shape
carat
color
clarity

My 0.80 H VVS2 CBI grandbaby (grandmother?)—the seedling!

@Lykame - I had the same initial idea as you. I joked that my F colored oval was the culprit in all this, but it is true. I don’t think I would have gone whiter than the H if I didn’t already have a built-in comparison.

If I were investing in a dream setting, I’d definitely be going your route! I’m leaning toward a Tiffany repro for this one and eventually resetting the oval into a three-stone with half-moon or pear sides. Still not sure on that, it won’t happen for years!

Your eventual setting sounds lovely. You have plenty of time to figure out your exact preferences and I'm sure it will be a wonderful process when you go that route. The HPD bench looks absolutely amazing for if you use them!

Also sounds ideal that the upgrade process was so straightforward.

Do you feel the two stones have different personalities in terms of light performance?
 
Your stone is just gorgeous! :love: You made a fantastic choice with CBI and HPD... stunning stones, stellar customer service, and they have one of the best upgrade policies around! Congratulations!!
 
Love your idea of working your way up! Congratulations on a beautiful stone...enjoy your new ring!
 
Also sounds ideal that the upgrade process was so straightforward.

Do you feel the two stones have different personalities in terms of light performance?

The upgrade process was a little toooooo easy, lol. :lol-2: Jaime let me know first thing the next morning that they received the package, which I really appreciated knowing! Whew!

Your question about two different personalities—they are as different as the pictures and images available on the website—meaning, NO difference, hah! They are both incredible. The H, when set in rose gold, did give off an Orange Julius foam glow at times. I bet that wouldn’t happen with a white metal.

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When my oval goes “dead white,” the H (and the F CBI) continue to sparkle and light up like crazy. Twinkle twinkle, they are both beautiful.

The one thing that I am getting acquainted with—how a superideal does go dark in some light. Like I said above, I think I need a physics lesson regarding this. :lol: It seems to do what my oval’s lively bow tie does (while the ends of the oval stay white). My Oval will will stay white overall, and the CBI will appear several shades darker for that time. Still learning about this!
 
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This is the difference I’m talking about. Oval obviously looks waaaay whiter, but it is also “dead,” and it makes me sad to say that, hah! But the F colored CBI is much darker here—and also still very lively and “sparkly.” Much more lively than the oval. No rainbows here, when the diamonds do this— neither shows fire. Lighting is an overcast day seated as a passenger on the way to visit the outlaws. :whistle:

This is the reason I wanted an F instead of H—the difference seemed to be more striking to me with the H over the F. But I never had them side-by-side to compare.

@cflutist — I think you don’t have your original oval ering anymore, but do you see these differences with your pear when compared like this?

For now, I continue to take on more clients at work (I’m a contractor) and save my pennies for next fall. :kiss2:
 
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Same environment, but dd shading with her hand—look at that difference! Wow! Winner of this round: CBI!! The H also beat the F-oval in this sort of situation. By many shades. That was so shocking to me!
 
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This is the difference I’m talking about. Oval obviously looks waaaay whiter, but it is also “dead,” and it makes me sad to say that, hah! But the F colored CBI is much darker here—and also still very lively and “sparkly.” Much more lively than the oval. No rainbows here, when the diamonds do this— neither shows fire. Lighting is an overcast day seated as a passenger on the way to visit the outlaws. :whistle:

This is the reason I wanted an F instead of H—the difference seemed to be more striking to me with the H over the F. But I never had them side-by-side to compare.

@cflutist — I think you don’t have your original oval ering anymore, but do you see these differences with your pear when compared like this?

For now, I continue to take on more clients at work (I’m a contractor) and save my pennies for next fall. :kiss2:

On an overcast day when walking outdoors, the CBI faces up a LOT whiter than my pear.
In the bathroom with recessed LED lighting, my CBI diamonds put on a lightshow that is unbelievable compared to my pear.
I will say from the side, my 2.05 D-VS2 oval was whiter than any of my F colored diamonds. D is just icy white.
 
The upgrade process was a little toooooo easy, lol. :lol-2: Jaime let me know first thing the next morning that they received the package, which I really appreciated knowing! Whew!

Your question about two different personalities—they are as different as the pictures and images available on the website—meaning, NO difference, hah! They are both incredible. The H, when set in rose gold, did give off an Orange Julius foam glow at times. I bet that wouldn’t happen with a white metal.

866E0CF6-94A0-4C7D-BEC5-072D7F3E850F.jpeg

When my oval goes “dead white,” the H (and the F CBI) continue to sparkle and light up like crazy. Twinkle twinkle, they are both beautiful.

The one thing that I am getting acquainted with—how a superideal does go dark in some light. Like I said above, I think I need a physics lesson regarding this. :lol: It seems to do what my oval’s lively bow tie does (while the ends of the oval stay white). My Oval will will stay white overall, and the CBI will appear several shades darker for that time. Still learning about this!

The H sounded glorious, and the F sounds equally as glorious.

Yes, the darkness of super-ideals is interesting indeed. Pretty sure it's to do with the way the light is reflected in through your pupils. If the diamond doesn't split the light up much, all the light enters through your pupil in one go and you see 'white'. If your diamond splits the light up into a broad fan of the different colours that make 'white' light - into the spectrum of colour that white light is composed of - you will see flashes of colour as only those parts of the spectrum enter your pupil. The rest of the spectrum goes elsewhere for someone else to admire. But the diamond itself will not then appear white, because you're not getting the full spectrum of light into your eyes at one moment. That's my understanding anyway. These CBIs, with their small tables, are very well cut for fire... and that means they go 'dark' but fiery in certain spotlighting.

My previous round brilliant was an F, and it was really pretty well cut - like, it had arrows under a scope and was very twinkly and beautiful. Got a tonne of compliments on it. It was well cut enough that it would go dark in certain environments in the same way, and I was REALLY lucky for getting used to that. Although I have no photos, I took my F with me when I went to see a couple of CBI Js, and it was seriously lucky that a, I already knew a bit about well cut diamonds, and b, that I had the F with me - because the darkness that the J had was the same 'type' of darkness that the F had. I found that REALLY useful to see with my own eyes, because NOW I know that when the 'J' is dark, it isn't because it's a J, it's because it's a superideal.

I TOTALLY get how, if I hadn't done that, I might be utterly convinced that by going up in colour I could help obliterate that feeling. I'm sure that having the icy-whiteness of a D/E/F diamond helps. It must help. But the 'darkness' is a different phenomenon than the base colour of the diamond material, and understanding that differentiation really helped me, and will continue to help me. It's certainly allowed me to go down the route of a J, which previously I would never have dreamed of doing. My end goal, one for many years' time, is either a G or F. :) We'll see. Because you know, like you I totally get it - it would be lovely to have a diamond in the colourless range, and you've done that with the way you're doing it; the way you're doing it allows you to stay colourless the whole way up to the size you're aiming for. It's a great plan. I pondered doing the same. It's a really tough decision. I based my plan on the setting because originally when I started this process, I only wanted to change the setting, not the whole ring!!! :lol:

Your oval - surely there must be times when it's not 'dead' white but comes alive? :dance: @chanieish posted an amazing and incredibly useful thread recently showing her face up J CBI and her face up... F? Oval - and face up they looked as white as each other. From the side - easy to tell the difference. The thread is here if you haven't already seen it, it's a great read. Anyway, that's regardless of anything here really - your new F diamond is still awesome!!!

Did I miss something where you linked the actual diamond you got? Super interested to see! :D
 
@Lykame I wanted to type out a response to you yesterday, but we were with extended family and traveling—I so appreciated your response! You really get it! I’m a novice at superideals. I am so thankful that I have been a follower of PS for years and decided on CBI for our ultimate 20th anniversary ring in 2020. It is a spectacular brand and the diamonds are magnificent!:kiss2: I stare and stare and my family makes fun of me! :dance:

The oval is a triple-ex stone. It is beautiful, and it does have a “lively” bow tie. The larger facets light up and go crazy when the CBI puts on its light show. So no, it is not always “dead white”—I’d say that happens about 10% of the time? 20%? I should keep a log of the lighting environments. :geek: (That’s supposed to be a nerdy scientist look!). But, THAT is one of the times that the CBI surprised me—both H and F—just twinkling away like it was lit from within. So gorgeous. So even though the F oval appears whiter than the F CBI In that environment, the CBI is clearly outperforming the oval by miles. And I much prefer watching the light show over the flat white! The only time I didn’t care for the H CBI was in my neighbor’s garage during the neighborhood potluck Halloween party. It’s a perfect little hall of mirrors, so it took on the yellow walls and brown garage cabinetry. :???: I felt like one of those people that come and post, “Help, I broke my diamond!” :lol: I knew it was just the environment, though. I haven’t been back over there with my F!

But, anyway, you said what was in my heart—in a very genuine and understanding way. Yes, I am realizing now that I probably didn’t need to head to the F color. I am just a newbie at superideals. I appreciated your personal story of having your F MRB for that early shopping experience.

I did a fun photo shoot this afternoon! Lousy quality, and the ring is headed to the ultrasonic soon, but let me know.....

WHO WORE IT BEST??!!
 
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When our 15-year-old was younger, we got her these Barbies... we get them out every year as an entry table holiday decoration. :)
 
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When our 15-year-old was younger, we got her these Barbies... we get them out every year as an entry table holiday decoration. :)

Personally, definitely the first one! And I wonder if you think the same!

I'll respond better to your other message in a bit. :kiss2:
 
@Lykame I wanted to type out a response to you yesterday, but we were with extended family and traveling—I so appreciated your response! You really get it! I’m a novice at superideals. I am so thankful that I have been a follower of PS for years and decided on CBI for our ultimate 20th anniversary ring in 2020. It is a spectacular brand and the diamonds are magnificent!:kiss2: I stare and stare and my family makes fun of me! :dance:

The oval is a triple-ex stone. It is beautiful, and it does have a “lively” bow tie. The larger facets light up and go crazy when the CBI puts on its light show. So no, it is not always “dead white”—I’d say that happens about 10% of the time? 20%? I should keep a log of the lighting environments. :geek: (That’s supposed to be a nerdy scientist look!). But, THAT is one of the times that the CBI surprised me—both H and F—just twinkling away like it was lit from within. So gorgeous. So even though the F oval appears whiter than the F CBI In that environment, the CBI is clearly outperforming the oval by miles. And I much prefer watching the light show over the flat white! The only time I didn’t care for the H CBI was in my neighbor’s garage during the neighborhood potluck Halloween party. It’s a perfect little hall of mirrors, so it took on the yellow walls and brown garage cabinetry. :???: I felt like one of those people that come and post, “Help, I broke my diamond!” :lol: I knew it was just the environment, though. I haven’t been back over there with my F!

But, anyway, you said what was in my heart—in a very genuine and understanding way. Yes, I am realizing now that I probably didn’t need to head to the F color. I am just a newbie at superideals. I appreciated your personal story of having your F MRB for that early shopping experience.

I did a fun photo shoot this afternoon! Lousy quality, and the ring is headed to the ultrasonic soon, but let me know.....

WHO WORE IT BEST??!!

Thank you for this response too, it's very kind of you. I should iterate that I don't think you heedlessly went up to F. I think we all have things that are mind (or eye) clean. I can't get an SI1 anymore, it's just not mind clean for me... So if paying more to get the VS2 makes me happy then I will do that even though what bugs me isn't visible or changeable by eye (usually). But I annoy myself, because think of the money I would save! For example, the plot of your F is great, because you can either see the crystal or you can't, and there's no wondering about things like twinning wisps etc. You have the perfect SI1 plot. I can appreciate it - I just can't do it. And perhaps that's how you were with the H? That whole 'what if'. If I see yellow, is it because this diamond is a mirror or because the body material is yellow? With an F there is no wondering and that is very freeing. That garage and your F would be a super interesting experiment although perhaps not one you wish to do! Not sure I would wish to do it either!

Therefore, certainly if you are colour intolerant upgrading to F is just in general a great idea. So please don't feel you did anything wrong. There's just some aspects of superideals that will never change no matter the colour or clarity so we can be nerdy scientists together... If I understand the science I can be much more accepting!

Regarding your oval, yes, I was thinking, in your video the bow tie of your oval is actually really firey. That's really awesome - I had always believed bow ties were automatically 'dead' parts of a diamond when they were present so I was pleasantly surprised to see such lovely fire coming from it.

How are you wearing all your rings at the moment? Having the oval and the CBI next to each other is continuous comparison... Do you think that's at risk of bothering you? Like... Will you be so focused on the differences between them that you are less likely to notice the beauty of either?

XX :kiss2:
 
I love the setting, I love love love the stone.. it's indeed beautiful and a ball of fire! congratulations!
 
Thank you for this response too, it's very kind of you. I should iterate that I don't think you heedlessly went up to F. I think we all have things that are mind (or eye) clean. I can't get an SI1 anymore, it's just not mind clean for me... So if paying more to get the VS2 makes me happy then I will do that even though what bugs me isn't visible or changeable by eye (usually). But I annoy myself, because think of the money I would save! For example, the plot of your F is great, because you can either see the crystal or you can't, and there's no wondering about things like twinning wisps etc. You have the perfect SI1 plot. I can appreciate it - I just can't do it. And perhaps that's how you were with the H? That whole 'what if'. If I see yellow, is it because this diamond is a mirror or because the body material is yellow? With an F there is no wondering and that is very freeing. That garage and your F would be a super interesting experiment although perhaps not one you wish to do! Not sure I would wish to do it either!

Therefore, certainly if you are colour intolerant upgrading to F is just in general a great idea. So please don't feel you did anything wrong. There's just some aspects of superideals that will never change no matter the colour or clarity so we can be nerdy scientists together... If I understand the science I can be much more accepting!

Regarding your oval, yes, I was thinking, in your video the bow tie of your oval is actually really firey. That's really awesome - I had always believed bow ties were automatically 'dead' parts of a diamond when they were present so I was pleasantly surprised to see such lovely fire coming from it.

How are you wearing all your rings at the moment? Having the oval and the CBI next to each other is continuous comparison... Do you think that's at risk of bothering you? Like... Will you be so focused on the differences between them that you are less likely to notice the beauty of either?

XX :kiss2:

I don’t wear them together! I actually put the oval down for a good rest both times. A little comparison, then just enjoying the new CBI. I will wear them on different hands sometimes, but never together like I photographed. Unless I’m doing an experiment, lol.

You must be an LCPC or LCSW in real life. ;)2 You’re a good “listener!”

I know I can sacrifice carat size as I look at my finger. Color is most important, clarity—not as much... and of course cut is king (Queen!). :lol:
 
I love the setting, I love love love the stone.. it's indeed beautiful and a ball of fire! congratulations!

Thank you, @Tekate and all—it’s very exciting! :wavey:
 
I don’t wear them together! I actually put the oval down for a good rest both times. A little comparison, then just enjoying the new CBI. I will wear them on different hands sometimes, but never together like I photographed. Unless I’m doing an experiment, lol.

You must be an LCPC or LCSW in real life. ;)2 You’re a good “listener!”

I know I can sacrifice carat size as I look at my finger. Color is most important, clarity—not as much... and of course cut is king (Queen!). :lol:

:kiss2: Again very kind of you to say. I had a guess at what those terms meant and then had to look them up! I was vaguely correct! :lol:

I am neither, but my job is very dependent on good communication - which includes me keeping my mouth shut! :lol:

Cut is indeed Queen! Or King! I did agonise about losing the F, but to keep the F in a superideal I would have had to drop down so far in size and spend so much money... It was that comparison that got me. I didn't want to spend so much money for smaller. Comparisons are dangerous! :oops2: Again, you have chosen a really good route when it comes to that because you're not replacing, you're starting afresh.

I think your 0.9 is stunning. It's such a lovely size and the ring is all about the stone. How you achieve anything in your daily life with that on your finger I don't know.

I'm dying slowly waiting for mine. :cry2:
 
I love this ring, @KristinTech!

I'm looking for something very similar for the new year; something wearable and classy and understated. Love it! Congratulations on a super new purchase. :))
 
Congratulations on your CBI!! It’s beautiful and looks beautiful on you.
 
:kiss2: Again very kind of you to say. I had a guess at what those terms meant and then had to look them up! I was vaguely correct! :lol:

I am neither, but my job is very dependent on good communication - which includes me keeping my mouth shut! :lol:

Cut is indeed Queen! Or King! I did agonise about losing the F, but to keep the F in a superideal I would have had to drop down so far in size and spend so much money... It was that comparison that got me. I didn't want to spend so much money for smaller. Comparisons are dangerous! :oops2: Again, you have chosen a really good route when it comes to that because you're not replacing, you're starting afresh.

I think your 0.9 is stunning. It's such a lovely size and the ring is all about the stone. How you achieve anything in your daily life with that on your finger I don't know.

I'm dying slowly waiting for mine. :cry2:

When will you get yours? Yes, I feel as though I have precious little time in ideal lighting by MYSELF in order to admire the CBI. I am always seen by my family on the couch, staring at it. :lol:

...and this may blow your mind, but I haven’t even looked at the plot, I don’t know where the inclusions are! I trust the CBI brains and brains associated. I will probably be more picky at the next upgrade as the stone gets larger! Thinking 1.20ish next year. With regard to clarity— Same with my SI1 oval! That I got in 1999. Never compared the stone to the plot. Not many PSers can say that!

I will say that my studs are SI2, and while they are Ex/ex/ex and gorgeous in the ears, they do bug me when I loupe them. So the next time I trade up with our favorite Chicago jeweler, I will gonip in clarity to VS2, probably! Since they will be 0.70ish each, that clarity will be affordable. =)
 
I love this ring, @KristinTech!

I'm looking for something very similar for the new year; something wearable and classy and understated. Love it! Congratulations on a super new purchase. :))


Oooh, now that’s exciting! “NOT cheaper by the dozen!” :lol: I discovered today that the CBI really shows itself off in church. Not sure is this a good sign or not, hah! Wow, the iciness and rainbow combo really came out.

Will your new stone be made to go with a current band?
 
By the way, everyone— the more I try to photograph this thing (and fail!), the more I’m reminded of what it was like when our oldest was a toddler. I got tired of trying to document everything and just tried to live in the moment! So instead of the camera, I just sit and stare instead. :)
 
Oooh, now that’s exciting! “NOT cheaper by the dozen!” :lol: I discovered today that the CBI really shows itself off in church. Not sure is this a good sign or not, hah! Wow, the iciness and rainbow combo really came out.

Will your new stone be made to go with a current band?

I once wore a favorite new pin to church. I posted in FB how much I loved it and how special I felt, wearing it to church that day. My pastor came along and 'liked' my post - possibly the ONLY time he'd ever posted on my page! I later went and apologized for sitting in church and staring at my jewelry, rather than listening to the sermon! :confused2:

As my collection stands at the moment, I have no platinum soli - or anything of that nature to wear with my platinum bands. I have a number of gorgeous platinum bands I'm never wearing because of that, so I'd love something - not huge - just something in the .9 - 1.3 range. It won't be for 4 or 5 months yet, but watch this space!
 
When will you get yours? Yes, I feel as though I have precious little time in ideal lighting by MYSELF in order to admire the CBI. I am always seen by my family on the couch, staring at it. :lol:

...and this may blow your mind, but I haven’t even looked at the plot, I don’t know where the inclusions are! I trust the CBI brains and brains associated. I will probably be more picky at the next upgrade as the stone gets larger! Thinking 1.20ish next year. With regard to clarity— Same with my SI1 oval! That I got in 1999. Never compared the stone to the plot. Not many PSers can say that!

I will say that my studs are SI2, and while they are Ex/ex/ex and gorgeous in the ears, they do bug me when I loupe them. So the next time I trade up with our favorite Chicago jeweler, I will gonip in clarity to VS2, probably! Since they will be 0.70ish each, that clarity will be affordable. =)

Sorry for the slow reply, busy day at work. :)

When will I get mine? I wish I knew!!! I have the wax - see my thread here if you haven't already - and I have essentially approved that aspect of it. Although then I was talking to my mum and she was trying really hard to convince me to go for a 2.2mm shank rather than a 2mm shank. I was like, no, I'm super happy with the way it currently looks! However, I'm very influenced by my mum, so it's currently like 01:45 in the morning, I just got home from work and I'm having a bit of a wobble wondering whether she's correct. :confused2:

The main thing I am currently waiting on at the moment is confirmation of the alloy they're going to use. I would prefer ruthenium. We'll see what they can do. This is certainly taking much much longer than I was actually expecting but I want it to be perfect and the processing time for me has been really helpful. However especially with my job and Christmas coming up and everything, starting to feel like it may well be January before I can set my hands on my ring. :boohoo:

I think it's GREAT that you haven't looked at the plot! Oh, I wish I had your chillaxedness (that is now a word) about clarity. I think I had a bit of a bad experience with my SI1 and I lost my chillaxedness. However! CBI are incredibly trustworthy and I have full faith in their process, so I can understand why you wouldn't need to look at the plot. Although, I can say your SI1 plot is a very nice SI1 plot. I did browse through the CBI SI2s, and they are amazing plots for SI2s... so I can only wish I had the ability to compromise in that area.

Oooh you'll definitely have to do a thread when you get the new studs.
 
Beautiful!! And I love the setting! Congrats to you!
 
@KristinTech how did you capture that??? I've taken literally thousands of pictures over the past 4 yrs of my CBI and have NEVER been able to capture what I see....which is what you see, and captured. :roll
 
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Morning light in our hotel room today before visiting family:

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Afternoon sun before our trip home:

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Way earlier than expected, but I have already utilized the upgrade policy (I can’t find the right emoji for embarrassed and excited all at once). The H was so beautiful, and it taught me a lot about my oval that I’ve worn since our 1999 engagement! It is an F oval. The H CBI looked *whiter* than the F in some environments (yes, it’s true!). But I just wanted a colorless stone, I guess—bottom line.
Already?, :lol:Congrats again!. :clap:
 
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