What carat makes you think "that''s a big ring!"

[bee*]

For me, I think anything over a carat is big, over 1.5 very big and over 2 it''s huge. I think people tend to have smaller diamonds in Ireland and I''ve gotten so many comments on how big my ring is (it''s 1.23ct). To me, it''s a nice size, but the amount of comments I''ve had about it is unreal. I wouldn''t go bigger though.

 

[nebe]

I have a 7mm round fakey and FH thinks it''s "God awful" but personally, anything over 8mm makes me stop and ask to see.

 

[Lynn B]

Fun thread. Oh how times have a''changed!

Just a few years ago I thought 1 carat was "big" and 2 carats was "huge". Now I have a gorgeous 2.36 (RB) and the darn thing looks downright TINY to me!

So THESE DAYS I tend to think that anything over 3.5 carats is *big*, and over 5 carats is *HUGE*.

For me, apparently "big" will always be MORE than I have, likely no matter what size that may be!

But then, I''m sick.

 

[jfo]

Just like gwendolyn, I base it on finger coverage usually. For some people, a 1 carat ring looks HUGE on their dainty little fingers. That said, I typically think of 2 ct or above as a big ring! I live in Chicago, and although I see a lot of beautiful rings, there still aren''t too many people I come across with a BIG diamond, but I know they exist--I see them here on PS!!

 

[Steel]

Well I am in two minds; I feel for me that 2.5+ would be big.

Buuuut that is all dependent on the finger coverage.

On other hand I would be impressed by anything over 2cts and think 4-5+ was BIG! [Based on RB cuts]

 

[beau13]

Date: 12/10/2007 7:48:55 PM
Author: nebe
I have a 7mm round fakey and FH thinks it''s ''God awful'' but personally, anything over 8mm makes me stop and ask to see.

My round is about 7.8 mm, and I''ve been wearing it daily for about 3 months, and only ONE person has ever said anything about it (she was serving me in a music store, young girl, and turned to my hubby and said "WOW..you must love her alot", as she grabbed my hand!) I think my diamond is BIG, and stands out, but nobody (other than friends I showed it to, when I first got it), ever really notices it. Maybe they aren''t "jewelry people", and it doesn''t interest them? Who knows. However..getting off track here..LOL, I think a round in the 2 carat range is BIG, and a pear shape or marquise in the 1.5 carat range looks BIG, because of it''s shape!

 

[Linda W]

Anything that is bigger than mine, tee hee.

Linda

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 12/11/2007 1:00:20 PM
Author: Linda W
Anything that is bigger than mine, tee hee.

Linda

hehee, that is what I was thinking.

Well, for me I think mine looks big when I am out around town but on PS or at home it seems not to be the case.

 

[Linda W]

me too Skippy.

Mine is a marquise, a .90. Most of the time I wear my Padparadscha. That is a 2.25 roval. I LOVE that ring too.

Lidna

 

[Gypsy]

In rounds I think at or around 3 carats is big. Fancies are different though. For asscher''s I think 3 carats is just right, for example. And 5 carats is large.

 

[mrssalvo]

in the real world 1.5-2 carats looks big to me...when i''m on PS though that number moves higher and i''d say 2 carats and up is big.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 12/11/2007 2:28:41 PM
Author: mrssalvo
in the real world 1.5-2 carats looks big to me...when i''m on PS though that number moves higher and i''d say 2 carats and up is big.

Ditto! My 1.6 is really too big for where I live, but it is pretty much average on PS, I guess. Rarely do I see a 2 ct. stone here, but I think it is really big when I see one! One jeweler''s wife has a large stone, and it is as cloudy as can be! I wouldn''t want it.

 

[jewelerman]

I look at my 2.5 round and after wearing it for 17 years i still appreciate its size and sparkle,but when i see a well cut 4 carat or larger i want to trade up in size...then i remind myself that mine is paid for and impressive.Actress Elizabeth Taylor once said "diamonds shrink."Its true ...i once thought that .75 was a large diamond,but now this is a perfect size for side diamonds!

 

[risingsun]

My upgrade faces up the size of a 1.25 and my ring size is 4.5. It gives me good finger coverage and my setting is on the blingy side--just the way I like it. My ideal size IRL would 2 ct, but I don''t see that happening anytime soon

 

[Harleigh]

Date: 12/10/2007 8:48:49 PM
Author: Lynn B
Fun thread. Oh how times have a''changed!

Just a few years ago I thought 1 carat was ''big'' and 2 carats was ''huge''. Now I have a gorgeous 2.36 (RB) and the darn thing looks downright TINY to me!

So THESE DAYS I tend to think that anything over 3.5 carats is *big*, and over 5 carats is *HUGE*.

For me, apparently ''big'' will always be MORE than I have, likely no matter what size that may be!

But then, I''m sick.

I''m with Lynn...a little sick, I know, but I think DSS has already started to sink in. I used to think 2+ carats was HUGE, but now that I have one, it just looks kind of average to me.

I think I might have the largest diamond at my school, but I think that may be because mine is great color and clarity, and I always keep it clean. There are several other teachers with ones close in size, I think, but I don''t think the cut or clarity on theirs is good, and they are always filthy.

I keep my hand down and covered a lot so as not to be considered a show off, but it makes me feel good when people do actually notice it occasionally.

Where I live, 3+ carats is average...

 

[fisherofmengirly]

I hear a lot that my ring is "big," or really nice, or whatever. I think it''s just a matter of how it looks in the setting, the size of a person''s hand, and things like that. My ring is .56 and it''s the perfect size to me.

I ran a search on Google, and it says the national average in the U.S. is .38; if that''s so, over a 1/2 carat would be big to some people.

I''m with the other comments on here though about quality. I''ve seen some large diamonds that look white, pure white. No ice, no colorful sparkles. That''s a disappointment.

 

[gwendolyn]

Date: 12/12/2007 6:23:47 PM
Author: fisherofmengirly
I ran a search on Google, and it says the national average in the U.S. is .38; if that''s so, over a 1/2 carat would be big to some people.

Really? In the US?! I''d have thought that would be true for the UK, but not the US. Most people I have come across have had at least a carat; many have more.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Where I live there are many many 3+ engagement rings and upgrade anniversary rings. There are also plenty of half carats too.

I personally don''t really judge what is big by a certain carat size. I judge more about how it looks on the hand of the person wearing it.

Plop a 1 carat diamond on a size 3 finger and it looks big, a two carat looks BIG and a 3+ is eye popping.

On my own hand I would think a 3 carat would look normal, 4 carat probably big and a 5+ would be wowzers!

Also, I don''t really like the look of a RB on my hand so I judge everything in terms of step cut size - so you have to factor that in too...

I tried on a 4 carat RB once and I thought it looked ridiculous on me. Way too big, But I''ve also tried on a 11 carat radiant that I thought looked perfectly natural on me - not too big at all. Certainly noticable but not ridiculous. (You shoulda seen Hubby break out in the cold sweats when he saw that one because he thought it looked perfectly fine too - and that made his credit cards very, very nervous! LOL!)

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Depends. I like anything over a carat that LOOKS over a carat with a lot of sparkle is big. I see some mall rings over a carat that just don''t sparkle and they look small to me.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

I get more compliments on my 22 carat Aqua than any other ring I own--I love it on hand! But would I buy a 4 or 5 carat RB? Nope. Oddly enough, it looks too large to me. Go figure.

cheers--Sharon

 

[Apsara]

4+

I live in NY so everything is exaggerated.

 

[butterfly 17]

I would say 2 carats or more on someone else other than myself. When I see someone with a 2 carat, I think it looks so big, but my 2 carat seems smaller to me..

 

[UCLABelle]

Well, I notice all rings, and settings can play a big factor in making even the smallest of diamonds look big...but...

Anything over 1.25 is considered a nice "largish" size
Anything over 1.5 is considered big
Anything over 2.0 is considered huge
Anything over 3+ is just too huge for me (except the ones here, of course...such as Diamondfan''s beauty that I would give my right hand for!!!!)

 

[NeverEndingUpgrade]

I live in Dallas, too, and I think that anything 2 carats and up is big. My son goes to school with a lot of kids from Plano and Frisco, and most of the diamonds I see on the moms are at least 2 cts. with a few 3+cts. And I see lots of eternity bands stacked with the big diamond solitaires. The more the merrier seems to be the motto of the day.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Date: 12/12/2007 6:34:57 PM
Author: gwendolyn

Date: 12/12/2007 6:23:47 PM
Author: fisherofmengirly
I ran a search on Google, and it says the national average in the U.S. is .38; if that's so, over a 1/2 carat would be big to some people.

Really? In the US?! I'd have thought that would be true for the UK, but not the US. Most people I have come across have had at least a carat; many have more.

So says GOOGLE, anyway. I think that's taking into consideration EVERYONE, though. Back in the day, many didn't even get engagement rings, and back in the day, people got married much younger, over all, than people do now, which would also account for the smaller diamonds.

My parents married 36 years ago, and her ring is almost .40, and it was HUGE compared to all of the people in her "circle." She was also only 18 (19 when they married) and was in a rural area of the country. Her diamond is also of superb cut (although I don't know the numbers, it sparkles like crazy mad).