Can you help me pick diamonds for studs?

[Odinsmom]

I read the post where Mara helped someone put together diamond studs. Could you help me as well. I can't decide between .607 VS2 G (Lot no. S246067 and S24606 and .46 SI1 E (Lot no. I239409 and I239511. I would like total carat weight to be around 1.0 - 1.25. I'm not sure if theres a noticeable size difference between the .46 and .60 to make it worth the price difference.

 

[Giangi]

Oh, I forgot: YES, the size difference between 0.46ct and 0.60ct is VERY noticeable.

 

[valeria101]

As you have already noticed, there are quite a few threads about studs... I surely agree with your looking for nicely cut diamonds for these, since sparkle will show most of your earrings. And this is why I would discuss your choices a bit more. It is hard to tell from your post wether you have already considered this argument which you may have also found in older Pricescope posts. Here it goes:

In general, diamonds used for studs are not as high color and clarity as ring stones: this is what you may find at almost all retail sources. Even for ring stones, buyers who used Pricescope for reference argued that top cut quality does compensate somewhat for lacking high color and clarity. Surely, if you are looking for other qualities for your future stud earrings than size and sparkle, well, than E color and VS1 are great. Otherwise, I am not sure what considerations lead to your selecting these two choices, which are rather far apart in clarity and color. Both pairs will probably look very similar (in color & clarity) once mounted and identical when worn. There shoud be some visible size difference, esp. if one is looking for that "1 ctv" look. However, the cut is likely to make a lot of difference in size, given what kind of so-so stones is used in commercial earrings

A H-SI1 pair of excellent cut stones will maintain the same white sparkly presence, and, for the same money, get bigger. From this point of view, both E and VS1 look like overkill. I would not worry for limited choice from one seller only. In keeping with your color and clarity range: how about G-SI ?

About size: there should be some visible difference between a the two pairs you have selected. At this point you should be able to fit a bigger pair in your budget without sacrificing the looks.

 

[longtimelurker]

About 6 months ago I purchased a pair of earrings that are .95 F SI1s (.47 & .4 from GOG that are 5.06 & 5.08 in diameter(darn - they're not in the educational stones anymore). Before that, I bought some simulants that were 5.5mm to try, because I thought that was the size I wanted, and I wanted to be sure. There IS a visual difference. The 5.5mm ones were just a little bit too big for me...however, I have double pierced ears and already wore a sentimental 1/2 ctw pair in the back hole.

I will tell you the color (F) is probably overkill in earrings, and they are 100% eye-clean.

 

[valeria101]

Did you try GOG's H&A search? I have not dared look for I color, since these are not my earrings, but I would

 

[Giangi]

Linda...

Also, I agree with Ana. E,F VVS is overkill for earrings, but it's up to you. I think that G-H VS and that I/SI 1 pair are a good choice in terms of quality/price.

 

[n2qcn]

> size difference between the .46 and .60

can you see the diffrence between

5.54-5.58mm .658c
5.53-5.55mm .650c

5.44-5.47mm .614c
5.42-5.45mm .615c

from my story?

 

[Mara]

I think I can tell nq...

But who really knows!

Odinsmom, Giangi found some wonderful options for you.




My two cents when it comes to searching out and hand-picking studs is to focus on keeping the color the same and let the clarity fluctuate because that is going to be non-noticeable at all. But for whatever reason, I really prefer having my diamond ear studs be the same color, even if the G to H difference is imperceptible...don't know why.

That said, I would hands down go to G/H and maybe even I color and SI clarity in order to maximize the cut and your budget. Oh and yes there will be a huge visual difference between .45 and .60. There is even a difference from .50 to .60...in the smaller sizes I think the size differences are more noticeable.




Oh and funny, but before I saw this post, I actually posted the .60c each G VS's for another poster on the Diamond Hangout and said those were my first choice...seemingly best bang for the buck and nice numbers too..plus this poster wanted something close to F and VS....but again as I said I would go to G/H SI easily to maximize that size.

Earrings are on your head, so in general people will only notice the sparkle. You can take the color much lower than with an e-ring and have the beauty of the stone mask the color much more easily with earrings IMO. Hence why I would go lower.