Have you Suffered "Screen Shock"?

[pqcollectibles]

An Internet sales person commented recently that some of her customers suffer "screen shock". I asked what she meant, and she said, "People order our products and mentally expect them to be as large in person as the pictures they''ve seen on their computer screens." That got me to wondering about all the "larger than life" pics we see everyday of spectacular diamonds and gorgeous rings.

 

[hoorray]

I knew my upgraded stone was going to be big at 2.5c. I had held it up to my hand and compared it to smaller and larger stones before we purchased it. However, I wasn't prepared for how big it looked once mounted. It took a while to get used to it, but I did, and now it looks both normal and perfect to me.

(Others still comment on it, so I assume at first look, it looks big!).

 

[aljdewey]

I approached the net with a healthy dose of realism.....seriously, diamonds on the screen look as big as my whole fist! I KNOW they aren't gonna be that big.




However, I did go out to the stores locally and try on rings....paying particular attention to the diameters of the stones (less so than the weight). Considering that I was shopping in the just shy of a carat range, I was looking at about 6.4mm or so.




Because I ended up with a gorgeous 1.24 stone from WF, it measures 7 mm and seemed "HUGE" when it saw it mounted in the ring box and even MORE HUGE once I put it on.




I've had it over a month now, and it's STILL enormous! For me, personally, anything else would be overkill. I couldn't be happier with my choice.

 

[icelady]

There was not an answer for my situation! One of the reasons I chose to go through a B&M was because I am so visual that I had to see, in person, the stone in comparison with others. I had to know I was getting "the right" stone. I knew that there would absolutely be a difference in size and overall appearance with pictures versus seeing it in person.

Working with the internet vendors would not afford me the opportunity to compare them with one another prior to purchasing. My purchase was for a fancy cut stone.

I would, however, consider purchasing round diamond stud earrings from an internet vendor since there is great standards on this cut. I hate to admit it (being so anal that is), but I won't be surprised by the size difference on the earrings (on screen vs in hand) because I will have cut out paper patterns to the size for comparison!! OK, now I have told all of you about my little perfectionism issue!

 

[fire&ice]

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On 1/21/2004 11:21:25 AM lop wrote:

I knew my upgraded stone was going to be big at 2.5c. I had held it up to my hand and compared it to smaller and larger stones before we purchased it. However, I wasn't prepared for how big it looked once mounted. It took a while to get used to it, but I did, and now it looks both normal and perfect to me.

(Others still comment on it, so I assume at first look, it looks big!). ----------------

Hah! The *exact* same thing happened to me. It was soooo big I was thinking I made a *big* mistake. But, like you, I've adjusted to the size.

 

[Mara]

Well I haven't suffered screen shock in terms of DIAMONDS....but I did experience it with some of the items we got for our engagement party.




I had placed a few hurricane shaped vases from Pottery Barn on our registry and got them as gifts last summer. Tear open the box and HOLY CRAP what the hell is this monster vase!!! Went back to the website, on the screen it looks very small and tasteful and quite unobtrusive! In reality, the 'medium' sized vase was about 18" tall! It looked like the Jolly Green Giant's wine glass. Greg & I had quite the laugh. Anyhow, actually the vase is great for huge candles and the like...but I will never forget opening the box to pull out this massive wine glass vase thing and thinking 'But it looked so much smaller online!'.




I actually had the same thing happen with some platters I got from C&B through our registry...they looked 'normal sized' on the registry...and in reality they are monstrous. It's funny because it really showed me how easily we quantify online images as 'normal sized'...which in reality is simply defined as 'how acceptable YOU feel the size is'. I didn't even bother to look at the sizing on the description...because my brain filled in for me how big I *wanted* it to be. Then in reality I was shocked. Sooo odd.




Now of course I always look at the sizing and heights of things before I buy because the pictures quite obviously are deceiving!

 

[valeria101]

You bet!

Once upon a time there was this little, old 15" monitor on my desk when a huge 17" LC moved in! And when this then-prospective internet buyer saw how different in size, color and detail a certain designer's pieces looked on the big monitor: oh well, that was screen shock. Of course, I took the "size" issue very seriously asap and I do schetch or just try to imagine the object based on whatever numbes available whenever size may be a concern.

And there was yet another lesson incorporated then and there: LC are dicroic and the effect taught me never to take the color of anything on screen for granted.

Hope that this thread gets saved in full sight somewhere (Recycled?). One never knows hwo helpful this basics are...

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I've never had any sort of shock with jewelry I've purchased because I ALWAYS try on something similar to what I'm thinking of getting beforehand. Last spring, I had been eyeing the silver Floating Heart necklace on Tiffany & Co.'s website and almost ordered right then and there, but luckily, at the last minute, I decided it would be worth the extra effort and time of getting my toddlers fed, ready, etc., to drive over to the closest Tiffany's and try it on in person. Well, as I discovered, the medium size that I had been so sure would look great, just didn't suit me AT ALL

, BUT, the small sized one looked fabulous and I bought it and I couldn't be happier with the necklace and wear it all the time. . . This taught me that you *shouldn't* buy based on what you think may look good, you have to try jewelery on just like clothes, too

I couldn't imagine buying a spending THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of dollars and not have at least seen beforehand what a .75 carat, 1 carat, 1.5 carat, etc., looks like on my finger. . .that's just about as irresponsible as purchasing without properly investigating the cut, clarity, color. . .!

Michelle

 

[Patty]

I'll let you know when I get my ring how it looks compared to the Vatche 3 stone pictures I've seen online. I just got a new 19" screen for my computer and it's SO much better than my old one! My old one would not go light enough. I bought a purse on eBay once that I thought was dark brown and it turned out to be an orangish brown. When I had my loose diamond here, the diamond looked BIG but the inclusion looked small so that was good.

 

[niceice]

This phenomena is not restricted to on-line jewelry stores, we hear about it daily from customers who are walking about comparing jewelry offered by the various stores here in town... One of our competitors runs these newspaper ads that show these huge pieces of jewelry for $199.00 but people miss the part that indicates the total carat weight is like a quarter carat! It's an absolute riot! We've been standing there talking with him when people walk in and ask to see something from the advertisement, they always say something like "ohhhhh (long pause) it's so small" as if they expected the thing to be the same size as the picture in the advertisement which is noted as "enlarged to show detail"...

 

[pqcollectibles]

I apologize Icelady, for not including a response for the folks that did not buy on-line. I tried to think of resonable responses to the question and didn't even consider folks that found their diamond locally.

Results are interesting so far, and so are the comments!

 

[glitterata]

I reset a diamond, so obviously I already knew how big the stone was, but when I went to see the setting in person after being attracted to it online, I was pleasantly surprised by how delicate it was.

I once ordered a TV stand from Hold Everything & found it about twice as big as I'd expected.

I get a lot of stuff from ebay, and there's always a surprise or two. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. For example, I bought what I thought were coffee cups to match my grandmother's china pattern, and when they arrived I found they were demitasses. Very nice ones, but we don't drink much espresso.

I think this is one reason it's so important to take a picture of the object in context--on someone's hand, next to a telephone, with a rose in it, with a cat sniffing it, etc etc.

 

[pqcollectibles]

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On 1/21/2004 1:09:58 PM Mara wrote:


Well I haven't suffered screen shock in terms of DIAMONDS....but I did experience it with some of the items we got for our engagement party.


I had placed a few hurricane shaped vases from Pottery Barn on our registry and got them as gifts last summer. Tear open the box and HOLY CRAP what the hell is this monster vase!!! Went back to the website, on the screen it looks very small and tasteful and quite unobtrusive! In reality, the 'medium' sized vase was about 18' tall! It looked like the Jolly Green Giant's wine glass. Greg & I had quite the laugh. Anyhow, actually the vase is great for huge candles and the like...but I will never forget opening the box to pull out this massive wine glass vase thing and thinking 'But it looked so much smaller online!'.


I actually had the same thing happen with some platters I got from C&B through our registry...they looked 'normal sized' on the registry...and in reality they are monstrous. It's funny because it really showed me how easily we quantify online images as 'normal sized'...which in reality is simply defined as 'how acceptable YOU feel the size is'. I didn't even bother to look at the sizing on the description...because my brain filled in for me how big I *wanted* it to be. Then in reality I was shocked. Sooo odd.


Now of course I always look at the sizing and heights of things before I buy because the pictures quite obviously are deceiving!

----------------

I think that would count as "Reverse Screen Shock", Mara!

Too funny!

Were you able to keep a straight face as you were opening the gift?

 

[pqcollectibles]

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On 1/21/2004 6:20:02 PM glitterata wrote:


I think this is one reason it's so important to take a picture of the object in context--on someone's hand, next to a telephone, with a rose in it, with a cat sniffing it, etc etc.----------------

That's a good point, Glitterata! Having something of "known" size to compare with makes it easier to judge the size of any thing in pictures.

I volunteer to model rings for all the vendors!!

 

[valeria101]

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On 1/21/2004 11:53:56 PM pqcollectibles wrote:

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I volunteer to model rings for all the vendors!!

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Everyone would just ask then: what size your ring is ?! I can't believe most sellers of settings and rings would not post any size info. Faycullen is a rare example of the contrary, posting some mesurements of the setting and a hand model. You know what? That hand is 1 1/2 times bigger than my actual ring carrier (on my computer's monitor, that is).

I wish someone would make up a "try it on" applet, something like the device for stretching fancy shape crown diagrams at gemappraisers. After all, each buyer does have the actual object handy to adjust the size of the hand on screen, like kids do with paint on the walls of my house. A calibrated picture of my palm and wrist is what I use to estimate the actual size of jewelry and other non-foldable, small items I get from the web. I guess, a "wireframe" image would help with settings and diamond size, esp. with 3-stone combinations. After so much Pricescope, i'll probably make one for all those questions about "how big the side stones should be". Oh well...

 

[fire&ice]

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On 1/21/2004 11:53:56 PM pqcollectibles wrote:

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On 1/21/2004 6:20:02 PM glitterata wrote:


I think this is one reason it's so important to take a picture of the object in context--on someone's hand, next to a telephone, with a rose in it, with a cat sniffing it, etc etc.----------------

That's a good point, Glitterata! Having something of 'known' size to compare with makes it easier to judge the size of any thing in pictures.

I volunteer to model rings for all the vendors!!

----------------

NO photo leave me unless there is a control. A Quarter works well with small stuff. Even a ruler next to the items can help.

 

[Patty]

I DO find that the photos of people's rings on their hands helps me a lot. I often think something looks too big or "busy" for me but when I see it on the person's hand, it looks great!

 

[pqcollectibles]

Good point, Patty!

Bump for the Friday folk.