So many variables to get it right!
23rd August 2023 - Customer location: Brisbane
A 1 carat solitaire I made in 2022.
Three years ago a customer came to me with an enquiry about making a one carat solitaire, the dream gem size for many. I provided a quote for a diamond in a grade that after some discussion about quality I thought she would be happy with. The project went on hold for 3 years.
In June 2023 she contacted me again. She had made inquiries elsewhere and asked me to quote on the design she now desired. To meet her budget she was exploring diamonds just under 1 carat and also laboratory grown “created” diamonds.
I am selling more and more Lab created diamonds. Below is a link to my thoughts on them back in 2020, most of which turned out be correct.
Article: My thoughts on “Lab grown" diamonds back in 2020
Balancing a budget and looks
Editing a design onto another customers hand to determine if she likes the look.
Working to a budget is very important but in the end you need to love how the piece of jewellery looks on you. Before I explored prices for natural diamonds under 1 carat for her I needed to show her what that size diamond would look like on her hand in the design she desired to scale.
I edited up a photo of the design on her hand much like the one above. Having her view that photo on a large screen matching the hand in the photo to her actual hand size gave her a very good idea of how the ring would look on. One carat would not be big enough for her.
Article: Those damn hand models
J colour and Si2 clarity 2 carat natural diamond, not acceptable to her….nor me :)
In the end the look she wanted on her hand demanded a diamond with a diameter of about 8mm and diamonds just under a carat are close to 6mm. An 8mm diamond would be about 2 carats in weight, well outside her budget (and for most people) in the minimum quality she desired.
I must say that the main diamond grading labs are getting very generous with their grades of late. That is a very poor Si2 clarity diamond above, I have seen much cleaner in the past at that grade. The faint yellow colour tint of J colour grade is not appealing to me either.
Exploring Laboratory Created Diamonds
2 carat D colour (highest grade), Vs2 Laboratory Created Diamond, well within her budget.
Lab Grown/Created diamonds are getting more and more popular. A 2 carat diamond would be more than possible in her budget, in fact she would come well under budget and in a quality far better than her minimum acceptable. However some people want a naturally created diamond and in the end she was one of those people.
What about Champagne diamonds?
Champage & Cognac diamond ring I made in 2016.
During our conversation she mentioned that she liked Champagne diamonds. Fortunately for her a 2 carat in the shade of colour she liked in the Champagne colour range looked like it would fit in her budget…if we could find the right gem in the colour, clarity and size we required. In naturals that is getting harder and harder to do.
While we were searching for a diamond
While I was searching for a suitable gem we worked for weeks on the design. All of this design work was done via email as the customer was located in Brisbane.
Making sure the desired wedding ring was possible.
Once we had the design finalised we then had to review it with the wedding ring in mind. Now back to finding that diamond.
I found a diamond with some conditions
The Melbourne laboratory that graded the diamond.
I located a diamond with a Melbourne broker that was the desired colour, clarity and size. The customer was flying to Cairns soon and wanted to inspect the diamond before making the final decision based not on a photo/video but an inspection of the diamond in person.
How you take a photo, what camera you use, lighting, the screen the photo is viewed on can all effect how colours appear. Viewing the diamond in person was a good idea for a coloured gem.
The issue that slowed that process down was that it was not laboratory certified nor laser inscribed and that was a must for this customer, another thing I highly recommend with larger diamonds.
With a lot of help from the broker and the people at Auscert they made Lab certification and laser inscription happen for me in time for the diamond to arrive for the customer to inspect for approval.
We are finally ready to make the ring.
Above is the finished ring. Fortunately I was able to find an Si1 clarity diamond that had most of it’s flaws in positions around the girdle that I could hide in the chosen setting style. For an Si1 clarity grade that diamond is very clean.
The ring was made in 18ct yellow gold and the shoulder baguette diamonds have a total diamond weight of .20 carats.
The side of the setting was to be left open. Making sure the ring size is right with designs like this is a key point. When she visited to inspect the diamond I made sure to have a size draft ready to confirm her perfect size.
That is the abbreviated tale of a ring that from start to finish took about 6 weeks to organise. After the diamond and design were approved I had both the engagement and wedding rings made in 2 days.