Diamond studs- some questions

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#17
ame said:
I don't honestly think of Blue Nile as "ideal" no matter how ideal they claim it to be. They might be nice, but they are not my idea of ideal cut.

Good old gold, brian gavin, whiteflash, they sell real ideal cut stones. I don't prefer the whiteflash company and I still have bittnerness towards brian gavin from his time at whiteflash but they sell amazing stones.
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Would you mind saying why you don't prefer whiteflash and why you have bitterness towards Brian Gavin from his time at whiteflash?
 
#19
Blue nile's "Ideal" is "Excellent" on the GIA rating, while their "Signature Ideal" is equivalent to a GIA "Ideal."

I'm looking at earrings too and want lots of sparkle. I'm wondering if it is necessary to get GIA certified "ideal" or if it will be good enough to go with GIA's "excellent" for earrings. Feel free to give input.
 
#20
melikemochi said:
Blue nile's "Ideal" is "Excellent" on the GIA rating, while their "Signature Ideal" is equivalent to a GIA "Ideal."

I'm looking at earrings too and want lots of sparkle. I'm wondering if it is necessary to get GIA certified "ideal" or if it will be good enough to go with GIA's "excellent" for earrings. Feel free to give input.
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If that's the case, then mine are GIA "excellent"... so I can let you know if it's "good enough". :p
 
#21
for almost everyone, excellent is perfect! :tup:
If you were making a major investment for the finger, I'd still say excellent is great, but stretch up to ideal if possible.
 
#22
melikemochi said:
Blue nile's "Ideal" is "Excellent" on the GIA rating, while their "Signature Ideal" is equivalent to a GIA "Ideal."

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*Update: I did more research, this earlier statement isn't right. Sorry about that! GIA's highest rating is "excellent." So I suppose that means Blue Niles "Signature Ideal" and plain "Ideal" are both GIA "excellent"
 
#23
melikemochi said:
*Update: I did more research, this earlier statement isn't right. Sorry about that! GIA's highest rating is "excellent." So I suppose that means Blue Niles "Signature Ideal" and plain "Ideal" are both GIA "excellent"
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Thank you for posting this! I did the same research (talked with BlueNile also), and concluded the same thing. Thanks for updating your statement!
 
#25
kashmira said:
Would you mind saying why you don't prefer whiteflash and why you have bitterness towards Brian Gavin from his time at whiteflash?
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Brian Gavin and his wife were co-owners of Whiteflash until about a year ago. A few years back I tried buying my wedding ring from them. Due to MANY pretty serious issues with their manufacturing process, my rings (7!) kept cracking. Platinum should not crack and it only does when it's not cast correctly. After trying and failing repeatedly to make it correctly, my husband and I had had it. At that point a year had passed, and it became a legal battle to get our money back, because they refused to find a solution to the problem that would result in a ring I could actually wear for more than 30 seconds. After a tense battle, we FINALLY got our money back. The discussions and events really ruined their professionalism and the way I felt about them.
 
#26
ame said:
Brian Gavin and his wife were co-owners of Whiteflash until about a year ago. A few years back I tried buying my wedding ring from them. Due to MANY pretty serious issues with their manufacturing process, my rings (7!) kept cracking. Platinum should not crack and it only does when it's not cast correctly. After trying and failing repeatedly to make it correctly, my husband and I had had it. At that point a year had passed, and it became a legal battle to get our money back, because they refused to find a solution to the problem that would result in a ring I could actually wear for more than 30 seconds. After a tense battle, we FINALLY got our money back. The discussions and events really ruined their professionalism and the way I felt about them.
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I am so sorry to hear that this happened to you. Such a nightmare!
 
#27
It was. It ruined all the sentiment behind the wedding rings. Absolutely destroyed the feeling and emotion behind the ring exchange at the actual ceremony bec by the end of the night of my wedding it was already cracked. I had to send it in before I left on my honeymoon.

When I got my money back and went with another vendor, I never had a single issue with the new ring from the new vendor. Well...except that it just got stolen in Sept.
 
#28
I'm still looking for the diamond studs but now have a questions: How important is it to get certified diamonds for the earrings (if looking for a size around 1 ct total weight)? I guess that I could get slightly bigger diamonds for the same amount of money if buying diamond studs that don't come with a GIA certificate. What would you do?




ame said:
It was. It ruined all the sentiment behind the wedding rings. Absolutely destroyed the feeling and emotion behind the ring exchange at the actual ceremony bec by the end of the night of my wedding it was already cracked. I had to send it in before I left on my honeymoon.

When I got my money back and went with another vendor, I never had a single issue with the new ring from the new vendor. Well...except that it just got stolen in Sept.
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This must have been a true nightmare- I am so sorry for you.
 
#29
I got my diamond studs from White Flash. They are not GIA certified but they qualify as White Flash quality in that if I ever want to trade up, they will give me credit towards bigger stones. I started out thinking I wanted a half carat each ear but after shopping at local jewelers, I wanted bigger. I was willing to sacrifice something to get size. I got excellent cut, good clarity and K color (80 pts each ear). A lot of people believe you don't need such good cut and clarity for earrings but I shopped online for the size and price I was willing to pay.
If you do this with Whiteflash, they will evaluate the stones and tell you whether they are good and acceptable for their standards.
I was pleased with their CS. I had some issues with the platinum martini mountings (as my ears were sensitive) and they really worked to make me happy. I ended up with jumbo backs and my ears adjusted.
I wear my earrings almost every day.
 
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