Would you upgrade your earrings?

[snlee]

MC brought up an interesting question in another thread. There's a lot of talk about whether to go with 'ready set to go' studs or build your own so you have the option to upgrade. How many people will actually upgrade their earrings? Do you want to? Do you have plans to X years down the line? What is your ideal size?

I have a pair of ACA .70ctw, I, VS2, WG 3 prong martini studs from WF and I absolutely love them! I wear them everyday. I honestly haven't gotten the upgrade bug for my earrings. They are perfect for everyday wear. Maybe if I have a lot of extra money to spend I'd buy another pair of larger ones to wear for special occasions. I definitely wouldn't turn down a larger pair of studs! But right now, that's not a possibility and I'm content with what I have.

 

[chrono]

I would upgrade them up to 1.5 ct each ear max. Any more than that would look too gaudy to me.

 

[Ellen]

I have 1.16 ctw., upgradable, from WF. I honestly don''t know if I ever will or not. But I wanted the option so if I do, it''s not near as big of an amount of money as buying them all over again.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

I have a pair of .30 ctw studs and I love them but one of the posts is starting to bend. They''re those screw backs and I really don''t like them. I wish I could get a regular back on them but they''re too thick. So I might upgrade just to get some that aren''t screw backs

. I''ll have to talk to hubby about that. Hmmmm.....

Jess

 

[MichelleCarmen]

A few years back, I tried on a pair of 2 ctw studs and they looked PERFECT on my ears! lol That said, I would never actually wear earrings that big. I would be embarrassed. I'm kind of shy when it comes to jewelry and would rather have LOTS and LOTS of diamond pieces with smaller diamonds (under 3/4 ct.) than one or two items with larger stones that would attract too much attention.

My first studs were .50 ctw and I loved them while I wore then, but now that I've upgraded to .82 ctw (ACAs) I realize that these new ones are the perfect size for daily wear and I wouldn't trade them in even if I did get another pair. I mostly just work from home and take care of my kids, so it'd be a bit much to run to the grocery store in $5k earrings

. If, eventually, I can afford it, I would love 1.5 ctw for special occasions, BUT, really, I think if I had that much money to blow diamonds, I'd probably have a hard time deciding whether to get the bigger stones or purchase a few pendants, instead.

(oh and I still have my .50 ct. I'm not sure what I am going to do with them. They're not that well cut, but I think they could be set into some sort of bezel settings. . .)

 

[asscherisme]

I have .51 and .52 ideal cut (H&A) H/VS1 stones, 1.03 ctw. I LOVE them. I wear them every day. They are big enough to be noticed. But since I''m a jeans and tshirt kinda girl, stay at home mom they are not too big for the grocery store or playground or volunteer work at my kids schools.

Would I upgrade? I would love to get .75 each ear. But my stones are not upgradable. And right now, its just not a priority. I just got an emerald cut 3 stone ring after many years of marriage. And I think it will be many more before another major purchase.

If I could do it again, I wish I had bought from someplace with an upgrade policy so I had the option. Becuase I would be starting over again.

My daughters are small. I think if I do ever go larger to the .75ct each ear, I would put my current studs in the safe deposit box and then present each of my daughters (I have 2 daughters) with a nice diamond pendant when they graduate from high school or college, depending on how responsble they are with their stuff. How cool would that be

I figure it gives me an excuse if I ever do upgrade my earrings since I would be saving my current stones for my girls. I think .51 or .52 stone would make a lovely pendant from mom to daughter

 

[Ellen]

Date: 7/27/2007 4:45:24 PM
Author: amylikesrocks

My daughters are small. I think if I do ever go larger to the .75ct each ear, I would put my current studs in the safe deposit box and then present each of my daughters (I have 2 daughters) with a nice diamond pendant when they graduate from high school or college, depending on how responsble they are with their stuff. How cool would that be

I figure it gives me an excuse if I ever do upgrade my earrings since I would be saving my current stones for my girls. I think .51 or .52 stone would make a lovely pendant from mom to daughter

Really cool.

 

[Sundial]

I gave my first pair of diamond studs (.33 carats each) to my daughter when I received .75 carat each princess cut studs for my 50th birthday. I wasn't really all that enchanted with those and I ended up trading them in on 1.25 carat each ideal cut round studs in three prong martini settings. If my local jeweler hadn't had an upgrade policy I would have been stuck with studs that I really didn't love. I can't see me upgrading again, but I have large earlobes so I'll never say never!

 

[lumpkin]

I think it really depends on the person. Personally, I think 1 ctw earrings is ideal, and if I got nice ones I probably would never upgrade them. Then again, I''m very prone to lose earrings so that is one instance where I would not buy anything too expensive (read, not diamonds, LOL!). I would be heartbroken if I lost a diamond earring. I lost a pearl one once and I was very upset.

 

[FireGoddess]

An interesting question, one I thought a lot about recently! In buying my baby bezel studs from WF I initially decided on RSG stones and thought oh no, I''d never want to upgrade....0.4 ct in each ear plus a bezel is nothing to sneeze at. And then as the weekend passed on I thought, ''gee, never is a long time, what if I want to go bigger years down the road...I''d have to start all over again $$$ wise...'' and then POOF, I called WF and paid a teeny bit more for stones I can upgrade later if I choose to. Will I? Well, not for quite a while I''m sure, but I''m definitely happier with having kept the option open.

I think a full ct would look gorgeous in each ear. Maybe someday.

 

[MaryAlaina]

I bought Expert Selection stones from WF, I think .82 ctw, and had them set by WF into the martini 3 prong setting. I have small (attached) ear lobes, so they are the perfect size for me to wear every day. If I did ever buy anything bigger, I''d just buy another pair and not upgrade because I love this pair so much. (I don''t think I''ve every taken a picture of these....too hard to do good earring shots!)

 

[snlee]

Chrono, I think my max size would be 1 ct in each ear but who knows as I've never tried on that size before.

Ellen and FG, I agree that it's always nice to have the option to upgrade!

Diva, I hate screwback earrings too! That's a good reason to upgrade!

MC, I'm like you, I rather have many smaller diamond pieces than one large diamond piece.

amy, I think giving your daughters a nice diamond pendant when they graduate is a great idea! I love that!

Sundial, that's great your local jeweler has an upgrade policy. Yep, gotta be careful to never say never!

lumpkin, I would be heartbroken too if I lost my diamond studs! That's part of the reason why I rather have many smaller diamond pieces than one large diamond piece. Of course there's always insurance but that can get costly and if I'm not wearing my large studs too often is insurance even worth it?

MA, I love my diamond studs too and I don't think I could ever part with them! You should try to take some pictures of your studs! I'm sure you could get some great shots! Your ring pictures are awesome!

 

[marcy]

I have 2 pairs of diamond studs, each 1/2 ct. The yg are RB and they are the perfect size for me. The wg are PC and I might want to upgrade them to 3/4 ct. sometime because PC are smaller than the RB. I tend to like 4mm size studs. The PC studs are an upgrade. I had 1/3 ct. and upgraded them to 1/2 ct last year.

I had some 6mm aqua studs and just felt they were too big on my ear so I had them made in to leverback dangles.

 

[Fly Girl]

I have 0.85 ctw (.42/.43) J SI1 GIA Excellent (HCA 1.4) from Blue Nile set in locally platinum martinis. I think these are a great size for me, and I won''t be upgrading. I don''t want to, either. I have lots of colored gemstone earrings, and I know that much larger than these (say 6 to 7 mm in diameter) and they are simply too big to be comfortable. My ideal size is about 5 mm in diameter. Mine are 4.85 mm, and that''s close enough.

I guess you can say that these are my upgrades from 20 years ago. My husband bought me diamond studs when our first child was born (that kid is now 21). So sweet of hubby, but they were "medium" grade maul stones, and they had no sparkle at all.

I''d estimate that they were about 0.50 ctw, and I managed to lose them years ago. No regrets.

 

[parrot tulips]

I bought myself a pair of .98 ctw studs from Joe Escobar for my last birthday with the option to upgrade. I bought them with the intent to upgrade. I don''t see that happening anymore because I''ve simply fallen in love with them (understated, but the sparkle definitely catches your eye). I also became more aware of other people''s earrings once I got my own. Living and working in an affluent area (Marin County), I was surprised to see that mine are actually a pretty good size compared to those around me.

 

[NovemberBride]

I have 2 ctw studs and they are the perfect size for me. I wear them almost everyday and think that they look as good with jeans as with a formal gown. I am in my late twenties now and I think that anything much larger would look a little silly on me at this point, especially considering that I am only 5''1". However, in the distant future, I could see wanting to upgrade to a larger pair (maybe 1.5 each/ 3ctw). My stones are upgradable, however, they were a law school graduation gift from my parents and I am pretty sentimental and can''t see myself tradng them in. I would probably want to get a new pair and have the old stones reset into a piece of jewelry that could become a family heirloom.

 

[Mara]

I have .70ctw right now and I plan to upgrade later this fall most likely, or next year for sure...I would like ideally 1c each ear eventually but not sure if that''s cost effective...so maybe .75c each. I probably wouldn''t purchase RSG because I always planned to upgrade...but if I got something like small bezel set studs that were like .50ctw I might do RSG since I''d always want to keep something like that since it''d be classic.

 

[cutey TT]

I love my current set (2.25 ctw) and they are plenty big, but I bought upgradeable stones from WF because I thought *maybe* someday down the road I might want to go as large as 1.5 in each ear (3.0 ctw). That would be my absolute max though...and I would still have to pay a pretty penny to upgrade, so I''m not sure that it would really be worth it.

Someone posted a pair of 3-prong martinis w/ removeable micropave jackets from Leon Mege and those would be my ideal setting should I ever upgrade to the larger pair.

My sister got the same bezel set earrings as FG and I would love a pair of those, around the same size (~0.8 ctw) just for fun because they are so stunning.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

As of today, I have no plans to upgrade my studs (1.12 per ear). But I saw a lovely pair of studs yesterday (2.25 per ear) and was very tempted

.....been thinking about it all morning.....

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

I am very happy with my 2.12 ctw earrings. They are sparkle bombs and I love the size. Thing is, I have so many earrings that I love to switch off, my present diamond studs get worn, perhaps, one a week...or two. For me getting larger studs, would be unnecessary. Now that 4.03 RB, micropave halo and split shank RHR, is another story!!!!!!!!!

cheers--Sharon

 

[Stone Hunter]

HOT topic. This has been on my mind alot lately.

I bought my first diamond studs at the maul. Don''t remember cost or ctwt. Have the paperwork somewhere. Then I traded those in at Service Merch. remember them? They took anyone''s diamonds if their Gemologist OK''d it. So my upgrades are .50ctw and I''ve had them for 14 years!!!

Almost time to upgrade again but Service Merch is out of business....The stones they gave me look pretty good though and now that I do PS I''ve louped them. So they could become sidestones in a ring or be given to my daughter (in 20 yrs) or maybe I could find a place to trade them in?

Right now I''m thinking of getting something at WF and then trading up whenever I have cash until I get to the stud size I''m cofmy with.

 

[Stone Hunter]

Date: 7/27/2007 10:00:37 PM
Author: marcyc
I have 2 pairs of diamond studs, each 1/2 ct. The yg are RB and they are the perfect size for me. The wg are PC and I might want to upgrade them to 3/4 ct. sometime because PC are smaller than the RB. I tend to like 4mm size studs. The PC studs are an upgrade. I had 1/3 ct. and upgraded them to 1/2 ct last year.

I had some 6mm aqua studs and just felt they were too big on my ear so I had them made in to leverback dangles.

Do you have small earlobes? I do, so I wonder if 6mm would be too big for my ears too?

Now I have to figure out how to measure my gemstone earrings in mm... Any ideas?

Wait maybe my larger earrings are dangles and not studs?? I really need to go through all of my jewelry and clean it and update it. YEAH that''ll make my husband happy. NOT

 

[3hearts]

I got the upgrade bug after I got my .50 each ear (martini''s) to .80 each ear (8 prong''s). I asked WF for a size comparison and hopefully this image shows. I really wanted 1.0 in each ear, but could not make it happen. When I got the .80, I thought they were the perfect size. I wear my studs daily and find myself craving the 1 carats. It doesn''t look like much of a size difference, so I think its all in my head

 

[butterfly 17]

I don''t think i would ever upgrade my earrings as I am happy with the size. I suppose it would be nice to have that option though, so I did go with a pair of upgradeable ones, just in case. But honestly, I doubt I will ever do it as anything bigger than what I have now I would probably never wear and because they are bezel set, it would bother me to have to pay to have them reset.

 

[Lynn B]

Well, with the exception of my little baby bezel studs from T&Co (.10 ctw), I decided a long time ago to never buy ANY diamonds that aren''t upgradable!!! I''m just too SIZE-GREEDY!!!

That being said, my current studs are .90 tcw and they are a lovely, noticeable, size. I also got them for a great price, missing the 1 tcw benchmark price hike, which was nice.

BUUUUT, if I ever have a few thousand laying around, that I just don''t know what to do with

, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have 2 ctw. OK, I''d settle for 1.5 tcw!!!

 

[marcy]

Stone Hunter. My earlobes are probably small; the 4mm studs just seem to look the best on me. I would say they cover about 1/3 of my earlobe with about the same size of ear lobe left on each side. You can find a ruler with mm on it to determine the size of your studs. You measure rounds right across the center. I also think the size of studs you like is what you are used to wearing.

This thread has me thinking I might want to upgrade my dia solitaire pendant someday. It's a 1/2 ct right out of the showcase without paperwork so I don't know it's exact carat weight. It is by far the nicest 1/2 carat I've ever found in a solitaire without certification though. I would say eyeballing it that its a very good cut, at least an H Si diamond. I think it slipped through somehow because most mall solitaire pendants Ive looked at are cloudy, poorly cut with visible inclusions. It was a lucky find for me.

 

[Stone Hunter]

Date: 7/28/2007 6:33:30 PM
Author: 3hearts
I got the upgrade bug after I got my .50 each ear (martini''s) to .80 each ear (8 prong''s). I asked WF for a size comparison and hopefully this image shows. I really wanted 1.0 in each ear, but could not make it happen. When I got the .80, I thought they were the perfect size. I wear my studs daily and find myself craving the 1 carats. It doesn''t look like much of a size difference, so I think its all in my head

Yes that photo is a great help for earrings or e rings! the .83s really do look close to the 1ct! Congrats! on having such wonderfully big studs!

 

[Stone Hunter]

Date: 7/29/2007 9:45:42 AM
Author: marcyc
Stone Hunter. My earlobes are probably small; the 4mm studs just seem to look the best on me. I would say they cover about 1/3 of my earlobe with about the same size of ear lobe left on each side. You can find a ruler with mm on it to determine the size of your studs. You measure rounds right across the center. I also think the size of studs you like is what you are used to wearing.

This thread has me thinking I might want to upgrade my dia solitaire pendant someday. It''s a 1/2 ct right out of the showcase without paperwork so I don''t know it''s exact carat weight. It is by far the nicest 1/2 carat I''ve ever found in a solitaire without certification though. I would say eyeballing it that its a very good cut, at least an H Si diamond. I think it slipped through somehow because most mall solitaire pendants Ive looked at are cloudy, poorly cut with visible inclusions. It was a lucky find for me.

Congrats! on your solitaire! GREAT find. Most maul diamonds look grey to me, maybe they have so many inclusions it colors the stone?

I have small earlobes too! This was a very helpful post. I looked through some of my earrings and I realize that most are not studs. One pair of studs are amber colored rectangles that are too big for my ears but I inherited them so they mean alot.

My smaller lobe is about 12mm across so the 4mm diamond studs look pretty good. BUT I have Tanz in a bezel setting that with the bezel are 7mm! Now that''s as large as I can go and maybe if it were all stone it''d be too large... That would be 1.25 ct in each ear!! And maybe the 1ct at 6.5ct would be a little big too.

So anything between 4mm and 6mm might work well...not that I have the cash for that right now BUT it''s good to be prepared.

 

[diamondfan]

I was given one carat each studs by my husband on my 25th birthday, 4 months after our wedding. I am now 41, and when I was 35 he gave me new ones. I kept the old ones and set them in a paved bezel on a wire. I would leave an option open to upgrade if I could, it seems worthwhile to leave yourself that choice if you are able to. I have a lot of long hair and my lobes are not tiny, so I feel comfortable with mine, but the ones in the bezel on the wire are also great, since they hang down a bit off my ear. They are fine quality, I am sure nothing great, but they work for daily use. My other studs are lovely, from TIffany's, not sure if they have an upgrade policy on earrings like they do on e rings!

 

[aljdewey]

I have upgraded my earrings.

First I bought .80 cwt studs....then I upgraded them the 1.10 cwt studs.

Then, I added leverback dangles for 1.50 cwt.

I didn''t initially envision wanting larger earrings, but over time, it WAS nice to have the option to upgrade them. I think as we get older, our jewelry gets a bit bolder, too, so upgradability is a big thing for me.