it here since you were quick off the mark with your reply:

Nah, I'm not insulted, I don't care at all. I just think it's funny the way that people freely say negative things about icy diamonds on here and no one really says a thing, but if an icy diamond lover insulted the warmer stones - not that I have any urge to do so, as I think all diamonds are beautiful - I am sure there would be some very fiery responses! To put it another way, you can escape unscathed criticising icy diamonds here but you'd get verbally burnt if you tried that with warmer stones.

The things you repeat about warmer diamonds above are awful. I think they haven't been said here on PS though, have they?

Sadly, I don't really shop at Asprey. The only things I can afford in there are the silver pendant that I bought, and the silver compact, Which. Shall. Be. Mine. :naughty:

Heheheh - I'm waiting patiently while my son drags his dinner out for as long as is humanly possible. I might be here a while.

The commentary on warmer diamonds is all quoted from the board, most of it from this thread ... and it's a drop in the bucket compared to the IRL general opinion, which makes all of us who like great big warm diamonds into posers and wannabes.

Don't care! I think they're purty. And at the end of the day, as much as I appreciate their beauty, it is - as my 7 years on this board attest! - it's actually the ways in which they act as synechdoche for class and gender, and the conversations which they engender that I appreciate most. It's like my window onto navel-gazing without any of the guilt I get from academic or parenting boards. :praise:
 
Garry I will see your image and raise with this one.
Reading Garry's post about light rays first, why are some areas a deeper yellow than others?
This is the DC stock virtual emerald cut model in yellow. Equivalent to a fairly poor cut emerald cut.

emeraldcutcolor.jpg
 
Circe|1387145658|3574879 said:
bgray|1387145060|3574874 said:
bgray|1387133282|3574765 said:
I just wanted to point out that the original posted question was "Why do people want whiter diamonds?" And not why a subset of people don't want them. The question was a general question that applies to most people shopping for diamonds. Certainly not all but the vast majority. We know this to be true based on the diamond market and industry as it exists today.

and again i will repeat myself. ... the defensiveness from people who prefer other colors is unnecessary.

Well, yes and no. If they (we?) were just barreling in, it'd be odd and distracting. But since it's mostly been in response to people saying "Because the alternatives are icky," that seems relevant to the topic. Do people only want white diamonds because they don't want the others? If that's the case, why want diamonds at all? It's an interesting sociological issue! I say we delve as deeply as possible.

Let's try this: say why you (plural you) like the hue you like without comparing it to anything else. I like the J-M range because I appreciate the chameleon-like qualities, and because I think fire is affected, even if it's only incrementally, and I want the fieriest fiery stones I can get my grubby little hands on. I also find those hues to be in line with the cuts I like (also, oddly, also lend themselves to increased fire), and since that means antiques, it reinforces a general aesthetic preference for old things, making it in keeping with my general image, self-and-otherwise.

Anybody else wanna play?


I'll play. I like icy diamonds because I'm really a winter person. I detest summer - all hot and sweaty and constantly feeling as if you're about to faint. I like winter landscapes, with frozen ice and twinkling frost. D diamonds remind me of this:

015_inverno_a_bled.jpg
 
Circe|1387145912|3574881 said:
it's actually the ways in which they act as synechdoche for class and gender, and the conversations which they engender that I appreciate most. It's like my window onto navel-gazing without any of the guilt I get from academic or parenting boards. :praise:

What a lovely word. I pride myself on my usable vocabulary, and I admit this one sent me running to my dictionary to look up. (Well, actually I googled it, it is quicker!) Thank you for broadening my vocabulary today!

Wink
 
Circe et al--I never made any negative remarks about non white and/or lower colored stones. I was merely commenting on the question posed. I also didnt think anyone was saying that people who liked warmer colored stones were posers and wannabees--or whatever that comment was. My own preferences ----I love super white diamonds in step cuts. They seem to demand to be super white because they are so angular and crisp. I don't like modern rounds. They look like CZ's to me especially when very white. I love OEC and mine cuts and I find that they look more antique and "right" in softer colors.
 
nevermind
 
Wink said:
What a lovely word. I pride myself on my usable vocabulary, and I admit this one sent me running to my dictionary to look up. (Well, actually I googled it, it is quicker!) Thank you for broadening my vocabulary today!

Wink

Wink, that made my day - I love finding new words, too (the other day I discovered "otiose," and it was like finding a little gift from the universe). So thanks, in turn, to you!
 
bgray said:
Circe et al--I never made any negative remarks about non white and/or lower colored stones. I was merely commenting on the question posed. I also didnt think anyone was saying that people who liked warmer colored stones were posers and wannabees--or whatever that comment was. My own preferences ----I love super white diamonds in step cuts. They seem to demand to be super white because they are so angular and crisp. I don't like modern rounds. They look like CZ's to me especially when very white. I love OEC and mine cuts and I find that they look more antique and "right" in softer colors.

BG, you don't have to explain - I get that. And I'm sorry, in turn, if you felt like I was passive aggressively calling you out (I really wasn't: if anything, my flaw is generally being aggressive-aggressive). But I'm aware warm stones aren't everybody's cuppa, which is, I suppose, why I wanted to query Smith (hopefully politely and not intrusively) - white stones ARE supposed to be the general standard, so I wondered what had stung in this thread. I figure we're all only talking about our own tastes/experiences, right?

P.S. - I so find it fascinating that on the board where I saw the comment about people with lower color diamonds being ... aspirational, shall we say, there is a RIDICULOUS amount of double-talk about all stones to keep from hurting anybody's feelings. Yikes! It's like it goes to BOTH extremes on there. Do not want!
 
What is interesting to me in reading this thread is that when I first joined PS anything below an I was very frowned upon by pros pro-sumers and consumers alike. I/si eyeclean top cut was the hottest combo going with vendors not be able to keep them in stock.
Then the huge DeBeers price increases hit and Mara got a J then J was kewl but lower was looked down on.
Now PS as a whole is open to all colors of diamonds based on personal preferences.
It has been an interesting ride that's for sure.
 
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