Lykame
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2018
- Messages
- 1,468
Short version:
I have new ACA earrings!!! Whiteflash have been amazing - especially Liza and America. Very grateful for their support and time.
The diamonds are:
0.62 ct F VS1 5.47 x 5.46 x 3.37, Table 57.0, Crown angle 35.0, Pavillion angle 40.8, low girdle % 75
0.62 ct F VVS2 5.48 x 5.46 x 3.37, Table 57.0, Crown angle 35.0, Pavillion angle 40.8, lower girdle % 75
They are set in platinum six prong crown settings with petite claw prongs. They have La Pousette backs.
I love them. Phew!
I absolutely cannot take photos to save my life; hopefully we all know how awesome ACAs are. They are so mind clean for me; I am so relieved by how well they match each other. I think they're a very decent size on my ears - in person they look bigger than they do in these pictures because in person they glow.
Longer version:
Back in January, I opened up a pair of ACA diamond stud earrings that were a gift from my partner (but I chose them). They were 1.204 TCW G VS1s - I share tonnes of details about them in this thread.
They were:
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
I had them for about a week, and there was just something... not right... about them as a pair. It took me a few days to figure out what the issue was. To begin with, I thought maybe it was just because I could genuinely see a size and shape difference between them. It was really obvious to me and it wasn't my favourite thing. However, it was mostly when they were next to each other - I was willing to put that aside when they were actually in my ears - if I put them in a certain ear each this sort of helped with the fact my ear lobes are slightly different shapes.
After a few days of wear, though, I started to realise the thing that was bugging me was that I was seeing a light performance difference between the two diamonds, especially under pure LED lighting. Problematically, most of my house has LED lighting, and I was interacting a lot with the diamonds at night when it was the only light source. I couldn't really see the issue out in sunlight, or in mixed lighting so easily, but in LED lighting I could easily see that one of the diamonds was like... kinda milky or hazy looking in pure LED lighting; the other was the more expected pitch black (plus fire!) in direct spotlighting.
Okay, I know that picture LOOKS like there's a shadow over the one on the left, but I promise it made no difference where the stones were in relation to each other or in relation to spotlighting - this was the effect I could see. Between that and the size/shape difference, I was extremely sad.
I tried cleaning them myself in the ultrasonic for ages, but nine times out of ten I could easily figure out which was which just based on their light performance behaviour, and it was driving me a bit nuts. I started to dread even looking at them out of disappointment.
I reached out to Whiteflash, and they were absolutely amazing. I could not praise their customer service more if I tried. Bear in mind that although I had only had them open for less than a week, I had been in possession of them for months; I think a lesser company might have just said - well it's your problem, not ours.
After liaising with them and sharing photos and videos, I spent more time cleaning them in ammonia to no avail. I ended up sending them back to Whiteflash for them to review. Thankfully Whiteflash gave me very clear instructions on how to manage the international shipping, which I was very grateful for. Once they arrived, they agreed they could also see a difference between the two diamonds under LED spotlighting. After a lot of soul searching, I decided I would only be comfortable if I switched them for a completely new pair of diamonds (rather than trying to keep the one unaffected diamond and find a match for it), and Whiteflash were supportive of this. Phew.
I then spent hours trawling through the Whiteflash website for a new pair. I felt like I had learnt a few lessons from my previous choice, but it also meant my criteria became very strict; that was slightly problematic. I felt there could only be a 0.01mm difference between the two stones to try and reduce the likelihood I would be able to see a difference in diameter or shape between the pairs. Ideally I wanted tables/LGFs/crown and pavillion angles to also all match...! I was also not willing to have different colours. Previously I had been keen to have the same clarity as well but I felt so long as it was VS1 or better then a difference in clarity was actually fine.
I found two pairs, one pair that was about as well matched as I could hope to get:
0.62 ct F VS1 5.47 x 5.46 x 3.37, Table 57.0, Crown angle 35.0, Pavillion angle 40.8, low girdle % 75
0.62 ct F VVS2 5.48 x 5.46 x 3.37, Table 57.0, Crown angle 35.0, Pavillion angle 40.8, lower girdle % 75
The second pair were bigger and met my requirement of having only 0.01mm difference - but they were not QUITE as well matched:
0.70 ct G VS1 5.74 x 5.72 x 3.54, Table 56.0, Crown angle 35.0, Pavillion angle 40.8, lower girdle % 75
0.71 ct G VS1 5.73 x 5.71 x 3.53, Table 57.0, Crown angle 34.5, Pavillion angle 40.8, lower girdle % 75
I go more into these two pairs in this thread because I did strongly consider getting the bigger pair. In the end, much to the dismay of Pricescope readers, I couldn't bring myself to go for the bigger pair of diamonds because I felt they weren't a close enough pair (by a crazy person's standards) and instead went for the better matched pair of 'smaller' 0.62 F diamonds [although still bigger than the original pair].
I regret NOTHING. I am THRILLED. I knew as soon as I had chosen them that I was right to go for the better matched pair because the decision immediately felt mind clean and I actually relaxed and felt a sense of joy and excitement over my choice.
I paid the difference in diamond price and then spent days waiting. They had to be reset in my settings. Again, Whiteflash were very patient with me and sent me lots of photos to approve. They also reassured me that more than one person had double checked their light performance against each other in multiple light sources and they were happy there were no obvious differences.
They were sent out to me last Wednesday and took a painful eight days to get to my local FedEx. I've never refreshed a tracking page more. Customs wasn't too bad - I got an email from them saying I might be allowed tax relief, which I knew based on the process wasn't going to be the case - the invoice was just for the difference in price so I was prepared to pay tax/duties on it. I sent an email back to them with the original tracking number of the original pair of diamonds I had paid tax and duties on, and then explained I would need to pay against the invoice for this one as well, which was the difference from 'fixing' the earrings. They then charged me tax and duties on that amount and cleared them for release. It was easier than I thought it might be.
I've had them since Thursday, and I just feel soooo much better about this pair than the previous pair. I haven't rushed to post, as I felt I needed a bit of processing time with them, but I just knew as soon as I opened them that they would be great. They have a different light performance flavour than the previous pair, but importantly they seem to have the SAME flavour as each other. And they look soooooooooo similar. I am so relieved. I am just so happy KNOWING they're the same. My ears aren't the same, but not much I can do about that.
I don't believe in fate and such, but I am a smidge sentimental - what's quite cute is that one of them has a GIA number ending in 16, which is my favourite number. The other one went through GIA on the 18th November, which was the birthday of my Westie Eric, the puppy in my avatar.
I do feel pleased about those coincidences and so relieved that it all worked out in the end....
Anyway, it's great to feel settled and happy, and I'm grateful to Whiteflash for facilitating that. It also had the benefit of introducing ammonia into my cleaning arsenal.
I have new ACA earrings!!! Whiteflash have been amazing - especially Liza and America. Very grateful for their support and time.
The diamonds are:
0.62 ct F VS1 5.47 x 5.46 x 3.37, Table 57.0, Crown angle 35.0, Pavillion angle 40.8, low girdle % 75
0.62 ct F VVS2 5.48 x 5.46 x 3.37, Table 57.0, Crown angle 35.0, Pavillion angle 40.8, lower girdle % 75
They are set in platinum six prong crown settings with petite claw prongs. They have La Pousette backs.
I love them. Phew!
I absolutely cannot take photos to save my life; hopefully we all know how awesome ACAs are. They are so mind clean for me; I am so relieved by how well they match each other. I think they're a very decent size on my ears - in person they look bigger than they do in these pictures because in person they glow.
Longer version:
Back in January, I opened up a pair of ACA diamond stud earrings that were a gift from my partner (but I chose them). They were 1.204 TCW G VS1s - I share tonnes of details about them in this thread.
They were:
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
I had them for about a week, and there was just something... not right... about them as a pair. It took me a few days to figure out what the issue was. To begin with, I thought maybe it was just because I could genuinely see a size and shape difference between them. It was really obvious to me and it wasn't my favourite thing. However, it was mostly when they were next to each other - I was willing to put that aside when they were actually in my ears - if I put them in a certain ear each this sort of helped with the fact my ear lobes are slightly different shapes.
After a few days of wear, though, I started to realise the thing that was bugging me was that I was seeing a light performance difference between the two diamonds, especially under pure LED lighting. Problematically, most of my house has LED lighting, and I was interacting a lot with the diamonds at night when it was the only light source. I couldn't really see the issue out in sunlight, or in mixed lighting so easily, but in LED lighting I could easily see that one of the diamonds was like... kinda milky or hazy looking in pure LED lighting; the other was the more expected pitch black (plus fire!) in direct spotlighting.
Okay, I know that picture LOOKS like there's a shadow over the one on the left, but I promise it made no difference where the stones were in relation to each other or in relation to spotlighting - this was the effect I could see. Between that and the size/shape difference, I was extremely sad.
I tried cleaning them myself in the ultrasonic for ages, but nine times out of ten I could easily figure out which was which just based on their light performance behaviour, and it was driving me a bit nuts. I started to dread even looking at them out of disappointment.
I reached out to Whiteflash, and they were absolutely amazing. I could not praise their customer service more if I tried. Bear in mind that although I had only had them open for less than a week, I had been in possession of them for months; I think a lesser company might have just said - well it's your problem, not ours.
After liaising with them and sharing photos and videos, I spent more time cleaning them in ammonia to no avail. I ended up sending them back to Whiteflash for them to review. Thankfully Whiteflash gave me very clear instructions on how to manage the international shipping, which I was very grateful for. Once they arrived, they agreed they could also see a difference between the two diamonds under LED spotlighting. After a lot of soul searching, I decided I would only be comfortable if I switched them for a completely new pair of diamonds (rather than trying to keep the one unaffected diamond and find a match for it), and Whiteflash were supportive of this. Phew.
I then spent hours trawling through the Whiteflash website for a new pair. I felt like I had learnt a few lessons from my previous choice, but it also meant my criteria became very strict; that was slightly problematic. I felt there could only be a 0.01mm difference between the two stones to try and reduce the likelihood I would be able to see a difference in diameter or shape between the pairs. Ideally I wanted tables/LGFs/crown and pavillion angles to also all match...! I was also not willing to have different colours. Previously I had been keen to have the same clarity as well but I felt so long as it was VS1 or better then a difference in clarity was actually fine.
I found two pairs, one pair that was about as well matched as I could hope to get:
0.62 ct F VS1 5.47 x 5.46 x 3.37, Table 57.0, Crown angle 35.0, Pavillion angle 40.8, low girdle % 75
0.62 ct F VVS2 5.48 x 5.46 x 3.37, Table 57.0, Crown angle 35.0, Pavillion angle 40.8, lower girdle % 75
The second pair were bigger and met my requirement of having only 0.01mm difference - but they were not QUITE as well matched:
0.70 ct G VS1 5.74 x 5.72 x 3.54, Table 56.0, Crown angle 35.0, Pavillion angle 40.8, lower girdle % 75
0.71 ct G VS1 5.73 x 5.71 x 3.53, Table 57.0, Crown angle 34.5, Pavillion angle 40.8, lower girdle % 75
I go more into these two pairs in this thread because I did strongly consider getting the bigger pair. In the end, much to the dismay of Pricescope readers, I couldn't bring myself to go for the bigger pair of diamonds because I felt they weren't a close enough pair (by a crazy person's standards) and instead went for the better matched pair of 'smaller' 0.62 F diamonds [although still bigger than the original pair].
I regret NOTHING. I am THRILLED. I knew as soon as I had chosen them that I was right to go for the better matched pair because the decision immediately felt mind clean and I actually relaxed and felt a sense of joy and excitement over my choice.
I paid the difference in diamond price and then spent days waiting. They had to be reset in my settings. Again, Whiteflash were very patient with me and sent me lots of photos to approve. They also reassured me that more than one person had double checked their light performance against each other in multiple light sources and they were happy there were no obvious differences.
They were sent out to me last Wednesday and took a painful eight days to get to my local FedEx. I've never refreshed a tracking page more. Customs wasn't too bad - I got an email from them saying I might be allowed tax relief, which I knew based on the process wasn't going to be the case - the invoice was just for the difference in price so I was prepared to pay tax/duties on it. I sent an email back to them with the original tracking number of the original pair of diamonds I had paid tax and duties on, and then explained I would need to pay against the invoice for this one as well, which was the difference from 'fixing' the earrings. They then charged me tax and duties on that amount and cleared them for release. It was easier than I thought it might be.
I've had them since Thursday, and I just feel soooo much better about this pair than the previous pair. I haven't rushed to post, as I felt I needed a bit of processing time with them, but I just knew as soon as I opened them that they would be great. They have a different light performance flavour than the previous pair, but importantly they seem to have the SAME flavour as each other. And they look soooooooooo similar. I am so relieved. I am just so happy KNOWING they're the same. My ears aren't the same, but not much I can do about that.
I don't believe in fate and such, but I am a smidge sentimental - what's quite cute is that one of them has a GIA number ending in 16, which is my favourite number. The other one went through GIA on the 18th November, which was the birthday of my Westie Eric, the puppy in my avatar.
I do feel pleased about those coincidences and so relieved that it all worked out in the end....Anyway, it's great to feel settled and happy, and I'm grateful to Whiteflash for facilitating that. It also had the benefit of introducing ammonia into my cleaning arsenal.
300x240.png)