1.80 carat VS 2.00 carat ?
- Thread starter izaku0608
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Ame, what is the lowest clarity level you will go for?
Also, do you think it's not worth it to go for a F colour diamond?
I was thinking something along the lines of 1.8-1.9 G colour.. but will G and H be noticeable for colour? It'll be my only upgrade so I would like it to be perfect. Hahah. I don't think I want to sacrifice size for colour though.
Is it Tiffany brand? Check with them and see what the trade options are. They might be willing to work with you on trading it in towards the upgrade. I believe they have a "minimum" spend requirement which might still make you choke because it is still pricey. BUT if you can swing it to buy nonbranded and not trade it in, I think you'll get much more bang for your buck, and you can get a setting that mimics the real thing.
Regarding color: While that's a personal thing for everyone (some people can't handle seeing warmth), I don't personally think an F is worth paying the premium for, no. A G and an H are both very white and bright, in fact even many, most, well cut I and J stones are. Next to an F, with an H you'd see a slight difference loose and from the side, but otherwise, set in a ring, I would wager you likely would not be able tell which was which, if the stones were all well cut and dimensionally the same.
I personally think the sweet spot is an H color with medium fluorescence and a VS1 clarity. An H is still quite white, and the fluorescence can help with any inherent warmth. It also has a tendency to be pretty cool in sunlight and other lighting conditions. For ME, a VS1 is not only totally eye clean but mind clean, I know there's nothing there that will "bother me" but I am not overpaying for the higher clarity levels.
I am a fan of the HIJ range for another reason. That body warmth brings a liveliness to the stones that you don't get in the DEF range. The slight warmth makes a difference, I think. I've owned stones all over the place from D to J and I've long-term worn more than one H because it's the perfect balance of nice and bright white, and warm and fiery. The cut quality obviously matters there, but that little nudge of body warmth just makes all the difference. It's not for everyone, but I go back to it every time and people are usually pretty surprised my stone is an H when they're thinking that I'll have something much higher on the spectrum.
Only upgrade? Ha Ha! Famous last words. These were the same words I mumbled to myself when I did my last second upgrade, and I was very serious in picking the perfect combo. Bet this upgrade will not be your last. However, you may end up keeping the new ring as a second Ering or reuse the Diamond in a pendant or something.
Let me share with you my experience. For relatively large diamonds starting 2.0 carat (or include 1.8-1.9 in your case), the absolute minimum clarity I would accept for myself is eye-clean VS2. Inclusions start to matter with larger size diamonds.
In terms of color, there is an observable difference between E/F and H/I, and the difference is more noticeable as the Diamond gets larger. However, as AME said, a top cut Diamond will be so bright and sparkly that it will distract you from readily noticing the less of whiteness in the H/I color diamonds. If not placed side by side with E/F diamonds, no one will think that your diamonds are not white enough. Rather, most people will be focusing on the size and the brightly, sparkling Diamond.
Therefore, for the same budget, try to get the largest possible, top cut (no compromise here), VS2 (but have jeweler confirm eye-clean), and color no lower than "I".
One more recommendation - try to get the signature top cut Diamond from vendors like Brian Gavin or Whiteflash instead of paying a premium price for Tiffany Diamond. BGD and WF signature diamonds are at least as great, if not better, than Tiffany diamonds. I have to be politically correct here because of so many Tiffany fans (although I truly believe the BGD and WF signature diamonds are superior to most Tiffany diamonds. Of course, Tiffany has great metal workmanship and setting design.
No matter which Diamond vendor you choose, make sure they offer free inspection period for 100% refund and buyback policy (trade in value for what you paid). Although you think you will never change your mind years later, there may still be a chance to sell, no matter how slim. Therefore, the buyback and trade-in policy are important.
Well, Christiflora covered that pretty well. But add High Performance Diamonds and Good Old Gold--HPD sells Crafted by Infinity diamonds which are very tight on the cutting specs (a little steeper brandwise), and GOG has a ton of variety--from well cut rounds to speciality cuts. They will require a little more sorting because they do carry all sorts, even some lesser cut specimens because they are trying to suit many tastes.
IF you're looking for a straight up ideal round though, HPD and BGD are where I tend to go. Stricter cutting and more consistently so--and BGD has a line of stones called Blues that have Fluorescence (a naturally occurring trait that can be really awesome!) and often they're priced slightly lower due to that.
The reason we mentioned these is simply the consistency of top cutting and availability of information. They will provide you (and us) with the data that helps weed out the best of the best, though, in many of these cases, you're basically pitting a winner against a winner. There are not going to be a lot of dogs.
IF is important to keep the brand (and for some it is), we can also sift through the inventory and pick out the best on numbers and then you can view those in person to see which speaks most to you.
We didn't mention Blue Nile for a reason--lack of transparent data. They don't offer images of their stones and they don't provide the same level of testing as many of the other vendors, in part because many of their stones are not on site.
Don't settle for an inferior cut. You can work and wiggle with color, clarity and carat. But cut quality when it's done right is why diamonds are so dang awesome.
IF you're looking for a straight up ideal round though, HPD and BGD are where I tend to go. Stricter cutting and more consistently so--and BGD has a line of stones called Blues that have Fluorescence (a naturally occurring trait that can be really awesome!) and often they're priced slightly lower due to that.
The reason we mentioned these is simply the consistency of top cutting and availability of information. They will provide you (and us) with the data that helps weed out the best of the best, though, in many of these cases, you're basically pitting a winner against a winner. There are not going to be a lot of dogs.
IF is important to keep the brand (and for some it is), we can also sift through the inventory and pick out the best on numbers and then you can view those in person to see which speaks most to you.
We didn't mention Blue Nile for a reason--lack of transparent data. They don't offer images of their stones and they don't provide the same level of testing as many of the other vendors, in part because many of their stones are not on site.
Don't settle for an inferior cut. You can work and wiggle with color, clarity and carat. But cut quality when it's done right is why diamonds are so dang awesome.
Haha!! I say my only upgrade because I own a Tiffany diamond and I don't feel that we can afford buying any larger than 1.8-1.9 for the "only" upgrade that we are allowed to use, within that 5 years. Now I'm starting to think, with the amount of money that we can upgrade to 1.8-1.9 I can probably buy over 2cts, better specs, better everything, but without the Tiffany brand. I do, however, LOVE the side profile and the way the six prongs are delicately touching the diamond. I don't know if i can find the exact replica, ever. I've looked into the sites that both you and Ame has mentioned, like BGD, I trust that they are more superior than some of Tiffany's diamonds but I admire my ring so much on the side profile that I am afraid I cannot find anything else like it.
The closest thing to the real thing is the Vatche U113. And it's literally like...Tiffany will need to see the stamps to know. There are people who will tell you that the "only upgrade" thing is not really true--I can think of at least one poster on here that's upgraded twice.
You can get the U113 from HPD, WF and GOG. BGD does not work with Vatche (Full disclosure: I personally am not a HUGE fan of theirs myself, having owned a different one of their rings prior to this and it was NOT a good experience in the workmanship department. I am also not Whiteflash's biggest fan either from a prior really bad experience, but other people really love them, Christiflora among them.)
But have you seen my ring? It's pretty bang on. I have a narrower shank (I have the BGD tapered setting and they have two other versions) than the original but if you didn't know that, you probably would never know it wasn't from Tiffany. Many of their SAs can't even tell when I go in there with my real Tiffany wedding band next to it.
RE: your other point, you likely can do pretty well going non-branded, meeting all your specs, and still keep your original. Though going non-branded gives you a world of options for the setting as well--by that I mean, you could have the stone set higher if you wanted to, or get a halo even (you want finger coverage? That's the way.)
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I have a Vatche U113 from Whiteflash. Love it! Whiteflash sent my Diamond to Vatche for setting, and then sent the completed ring to me. I had the ring resized by Vatche in NJC. If interested, I can show you photos of the ring, so you can see the top and side views.
I have in the past seen your ring but I've looked through all the photos again in the link you attached. It looks very very pretty. But, I have to say that from the side profile and the prongs (yours is a little pointy i think?) it does not look the same as what I have now. I think I am just super anal.. I chose Tiffany not because of the brand but because I am just so drawn to the tiffany setting. Otherwise I think I would have just gone non-branded diamond.
Yea mine has modifications that I requested because I actually DON'T like the Tiffany original as it is. I find it too low and squatty (low set stones look smaller) and the prongwork to be sloppy. I wanted my stone set a specific way, which is high, so you can see the whole thing from the side, and I wanted claw prongs, which Tiffany will not accommodate.
I found some photos online.
Make sure you get platinum instead of gold for maintenance-free and durability.
