Lykame
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2018
- Messages
- 1,454
Hi all!
I have been considering diamond earrings for a few years, but admittedly was a bit nervous about this plan; I had previously owned some synthetic diamond earrings, one of which I lost with its friction back... (although in a swimming pool, so really that was more my fault)...
However, in the run-up to a significant birthday, my partner suggested we look for some diamond studs for me. He knows I am very pedantic about diamonds, so he gave me free rein in choosing them.
My diamond ring is CBI and I'm obsessed with it, so I knew any other diamond would also need to be super ideal cut; it was clear to me that the only choice I would be mind-happy with was going via Whiteflash and selecting from their ACA line. However, I'm based in the UK and they're in America, so this also wasn't without a bit of risk as the idea of trying to return anything seems insurmountable - I felt it important to try and get it right first try.
Whiteflash couldn't have been more helpful. I mostly liaised with Liza, a diamond consultant, who was very patient with me, but I also liaised with those in various other departments, such as Marcela, who is an amazing photographer, and America, a support specialist. Everyone was so great and lovely to me, and I'm sure numerous others were helpful behind the scenes.
Some things were easy - after hunting through their settings' selection, I immediately knew I was going to go with a platinum six prong crown diamond earring setting:
These match very well with my ring (although are certainly not identical). Liza shared the different types of prongs I could go for, and I went with the Petite Claw. Easy decisions.
I was not so sure on the backings. I knew I didn't want friction. I have a pair of Chrysmela Catch backings for a pair of heavy dangly fashion-type earrings I have, and I get on well with those; they seem very secure. I just wasn't so sure on them for more expensive earrings. In the end I decided to go with the La Pousette backs, as hopefully the most secure option. I have small earlobes so I was a bit worried they may be visible but thankfully they are smaller than I thought and very discrete. I even considered shortening the posts, but after liaising with Liza decided not to - that was the correct decision.
What I found much more difficult was choosing the diamonds. I know that with ACA I can't really go wrong from a cut point of view, but I felt compelled to try and match certain things. They really had to be the same colour and clarity, and I wanted the same LGFs. I really wanted them to be about the same carat weight, but recognise that having them be about the same height/length is more important - this is maybe the one area where I'm not sure how successful I was.
I had completed a bit of informal research of my own with different costume jewellery. I had tried 2mm studs (I've always thought there was something quite charming about tiny studs), 4mm studs, 5mm studs and 6mm studs. The 2mm studs were cute but not for me. The 4mm studs were nice but I knew I would get DSS as immediately felt they were too small. The 6mm studs were too big for the look I was aiming for. Initially, I thought the 5mm studs were too big but after wearing them a while I felt that actually they were about right - I didn't feel I would get DSS with 5mm studs.
Therefore I approached Whiteflash wanting F VS1 as my ideal goal and wanting about the 5mm mark - so initially looked at about the half-carat mark per stone.
They have a useful feature for looking for diamond pairs, so I did both this but also looked at 'individuals' to ensure I wasn't missing matches that maybe hadn't been put together on the pairs' section.
There weren't any F VS1s (or 2s!) in my carat requirements, so I liaised with Whiteflash about this to figure out if it would be worth waiting for more stock. The goal was to have the earrings by this January and I was starting the process in September of last year, so I was happy to wait a bit. However, it seems that more of their stock wasn't going to be in until around March, and even then that didn't guarantee matches in my requirements.
I broadened my search, and was interested in a couple of G VS1s:
0.602 ct G VS1 5.41 x 5.44 x 3.32, Table 57.5, Crown angle 34.6, Pavillion angle 40.7, lower girdle % 76
0.602 ct G VS1 5.39 x 5.41 x 3.34, Table 57.3, Crown angle 34.9, Pavillion angle 40.8, lower girdle % 76
This is 0.02 x 0.03 mm face-up difference.
I liked these a lot - a lot - because I really liked that they were identical carat weights (that felt very pleasing to me even though I appreciate that's ridiculous), and my partner's surname begins with a G. They seemed pretty close to each other dimension wise and close enough with the other measurements alongside being ACA that I felt they would be really well matched.
Liza also highlighted that there were a couple of F VVS2s:
0.61 ct F VVS2 5.44 x 5.42 x 3.35, Table 57, Crown angle 34.5, Pavillion angle 40.8, lower girdle % 75
0.60 ct F VVS2 5.42 x 5.39 x 3.34, Table 57, Crown angle 34.5, Pavillion angle 40.8, lower girdle % 75
This is also 0.02 x 0.03 mm face-up difference.
Those were obviously extremely well-matched, and even writing this down I get a bit of a buzz by how well-matched they are angle-wise - and LGFs of 75%, yummy! - but they weren't any better matched from a dimensions point of view and although it's silly, the carat weight was different. I also felt reluctant to ask my partner to pay for F VVS2s. He would have, but it was quite a big difference money-wise for something I wouldn't see (the VVS2 I mean), and I didn't feel the difference between F and G for earrings was enough to justify it - so I didn't want him to.
Whiteflash were great and sent me pictures of them:
I mean they're disgustingly beautiful, all of them. I can see the colour difference between them - I'm very colour sensitive - but I am not bothered by it, especially as it's very magnified and they're all right next to each other, which isn't the environment they will be in in real life. I was a bit nervous as I felt I could see the size difference between all of them, but again these are very magnified images. I asked Liza to please look at them directly herself to get her opinion on them just in a normal situation, and she agreed that the Gs worked really great together. She also kindly put them on hold for me, which was really helpful too as it gave me a bit of processing time. I decided to go for it.
After paying, the wait wasn't too long really, I think it was something like a week and a half, which I wasn't fussed about as I wasn't in a rush to get them. They initially sent a single picture for approval:
This wasn't enough for me so I asked them to please send more pictures, and confirm that they had the La Pousette backs. I also asked them to pretty please get people with fussy eyes to look at them as I didn't want to have to send them back for any reason at all. They very kindly sent a few more pictures and then I was super impressed as they did indeed pass them around to a few people with 'fussy eyes', who felt the prongs needed a little bit more work - so they went back to the workshop for a bit more work before being shipped out to me! I was so happy with this, it made me feel a lot better and I was really grateful that they spent this extra time nitpicking them on my behalf.
They shipped them out to a Fed Ex location near me so that my partner could pay customs/tax etc, and then I picked them up. My partner let me have a quick look at them to ensure they at least looked good at first glance/no glaring issues - and then I had to give them to my partner to sit on until this last week. I then had the pleasure of opening them in their beautiful Whiteflash packaging!
What I have since learnt is that photographing them is impossible.
Ear shots are also impossible. I was a bit nervous that I could tell the difference in size between them visually, but they look the same no matter which ear I put them in.
The best photo I have taken (left ear):
They glow that much in real life, too. It's crazy. Slightly different light and different camera, still my left ear, but can't remember if this is the same diamond or the other one:
And right ear:
As you might be able to see, I kinda feel that my right ear looks like the diamond is smaller, but if I switch them it's still the same look, so it isn't the diamond (I mean come on, they have 0.02 x 0.03 mm difference face-up, but I always seem to get nervous about something). I suspect it's because of the scar I have on my right earlobe and also my piercing is not quite the same on either ear (they point in different directions); it's so subtle I don't think I'll notice it once I'm just wearing them on a day-to-day basis and enjoying their light performance. It might also have something to do with the pressure of the setting and I'll need to get that right, too. Let's see.
They are extremely comfortable. The reality is that I'm going to sleep in them and shower in them, and they feel really secure with the La Pousette backs. It's going to take me a bit of time to learn how to put them on easily as the backs are quite fiddly, but it's already getting easier.
Anyway, as always I don't do concise, but just in case this is a helpful story for anyone I've allowed myself to expand on the detail a bit... I would definitely use Whiteflash again for other projects, they were great. Thanks to them all!
I have been considering diamond earrings for a few years, but admittedly was a bit nervous about this plan; I had previously owned some synthetic diamond earrings, one of which I lost with its friction back... (although in a swimming pool, so really that was more my fault)...
However, in the run-up to a significant birthday, my partner suggested we look for some diamond studs for me. He knows I am very pedantic about diamonds, so he gave me free rein in choosing them.
My diamond ring is CBI and I'm obsessed with it, so I knew any other diamond would also need to be super ideal cut; it was clear to me that the only choice I would be mind-happy with was going via Whiteflash and selecting from their ACA line. However, I'm based in the UK and they're in America, so this also wasn't without a bit of risk as the idea of trying to return anything seems insurmountable - I felt it important to try and get it right first try.
Whiteflash couldn't have been more helpful. I mostly liaised with Liza, a diamond consultant, who was very patient with me, but I also liaised with those in various other departments, such as Marcela, who is an amazing photographer, and America, a support specialist. Everyone was so great and lovely to me, and I'm sure numerous others were helpful behind the scenes.
Some things were easy - after hunting through their settings' selection, I immediately knew I was going to go with a platinum six prong crown diamond earring setting:
These match very well with my ring (although are certainly not identical). Liza shared the different types of prongs I could go for, and I went with the Petite Claw. Easy decisions.
I was not so sure on the backings. I knew I didn't want friction. I have a pair of Chrysmela Catch backings for a pair of heavy dangly fashion-type earrings I have, and I get on well with those; they seem very secure. I just wasn't so sure on them for more expensive earrings. In the end I decided to go with the La Pousette backs, as hopefully the most secure option. I have small earlobes so I was a bit worried they may be visible but thankfully they are smaller than I thought and very discrete. I even considered shortening the posts, but after liaising with Liza decided not to - that was the correct decision.
What I found much more difficult was choosing the diamonds. I know that with ACA I can't really go wrong from a cut point of view, but I felt compelled to try and match certain things. They really had to be the same colour and clarity, and I wanted the same LGFs. I really wanted them to be about the same carat weight, but recognise that having them be about the same height/length is more important - this is maybe the one area where I'm not sure how successful I was.
I had completed a bit of informal research of my own with different costume jewellery. I had tried 2mm studs (I've always thought there was something quite charming about tiny studs), 4mm studs, 5mm studs and 6mm studs. The 2mm studs were cute but not for me. The 4mm studs were nice but I knew I would get DSS as immediately felt they were too small. The 6mm studs were too big for the look I was aiming for. Initially, I thought the 5mm studs were too big but after wearing them a while I felt that actually they were about right - I didn't feel I would get DSS with 5mm studs.
Therefore I approached Whiteflash wanting F VS1 as my ideal goal and wanting about the 5mm mark - so initially looked at about the half-carat mark per stone.
They have a useful feature for looking for diamond pairs, so I did both this but also looked at 'individuals' to ensure I wasn't missing matches that maybe hadn't been put together on the pairs' section.
There weren't any F VS1s (or 2s!) in my carat requirements, so I liaised with Whiteflash about this to figure out if it would be worth waiting for more stock. The goal was to have the earrings by this January and I was starting the process in September of last year, so I was happy to wait a bit. However, it seems that more of their stock wasn't going to be in until around March, and even then that didn't guarantee matches in my requirements.
I broadened my search, and was interested in a couple of G VS1s:
0.602 ct G VS1 5.41 x 5.44 x 3.32, Table 57.5, Crown angle 34.6, Pavillion angle 40.7, lower girdle % 76
0.602 ct G VS1 5.39 x 5.41 x 3.34, Table 57.3, Crown angle 34.9, Pavillion angle 40.8, lower girdle % 76
This is 0.02 x 0.03 mm face-up difference.
I liked these a lot - a lot - because I really liked that they were identical carat weights (that felt very pleasing to me even though I appreciate that's ridiculous), and my partner's surname begins with a G. They seemed pretty close to each other dimension wise and close enough with the other measurements alongside being ACA that I felt they would be really well matched.
Liza also highlighted that there were a couple of F VVS2s:
0.61 ct F VVS2 5.44 x 5.42 x 3.35, Table 57, Crown angle 34.5, Pavillion angle 40.8, lower girdle % 75
0.60 ct F VVS2 5.42 x 5.39 x 3.34, Table 57, Crown angle 34.5, Pavillion angle 40.8, lower girdle % 75
This is also 0.02 x 0.03 mm face-up difference.
Those were obviously extremely well-matched, and even writing this down I get a bit of a buzz by how well-matched they are angle-wise - and LGFs of 75%, yummy! - but they weren't any better matched from a dimensions point of view and although it's silly, the carat weight was different. I also felt reluctant to ask my partner to pay for F VVS2s. He would have, but it was quite a big difference money-wise for something I wouldn't see (the VVS2 I mean), and I didn't feel the difference between F and G for earrings was enough to justify it - so I didn't want him to.
Whiteflash were great and sent me pictures of them:
I mean they're disgustingly beautiful, all of them. I can see the colour difference between them - I'm very colour sensitive - but I am not bothered by it, especially as it's very magnified and they're all right next to each other, which isn't the environment they will be in in real life. I was a bit nervous as I felt I could see the size difference between all of them, but again these are very magnified images. I asked Liza to please look at them directly herself to get her opinion on them just in a normal situation, and she agreed that the Gs worked really great together. She also kindly put them on hold for me, which was really helpful too as it gave me a bit of processing time. I decided to go for it.
After paying, the wait wasn't too long really, I think it was something like a week and a half, which I wasn't fussed about as I wasn't in a rush to get them. They initially sent a single picture for approval:
This wasn't enough for me so I asked them to please send more pictures, and confirm that they had the La Pousette backs. I also asked them to pretty please get people with fussy eyes to look at them as I didn't want to have to send them back for any reason at all. They very kindly sent a few more pictures and then I was super impressed as they did indeed pass them around to a few people with 'fussy eyes', who felt the prongs needed a little bit more work - so they went back to the workshop for a bit more work before being shipped out to me! I was so happy with this, it made me feel a lot better and I was really grateful that they spent this extra time nitpicking them on my behalf.
They shipped them out to a Fed Ex location near me so that my partner could pay customs/tax etc, and then I picked them up. My partner let me have a quick look at them to ensure they at least looked good at first glance/no glaring issues - and then I had to give them to my partner to sit on until this last week. I then had the pleasure of opening them in their beautiful Whiteflash packaging!
What I have since learnt is that photographing them is impossible.
Ear shots are also impossible. I was a bit nervous that I could tell the difference in size between them visually, but they look the same no matter which ear I put them in.The best photo I have taken (left ear):
They glow that much in real life, too. It's crazy. Slightly different light and different camera, still my left ear, but can't remember if this is the same diamond or the other one:
And right ear:
As you might be able to see, I kinda feel that my right ear looks like the diamond is smaller, but if I switch them it's still the same look, so it isn't the diamond (I mean come on, they have 0.02 x 0.03 mm difference face-up, but I always seem to get nervous about something). I suspect it's because of the scar I have on my right earlobe and also my piercing is not quite the same on either ear (they point in different directions); it's so subtle I don't think I'll notice it once I'm just wearing them on a day-to-day basis and enjoying their light performance. It might also have something to do with the pressure of the setting and I'll need to get that right, too. Let's see.
They are extremely comfortable. The reality is that I'm going to sleep in them and shower in them, and they feel really secure with the La Pousette backs. It's going to take me a bit of time to learn how to put them on easily as the backs are quite fiddly, but it's already getting easier.
Anyway, as always I don't do concise, but just in case this is a helpful story for anyone I've allowed myself to expand on the detail a bit... I would definitely use Whiteflash again for other projects, they were great. Thanks to them all!
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