Diamond Studs

#1,128
Hi all,

I am trying to purchase my first diamond studs. Because I do not own any diamonds so just started to learn (4 C's, GIA, AGS...etc), I would like to get some help from ppl who are more knowledgeable!
Here are some of my concerns.

1. where to get? I have learned that the most important C of 4Cs is the CUT so I want to get it from the website that provides the AGS certificate. Thus far, I visited Brian Gavin and Whiteflash websites. Is there anywhere else I should consider? Also, is the price at whiteflash usually reasonable?

2. color and clarity: I read several comments in other threads that the color and clarity are not as important for the studs as for the e-ring. What is the minimum (lowest rank) I should consider for 1.0 tcw studs?

3. size: I am debating between 0.8 tcw and 1.0 tcw. Is the size between 0.4 ct and 0.5 ct noticeable? The price difference bw 0.8 tcw and 1.0 tcw is about 2k. Is 2k worth paying to go up to 1.0 tcw?

Please help me out! Thnx!
 
#1,129
I bought a .33 pair from ID Jewelry and they were very patient with me. I would recommend them. I've purchased from Brian Gavin as well and both of my diamond pendants from them are stunning.

For clarity, I think you can get away with the SI range and for color, anything in the near colorless range (J or above) is probably okay.

Depends on your earlobes, but for $2k price difference, I would be happy in the .8 tcw range.
 
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#1,130
emchhardy said:
I bought a .33 pair from ID Jewelry and they were very patient with me. I would recommend them. I've purchased from Brian Gavin as well and both of my diamond pendants from them are stunning.

For clarity, I think you can get away with the SI range and for color, anything in the near colorless range (J or above) is probably okay.

Depends on your earlobes, but for $2k price difference, I would be happy in the .8 tcw range.
Click to expand...

Yes, ID jewelry is fantastic!
Shulamit is a pleasure to work with.
Definitely you can get away with SI range in an ideal cut.
As for color, I'm sure something on the lower acceptable end will be alright. It won't be as noticeable on your ears.
 
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#1,131
Good morning everyone! Im 29 years old and have my ears pierced but rarely wear earrings. I love studs though- however the jewelry I own is mostly garbage. All but one pair of earrings are cheap metals (I have one pair of 14k gold small kinda ugly thick hoops). I rarely wear any because I have metal allergies and can only wear gold, platinum or titanium.

I want to get myself my first pair of diamond studs. I am restricted on price- I do not want to spend more than ~$800. I understand that this doesn’t give me many options... I was looking at a few places and saw some 1/4 carat and 1/2 carat earrings that may work.

I was thinking these from Kohls, they would come to around $585 after promo codes:

https://m.kohls.com/product/prd-14...=igi certified&diestoreid=11&selectShip=true

I also saw a few on Blue Nile that I could get, but it seems like Id get the same thing as Id get from kohls, except for a bit more money.

Any other suggestions? I want white gold or platinum and round cut. Thanks!
 
#1,132
sabrunka said:
Good morning everyone! Im 29 years old and have my ears pierced but rarely wear earrings. I love studs though- however the jewelry I own is mostly garbage. All but one pair of earrings are cheap metals (I have one pair of 14k gold small kinda ugly thick hoops). I rarely wear any because I have metal allergies and can only wear gold, platinum or titanium.

I want to get myself my first pair of diamond studs. I am restricted on price- I do not want to spend more than ~$800. I understand that this doesn’t give me many options... I was looking at a few places and saw some 1/4 carat and 1/2 carat earrings that may work.

I was thinking these from Kohls, they would come to around $585 after promo codes:

https://m.kohls.com/product/prd-1430238/14k-white-gold-12-ct-tw-igi-certified-round-cut-diamond-solitaire-earrings.jsp?prdPV=13&userPFM=igi certified&diestoreid=11&selectShip=true

I also saw a few on Blue Nile that I could get, but it seems like Id get the same thing as Id get from kohls, except for a bit more money.

Any other suggestions? I want white gold or platinum and round cut. Thanks!
Click to expand...

If you don’t care about the name on the box, Kohl’s is a great way to go because a VS1 diamond is always a VS1 no matter where you bought it, assuming it’s not on the street :smile:. The first studs I bought myself were from Kohls, full carat princess cut in white gold. They weren’t certified ones but I went through every pair they had until I found ones that were the cleanest looking diamonds. On their certified, check the card because some skew bigger than the estimated carat weight and others smaller and the card will tell you if they are .55 or .49 for example.

Blue Nile used to be sales tax free, so the higher price might equal out, but check because a lot of sites have started tacking tax on recently.

Macy’s is another place to check. They carry platinum but that will dramatically increase the price. Sometimes they have sales where you put the item aside and come back in a week for a much lower price. A bit annoying to make two trips, but my Macy’s is less than ten minutes away, it might not be feasible for everyone.
 
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#1,133
The clarity isn't that good on that pair from Kohl's. I wouldn't buy them.

I bought a pair from IDJ recently. They were a little over .33 total carat weight. They were great to work with and very patient with me. I asked a lot of questions and it took me some time to settle on a pair. I'm sure they would have some lovely choices in your price range.
https://idjewelry.com/

Another vendor I recommend is Brian Gavin Diamonds. I've purchased two diamond pendants from them and both pieces I'm very happy with.
 
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#1,134
aerinha said:
If you don’t care about the name on the box, Kohl’s is a great way to go because a VS1 diamond is always a VS1 no matter where you bought it, assuming it’s not on the street :smile:. The first studs I bought myself were from Kohls, full carat princess cut in white gold. They weren’t certified ones but I went through every pair they had until I found ones that were the cleanest looking diamonds. On their certified, check the card because some skew bigger than the estimated carat weight and others smaller and the card will tell you if they are .55 or .49 for example.

Blue Nile used to be sales tax free, so the higher price might equal out, but check because a lot of sites have started tacking tax on recently.

Macy’s is another place to check. They carry platinum but that will dramatically increase the price. Sometimes they have sales where you put the item aside and come back in a week for a much lower price. A bit annoying to make two trips, but my Macy’s is less than ten minutes away, it might not be feasible for everyone.
Click to expand...

emchhardy said:
The clarity isn't that good on that pair from Kohl's. I wouldn't buy them.

I bought a pair from IDJ recently. They were a little over .33 total carat weight. They were great to work with and very patient with me. I asked a lot of questions and it took me some time to settle on a pair. I'm sure they would have some lovely choices in your price range.
https://idjewelry.com/

Another vendor I recommend is Brian Gavin Diamonds. I've purchased two diamond pendants from them and both pieces I'm very happy with.
Click to expand...

Thanks to both of you! I decided to go into kohls and was pretty happy with how the .5 carat pair looked so i decided to grab them for $585 after tax, plus I got $110 kohls cash, $25 in yes 2 you rewards and $33 from e bates, so I think it was worth it. I love the size and think theyre perfect for me!

IMG_1535999149.868855.jpg

Disregard the red ear, I was poking and prodding it lol.
 
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#1,139
So I have a bit of an update... Once I got home with the earrings, tried them on, and looked closer... I noticed quite a bad defect on the one diamond. It looked chipped? That or it looked like something chunky and foggy was stuck inside and the cut job wasn't done very well on the edges. I decided to return them. If I'm already going to be spending $$$ might as well make it worth it. I also totally forgot about my metal allergy. My ears get crusty and sometimes bleed from nickel, so I need to get platinum.

I went ahead and checked out Brian Gavin and found a pair of perfect diamonds (.328 carats each, so a bit bigger than the kohls ones which were I think .22 each), and a martini setting in platinum. I contacted Ame and she was a doll (I follow her on here, Reddit and on Instagram so it was easy to get a hold of her ;)), and she provided me with a thumbs up for the diamonds I chose.

Sure, I paid 3x more than Kohls, however a) these are perfect diamonds (well, in my opinion) and b) I needed platinum anyways.

I will definitely post new modelling shots once they arrive :smile: Gotta make the first pair a good pair! Thanks again everyone, I shouldn't have rushed so quickly yesterday!
 
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