TheProf

Hello!

I hope everyone is doing well.

My wife has hinted she wants diamond stud earrings as a gift so I started looking into them to surprise her. I don't know the first thing about this area so I thought to gain from the life-wisdom of others

I basically have 2 questions:
- shape? I'm stuck between traditional round or square (often called princess cut)
- size? (I know that this is largely dependent on budget, but is there a general size range?)

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Cimarron29414

Google "The Four C's of diamonds." All you need to know.

__________________
Gives a man a halo, does mead.

"Here lies The_Jazz: Killed by an ambitious, sparkly, pink butterfly."

hunnychile

It's nice that you want to research your options for the wife's gift.

As far as shape, I've had both round and square studs and I always preferred the round shape because they always looked "right". When I've worn square ones, I was always checking them in the mirror to make sure they were "square" on my ear. Sounds anal, and yes, it was...I eventually sold those for cash (with an ok from the hub)and haven't missed them!

One carat studs are a nice place to start from...as far as size. Also, it depends on what you want to pay for her studs. Don't over think this, just go for it. If you're already married, you know what your budget will/can be. If you can afford to go bigger - do it. She'll reward you graciously - I bet!

Good luck - Have fun shopping and let us know how it went with your wife. You can never regret giving good jewels to your lady fair. They are a wise investment, but hopefully one you never need to cash in on!

__________________
"I need compassion, understanding and chocolate." - NJB

jewels

Look at the jewelry she purchases to get an idea of shape and size. Some women like large stones, some prefer a more subtle size. Same goes for shape, some like round or oval, some prefer emerald-cut (me, if you're in the mood ).

Better yet, take her out to dinner and afterward stroll by a jewelry store window and check out what she oohs and ahhs about.

__________________
We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess.
Mark Twain

TheProf

Hello,

With respect to the 4 "Cs" of diamonds -- yes I had to go through that years ago when I originally got her an engagement ring. I was hoping that I'd never have to go through that again but it seems I do

See, that tidbit about the square not being lined up is exactly the thing I would have never thought of -- I think that cemented for me the fact that the round are the way to go. I imagine she would constantly be checking to see if they are set correctly also.

Thanks.

---------- Post added at 12:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:38 AM ----------

I'll see if I can squeeze in a jewelry road-trip

(Good advice from the appropriately-named Jewels )

hunnychile

Hey Prof...didya take that road trip and what was the outcome??

Hope it went well and you got Lucky (in every sense of the word)!

__________________
"I need compassion, understanding and chocolate." - NJB

TheProf

Hello,

So rather than the road-trip, it ended up a jewellry catalog came along that helped clarify a few points! So it ended up that she still wishes for the diamond stud earrings, much prefers the round earrings over the square, and even discussed what size she would want! So that worked out well for me

Now just need to shop around and try to get pricing, etc. Basically looking for round, half-carat per earring studs. Ideas?

With respect to getting lucky -- who knows? I can hope

hunnychile

Not trying to be a PITA but is she a silver or gold lady? That's a biggy.

My wedding band & ring are gold so I always like gold. If she's not into one type of precious metal, does she wear one more than others or metal glasses often or not?

I wear gold frames on my specs, (yeah, I'm an old, Old Cross Eyed Mary Type of Crone! & proud of it!) so I naturally prefer all gold bangles. Once in a while I'll do the platinum or silver stuff in rings or earrings. Some Ladies are allergic to other metals if they aren't pure.

Prof:
Just look at her, admire her beauty & ask..."baby, do you enjoy gold more than silver when you buy earrings?" (In your sexy let's make it special voice...) she'll enjoy the 1 on 1. But find out. This is a big lover/husband piece of knowledge. Note: Platinum never tarnishes, is more valuable and prettier.

BTW - Glad you posted in the Follow up. We always aim to keep our tfp buds in good standing with their Ladies.

__________________
"I need compassion, understanding and chocolate." - NJB

TheProf

Not a pain at all -- she is a white gold / silver lady. That's almost all she wears. Thankfully she's not allergic to any metals.

Well then expect more questions for future-standing buffering!

TheProf

Follow-up.

So I was able to purchase a pair of diamond stud earrings and she was very happy! Ironically just the day before she was lamenting that she doesn't have any such earrings and wanted to go out shopping for them! I had to make up some reasons as to why that would not work, and thankfully I was able to stall her.

The ones I got her are round brilliant cut, each 0.5 ct weight, SI 1/2 & G/H (around those specifications) mounted on a 3-prong, 14K white gold mount with a screw-on back.

I opted for the 3-prong after looking at a bunch of them because they hide less of the jewel and are more "invisible" than the 4-prong ones.

So mounted they would look something like this:



(Sadly, not to scale! I didn't know how to resize the linked image)

Thanks very much to everyone's input!