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Yet another studs related post - am I crazy?

A

AllAboardTheBlingTrain

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 22, 2020
Messages
3,221
Opinions and advice solicited!

So I currently own a pair of 3ctw I MRB studs, and last year I bought a pair of 4ctw OP OEC studs because I fell in love with the faceting. (I also have a pair of 0.8ctw EC and 0.5ctw studs but those are for my smaller piercings and don’t count).

I adore the faceting on my OECs, it’s beautiful, but I feel like over the last year the colour has been bothering me more than I ever thought it would. I am not a colour sensitive person I thought, but I think OP is just low enough that I can see the yellow without being so low that it looks “truly” yellow, if you know what I mean. I am much happier with the colour on my 3ctw studs but I find them too small now that I have the 4ctw, except for when I’m travelling or something; but OTOH I wonder if I wouldn’t just get used to 4ctw if that’s all I had. I do truly love the OECs but sometimes when I see the yellow it drives me bananas. I know they’re on my ears and not that visible but I do catch a glimpse in a mirror or something and then it bothers me.

Would it be crazy to sell the OECs for a pair of 4ctw H-J MRB studs? What would you do? Should I keep the 3ctw MRBs as well or sell those too? I could probably size up my studs or I could get something else I want instead…
 
Hi!
Just my opinion:
1) buy a pair of lab diamonds : 4 ctw, high color (F or G) and see if you prefer them over your 4 ctw low color studs;
2) if you love the high color, sell both your current 3 ctw and 4 ctw and get high color 4 ctw (or above) earth mined diamonds;
3) keep the lab studs for travelling.
 
purplesilk said:
Hi!
Just my opinion:
1) buy a pair of lab diamonds : 4 ctw, high color (F or G) and see if you prefer them over your 4 ctw low color studs;
2) if you love the high color, sell both your current 3 ctw and 4 ctw and get high color 4 ctw (or above) earth mined diamonds;
3) keep the lab studs for travelling.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately lab studs for me aren’t mind clean. I know I won’t wear them at all :(

I haven’t made any firm decisions, but a possible plan could be to sell both pairs (I never thought I would sell any of my jewelry, but I guess first time for everything) and either buy a pair of near-colourless 4ctw studs + large hoops + some sort of pave stud or multiple diamond pieces stud (inspired by VCA Perlee pave studs or Tiffany Victoria, not from the brands but filling that kind of design space); or sell both pairs and buy a bigger pair of studs in the colour range im comfortable with (H-J seems like the sweet spot). I guess it’ll depend on how big I could go!

ETA: looking at the tentative prices I can hope to get for both pairs, I don’t see myself being able to get anything bigger than 2.5ct each (so 5ctw) without significant additional outlay. I’m not sure if it’s worth going up by only that half carat each… for the same outlay I can get my 4ctw studs AND the hoops AND travel earrings!
 
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No, you're not crazy.
Sell what you have, keep what you have, whatevs.
Go up in size, go down in size but up in color, whatevs.

One piece of advice that saves big bucks in the long run ...
Buy something you strongly feel will be a keeper.

Selling A to buy B, then selling B to buy C makes a lot of money go poof.
So go ahead now, bite the bullet, and just buy D.
Pay once, cry once, but never cry again.
What a wonderful 1st world problem you have. ;)2

Pursue what you love.
At your budget, when you look in the mirror you should be thrilled, not bothered.
 
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kenny said:
No, you're not crazy.
Sell what you have, keep what you have, whatevs.
Go up in size, go down in size but up in color, whatevs.

One piece of advice that saves big bucks in the long run ...
Buy something you strongly feel will be a keeper.

Selling A to buy B, then selling B to buy C makes a lot of money go poof.
So go ahead now, bite the bullet, and just buy D.
Pay once, cry once, but never cry again.
What a wonderful 1st world problem you have. ;)2

Pursue what you love.
At your budget, when you look in the mirror you should be thrilled, not bothered.
Click to expand...

what stops me from just doing whatever comes to mind Kenny is that I really thought I'd be in LOVE with my OEC studs forever! And I do love them, I just wish they were whiter :confused2: I don't think I know what it is that I truly love. I feel like cut doesn't matter as much to me as it does to most PSers because the OECs have just the most beautiful perfect flowery pattern but the colour is a hard pill to swallow. But I didn't feel like that when I was just visiting them in the store or even for the first couple months of owning them. It sort of snuck up on me over time. I even considered cupping them and treating them like yellow diamonds but I think for earrings I want white diamonds only. I'm wearing them nearly every day and for the most part I'm happy, but when I see them in a mirror sometimes and I see how yellow they look I feel weird. I've gone from loving the bright coloured yummy flashes to just noticing the yellowness which I never saw earlier.

I think I already know that I want to sell the OECs and get a pair of a higher colour but I really don't want to admit it, because I still do love them, just not wholeheartedly. I don't know if I want to put more money into my stud journey at this point, though. If I kept my 3ctw studs I'll have to put a significant chunk of money in along with my 4ctw OECs; to get to 4ctw higher colour studs.

OTOH if I sold both pairs I could get the 4ctw studs with some money left over, and at that point could also swing my hoops and another pair of travel earrings, like I said, with very little outlay (if at all). I feel like 5ctw, which would be just about in budget with minimum additional outlay if I sold both pairs, won't satisfy me AS much. I'd want to go much, much bigger which is completely out of range for now.
 
Go for what your heart desires. There is no right or wrong when it comes to bling IMO

I would see if the vendor whose studs you are looking at would take your OP studs in trade.

If you do not love your OP studs wholeheartedly trade them in for what you will love. I totally get it. I need "white" for me and if I see tint it's a no go and I didn't realize that until after I got my first OEC ER. But I learned and I got what does make my heart sing in both OEC studs and OEC ER and it was worth the time, energy and money. For me.

Good luck and girl, life is short. Get what you want. Buy the bling and don't have any regrets. Nothing is set in stone (haha pun intended) and there are no "bling" mistakes. It is a journey. Go for it. :kiss2:

Remember, we only regret the things we do not do..not the things we do (if that makes sense to you...it makes sense to me LOL)
 
missy said:
Go for what your heart desires. There is no right or wrong when it comes to bling IMO

I would see if the vendor whose studs you are looking at would take your OP studs in trade.

If you do not love your OP studs wholeheartedly trade them in for what you will love. I totally get it. I need "white" for me and if I see tint it's a no go and I didn't realize that until after I got my first OEC ER. But I learned and I got what does make my heart sing in both OEC studs and OEC ER and it was worth the time, energy and money. For me.

Good luck and girl, life is short. Get what you want. Buy the bling and don't have any regrets. Nothing is set in stone (haha pun intended) and there are no "bling" mistakes. It is a journey. Go for it. :kiss2:

Remember, we only regret the things we do not do..not the things we do (if that makes sense to you...it makes sense to me LOL)
Click to expand...

I think I need to spend some time thinking about it. I haven’t zeroed in on a specific pair of studs or anything; but the vendor I’ll buy from is the same who I got my 3ctw and 4ctw studs from. The 4ctw were purchased on consignment; and if I were to sell I would do it the same way - sell the 4ctw on consignment first, then buy the new 4ctw, then sell the 3ctw on consignment.

I even looked through my old posts on PS and my texts with friends to see how I felt about the earrings over time; and I can almost pinpoint the time where I started noticing the colour too much. I’d made a comment about how they are a colour Im happy with 75% of the time and because it’s on my ears that’s fine with me; but a few months ago I wore them somewhere and I saw them looking school bus yellow (but not in a good way) in a mirror in my ears. And I think after that is when I couldnt see anything but the colour.

Ugh. What an expensive mistake (though I guess we’ll know just how expensive once the dust settles!). I genuinely didn’t expect to have the colour bother me so late in the day.
 
AllAboardTheBlingTrain said:
I think I need to spend some time thinking about it. I haven’t zeroed in on a specific pair of studs or anything; but the vendor I’ll buy from is the same who I got my 3ctw and 4ctw studs from. The 4ctw were purchased on consignment; and if I were to sell I would do it the same way - sell the 4ctw on consignment first, then buy the new 4ctw, then sell the 3ctw on consignment.

I even looked through my old posts on PS and my texts with friends to see how I felt about the earrings over time; and I can almost pinpoint the time where I started noticing the colour too much. I’d made a comment about how they are a colour Im happy with 75% of the time and because it’s on my ears that’s fine with me; but a few months ago I wore them somewhere and I saw them looking school bus yellow (but not in a good way) in a mirror in my ears. And I think after that is when I couldnt see anything but the colour.

Ugh. What an expensive mistake (though I guess we’ll know just how expensive once the dust settles!). I genuinely didn’t expect to have the colour bother me so late in the day.
Click to expand...

If it makes you feel any better you aren’t alone. It took me years to realize the color bothered me. But once I realized I knew I had to do something about it. Took me another few years to find my “HG”but it was worth the energy, time, money and journey
 
missy said:
If it makes you feel any better you aren’t alone. It took me years to realize the color bothered me. But once I realized I knew I had to do something about it. Took me another few years to find my “HG”but it was worth the energy, time, money and journey
Click to expand...

Thank you @missy!

I think I’ll go back to my 3ctw for some time and see if the colour makes me that much happier. At least I’ll know then what I have to do!
 
I would sell them both and get the 4 ctw in higher color. Going larger will mean more cash outlay which you say you don't want to do. I also think that hanging onto the 3 ctw pair just for "travelling or something" is a lot of money tied up in earrings that you don't wear often. So I say get the 4's in the higher color and then the funds will be in something that makes you happy and that you will actually wear a lot of the time. Then if there are funds left over you can buy something else. This makes the most sense to me (if you want to be sensible=)2).
 
I want to read all the comments but am rushing off - I will later but just wanted to say that if something is bugging you now, it probably won't stop and will in fact get worse. So I recommend upping the color whether it be in MRB or OEC.
 
It’s sounds like the color bothering you out weighs your love for the facets on the OEC. If that is true, sell them. You could sell both pairs to fund the new pair. Having 4 carat natural diamond earring is something most people can’t say. For sure you should be 100% happy with them.
 
Lookinagain said:
I would sell them both and get the 4 ctw in higher color. Going larger will mean more cash outlay which you say you don't want to do. I also think that hanging onto the 3 ctw pair just for "travelling or something" is a lot of money tied up in earrings that you don't wear often. So I say get the 4's in the higher color and then the funds will be in something that makes you happy and that you will actually wear a lot of the time. Then if there are funds left over you can buy something else. This makes the most sense to me (if you want to be sensible=)2).
Click to expand...

I think you’re right and that’s probably the most sensible way to do things! I feel like I’m also a bit sentimentally attached to the 3ctw earrings because I bought them to celebrate a significant milestone but I do think at this point that keeping money tied up in them is pointless. Perhaps going up in size to the OECs was a silly idea because I feel like the difference between 1.5ct and 2ct is so, so evident on my ear that I want to go bigger than the 3ctw.

Mreader said:
I want to read all the comments but am rushing off - I will later but just wanted to say that if something is bugging you now, it probably won't stop and will in fact get worse. So I recommend upping the color whether it be in MRB or OEC.
Click to expand...

I feel like I’m jinxed when it comes to OECs! Nothing ever works out for me with them :cry2: higher colour MRBs will be easier for me to find, so that might be what I end up with.

SandraLynn said:
It’s sounds like the color bothering you out weighs your love for the facets on the OEC. If that is true, sell them. You could sell both pairs to fund the new pair. Having 4 carat natural diamond earring is something most people can’t say. For sure you should be 100% happy with them.
Click to expand...

I think initially facets > colour, but now colour > facets; yes. Though I’m afraid I’ll swing back the other way at some point, seeing how indecisive I’ve been :doh:still, I want to get to a point where I’m 100% happy with them. I am still not super colour sensitive where I need the DEFs - HIJ would be just fine I know! But OP isa step too far I think. They just are too yellow in certain lighting.
 
Gah-so bummed to hear that the 4 ctw OEC studs are too warm. Are they GIA certified? Because given your description, I wonder if they are actually warmer.

The larger NOP old cuts that I looked at faced up surprisingly white (maybe not bright white but definitely a creamy white). I have found that in the QRST color range the body color is much more apparent.

Also, what color metal is the 4 ctw pair set in?
 
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lulu_ma said:
Gah-so bummed to hear that the 4 ctw OEC studs are too warm. Are they GIA certified? Because given your description, I wonder if they are actually warmer.

The larger NOP old cuts that I looked at faced up surprisingly white (maybe not bright white but definitely a creamy white). I have found that in the QRST color range the body color is much more apparent.

Also, what color metal is the 4 ctw pair set in?
Click to expand...

They’re not GIA certified @lulu_ma so it’s totally possible that they’re actually a lower colour! They’re set in minimal WG baskets - I didn’t want studs in any other colour of metal.

Gah, so frustrating!

Also I love the 4.5ctw studs you posted, but buying new ones will take some time lol. I hope to be done with the process by next year at this point!!
 
AllAboardTheBlingTrain said:
They’re not GIA certified @lulu_ma so it’s totally possible that they’re actually a lower colour! They’re set in minimal WG baskets - I didn’t want studs in any other colour of metal.

Gah, so frustrating!

Also I love the 4.5ctw studs you posted, but buying new ones will take some time lol. I hope to be done with the process by next year at this point!!
Click to expand...

I wonder if it would behoove you to get one of the studs graded or if you can compare your studs to other larger GIA graded old cuts.

If you can determine you true color tolerance, it may save you money the next time around. For instance, let’s say your studs are really QR but you find that N color works for you. N color studs would be a significantly better price than say J color…
 
lulu_ma said:
I wonder if it would behoove you to get one of the studs graded or if you can compare your studs to other larger GIA graded old cuts.

If you can determine you true color tolerance, it may save you money the next time around. For instance, let’s say your studs are really QR but you find that N color works for you. N color studs would be a significantly better price than say J color…
Click to expand...

OECs are hard to find in these parts for sale so it might be tough to compare. Most people who have them just keep them. I would say that just going off of memory alone, these studs are whiter than the OEC ring that my ex was going to propose with; which the same jeweler appraised as ST. So at the least he’s consistent? But I never saw the two of them together (studs and ring) so I can’t say for sure. I definitely think I need to go significantly whiter - I basically am ok if the stone looks a little creamy occasionally; but not like distinctly yellow at any point. But I don’t want my studs to look creamy all the time either, IYKWIM.

I think now I’m afraid to go LMN because I’m paranoid that I’ll be looking for colour. I’ve seen many Is and Js of all sizes and shapes and I know I’m comfortable with that colour range in that they basically look white-white to me. K is when I really start to see colour, but I’m not sure how much it would bother me - seeing colour and being bothered by it are two different things I feel!

I think what I need to do is figure out what is the worst lighting condition for my OECs, as in, what makes them look the yellowest they’ll ever look. Then whenever I evaluate a new pair I need to look at them in that lighting! Luckily my jeweler allows me to take stuff home on approval! You’re absolutely right that the lower I can go the better it is for me :D
 
AllAboardTheBlingTrain said:
Would it be crazy to sell the OECs for a pair of 4ctw H-J MRB studs?
Click to expand...

Kinda. There, I said it.

I think "warm-ish" and "OEC" are like milk and Oreos.

I mean if you have near-unlimited resources, then maybe. But this sort of creeping dislike sounds more psychological than objective, imo.

But: I like color more than the absence of color.
 
LilAlex said:
Kinda. There, I said it.

I think "warm-ish" and "OEC" are like milk and Oreos.

I mean if you have near-unlimited resources, then maybe. But this sort of creeping dislike sounds more psychological than objective, imo.

But: I like color more than the absence of color.
Click to expand...

Haha, I appreciate the candour! I do feel a bit crazy. “Creeping dislike” is actually a great way to describe it because I feel like it snuck up on me. And not because of anything anybody said to me or anything - it just happened.

I agonised for about a month over buying the studs, so I’ll agonise for a while over selling them too. So no sudden decisions for sure.

The other thing holding me back is that it’s not the best time to sell diamonds right now; but I also can’t really afford to buy without selling at least one pair.
 
Have you ever shared pictures of these OECs anywhere? I don’t recall seeing them and would love to!
 
AllAboardTheBlingTrain said:
I don’t really post pics of my jewelry to the internet but I had posted one super blurry pic in a previous thread here: https://www.pricescope.com/communit...in-modern-settings.274088/page-2#post-5212167

This is the whitest those studs have ever looked. But that pic doesn’t show off the facets at all, unfortunately!
Click to expand...

If you took a pic of them off, that would be great!

I’m curious because not all tints are created equal. If you love OECs, you may be happier with even a K-L color with a different undertone.

I think it’s hard to advise without knowing exactly what you’re working with

Selfishly you’re also describing my dream studs so I may be interested if you sell :)
 
Cerulean said:
If you took a pic of them off, that would be great!

I’m curious because not all tints are created equal. If you love OECs, you may be happier with even a K-L color with a different undertone.

I think it’s hard to advise without knowing exactly what you’re working with

Selfishly you’re also describing my dream studs so I may be interested if you sell :)
Click to expand...

Ah unfortunately I’m based out of india, so I won’t be able to offer my studs up for sale here anyway!

But that’s a great point about tint - I will keep it in mind :)
 
I suspect the oec studs are warmer than O/P. No way to know without a cert.

A high quality polish could really brighten them up, and make you fall in love again.

That is what I would try first. You will lose money because the diamond market is soft now.
 
AATBT you are lucky to have 3 GIA locations in India! You could physically drop off one of the studs to be graded just so you know what color you are really dealing with. The price of full diamond grading report would be $189 usd-less if you only get the Diamond eReport.

You may have seen these color comps before, but I am putting them all here in case they are useful to you:

GIA F emerald cut and GIA M oec

IMG_1672 (1).jpg

GIA K and GIA M (this is Grace's K at NY Jaws-you can't tell from my bad pic-but the K was bright white)

IMG_8780.jpg

HRD M and GIA F (now set in 18 kt yellow gold)

IMG_6873 (1).jpg

HRD M and GIA M

IMG_3027.jpg

I suspect that my current OEC would be graded an NOP by GIA. I wish I had a GIA location in my town! It's been really useful to have my F color ering as a touchstone for color comparison. Do you have any smaller GIA diamonds you could use for color comps?

Good luck and please let us know how it goes!
 

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Mrsz1ppy said:
I suspect the oec studs are warmer than O/P. No way to know without a cert.

A high quality polish could really brighten them up, and make you fall in love again.

That is what I would try first. You will lose money because the diamond market is soft now.
Click to expand...

Getting the stones repolished, you mean? I’ll have to look into it - will ask my jeweller how to make this happen!

lulu_ma said:
AATBT you are lucky to have 3 GIA locations in India! You could physically drop off one of the studs to be graded just so you know what color you are really dealing with. The price of full diamond grading report would be $189 usd-less if you only get the Diamond eReport.

You may have seen these color comps before, but I am putting them all here in case they are useful to you:

GIA F emerald cut and GIA M oec

IMG_1672 (1).jpg

GIA K and GIA M (this is Grace's K at NY Jaws-you can't tell from my bad pic-but the K was bright white)

IMG_8780.jpg

HRD M and GIA F (now set in 18 kt yellow gold)

IMG_6873 (1).jpg

HRD M and GIA M

IMG_3027.jpg

I suspect that my current OEC would be graded an NOP by GIA. I wish I had a GIA location in my town! It's been really useful to have my F color ering as a touchstone for color comparison. Do you have any smaller GIA diamonds you could use for color comps?

Good luck and please let us know how it goes!
Click to expand...

Thank you for the comparisons! The OECs are much yellower than your stones but of course they’re lower down the colour scale as well. But it’s hard to tell exactly since lighting conditions make a big difference as well. In some lighting the OECs look the same/similar colour as your M in the last pic (compared also to HRD M). That’s almost the whitest they go. The yellowest they reach is much yellower than these. Unfortunately all the GIA graded stones I own or have access to are J or higher, so they don’t help in comparison.

I will have to physically drop off the stone/stones to GIA as I do not trust our postal system; but I live too far away from both locations to drive there so it will have to wait until I travel nearby, if I do decide to do it.

One thing that holds me back from getting a grading report is that if it comes back much lower than OP it will make it a difficult proposition to sell. They will fetch a higher price as estimated OP than confirmed QRST, if you know what I mean.

I think I’ll discuss it with my jeweler and let him know I’m possibly interested in selling, and let him advise me. It’ll also depend on how much I can recover for my studs. A small loss I am expecting, and since prices are seriously up from when I bought my 3ctw studs I will be able to offset there. But if they’re throwaway prices I’d rather keep them and find a different use for them if studs aren’t my thing with them!
 
Oh bummer-I was hoping that you would be close to one of the GIA labs. I get your point about the grading and resell potential.

Is the face up of the oec studs much different from your GIA J stones?
 
lulu_ma said:
Oh bummer-I was hoping that you would be close to one of the GIA labs. I get your point about the grading and resell potential.

Is the face up of the oec studs much different from your GIA J stones?
Click to expand...

Oh yes, significantly yellower in unflattering light. In flattering light they are a bit creamy/yellow but not terribly so; while the Js just look white regardless. In the best lighting they face up really remarkably white imo.

I think I am maligning the OECs, they are a perfectly acceptable slightly creamy white about 70% of the time, and a lot of the time they're actually really nice and bright WHITE. But 20% of the time they look more yellow than I like - you can see the body colour, especially against the removable jackets that I have (which contain IJ melee as the lowest colour melee my jeweller could get his hands on). Of course I end up wearing them with the jackets when I'm going out somewhere, so they look more yellow when I'm out to a party than when I wear them casually, which I dislike.

ETA: I went and reread my old posts here again and I feel like the first six months I never noticed the yellow at all! I have a comment on here somewhere about how 75% of the time they're a colour I'm ok with and 25% of the time they're a colour I love. And I feel like now I would revise that to 70% of the time they're creamy white and that's a colour I'm ok with, 10% of the time they're actually really white face-up and throw amazing coloured flashes and it all works together really well, and 20% of the time they're unacceptably yellow. But that 20% is all I can see now!!
 
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