Diamond studs for the lady....

[uscmatt99]

Well after 10 years of marriage I'd like to get my wife a pair of diamond stud earrings. I felt like I was in the know with diamonds way back in 2006 when I got her engagement ring, but I'm sure times have changed. She wants 1.0 total carat weight in a 4-prong setting, which seems to be pretty standard fare.

We have a local jeweler I've purchased from before, but I'm open to online purchase as well. Any tips from the pros? My understanding is that the 4 C's aren't as important with earrings as they are with a ring, but I do want to make sure that the settings are of nice quality without paying the Tiffany tax. Of course if there is a good reason to consider something from Tiffany's, Van Cleef, Cartier, etc then I'm all ears. Bonus points if I can work a Rolex into the sale!

[Travelair007]

If you can push the size into 1.5-2 carats total weight, it’ll make a massive difference on her ears! James Allen is a fun website to shop diamonds and jewelry. I’ve bought from them and they do a great job. I love being able to see the actual diamond under a 360 video before buying.

I’m assuming she wants round cut? I would drop the color down between G-H and try get a better clarity.

[jedmonds]

I am no pro, but did a ton of research on this two years ago. Everything pointed me to James Allen. You can pick the diamonds, view the GIA certs, and they have magnified views of the diamond which you can view almost all angles of the diamond. The wife was very pleased with them.

[Dubshack]

Just went through this exercise a few months ago. I went with 1.5 total. At these sizes the color and clarity are less important than cut. I wouldn’t worry about certified either.

I put a GIA certified next to non-certified and my jeweler and I both agreed the non-certified was better looking. Save a little money.

Find the ones that look best to you and go for it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sparksgmt]

I purchased my fiance's engagement ring from james allen. Being a numbers guy, I spent a few hours comparing cut spec's of various stones and picked the most "perfect" cut I could find. Being able to compare nearly an unlimited number of stones is the biggest advantage over a storefront. The ring turned out better than expected, and the sparkle is incredible.

[James K]

Regardless of where you buy them from I'm also a fan of being able to see loose stones before deciding. Decide on the stones first then the setting IMO.

[mjr24]

I feel color and all of that is not as important on earrings as on a ring.....no one is going to see the difference.

[Fat_ninja]

1ct-1.25 ct is perfect for each ear. And like everyone said color and clarity is immaterial for studs.

Any thing clost to 2ct on each ear will droop on the ear.

[.brian.]

Blue Nile.

Or the jewelry kiosk in the middle of the mall. Your wife won't even know it's cubic zirconium.

Edit: This James Allen site looks pretty good. Never heard of it before.

[Ferdelious]

Costco.

[Watchflair]

I personally would never buy a diamond without seeing it in person. Regardless of what a GIA certificate says there's no substitute for seeing it in person and different lights. Go with your local jeweler you've been using. Check pricing against Blue Nile etc to make sure they are in line.

[SDRider]

Originally Posted by Ferdelious

Costco.

I agree. I purchased round brilliant diamond studs for my wife from Costco recently, slightly bigger than 1CT each and they are impressively nice. Cut is excellent, clarity is excellent, color is excellent. They weren't cheap but they are very good quality. They are GIA certified too.

[droptopman]

Costco as well. We added a bunch of WG/Diamond (ring, earings, necklace) for the wife a couple years ago. Did a bunch of research and ended up buying from Costco. Great quality. LOL, now she has sets in WG and YG....

Although that activity did get me another watch!!

[Runnin' Rebel]

COSTCO !
Buy the blister pack of 6 they have of 1 carat to cover your wife, girl friend and daughter !

[Valenciawatchrepair]

Originally Posted by uscmatt99

Well after 10 years of marriage I'd like to get my wife a pair of diamond stud earrings. I felt like I was in the know with diamonds way back in 2006 when I got her engagement ring, but I'm sure times have changed. She wants 1.0 total carat weight in a 4-prong setting, which seems to be pretty standard fare.

We have a local jeweler I've purchased from before, but I'm open to online purchase as well. Any tips from the pros? My understanding is that the 4 C's aren't as important with earrings as they are with a ring, but I do want to make sure that the settings are of nice quality without paying the Tiffany tax. Of course if there is a good reason to consider something from Tiffany's, Van Cleef, Cartier, etc then I'm all ears. Bonus points if I can work a Rolex into the sale!

If you're going with a local jeweler, also look into the possibility of a custom mounting. I do watch work for a guy that does mostly CAD. He'll custom make anything around the stones a customer provides or wants to buy. But, a custom touch to the mounting adds a little more person touch. Especially if she likes the idea of a more ornate setting. It may not be of any concern, but just wanted to mention that since everyone her is only talking about the stones.

[uscmatt99]

Wow thanks so much for all of the input guys. I found some photos of 1.0 ctw studs and they do look a bit small on the ear, looks like 1.5 ctw is a sweet spot for size and price. I got lucky, my girl has thin fingers and small ear lobes

I inquired with the local jeweler and their quoted price was out of line with the major online players, and neither the settings nor stones were anything extra special. So the local place is out, at least for sourcing stones.

The Costco option is intriguing! My family swears by Costco for everything from tires to vacation planning, so why not diamond jewelry? Their prices seem in line with Blue Nile, James Allen, and Union Diamond. I'm seeing around $4500-5500 for 1.5 ctw in white gold settings, a bit more for platinum.

That James Allen site is fun to explore and build earrings with specific diamonds in their inventory. I get the impression that with earrings, one can broaden the scope regarding color and inclusions down to SI and H color without any visual differences on the ear. I like that they have GIA certs for all of the stones you can build with.

Valenciawatchrepair, thanks for the tip about custom mounting. I'm not entirely sure of the skill-set of our local jewelers, but I get the impression that they are more of a sales and repair type of operation, though I can't be sure. But definitely something to keep in mind.

[bondtoys]

In my opinion, you are too much focussed on clarity and colour!

If you have ever been to a diamond cutting site (I have) and speak with the cutters, you'll understand, why many diamonds are not perfectly cut.
It's not the skill of the cutters, it's because of economic reasons.
They simply don't want to cut off too much weight and rather compromise with proportions (making the stone thicker or higher than the ideal cut).
Why that? because a 1,03 ct. stone sells higher than a 0,97 ct. stone!

The Brilliant Cut has been designed to precise proportions and angles to achieve the maximum sparkle, so the most important factor is cut!

And nothing else than Excellent is acceptable imo.

[Gixxer32]

Whiteflash.com or hpdiamonds.com

You're welcome.

[Fat_ninja]

debeers sells man made diamonds now.

https://lightboxjewelry.com/collecti...SAAEgI-H_D_BwE


Studss $1k

https://lightboxjewelry.com/collecti...te-gold_1carat

These are legit they did this to segment the matket. Quality wise its even better than natural stones

[Valenciawatchrepair]

Originally Posted by uscmatt99

Valenciawatchrepair, thanks for the tip about custom mounting. I'm not entirely sure of the skill-set of our local jewelers, but I get the impression that they are more of a sales and repair type of operation, though I can't be sure. But definitely something to keep in mind.

No problem. I can give you his info if you'd like it. Really great guy and he's been in the business for quite awhile. I've been to his home shop. Beautiful pieces and he can even shoot you some CAD renderings no matter where you are.

[wBrah]

Originally Posted by Travelair007

If you can push the size into 1.5-2 carats total weight, it’ll make a massive difference on her ears!

This. The difference is size is massive. My wife wears 2 ctw daily and the studs look great. Kind of like the saying: buy once, cry once.

[V25V]

Originally Posted by wBrah

This. The difference is size is massive. My wife wears 2 ctw daily and the studs look great. Kind of like the saying: buy once, cry once.

Never heard that saying in my life.

[James K]

Originally Posted by V25V

Never heard that saying in my life.

Don't be like me and cry twice, you know, when the wife says " I can't find the one she may have dropped without remembering where".

Found it in the vacuum a week later after the stroke and white hair had done it's damage.