What difference in size is visible to the eye?

[RunningwithScissors]

@RunningwithScissors

I should clarify, those were .16ct, .20ct, and .33ct diamonds, not mm sizes.

However this might help.

At one time I was considering a tennis bracelet with .50ct diamonds (Wink quoted 75K for it).
I purchased 5.25mm CZs so I could compare with my existing bracelet. They would be the approximate size of .50ct diamonds.

Thank you for posting this photo it really helps to see the .5 ct vs the .33 ct.

I knew your original post referred to the ct size and not the mm size -- I just mistyped my response! I was sleepy that afternoon, not enough caffeine was consumed!

 

[RunningwithScissors]

I was just going to say that what applies to most people will probably fall short for someone who can consistently pick the D out of a colourless lineup of precision cuts

@RunningwithScissors Your visual acuity is both a blessing and a curse! For the bracelet - the setting might be a "visual size equalizer" (ie. Four prongs or bezels will void most of a tiny size difference).

Yes, it is a blessing and a curse.

I'm fairly sure I'm going to go with E color for the bracelet. But I'm already worried about the variation I've seen in warmth in E diamonds. I know that sounds like a crazy lady talking, but its the God's honest truth. A few months ago I looked at a lineup of 3 super ideals Es for stud earrings. It was very clear to me that there was a high, a medium and a low E. The high and medium were great, but the low E was very clearly different from the other two. The lady helping me said she saw it too. I guess its true what they say about AGS being a little bit soft on color grading.

Thank goodness my vision is blurry so I don't have to worry about clarity!

 

[nala]

How much difference in size is needed in MRB diamonds for an average eye to notice the difference?

Does it change with the size of the diamonds? For example, are smaller increases in size more noticeable on smaller diamonds then they are on larger ones?

I'm dreaming about two future projects and want to figure out how much I'd notice size increases.

Project one is a tennis bracelet. Would I see any difference if I use .4 ct diamonds instead of .45? (I know this might seem like splitting hairs.)

Also, I'd thinking about a future size increase for my diamond stud earrings. Would a bump up from 1 ct to 1.25 ct (each diamond) be noticeable enough? Or would I need to go up to 1.5 to really tell a difference when standing back and seeing myself from a couple feet away? (The distance you'd stand when having a conversation with someone in a non-pandemic world.)

If stores were open I could answer the earring question by trying them on, but alas...

I haven’t read replies, but my answer is yes to both of your questions.

 

[RunningwithScissors]

I wish the stores were open so I could continue to "research" how the different sizes look and feel when on my wrist and ears.

Here's my problem regarding size for a tennis bracelet. I only plan to have one in my lifetime, so I have to go big enough to be satisfied for ever after.

I'm never going to be able to afford to do a second one to be able to stack. Also, I'm not into stacking (rings, necklaces, bracelets) because I'm a minimalist. I love how it looks on other people, its just my own personal style.

I don't want the bracelet to look gaudy or over the top. But it has to be big enough to not feel lonely on my wrist or out of proportion to my other "forever" jewelry pieces. BUT, the larger I go, the longer I have to wait.

I'm thinking either .4 ct or .5 ct per diamond. I'm leaning towards .5, but of course that means a much longer wait as the price almost doubles.

Either size will be a wait, so don't expect this to pop up in the "Show Me the Bling" thread anytime soon!

 

[yssie]

I wish the stores were open so I could continue to "research" how the different sizes look and feel when on my wrist and ears.

Here's my problem regarding size for a tennis bracelet. I only plan to have one in my lifetime, so I have to go big enough to be satisfied for ever after.

I'm never going to be able to afford to do a second one to be able to stack. Also, I'm not into stacking (rings, necklaces, bracelets) because I'm a minimalist. I love how it looks on other people, its just my own personal style.

I don't want the bracelet to look gaudy or over the top. But it has to be big enough to not feel lonely on my wrist or out of proportion to my other "forever" jewelry pieces. BUT, the larger I go, the longer I have to wait.

I'm thinking either .4 ct or .5 ct per diamond. I'm leaning towards .5, but of course that means a much longer wait as the price almost doubles.

Either size will be a wait, so don't expect this to pop up in the "Show Me the Bling" thread anytime soon!

I’ll be honest: I don't subscribe to bigger is better when it comes to diamond bracelets. The wrist is very close to the fingers, what’s on the wrist can’t help but compete with an engagement ring for observers’ attentions... and I want the engagement ring to win, always, handily.

So in your scenario my strong preference is for the 40pointers irrespective of cost considerations. For you, given extra budget capacity, I would choose 40pt Ds rather than 50pt Es.

Just my 2c

 

[AV_]

It was very clear to me that there was a high, a medium and a low E.

I'm leaning towards .5

Everything matters more in larger stones & now I am curious if anyone matches suites beyond one GIA color grades!

 

[alittlelight]

This is a great, very informative discussion.

 

[prs]

@RunningwithScissors have you considered a graduated bracelet? DW has one with the diamonds graduating in size from 3.6mm at the clasp to 5.0mm in the center (0.17-0.47ct). We bought this one at an auction, but I know this size difference will make a huge difference in the cost of the piece.

Sorry I don't have a wrist photo, but here's what I do have. The bottom photo is after we had the safety chain removed and replaced with a safety clasp.

 

[AV_]

has to be said:

darn' spelling, grammar & such - I ever notice failures late ,(

 

[yssie]

has to be said:

darn' spelling, grammar & such - I ever notice failures late ,(

We're all all thumbs on our phones - literally and figuratively

 

[yssie]

Yes, it is a blessing and a curse.

I'm fairly sure I'm going to go with E color for the bracelet. But I'm already worried about the variation I've seen in warmth in E diamonds. I know that sounds like a crazy lady talking, but its the God's honest truth. A few months ago I looked at a lineup of 3 super ideals Es for stud earrings. It was very clear to me that there was a high, a medium and a low E. The high and medium were great, but the low E was very clearly different from the other two. The lady helping me said she saw it too. I guess its true what they say about AGS being a little bit soft on color grading.

Thank goodness my vision is blurry so I don't have to worry about clarity!

I have only my story to tell, and I don't claim that my story reflects any general trends at any point in time, but my anecdotal experience suggests that if is something you really care about then it's best to go ahead and dual cert. I have had my three most valuable stones submitted to both GIA and AGS:
1. Ering stone, bought with GIA report: 4.01ct, GIA J, AGS J, same on clarity (VS1)
2. Earring stone #1, bought with GIA report: 2.69ct, GIA J, AGS I, same on clarity (SI2)
3. Earring stone #2, bought with AGS report: 2.71ct, GIA K VS2, AGS J SI1

I can see the body colour difference betweeen the two earring stones. It's very, very slight, but noticeable on close inspection.

Interestingly, the Ering stone and Earring stone #2 also have HRD reports. Not my doing The earring is an HRD J, but the Ering is an HRD L... This stone is not an L by any reasonable estimation - someone out there had a really bad day

 

[prs]

Found another photo showing the graduation.

 

[RunningwithScissors]

I have only my story to tell, and I don't claim that my story reflects any general trends at any point in time, but my anecdotal experience suggests that if is something you really care about then it's best to go ahead and dual cert. I have had my three most valuable stones submitted to both GIA and AGS:
1. Ering stone, bought with GIA report: 4.01ct, GIA J, AGS J, same on clarity (VS1)
2. Earring stone #1, bought with GIA report: 2.69ct, GIA J, AGS I, same on clarity (SI2)
3. Earring stone #2, bought with AGS report: 2.71ct, GIA K VS2, AGS J SI1

I can see the body colour difference betweeen the two earring stones. It's very, very slight, but noticeable on close inspection.

Interestingly, the Ering stone and Earring stone #2 also have HRD reports. Not my doing The earring is an HRD J, but the Ering is an HRD L... This stone is not an L by any reasonable estimation - someone out there had a really bad day

Your experience is very interesting and fits what I've heard others say about AGS color grading, and also what I've see with my own eyes.

I want the diamonds in my bracelet to appear white, and evenly white, but I don't really care about what a lab has graded them. So its not worth it to invest in a second report. Now if I were purchasing a large e-ring, then yes, I might.

I also realize that the variation of warmth within one color grade can be hidden by carefully arranging the diamonds on an even gradation spectrum when placed in a bracelet. For example, you wouldn't want a high E placed next to a very low E. You place the high Es together, then transition into middle Es, then into the low Es. This keeps the contrast between neighboring diamonds to a minimum and thus hides their variations. And you'd place the high Es where they'd be seen the most.

Pretend the following is a bracelet laying open on a table top:

Clasp. Low Es. Middle Es. High Es (topside of the bracelet). Middle Es. Low Es. Clasp.

 

[RunningwithScissors]

Thank you @prs. That is a beautiful bracelet.

I find jewelry with gradation sizing has an antique look to it. Very romantic, and evocative of a different era.

However, I gravitate towards sleek modernist in my own personal style.

 

[cokitty]

I think it depends on the size of your ears and wrist. A big part of things for me is proportions. When I was debating I went with .25 stones(4mm). I have other more delicate tennis bracelets for day to day, but for me 4mm was the largest I felt would look nice without being too much. But then I am short at 65" and scale matters, too big and it just reads as trying too hard. (Though this varies by social circle as well.)

 

[RunningwithScissors]

I think it depends on the size of your ears and wrist. A big part of things for me is proportions. When I was debating I went with .25 stones(4mm). I have other more delicate tennis bracelets for day to day, but for me 4mm was the largest I felt would look nice without being too much. But then I am short at 65" and scale matters, too big and it just reads as trying too hard. (Though this varies by social circle as well.)

Totally agree! Its about scale and balance.

My old stud earrings were .5 ct each and I've been holding them up to my wrist to figure out how I feel about their size. Unfortunately I do not know their millimeter width, and they are cut deep and appear a tiny bit small for .5 ct.

I like the way they look on my wrist a lot.

Since I'm going to be saving up for this project for the next 3-4 years, I'm scared about being underwhelmed when it finally arrives.

And the flip side is if I select too large, then it will look gaudy.

Pressure!

 

[prs]

Thank you @prs. That is a beautiful bracelet.

I find jewelry with gradation sizing has an antique look to it. Very romantic, and evocative of a different era.

However, I gravitate towards sleek modernist in my own personal style.

You do have a sharp eye!

The larger stones are OECs with high crowns and small tables, the smaller stones are more transitional. A kind of wonky arrangement, but very antique and romantic.

 

[prs]

Totally agree! Its about scale and balance.

My old stud earrings were .5 ct each and I've been holding them up to my wrist to figure out how I feel about their size. Unfortunately I do not know their millimeter size, but I know they are cut deep and appear a tiny bit small for .5 ct.

I like the way they look on my wrist a lot.

FYI both Home Depot and Lowes have calipers in their Hardware Depts at very modest pricing. That's were I got mine.

 

[RunningwithScissors]

FYI both Home Depot and Lowes have calipers in their Hardware Depts at very modest pricing. That's were I got mine.

Are they sensitive enough to measure tiny diamonds?

 

[prs]

This one is accurate to 0.01mm LINK

 

[OdetteOdile]

Totally agree! Its about scale and balance.

My old stud earrings were .5 ct each and I've been holding them up to my wrist to figure out how I feel about their size. Unfortunately I do not know their millimeter width, and they are cut deep and appear a tiny bit small for .5 ct.

I like the way they look on my wrist a lot.

Since I'm going to be saving up for this project for the next 3-4 years, I'm scared about being underwhelmed when it finally arrives.

And the flip side is if I select too large, then it will look gaudy.

Pressure!

You need to get yourself some calipers! I promise that you will start measuring everything with them!

 

[RunningwithScissors]

You need to get yourself some calipers! I promise that you will start measuring everything with them!

I can see myself measuring my husband's forehead with them!

 

[OdetteOdile]

Totally agree! Its about scale and balance.

My old stud earrings were .5 ct each and I've been holding them up to my wrist to figure out how I feel about their size. Unfortunately I do not know their millimeter width, and they are cut deep and appear a tiny bit small for .5 ct.

I like the way they look on my wrist a lot.

Since I'm going to be saving up for this project for the next 3-4 years, I'm scared about being underwhelmed when it finally arrives.

And the flip side is if I select too large, then it will look gaudy.

Pressure!

It would be ideal if you could find CZ options of the exact sizes you are considering. If you cannot find that, could a jeweler could mock up 2 versions for you? I just think that this is going to be a very expensive project and it would be good to know for sure which size you prefer.

 

[yssie]

Mitutoyo calipers are excellent. We use them in our labs. Not inexpensive, but very accurate, and they remain accurate over use (good calibration mechanics). Lots of calipers advertise extreme precision - to the hundredths and even thousandths - but they aren’t able to substantiate that precision with accuracy.

 

[minniezhang]

I'm not sure about the bracelet. For the earrings, since there's always the diamond shrinkage syndrome, I recommend to go with bigger size within your budget

 

[RunningwithScissors]

I ordered a CZ tennis bracelet from JC Penny. Its listed as having 4.5 mm stones and has a martini setting like I'm considering for the real bracelet. Hopefully this will give me more info.

I'll post pics when I receive it.

Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[OdetteOdile]

I ordered a CZ tennis bracelet from JC Penny. Its listed as having 4.5 mm stones and has a martini setting like I'm considering for the real bracelet. Hopefully this will give me more info.

I'll post pics when I receive it.

Thanks everyone for your help!

I'm glad you could find that! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

[teobdl]

This site is what you're looking for: https://www.diamdb.com/

Put in your comparison sizes and view. The only metric that really matters for this visual comparison is the diameter.

You can look up typical diameters on a carat chart. Otherwise, input the actual diamonds you're interested in.

Of course, small carat increases on smaller diamonds make a bigger visual difference than small carat increases in larger diamonds due to surface area vs volume math.

 

[The Judge]

Totally agree! Its about scale and balance.

My old stud earrings were .5 ct each and I've been holding them up to my wrist to figure out how I feel about their size. Unfortunately I do not know their millimeter width, and they are cut deep and appear a tiny bit small for .5 ct.

I like the way they look on my wrist a lot.

Since I'm going to be saving up for this project for the next 3-4 years, I'm scared about being underwhelmed when it finally arrives.

And the flip side is if I select too large, then it will look gaudy.

Pressure!

Finally figuring out how to respond to questions. So... Your question as to how the mm size of a diamond affects it's visual size.... The difference between a .04ct diamond and 0.045 is insignificant. It's very doubtful that you would see a difference! For larger diamonds, such as a 0.50 and 0.55cts, you would probably still not see a visual difference. As you go over 1.00cts, you might see a difference if comparing to a 1.25cts diamonds. However, you're missing an important part of the puzzle.... Depth!

A round Brilliant cut diamond is ideally cut to a 60% depth. So... a 1.00 diamond with 60% depth might have a diameter of say 6.5mm. Now, lets look at a diamond with a 64% depth... the diameter might be around 6.35mm... looking in the "face up" position, the diamond with the 6.5mm diameter will look larger, even though they weigh the same.

So... simple answer, in the smaller diamonds, under 0.10cts (melee), a size difference would be extremely difficult to see the difference... As you go up in size, the difference is visual size will be greatly effected by the depth. Be sure to ask about the depths of the diamonds. They should be withing 59 and 61% to be comparable.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

I am rather saddened that no one has mentioned the addition last year to HCA. The biggest impact on a diamonds size comes from its light return - most importantly from near the edges of the diamond.
HCA Looks Like does this for rounds and we are working to do it for fancy shaped diamonds.
In this video with two 1.00ct weight stones in low light the deep cut diamond appears to be the same size as a nice 1/2ct round.