I am new here. What is a melee? (nm)

[cici]

What is melee? Also, I am thinking of doing pave, but my mom was telling me the other day the smaller diamonds loose their luster through the years? True?

 

[pqcollectibles]

Melee is/are diamonds less than 20 points, or 0.2 carat weight, each in size. Just like their larger counterparts, melee shouldn''t loose luster, unless the stones become damaged, ie scratched, chipped, etc.

 

[cici]

So it's safe to say that if I do my ering with pave, they are going to be melees, right? And if I have a pave band around 1mm, and the jewler tells me that it's VS1 grad or something, is that possible? Can stones that small even be graded?

 

[Mara]

Melee is a RARE diamond disease which afflicts only those who buy D IF!!!!!

 

[cici]

Mara, now you''ve just confused me!

 

[pqcollectibles]

Mara is quite a character!!

Melee diamonds are color and clarity graded. They are also sorted by performance and quality. Just like bigger diamonds, better melee costs more. If your jeweler is going to get a parcel of melee to select from, you might want to purchase and Ideal Scope and look the melee yourself. You can practice looking at stones and viewing IS images on PS to know what to look for. Then you can select the better performers of the parcel for your ring.

One thing you might want to consider is the width of the band. I too wanted a thinner band. During my research, I spoke with several jewelers and searched old PS threads. Noone recommended going much below 2mm for structural integrity reasons. A thinner band can flex rather easily allowing the diamonds to become loose and possibly fall out. About the thinnest I''ve seen offered on various Vendor''s websites was 1.8mm in width.

 

[cici]

Actually I was thinking of the Ritani Endless Love collection. My jeweler told me it is a 1.5 - 1.8 mm width band. Should I be worried? Should I look for something thicker? What to do? I need help!

 

[pqcollectibles]

You won''t have to worry about a Ritani. They are a well respected maker of fine quality rings.

 

[cici]

Thanks. Sorry for bugging, but what about the 2mm rule? Would it be safer to go with something like Michael B? I think his are arond 2mm? I just started looking to redo my rings, so I want know in case I need to change course, the earlier, the better.

 

[rms]

Ultimately I would say it is just a matter of personal preference. The Ritani rings are definitely some of the thinnest ones out there. Other folks have recently commented on wanting thinner pave rings because it helps make the center stone "pop", which is definitely true. Some folks have pave rings closer to 3mm. It all just depends on what kind of look you want for your center stone, and what size melee you like.

Mara just started a thread that you should check out here

 

[allan creates]

Melee is derived from the French word “melanger” meaning (mixture) in reference to the smaller sized diamonds .01 to .06 or so.

As they are priced as lots, and the dealer doesn’t have to pay for sorting the exact sizes, as when they are used for pavee work as an example, they are all mixed sizes any how.

As diamonds are cut in Belgium it must have originated from there as they speak French.

Allan Creates
http://www.ringlock.com
P.F.F. Ring Clasps