Need help sourcing for Diamonds

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#16
Christiflora said:
Color is a personal preference. For myself, J color is a bit too tinted, even for earrings (most forgiving jewelry type, much more so than necklace or bracelet). "I" color is the lowest that I would accept. I would rather pay more money or go smaller in size.

Although certain carat marks, such as 1-ct, 2-ct, and etc., are nice on paper or for bragging rights, the size of the studs also depends on the size of your earlobes. If you have small or average size earlobes, sub-2-ct sizes that are above 1.5ct mark should be large enough. Besides, you can always get jackets when you want a boost in size or a change in earring style/appearance.

When budget is important, I would go as low as l color and Si1 clarity (but eye-clean) in order to get the largest possible size of top cut diamonds for earrings.

Another advice is to stretch your budget as much as you can to get the best, because 1. This is an important, large purchase, 2. Any upgrade, regret, second thought, or change of mind will be very expensive.
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I am just learning about diamonds and Ame is the best teacher paired with the above advice. I am purchasing a diamond pendant and did stretch the budget to ensure that I am totally happy with it. Good luck!
 
#17
There are a lot of online portals where you can now buy diamond jewelry. But one definitely has to ensure the authenticity of the online portal and invest in the right ones.
 
#18
kewave said:
Thanks honhon!
Are you happy with Victor Canera? I'm looking for a pair so the search is quite difficult and I don't have sky-is-the-limit budget. Trying to get the best I could find yet not blow the budget too much. Am so tempted to just get 1 stone 1st and wait out for another matching stone later on...
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sorry for the late reply kewave. so far victor has been a pleasure to work with. i am going to receive my ring in march. how is your hunting going?
 
#19
honhon said:
sorry for the late reply kewave. so far victor has been a pleasure to work with. i am going to receive my ring in march. how is your hunting going?
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I have shortlisted a couple of diamonds from Blue Nile but aborted the idea because the information given is kinda limited without more images of the actual stones.
May go with James Allen instead since it provides 40x video images that definitely gives me more comfort.
Now I'm torn with what setting to do. I have decided it will be 18ct white gold but still unsure whether to go with 3 prongs martini or 4 prongs basket. I already have a pair of 2tcw with 6 prongs martini setting. I find the 4 prongs basket has too much metal due the thick basket but am afraid that 3 prongs martini will make the diamonds look triangular. What would you recommend?
 
#20
kewave said:
I have shortlisted a couple of diamonds from Blue Nile but aborted the idea because the information given is kinda limited without more images of the actual stones.
May go with James Allen instead since it provides 40x video images that definitely gives me more comfort.
Now I'm torn with what setting to do. I have decided it will be 18ct white gold but still unsure whether to go with 3 prongs martini or 4 prongs basket. I already have a pair of 2tcw with 6 prongs martini setting. I find the 4 prongs basket has too much metal due the thick basket but am afraid that 3 prongs martini will make the diamonds look triangular. What would you recommend?
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I have both 3-prong and 6-prong studs, and 4-prong in other jewelry. I would not worry about too much basket metal because all that metal is hidden while the studs are on your earlobes. You see mostly the front, and very hardly the side. The more important aspect is the shape of the front view. For small diamonds under 1-carat each, the shape is more pronounced. Studs appear triangular in 3-prong, square in 4-prong, and round in 6 or more prongs. However, the effect of the prongs on shape diminishes with increasing Diamond size.

For large studs, I prefer 6 or more prongs, because the prongs help make the diamonds appear larger. Moreover, more prongs will help protect the Diamond girdle. There is more chance of dropping stud earrings than any other jewelry when putting on and removing earrings. My vote is for 6 or more prongs.

One more advice is to get large backs, so the studs would not droop (more of an issue for larger studs).
 
#21
For the size of those, I'd go with a 6 prong, but if that's not an option, I'd go 4 if they have a martini style. In your ear, they're not going to look square or triangular if the prongs are small and clawwed off well.

I absolutely agree with larger backings.
 
#22
kewave said:
I have shortlisted a couple of diamonds from Blue Nile but aborted the idea because the information given is kinda limited without more images of the actual stones.
May go with James Allen instead since it provides 40x video images that definitely gives me more comfort.
Now I'm torn with what setting to do. I have decided it will be 18ct white gold but still unsure whether to go with 3 prongs martini or 4 prongs basket. I already have a pair of 2tcw with 6 prongs martini setting. I find the 4 prongs basket has too much metal due the thick basket but am afraid that 3 prongs martini will make the diamonds look triangular. What would you recommend?
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there are so many wise advice given from the members, thats why i love tPF. my technique is to rest the project for few days when i get stuck. i drop my prior preferences and start on the clean sheet of paper. thats another way to go forward :smile1:
 
#23
Thanks for your very helpful advice once again, Christiflora, ame & honhon.
I originally ordered a 3-prong setting and revising to 6-prong will require a new custom design quote and added production time. We have travel plans lining up so cannot afford the extra wait time needed, I really hope the 3-prong martini setting will turn out as amazing. Will report back when I get to see the actual items :)
 
#25
Update: Received my items!
Verdict:
Super happy with the diamonds. They are absolutely eye clean even upon close inspection with naked eyes despite being SI1. It was difficult to spot any inclusion even with 30x LED illuminated loupe. Sparkling white, can't tell these pair of I color apart from my other E & G color diamond solitaires. The fire and brillance are amazing, they are excellent cut and I tried to stay as close as possible to the ideal cut specs but did make a little compromised in order not to stray too far from my budget.
Unfortunately, the ear studs setting came out wrong. I ordered 3 prong martini but received 4 prong basket instead. A bit bummed out on that. However, the perfect mesmerizing diamonds more than make up for this hiccup and I don't want to part with them to get it rectified!!
Thanks again to ame, Christiflora & honhon for your expertise and good advice. Without you, I would never pull the trigger on this nerve-wrecking, sight-unseen cross-borders biggest online purchase of mine!
 

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#26
DOH! Is there a price difference in the setting in your favor? If not I'd ask for the difference to be refunded at least. But they look beautiful, and HUGE.
 
#30
Hermesaholic said:
they may have done you a favor --with those stones more prongs is safer!
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You may be right, I was going to request for more prongs but aborted the idea as revision would take extra production time. But in this case, it was clearly a mistake on JA part as it came as a surprise! Good customer service would not make the liberty to change the custom order design without first discussed with the customer.
 
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