Would a blue halo make a warm diamond look warmer?

[KR]

Hi All!

I had an idea for a new ring...a double halo with white diamonds on the interior halo and blue diamonds for the outer halo. The keystone would be an antique cushion diamond. I have two choices, either a EGL M color or an AGS I color.

I am just wondering if the blue diamonds would make either diamond look more tinted?

I can't seem to find any examples of this or any discussion about it, and it's hard to visualize. My instincts tell me that the EGL M would probably end up looking more yellow next to blue, but what about the I color?

I'd go for the I color because to me an I color faces up quite white, but I wouldn't want the blue diamonds making it look more tinted...that would feel like a bit of a waste of a higher color, I wouldn't want to play up its warmth, I'd want to keep it as white looking as possible.

But I still think the use of the blue diamonds is a fun idea and I want to explore it

Thank you in advance for the input!

K

 

[chrono]

I've set "white" diamonds next to blue sapphires and red spinels and noted the following:
Blue helps a diamond look whiter
Red helps a diamond look warmer

 

[KR]

Interesting!!!! Thanks, Chrono!

Do you think even the EGL M would like whiter next to the blue diamonds?

Would it matter that the blue diamonds would be light blue? Like sky or steel blue. I don't think I can afford a whole halo of fancy or intense blues, lol.

Can you post some pics of warmer diamonds looking whiter next to light blue sapphires?

This is kind of an exciting thought

 

[yssie]

Interesting!!!! Thanks, Chrono!

Do you think even the EGL M would like whiter next to the blue diamonds?

Would it matter that the blue diamonds would be light blue? Like sky or steel blue. I don't think I can afford a whole halo of fancy or intense blues, lol.

Can you post some pics of warmer diamonds looking whiter next to light blue sapphires?

This is kind of an exciting thought

Depending on just *how* light the blues are, I think they can definitely make warm/slightly tinted stones look warmer.

I have a band with light pink diamonds. They're *light* - as in, clearly pink when compared to white melee, but by itself one could easily mistake it for white melee set in rose gold. I used to pair it with my GIA H/I diamonds and I loved the combo - white center, pink diamond band... then I got a GIA J and all of a sudden they looked dreadful together! The pinks are light enough that if there's something more tinted nearby, like a "J", my eyes re-calibrate the pinks to white and the slightly tinted diamond looks much warmer on that new scale!

I agree w/ Chrono re. effects when you're talking about more strongly coloured melee that your eyes can't ever interpret as "white".

 

[KR]

Thank you, Yssie!!!!

They are going to be light--well I'm going to try to get fancy light or fancy since I think light will be too light and not worth it, but even fancy in blues still looks light for what they are, so I'll I'll try to get the most saturated I can reasonably afford, but they won't look like sapphire blue at all...they will look blue next to the diamond halo, but still, I don't want the blues to make the keystone look more tinted. I want contrast between blue and white, not blue/white/yellow lol.

Kind of an expensive to experiment to try with the EGL M so I think I'll take it out of the running.

But, you said the pinks looked good with the H/I?

I was worried about pairing light blues with an I color, but this is good news that the pinks didn't have the tinting effect on an H/I color! Of course this means I would need to buy an AGS I color, but I was planning to do that anyway--just wasn't sure if I was going to put it in this light blue halo idea.

Do you think light blues will make an I color look more tinted? To me an I color is white, but I know it's on the borderline of white and warm, and I wouldn't want the light blues to tip the balance more towards warm...what do you think the light blues would do to and AGS I color?

 

[FrekeChild]

Have you thought of light blue sapphires?

 

[dzop]

FWIW, natural blue melee as you describe basically does not exist, so you'd be limited to artificial diamonds or high-end irradiated stones. The saturation of Cullinan blues goes way down in sub 3mm sizes (and is hard enough to find even in larger sizes!), and the Argyle "blues" are really gray-violet.

 

[yssie]

FWIW, natural blue melee as you describe basically does not exist, so you'd be limited to artificial diamonds or high-end irradiated stones. The saturation of Cullinan blues goes way down in sub 3mm sizes (and is hard enough to find even in larger sizes!), and the Argyle "blues" are really gray-violet.

Old thread - natural untreated blue diamond melee.
The OP talks about the fact that such matched sets are NOT easy to obtain, and that was for just six stones a decade ago... like you, dzop, I had assumed KR was referring to irradiated or lab-created melee.
KR, if you don't already have the melee I'd recommend talking to Diamonds by Lauren in NYC (ask for David, the owner). He specialises in coloured stones and combinations of colours and metals, and I'm confident he'll have some good advice re. stones for this project

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/pics-of-my-asscher-tension-set-and-blue-diamond-melee.56052/page-2']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/pics-of-my-asscher-tension-set-and-blue-diamond-melee.56052/page-2[/URL]
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/forum/rockytalky/special-technique-for-setting-blue-diamond-melee-or-technique-s-to-avoid-t59880.htm']https://www.pricescope.com/forum/rockytalky/special-technique-for-setting-blue-diamond-melee-or-technique-s-to-avoid-t59880.htm[/URL]

 

[Indylady]

I've set "white" diamonds next to blue sapphires and red spinels and noted the following:
Blue helps a diamond look whiter
Red helps a diamond look warmer

Yep.

Melee will be hard, as others mentioned. Leibish has some small blue pears in sets of blue and pink--you could ask if they could come up with melee or a pair for you.

 

[KR]

Hmmm... natural light blue melee is indeed available, but expensive, and light. And yes, I have already sourced the light blue diamonds and they are from a trustworthy vendor that specializes in FCD's that I have worked with before. They are definitely natural and not irradiated.

They are no where near as saturated as the blues from that old thread. No way could I source enough natural blues that saturated to make a halo in a reasonable amount of time, lol! I'm really not looking for a look that dark anyway, honestly. I don't want to go with lab grown or irradiated or sapphires, I like natural FCD's.

The ones I have sourced are $10K-$27.5K per ct to start for 1 pointers. But I don't need a lot--I only need about .20 ctw to .50 ctw for the halo, depends upon how large of keystone I end up using. Expensive, but worth it to me. I have yet to see or hear of anyone with a light blue diamond halo.

Back to the question at hand, do you guys have any ideas or thoughts on whether if light blue diamonds would make an I color diamond look warmer?

I guess that this point it will just be speculation until I see it myself or see some pics...

When the vendor returns from holiday I'll probably have them take pics of the melee with an I color diamond, and maybe an EGL M color diamond if they have one on hand so I can see the effect, and get a better idea of where to go from there.

I was kind of hoping I could just use the EGL M diamond I already have, but I'm having a hard time convincing myself that that it would look good next to light blue diamonds, lol. I was going to buy an I color diamond anyway next year, but wasn't sure if I was going to do this setting for it because, well, I wasn't sure how the colors would work with each other, and...wasn't sure if it would be a forever diamond--I might want to trade it up in the future and then I wouldn't want to orphan such a nice an expensive setting.

Lot's to think about and plan, but good to talk it out before doing anything hasty and hear all your input.

And Yssie it's certainly promising to to hear that your light pinks look good with an H/I! An I color though is still a tad warmer than an H/I, so I'm a wee bit worried that the light blues might still make an I color look warmer...and the thought has been nagging me ever since I thought of it lol! I keep trying to picture it and it's been keeping me up at night lol

 

[Niel]

http://stores.ebay.com/Mels-Antique-Jewelry-Too

This website has lots of lower colors next to blue halos. Thought is share.

 

[KR]

Thank u for posting that Niell! Based on that....im thinking I'm going to have to go with the I color. Or H. Hmmmm......

 

[FrekeChild]

If you're going to drop that much on blue diamonds, you should really go for a high color white - D-E-F to make the blue diamonds look as blue as possible instead of trying to make the blue diamonds make the center look whiter. The key is contrast, and I would worry that a lower color center runs the risk of making the blue diamonds look colorless, which would completely defeat the purpose of using them in the first place.

 

[FrekeChild]

If kenny is around, he probably has some photos that would demonstrate how much FCDs change with the lighting. Blue diamonds, especially, run the risk of looking white in most lighting.

The second pic is a ring from DBL, the center is a FLP I believe. Almost looks white, but the ring of white diamonds creates a little bit of contrast, making it look as pink as possible.

 

[pinkjewel]

It's unfortunate that there isn't a color metal that makes blue diamonds look more blue as we can do with yellow and pink diamonds. I think fancy light blue diamonds in melee size may not show much color and you may want the fancy blue if you can find enough. I also think that maybe doing the halo opposite- as in having the blue halo sandwiched between the white diamond and the white halo may also show more contrast- so diamond, blue halo, then white diamond halo. I would think an M color would look more yellow next to the blue diamonds. I have a J diamond next to a fancy light pink halo in a pendant and the J looks quite yellow to me in that setting, although it looked quite white prior to setting. Since I have a yellow diamond with fancy pink diamond halo ring it works together for me. I also have a fancy pink diamond with D, E melee with very strong blue and strong blue fluorescence (my orchid ring). The fluorescence is a really cool component of the ring as in bright sunlight the very strong blue look like blue diamonds next to the center and then the fluorescence fades in the outer petals. I would definitely set your blue diamonds in platinum as it will be more steely grey colored and I would consider going higher color for your center diamond so that it won't look too yellow.

 

[KR]

I agree, i wish there were blue gold lol. Theres purple gold but you cant use it for pave. Oops did I say blue outer halo? I meant blue inner. Blue outer halo was one of the ideas when I was going to use a blue diamond keystone but that is no longer happening and is a whole nuther story. I had the stone on hold and now I dont and its not posted anymore and vendor is on holiday and now im totally regretting it ughhhhhh.
Def using plat. I agree with using a higher color keystone....was hoping I can get away with an I since I is white to me. Should I go even higher???? Would H work? G? D E F is so expensive.

But anyway OMG pinkjewel I didnt know that the white melee in your orchid ring had flouro that fades out the edges holy moly what a killer effect!!!!! Can you post a pic showing that? I just want to admire it..... I wonder if I can still request that in a project i have going right now....they wont start till after the holidays. I hope theres still time to ask them to source melee with flouro. Are they hard to source? I wont get the gradient effect because its just a halo but it would be nice to have melee with flouro for more contrast! I love your orchid ring so much. I actually have pinkypie's pink diamond flower ring now, I bought it from Athenaworth. I know youll never sell yours but dibs if you do?

Freke that is very true, contrast is the whole point. But a D E F center would be more than I was planning on spending on a keystone. So honestly my original plan was to buy a 2ct I color avc. Ive wanted one for a while and I was going to finally do it, and the blue halo was going to be my way o still having blue diamonds in a ring after I buggered up the original blue diamond (well I was thinking reset my m diamond but not a good idea anymore with the color concerns) project but again not sure about the warmth thing in an I and then of course what if i want to trade it up one day. I think I get what you are saying tho, if im going to do this setting I should do it right, I should get a white white stone and make it a forever ring. Hmmmmm.....do u think I can get away with a G? D E F is just so cost prohibitive lol.

Ill also post pics of the blue melee once I get the ok from the vendor.

 

[FrekeChild]

I don't think I'd go lower than an H then, and try to do a G. Basically I'd go as high in color as budget allows for ANY white diamonds in the setting that you're going to be using the blue diamonds in. So if you do the double halo, I'd go D-E-F for the outside melee.

 

[chrono]

Let me see if I get this right; you want to make the lower coloured center stone look whiter AND play up the blue diamond melees at the same time? Rose gold helps bring out the blue colouration a little better. I'm concerned it'll fade into a white metal, merely looking a grayish off-white.

 

[dzop]

I don't mean to rain on the parade, but you're going to spend a LOT of money on something that really isn't going to work. The saturation issues with fancy blues are significant - I literally looked at every 5 pointer available for sale in the states and Israel without finding one that would register "blue" to anyone but a GIA grader. The diamond I ultimately found - after months of looking - is VERY blue; in full spectrum light it has moments where it's almost like a tiny, fine aqua, which is extraordinary for a blue FCD - and even THAT stone whites out under incandescents in certain conditions. These issues will only be more of a problem with smaller stones.

I think that appropriately saturated melee may be out there, but it will be OBSCENELY expensive and difficult to source. I can't emphasize this enough - I effectively had an unlimited budget for my five pointer, contacted every major vendor I could think of - even brick and mortar, high margin places like Graff - and all but one stone I was shown was washed out or gray.

 

[periwinklegirl]

I'm reluctant to rain on your parade, since I'm a huge fan of blue diamonds and have a bunch of them (five so far)!
I even have an M coloured diamond as well and if I was at home and not in Europe on vacation I'd take a pic for you of them side by side.
Mine are all fancy intense, vivid or deep blue. And they are beautiful in daylight but incandescent light or sunlight turns them grey (and they are blue, not greyish blue on their certs)!

Here's what I think. Your melee are going to be so light blue that they will just look white. Which will mean that you will have spent a fortune for a setting equivalent to the usual ones with white melee. Which will make your centre stone look warmer.
Saturation in very small fcd stones is really rare because unless they are deep (blue or pink, etc) there just isn't enough material there to show much colour. Size does effect saturation. I learned this when I tried to buy some smaller orange diamonds - my choice ended up being vivid yellow or larger stones.

I would vote for you to get a decent-sized blue centre stone instead, which will give you endless joy (mine does)!

To soften the blow of my negative advice, here are some pics of my blues (with apologies to everyone who's seen these already!).

 

[periwinklegirl]

And here are some close ups of my ring, first in shade and then in sunlight. It's the same stone, but see how different it appears!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

 

[dzop]

Perwinkle, your diamonds are fantastic. Such pure blues (by FCD standards).

For reference, here's my 5 point blue in very favorable conditions: bright, diffuse sunlight.

http://m.flickr.com/photos/109208864@N04/11625144424/lightbox/

 

[periwinklegirl]

Thanks so much dzop! I saw your diamond in the eye candy thread and was really impressed!

Hope all this is helpful, KR!

 

[periwinklegirl]

KR, I just came across this. I know it's not quite what you have in mind, and these are irradiated blues (although they don't seem to be terrible quality), but it does give you an idea of what a blue halo looks like.

 

[evergreen]

Pinkjewel, totally not my intent to derail your thread from your original question, but I HAVE to echo the request for fluoro pics of your gorgeous orchid ring. I've never seen anything like that and would love, love, love to admire it, along with all the other fluoro fans in the community -- please share!!

 

[pinkjewel]

Pinkjewel, totally not my intent to derail your thread from your original question, but I HAVE to echo the request for fluoro pics of your gorgeous orchid ring. I've never seen anything like that and would love, love, love to admire it, along with all the other fluoro fans in the community -- please share!!

Ok- since the OP also requested pictures I'll post a couple- although I do hate to hijack a thread.

 

[KR]

That. Is. The. MOST. Amazing. Thing. I. Have. EVER. Seen!

 

[pregcurious]

Wow this thread is really interesting. I like the idea of the blue halo, and that orchid ring is amazing.

 

[chrono]

Oh my word!!! Such a fantastic idea to use fluorescence as part of the design. PinkJewel, I love your orchid ring even more for that.

 

[periwinklegirl]

Pinkjewel, that is stunning and very cool! Love how the fluorescence is part of the design!

I don't think I've ever seen a pink diamond with fluorescence before either!

KR, I apologize if I took over your thread with my photos. My intention was to show how white diamonds and blue diamonds look together, not to hijack it!