"Converting" a solitaire to a 3 stone?

[indigirl]

My ring is a x-prong style from Blue Nile with a fantastic .75 ct RB stone. (Original post here - https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/just-bought-a-rb-and-an-emerald.20991/)

(Incidentally, the appraisal turned out great for both of our stones!)

I love love love my RB, but recently went ''window shopping'' and fell in love with a Movado three stone setting which I am interested in... ahem... adapting for a custom setting. I can''t find a photo of the setting online, but it''s a half bezel setting style, with the bezels aligned to the north and south of the diamonds. The cool part is that the side profile shows that the bezels are actually round donuts, through the center of which you can see the diamond''s profile. Like three OOO lined up along the side of the ring. It''s simple and stunning... and anyhow.

Getting Blue Nile to ''upgrade'' isn''t an option because their policies prohibit setting upgrades. (And they obviously don''t have a setting like this).

What I was wondering is if it''s possible to obtain any kind of credit for the platinum setting I have. It''s not worth THAT much (I think $950), but any little bit helps.

Has anyone upgraded to a three stone while using the original center stone? Am I crazy for continuing to look?

I envision two .25 ct RBs on the side (or maybe 2 ovals or rectangular radiants). Any opinions?

 

[perry]

Since I am also interested in 3-stone rings, and have done a fair amount of shopping for them, I can offer some ideas of what will likely happen.

Probably a half dozen stores have suggested to me that I get my GF a simple solitare setting, and then let here choose the style of 3 stone ring to set it in. They have commented that this is done on periodically, the side stones are usually cheaper (if you don''t just get a setting with sides already in it), and it works well. The Gal''s are usually thrilled to help choose the ring and sides.

So upgrading your solitare to the center diamond is a common practice.

Unfortunately, you are not likely to get more than salvage value out of your existing setting (which is not much).

One other note: If you want the side stones to dazzal as well - that is difficult to find in the 1/4 carat side stone range. Most cutters are not focusing on cut quality at all in that size of diamonds. I personally have 2 vendors looking for a dazzling set of 1/4 carat side stones now (to my specifications: Good Old Gold, Whiteflash). Thus if you wish to persue good quality diamonds I suggest that you give the vendors several weeks to a month or more to find a GREAT looking set of sidestones (in Round Brilliant).

You can find seveal in the 1/3 carat range that are readily available (Superbcert, Whiteflash).

I wish you the best, and please let me know if you can get a picture of the setting (it sounds great, and may be something my GF may be interested in as well).

Perry

 

[indigirl]

So basically, the cost of the original setting is more or less a wash then, right?

Darn.

What size side diamond would look the best with a .75 center stone? Would 1/3 ct overpower it, do you think?

I''m still not able to find a photo of that setting... doing a search for ''movado diamond ring'' brings back nothing but watches. And Movado''s website doesn''t show it because their jewellery is exclusive to Movado boutiques. (Or so the saleslady said.)

But, I did draw up the general idea. the metal on the circles is actually thicker than this, and I believe the band met the top of the side circles. FYI, in the solitaire setting, the circle setting sits quite a bit higher than the band, letting you get a great view of the diamond from four sides as well as the top. Very cool.

 

[perry]

The size of the side stones is a personal preference. I can only suggest that you go out and look at lots of 3 stone rings (or look at them on the web - there have been some great pricescope post on the comparisons of the size ratios - I just don''t know how to find them quickly).

Search the ring vendor web sites as well. Scott Kay for example has some rings with small side stones, and the larger side stones as well.

Do you want "accent" size stones (where the engagement diamond stands out) or stones that form a tiage...


I disagree with the DeBeers idea that a 3 stone ring is past presant and future. I''m planning on the future to be much larger than the present.

I prefer to think of the 2 small stones as what we represent as individual, and the center stone to represent what we are together (the power of two), and the sum total to represent both our individual capabilities and our together capabilities since we will still have a degree of individual lives (and will do some things that the other does not participate in).

My GF was floored when I came up with that (although she still has not said "yes").

Best of luck with your search - and with life.

Perry

 

[indigirl]

Perry, I love that idea of the relationship being the sum of two individuals. But you said it much more romantically! I bought my girlfriend a three stone diamond necklace, in which case the past, present, future thing worked because the last stone was also the largest. I''m just a sucker for that stuff. Anyhow.

I think I do need to take a look at some of these in person to figure it out. I should probably also talk to a few jewellers to see what this custom setting work would cost. It may be out of our price range right now. (But there''s always an anniversary!)

Best of luck to you too!
--Amy

 

[Aurora Borealis]

I''m also currently having my solitaire set into a three stong ring, so you''re not alone! Originally, my boyfriend liked three stones while I liked only one, and we ended up with a solitaire. I''ve since seen many designs where the center stone stands out between two distinctly smaller accent stones, and decided that it''s a beautiful compromise between the two of our tastes. My original semi-mount was just a plain shank, so we never looked into applying the scrap cost towads my new ring. We''re probably going to melt it down into a plain wedding band for when I don''t feel like wearing the flashier rings. I don''t know which Blue Nile setting you have, but perhaps you could do the same with the metal or any tiny stones in it and make, say, a channel set wedding band with it. Just a suggestion, if you''re sentimental like me.. For what it''s worth, my center is .95 ct and the sides will be each .10 ct. I really don''t like rings where the three stones are comparable in size. They seem more like anniversary rings than engagement rings. There are lots of people who won''t prefer my choice of sizes, while some will, so it''s just a matter of your personal preference.

 

[perry]

I''ve been on the road and offline a bit; however, one of the last things I did before I left was to check Superbcert diamonds.

There are now 1/4 carat well cut diamonds available. Perhaps my earlier inquiry sparked his interest in stocking them.

Perry

 

[Daniela]

Aurora Borealis,

0.10 sides are pretty small. You might want to think about going up to 0.15 or 0.25. I have bezel-set 0.15''s that are earrings, and I put them next to my one carat stone and they still looked a little small to me (I think 0.20 would be perfect, but the 0.15''s weren''t bad). Have you ever held ten pointers up to your stone? You might be surprised by how small they look.

 

[Aurora Borealis]

Yes, I''ve held a 10 pointer next to my stone, and I like it. Besides, my diamond is a maul stone that we already bought before I discovered Pricescope, so the stone appears quite a bit smaller (I think 6.05mm). It''s still sparkly though and I love it. Thanks for your concern.

I purposely wanted the side stones to blend into the pave band. I was inspired by the Tacori Rosebud.

 

[Daniela]

Date: 12/16/2004 12:38:17 AM
Author: Aurora Borealis
Yes, I''ve held a 10 pointer next to my stone, and I like it. Besides, my diamond is a maul stone that we already bought before I discovered Pricescope, so the stone appears quite a bit smaller (I think 6.05mm). It''s still sparkly though and I love it. Thanks for your concern.

I purposely wanted the side stones to blend into the pave band. I was inspired by the Tacori Rosebud.

Fair enough! I didn''t know you were getting pavé as well. It''s not really the traditional three-stone look re-interpreted with different proportions, in that case. Sounds lovely.