Quality of jewelry

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Dolce

O.G.
Mar 3, 2007
200
54
There's a jewelry sale going on and they had a pair of 2 carat hoop earrings for $750. I thought it was a great deal but how can I tell if they are good quality? They feel very light in weight and when I looked at the post part of the earring, it was a little bent.

Does anyone know how to tell what is good quality? I tried google but didn't come up with any decent results.
 
Honestly, for that price I wouldn't expect very much at all. But if you like the look of the them, then that's what counts. The price of them is fantastic, either way.
Firstly, have them (the jeweller) probe the diamonds in from of you with a probe that can:
a) distinguish a diamond from look-alike stones
b) distinguish between a diamond and moissanite. (this is very important, because a lot of the probes jewellers use CANNOT tell the difference between the two.)


Cut, colour and clarity can make or break a diamond. The colour of the diamond really comes down to personal taste. Do you only like white diamonds? Maybe you like chocolate or champagne diamonds? Really dark diamonds can still have a wonderful sparkle to them, yet a near on colourless diamond MAY be lifeless. It depends on the individual diamonds, how it was cut.... many factors.

Do the diamonds at least sparkle when you look at them, or are they lifeless and opaque? There're diamonds that are 'I clarity' (the worst clarity) that still have sparkle to them. Again, you may be happy to have a pair of 2 carat diamond hoops with no sparkle to them, JUST BECAUSE you're getting a large diamond weight for your money, or maybe not. Only you know that.

Look at the settings closely, do they look sturdy? Check the closure, is it nice and snug? That the post is bent on one of the earrings is no problem at all, that can be sorted out in no time.

After all is said and done, and you go ahead with the purchase, still take them to another jeweller (preferably one you can trust) and get a second opinion. Have the second jeweller check everything I told you about. If you keep them, enjoy them!

PS: Sorry for the mini-essay...Oh, and if you do get them please send me a photo!
 
That's a very low price. With diamonds, you pretty much get what you pay for. Meaning, when jewelers put diamonds on "sale," they were overpriced to begin with. I would guess that they have very low clarity--I1 or I2. If you look closely at the diamonds you will probably be able to see some inclusions (black marks or cloudiness).

Color and cut probably aren't that great either. I doubt you would notice the difference in color with hoop earrings, but diamonds with poor cut quality won't sparkle as much as well-cut ones. (Everything sparkles in jewelry store lighting, it's when you go elsewhere that it becomes more noticeable!)

Personally I like having smaller carat weights that I know are good quality. However, some people are the opposite and like the "presence" of more carat weight. Flaws are usually less noticeable in earrings than they would be in rings. So if you really like them, go for it! If it's going to bother you that they aren't the best quality, don't get them.
 
I appreciate the responses! I went back yesterday and I ended up buying something else. It's an 18K ring that was part of a Peter Lam collection (never heard of him but liked the ring!). It's only .17 carats in diamonds but I just loved the style of the ring. It ended up costing me $400 and they threw in a free 2 year service plan.

It's being sized now but I'll post pictures when I get it. I hope I wasn't completely ripped off lol. I didn't get the earrings. The clarity was I1-I2 and they would be a gift so I don't want to give someone dull diamonds. I was doing very early Christmas shopping for my mom. I'm sure I'll find something else.
 
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