Fine gold studs I can wear with anything?
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Anonymous
Blue Nile or James Allen has better quality diamonds than Tiffany? |
Anonymous
NP here. All three can have duds…and all three can have winners. Cut quality is king and sometimes diamonds can be cut too deeply or too shallow or their various girdle or table percentages are disadvantageous. Of course, you’re paying a premium for a Tiffany diamond… |
Anonymous
Word on the street is that Etsy is 95% resales of Chinese dropshipped goods now. Sellers will go so far as to fake photos of them pretending to make their own jewelry, so only trust someone if they really, REALLY seem like an actual maker. Read carefully for anything that feels off. OP, on your original question, our family has bought several pairs from Missoma that we like a lot. They’re in the UK but somehow the shipping is magically fast and not horribly expensive. They have discount-on-everything sales a couple of times a year. |
Anonymous
Probably not 95% but absolutely a ton of them. You have to do your research on Etsy sellers. |
Anonymous
Guaranteed you've admired jewelry from Costco before. |
Anonymous
My daughters sleep in the tiny hoops. |
Anonymous
Yes. Certainly not all of their diamonds are better. But if you want to buy the best diamond possible, buy it from James Allen or Blue Nile (there are some other online retailers with stunning diamonds as well, but they are far more expensive). Tiffany does not use GIA, it has it's own grading system -- which is not good news for the consumer at all. I do, however, disagree with PP that said Tiffany can "have duds." Tiffany won't sell you a poorly cut diamond. But unless you are a big time VIP client spending well over 6 figures for a diamond that is going to end up on a celebrity fiance's hand, you aren't likely to get the best cut diamond out there either. And you are going to pay a lot more for it than you would pay for a better cut diamond at James Allen or Blue Nile. Not all of the diamonds on JA or BN are great -- most of them aren't. But if you know what you are doing or get the proper help, you will get a much, much higher quality diamond on one of those sites for significantly less money than you will spend at Tiffany for a lesser quality diamond. And it is all about the cut. That's the short of it anyway. Note I mention only cut when talking about "quality." That is what is important. By far. Jewelers will try to sell you on a diamond that is flawless. You don't need a flawless diamond, you only need one that is eye-clean, meaning you can't see the inclusions. There is zero sense in paying for a flawless diamond that won't look any different to you than a diamond with inclusions you can't see. There is not difference to your eye. A salesperson might tell you the inclusion will "affect the sparkle" -- not in any noticeable way. The "sparkle" comes with superior cut. Which is why you want the best cut possible. Which you are unlikely to get at Tiffany. There is the issue of carat and the issue of color as well, but I've already written a dissertation no one wants here (short of it, pay for carat, and pay for color only if you can tell the difference and prefer it whiter, most can't tell the difference between a D color and an F color, and some can't tell all the way to I, and some like the warmer color, and if you are setting it in yellow gold I'd probably not pay for color whiter a I or even a J anyway. (My diamond is an E, but only because I have a pear and really well cut pears are hard to find -- color wasn't a priority for me, but that was the color of the best cut diamond I found, so that is what I have. I am sensitive to color with diamonds, but a G or even H would have been fine.) Buying diamonds can be a bit complicated, but it isn't as complicated as the jewelers would have you think. Bottom line is that you want to prioritize and pay for cut. And the best retailers for that are JA or BN. |
Anonymous
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I don’t know what your budget is, but I have these and love them.
https://www.ippolita.com/classico-stud-earrings-18k-gold-ge1444 |
Anonymous
| You got ripped off PP |
Anonymous
My parents got me hoops like these with diamonds for my college graduation and I basically haven't taken them off for over 20 years. |
Anonymous
My favorite studs are small opals set in yellow gold from Costco. |
Anonymous
Anonymous
I don’t know if you’re referring to my Ippolita post, but if you are, they were a gift. And I plan to own/wear them for decades, so I’m not going to sweat over the cost. |
Anonymous
| Try a local jewelry store (non chain). I hopped into one to get a necklace untangled and ended up getting a pair of earring like you’re looking for at a much better price than I would’ve buying at Nordstrom or some other chain. Simple gold jewelry is everywhere |
Anonymous
These are very pretty! |