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Need Advice on Color in Yellow Gold Setting

H

HarmanRabbJr

Rough_Rock
Joined
Feb 10, 2013
Messages
10
My girlfriend insists on yellow gold setting. I'm looking for a solitaire round diamond to place in a 4 prong yellow gold setting. For her "sparkle and size" are most important. So I'm looking for an ideal cut round diamond around 1.75 carrots. Given the yellow gold setting, I'm thinking that I can sacrifice color and go with a larger diamond. How low can I go? Can I go to J or K and move up to a 2 carrot diamond?

Thanks in advance.
 
I like the look of a J in yellow gold but with platinum or white gold prongs. I wouldn't do a K. I adore yellow gold and it is especially gorgeous with G/H diamonds that look so perfectly white in comparison. Most of all make sure you get the best cut possible because that will make by far the biggest difference.

Of course one of my all time favorite rings in an M in yellow gold. See coatimundi's ring about a third of the way down:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/show-me-your-vintage-stones.172903/page-2']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/show-me-your-vintage-stones.172903/page-2[/URL]
 
Ditto. Down to J color is fine for those who are not color sensitive, and always make the prongs platinum and the band/shank yellow gold. You don't want yellow gold prongs reflecting in the diamond. Plus platinum is much better for prongs since it is not as brittle as gold.
 
A modern RB ideal cut will "wash" color in the face-up view. It will still be there from the side, however. Even a L or M can face up ivory white and may be white enough for someone who wants size but doesn't need bright white. M is more of a light yellow, as it L. J and K are more tinted-white range. Have her look at some diamonds and see where the cutoff point is on tint.

But keep in mind that deeper diamonds, old cuts, and larger diamonds all tend to concentrate the tint. So, if 1.75-2ct is your goal, then look at tinted diamonds in the larger sizes. a .5 or even a 1ct L or M can look pretty pale, but when the stones are large, that tint might jump out at you. There are threads of J/K color diamonds in the Helpful Threads sticky. Or whatever they called it. Look through the stickys.
 
Does she want an entirely YG ring or will the prongs be white? My fiancee wanted all yellow but was convinced to go two-tone. The height of the prongs matters too - if they're sufficiently massive the stone will be entirely removed from the YG and you can show off any color you want to pay for. If the stone will be closer to YG, dropping in color a bit makes sense.
 
She is not sure what she wants. Just knows she wants a gold band. I'm thinking gold band with platinum prongs. If I drop to J in color I'm hoping I can fit 2 carots in my budget.
 
By last week's prices your budget should accommodate around 24000 carrots. We could give you a more exact number/help find some promising candidates if you post the actual budget.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/which-metal-compliments-a-warm-stone-best.160706/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/which-metal-compliments-a-warm-stone-best.160706/[/URL]
If she's clearly stated that her priorities are sparkle and size I vote yg band, plat prongs, J stone. Not sure I'd drop to K in this size range w/ plat prongs for a surprise - definitely wouldn't without seeing the stone in-person first.
 
Thanks for all your help. My budget for the diamond is $12k - $13k, but I would go higher for the right diamond.
 
I had a J-color Old Cut stone in 6 yellow gold prongs. Maybe it's just me, but they didn't reflect in the stone and it looked very white to my eyes.

I also had an L-colored August Vintage Cushion in 4 white gold prongs on an 18K yellow gold shank, and I didn't like ti at all. The color showed a lot, and I thought the contrast with the white metal actually made it worse. Of course, there is a significant color difference between a J and an L.

To summarize, I'd stick to a J-color stone, however many carats you can fit into your budget.
 
Crystals under the table and crystals are the grade-making inclusions - if they're white they'll show up at close range when the mains obstruct, if they're black they'll show up from further away when the mains cease to obstruct, I doubt it's eyeclean to my specifications. Downside of looking for a larger non-branded SI2. But call BN and see if they have it on-site to check out in-person if you're interested.

Numbers aren't what you usually see on PS but no immediate flags (other than GIA rounding of course), recent report so no worries there either.
 
diamondseeker2006|1360522055|3376802 said:
Ditto. Down to J color is fine for those who are not color sensitive, and always make the prongs platinum and the band/shank yellow gold. You don't want yellow gold prongs reflecting in the diamond. Plus platinum is much better for prongs since it is not as brittle as gold.
Click to expand...

blegh I understand the reasoning for this but think it's so fugly. I always get yellow gold prongs on my yellow gold rings. I'd make sure SHE makes the decision on this since, uh, there are differing opinions. I have a half-carat G in yellow gold, so it's pretty small, and my jeweler says the YG prongs are making it look lower color than it is but it still looks blindingly white to me.
 
distracts|1360732325|3378938 said:
diamondseeker2006|1360522055|3376802 said:
Ditto. Down to J color is fine for those who are not color sensitive, and always make the prongs platinum and the band/shank yellow gold. You don't want yellow gold prongs reflecting in the diamond. Plus platinum is much better for prongs since it is not as brittle as gold.
Click to expand...

blegh I understand the reasoning for this but think it's so fugly. I always get yellow gold prongs on my yellow gold rings. I'd make sure SHE makes the decision on this since, uh, there are differing opinions. I have a half-carat G in yellow gold, so it's pretty small, and my jeweler says the YG prongs are making it look lower color than it is but it still looks blindingly white to me.
Click to expand...

That really is not the normal way, though. Every single person I know with yg engagement rings has the platinum (or wg) head. I had one for 30 years (and actually still do!). The whole idea is for the prongs to be invisible to allow the diamond to stand out. I think more people would think yg prongs were rather odd! Although it might make sense on certain colored stone rings.

You can see on sites that sell them that the white metal heads is the norm for yellow gold diamond rings:

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/4-prong-tiffany-style-solitaire-engagement-ring-1023.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/6-prong-tiffany-style-solitaire-engagement-ring-584.htm
 
nielseel|1360687309|3378304 said:
Yeah i actually prefer even lower colors. Though i would go acr
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/10023/

In a lovely repro tiffany or a double claw solitaire would be so beautiful.
I like the top right one, but vatche makes great solitaires
http://www.dvatche.com/index.php?page=collection&catID=2,18&startRow=6&id=158
Click to expand...

To piggyback on this idea... I know you're not specifically looking for AVRs, but if you're considering it, I'd take a look at this one:
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9867/

I think that if you choose to go with a vintage style cut, you can definitely play up a lower color as an asset, though I think it's quite likely that this one would face up pretty white, honestly. YT has an L colored diamond and it's quite stunning and surprisingly white: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/pinch-me-1-93ct-oec-in-tacori-2531.178678/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/pinch-me-1-93ct-oec-in-tacori-2531.178678/[/URL]

So, I think those lower colors might be worth a look-- especially if you're getting a YG setting.

edit:
found a few OECs from OWD if you'd like to take a look.
http://www.oldworlddiamonds.com/detail.php?ID=2958&SHAPE=EU
http://www.oldworlddiamonds.com/detail.php?ID=1554&SHAPE=EU

Might be worth a look, OECs have different personalities than your typical round brilliants, but the sparkle is definitely there in a nice OEC.
 
diamondseeker2006|1360733533|3378947 said:
distracts|1360732325|3378938 said:
diamondseeker2006|1360522055|3376802 said:
Ditto. Down to J color is fine for those who are not color sensitive, and always make the prongs platinum and the band/shank yellow gold. You don't want yellow gold prongs reflecting in the diamond. Plus platinum is much better for prongs since it is not as brittle as gold.
Click to expand...

blegh I understand the reasoning for this but think it's so fugly. I always get yellow gold prongs on my yellow gold rings. I'd make sure SHE makes the decision on this since, uh, there are differing opinions. I have a half-carat G in yellow gold, so it's pretty small, and my jeweler says the YG prongs are making it look lower color than it is but it still looks blindingly white to me.
Click to expand...

That really is not the normal way, though. Every single person I know with yg engagement rings has the platinum (or wg) head. I had one for 30 years (and actually still do!). The whole idea is for the prongs to be invisible to allow the diamond to stand out. I think more people would think yg prongs were rather odd! Although it might make sense on certain colored stone rings.

You can see on sites that sell them that the white metal heads is the norm for yellow gold diamond rings:

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/4-prong-tiffany-style-solitaire-engagement-ring-1023.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/6-prong-tiffany-style-solitaire-engagement-ring-584.htm
Click to expand...

Let me add that when my fiancee and I were shopping, it was hugely helpful to go see some rings rather than looking at pictures. In person, most well proportioned white prongs "disappear" in the sense that the viewer doesn't even notice them. Just the diamond.
 
{{raising hand}} I am a Yellow Gold ring person. When I bought my ring it had a white gold head and after wearing it a while, one of the tips broke off. The Jeweler (at the small 1 owner store) replaced it with another white gold head. Same thing happened again, only this time - the whole prong bent and the stone fell out! Luckily I was able to find it and I insisted on a Platinum head. That worked great for a couple of years...except she had bought an inexpensive Platinum head. I lost one of the tips AGAIN. This time I took it to a different Jeweler who replaced it with a Stuller double prong Platinum head. Wasn't cheap, but I could immediately tell by how heavy it was that there was a WORLD of difference in the quality of the heads that had been put on my ring before and after. The new one went all the way through my ring and the old ones were just kind of tacked onto to the top of my ring. Night and day.

With a 2 carat diamond like you are planning on - don't scrimp on the head.

And a little (or a lot) of Blue Florescence can make your stone look whiter :) I'm a strong blue myself.
 
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