So it sounds like the main cost really isn't the two EC diamonds; it's the design and all the work that went into creating the total earrings. I think if you bought them, you wouldn't be able to sell the main EC diamonds for much, probably only a fraction of the cost of the earrings. So if you like the earrings enough to buy them at their current price, go for it. But if you don't think they're worth the price, I don't think you'll save any money trying to modify them.
Would you replace real diamonds with lab ones?
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So it sounds like the main cost really isn't the two EC diamonds; it's the design and all the work that went into creating the total earrings. I think if you bought them, you wouldn't be able to sell the main EC diamonds for much, probably only a fraction of the cost of the earrings. So if you like the earrings enough to buy them at their current price, go for it. But if you don't think they're worth the price, I don't think you'll save any money trying to modify them.
As the owner of a 5.68ct K color asscher stone, the color has little to nothing to do with the sparkle, badly cut stones are badly cut stones. Doesn’t matter how white they are.
. This! Cut is what creates the sparkle.
Emerald cut diamonds by the very reason of the cut will never sparkle like a round, add her, brilliant cut diamond - regardless of grade color or triple excellent (cut, Fluorescence, etc).
I love diamonds! I have read extensively on lab created — some people love and some don’t.
I love wearing diamonds for me— I would opt out of lab grown. That being said I am no expert, I probably would not know the difference in person from a diamond to a lab grown diamond. I just prefer the natural ones and while I have no intention of ever selling any of them, I like trying them on and admiring them for their natural Beauty. When there is an item that I cannot buy, be it price, specs, availability, I opt for fun custom jewelry that everyone will know it for what it’s worth-custom.
The diamond category for me is in line with real bags vs excellent copies/fake bags. I may not be able to tell, I just prefer to only have real bags of hermes, chanel, etc. I wouldn’t buy a fake because I would only be trying to fool myself.
Enjoy which ever option you decide on and please post pics to appreciate!
As for the complexity of the setting - I bet someone like Maytal Hannah could hand make a piece that has all the ornateness of design that you could want.
I also use a jeweler in LA who shares a building with the bench that makes pieces for Singlestone, who does some incredible vintage work, so it can be done.
frankly most local jewelers are not that skilled and you would need to go to a very competent one to have a piece recreated - I would not take my local guy’s advice on what is or isn’t possible. True artisans are rare. I say this as someone who has a LOT of jewelry made and for whom the workmanship and style of the piece are way more important than the diamonds.
I also use a jeweler in LA who shares a building with the bench that makes pieces for Singlestone, who does some incredible vintage work, so it can be done.
frankly most local jewelers are not that skilled and you would need to go to a very competent one to have a piece recreated - I would not take my local guy’s advice on what is or isn’t possible. True artisans are rare. I say this as someone who has a LOT of jewelry made and for whom the workmanship and style of the piece are way more important than the diamonds.
Do you have a thread with photos of this incredible stone? Ahem
That's true - I don't know how much the ECs will truly fetch and was using retail prices on Blue Nile. It's a real gamble on what I'd actually get back.
Thanks everyone! If I get the earrings I think I'll be keeping them as they are then. Will also check out the links provided on great jewellers and sourcing diamonds, though I'm based in Asia rather than the US.
Just checked them out and they're totally up my alley, thank you!
I'm not US based, but if I ever go to LA, could I PM you for the bench contact?
Certainly, or the jeweler I use works very well remotely, so you’re welcome to contact him with photos of what you’re envisioning.
Just to note....you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a mined diamond and a lab-grown using current technology, and neither would an expert, because they are compositionally identical, with a minute difference in crystalline structure that requires specialized tools for even a jeweler to see. My SM at Graff, who started as a Graff diamond cutter and has cut stones for and sold stones to royalty, can't tell the difference.
The best way to tell is by cut....but if the lab stone is cut by the best, there literally is zero difference. (Note that GIA-certified labs are required to be engraved.)
I'm not promoting lab stones, because I can guarantee you that the price will keep dropping. But they are, chemically, identical to mined diamonds.
Yup. But I would know. And that is the only thing that matters to me. I wear luxury items for me
I'm glad you re-thought. In terms of composition lab-grown or created diamonds are the same. A contemporaneous vintage or antique piece will be worth market price and will usually appreciate, if the original stones are removed, you may get a return on your money but will lose resetting. In terms of your 'new' piece, most monetary value will be lost and can only be sold-on for scrap. And yes, you will be 'ruining' it but jewellers like Graff and Jessica McCormack break-up old pieces all the time and re-set the stones, in Graff's case recut them too 
Lab-grown are basically glass made from carbon instead of sand. Natural diamonds are formed millions of years ago but a happy natural accident, all sizes, all colours and individually idiosyncratic. What you've heard about surplus diamonds is only partly true, there are so many little natural diamonds around, they are available for not too much money loose despite De Beers endeavours, but there is a severe shortage of bigger, natural good-excellent quality (4C) stones.
Lab-grown prices are coming down and may soon be a cheap as glass. It's true GIA certify lab-grown but only the biggest stones. Most lab-grown are also tiny and are used in 'cheap' makes like Pandora and other semi-fine jewellery lines that are made to fool the eye.
The comparison in terms of future market value is fairly close to cultured pearls and natural pearls. They are both pearls but the prices are now not comparative, it's now cheaper to use fresh-water cultured pearls in costume/fashion jewellery than it is to recreate realistic from glass or plastic.
Lab-grown are basically glass made from carbon instead of sand. Natural diamonds are formed millions of years ago but a happy natural accident, all sizes, all colours and individually idiosyncratic. What you've heard about surplus diamonds is only partly true, there are so many little natural diamonds around, they are available for not too much money loose despite De Beers endeavours, but there is a severe shortage of bigger, natural good-excellent quality (4C) stones.
Lab-grown prices are coming down and may soon be a cheap as glass. It's true GIA certify lab-grown but only the biggest stones. Most lab-grown are also tiny and are used in 'cheap' makes like Pandora and other semi-fine jewellery lines that are made to fool the eye.
The comparison in terms of future market value is fairly close to cultured pearls and natural pearls. They are both pearls but the prices are now not comparative, it's now cheaper to use fresh-water cultured pearls in costume/fashion jewellery than it is to recreate realistic from glass or plastic.
GIA graduate here and your post made my eyes pop, please don’t misinform peopleI'm glad you re-thought. In terms of composition lab-grown or created diamonds are the same. A contemporaneous vintage or antique piece will be worth market price and will usually appreciate, if the original stones are removed, you may get a return on your money but will lose resetting. In terms of your 'new' piece, most monetary value will be lost and can only be sold-on for scrap. And yes, you will be 'ruining' it but jewellers like Graff and Jessica McCormack break-up old pieces all the time and re-set the stones, in Graff's case recut them too
Lab-grown are basically glass made from carbon instead of sand. Natural diamonds are formed millions of years ago but a happy natural accident, all sizes, all colours and individually idiosyncratic. What you've heard about surplus diamonds is only partly true, there are so many little natural diamonds around, they are available for not too much money loose despite De Beers endeavours, but there is a severe shortage of bigger, natural good-excellent quality (4C) stones.
Lab-grown prices are coming down and may soon be a cheap as glass. It's true GIA certify lab-grown but only the biggest stones. Most lab-grown are also tiny and are used in 'cheap' makes like Pandora and other semi-fine jewellery lines that are made to fool the eye.
The comparison in terms of future market value is fairly close to cultured pearls and natural pearls. They are both pearls but the prices are now not comparative, it's now cheaper to use fresh-water cultured pearls in costume/fashion jewellery than it is to recreate realistic from glass or plastic.
First of all, lab diamonds are not glass and the process of creating them in not the same as glass creation. They are made using a tiny natural diamond + graphite carbon + a catalyst. Lab diamonds will never become cheap as glass, because the process is very costly. It involves expensive equipment, trained people, lots of energy and lots of time. Glass (and sand) , on the other hand, mostly consists of silicon dioxide, nothing in common with a diamond.
Pandora never uses Lab grown diamonds in their semi-fine pieces, they only use cubic zirconia for them. Lab grown are only used in precious metal settings.
I don’t know for sure without pics, but perhaps you might want to ask a few more jewelers re creating a similar design. Some prefer not to go outside their wheelhouse. Others Have different specialities or focus re bench training. . . Others prefer to repair. Some like design challenges. Others are experts at CAD. I do still think breaking up the setting is more trouble than it’s worth. To me,mid it’s an estate piece, then replacing the stones with modern lab somehow would ruin the ethos of it. Never mind the look. There is also a reason why these pieces don’t feature super brilliant stones. Of course you know this already though
@pasdedeux1 I agree with your last sentence which sums up your argument. I have many books on the history of jewelry and have attended conferences on the topic. Usually, the conferences have had some link to particular museum exhibits.
I think that redoing the diamonds of a piece just to make it sparkle more can violate the integrity of a piece. A few decades ago I attended Jewelry Camps with Christie Romero and one other important person, Joyce Jonas. As I recall, Joyce was all about the integrity of a piece of jewelry, that is , the piece should reflect its time. I could clearly understand this b/c I got caught up in jewelry history and design from a very readable introductory book by Vivienne Becker on key eras of largely British jewelry history. The Retro era of the 1940s, was, as perhaps many of you know, distinguished by large pieces in rose gold, chiefly birds and flowers (think Wallis Simpson, I love her style). Channel set rubies (calibre cut), large emerald cut citrines, aquamarines, and sapphires were the primary stones of the era.
Now, if a person bought a piece and they want to change the settings or the stones, that' is up to them. But to switch stones from one color or another, say, from rubies to black onyx can completely change the character and integrity of the piece. The rubies complement the warm tone of rose gold. The Retro era emphasized certain colors and designs like large flower sprays. The 1950s were a diamond-driven white era (think Elizabeth Taylor). Dazzling sparkle replaced the 40's emphasis on color. The retro era used European cuts which was not a particularly modern cut.
My point is, if the innate characteristics of a piece of jewelry are changed too much, it may lose the specialness of time and place. I don't want to modernize pins from the 40's, I want them to look like they reflect the somewhat subdued Retro color combinations. I'll stop here.
P.S. You know what era of jewelry I now like? Victorian jewelry. Cameos, sentimental pieces like lockets and mourning jewelry, the emphasis on silver due to the discovery of the Nevada mines, etc. Oh, and to be faithful to this venue, I love Hermes silver jewelry. But not with diamonds.
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GIA graduate here and your post made my eyes pop, please don’t misinform people
First of all, lab diamonds are not glass and the process of creating them in not the same as glass creation. They are made using a tiny natural diamond + graphite carbon + a catalyst. Lab diamonds will never become cheap as glass, because the process is very costly. It involves expensive equipment, trained people, lots of energy and lots of time. Glass (and sand) , on the other hand, mostly consists of silicon dioxide, nothing in common with a diamond.
Pandora never uses Lab grown diamonds in their semi-fine pieces, they only use cubic zirconia for them. Lab grown are only used in precious metal settings.
I don't see what being a GIA Grads and jewellery professionals has to do with things, lots of us here.
Glass is manufactured product and so are lab-grown diamonds.
Please inform yourself about Pandora's Brilliance collection:
Pandora Brilliance
Shop Pandora Brilliance on the official Pandora website. Discover the world of Pandora today
uk.pandora.net
Here's an example in silver:
Bracelet with lab-grown diamond
Silver is a precious metal. Thus, the product you added is fine, not semi-fine jewellery.I don't see what being a GIA Grads and jewellery professionals has to do with things, lots of us here.
Glass is manufactured product and so are lab-grown diamonds.
Please inform yourself about Pandora's Brilliance collection:
Pandora Brilliance
Shop Pandora Brilliance on the official Pandora website. Discover the world of Pandora today
Here's an example in silver:
Bracelet with lab-grown diamond
Yes, both glass and lab diamonds are manufactured, but it doesn’t mean that a lab diamond is an equivalent to glass.