So I think I may be falling victim to the knowing too many details and not finding them all in one place (i.e. one ring) syndrome. Perhaps you folks can suggest something that will help me out. I understand that finding everything I want in something that is not custom made is unlikely.
I spent a lot of time paying attention, subtly determining her likes and dislikes. Where I could not find out the answer on my own, I asked, and we have looked at rings a few times as well. The details and issues here represent my own desire to give her a great ring that will be something she will have and love forever. (like me
What she doesn’t want:
A simple solitare or 3 stone setting.(i.e. wants something different)
What she likes:
White gold or platinum (most of her jewelry is silver)
Filigree
Art Deco
Accent stones in different color, such as sapphires (again, sapphire blue, and perhaps emerald green, would be a much better pairing for normal jewelry color palate than something like rubies)
What she needs:
She works with her hands, so a low or flush setting would be best.
She’s between a 4.5 and a 5, so a big stone would overpower her hand, especially in a setting with accent stones.
Budget $3000-ish
So far I have:
A VERY good price (have not yet purchased) on a .73 carat, I/J, SI2, Round Brilliant, Good cut, with a very thin girdle, from a friend that I trust, appraised by someone else I trust.
Most of the settings I have seen seem too tall. As a result, I am leaning towards a setting like this:
Platinum, art deco reproduction, with some scrollwork, in a band that can be sized.
This is a Fay Cullen setting, shown with CZ in it. I made some inquiries and with the diamond info I sent them, they said that this setting to fit the diamond above would end up being about 10mm across, that’s a 2mm band circling around a roughly 5.6mm across diamond. I know she will love it both for it’s looks and it’s not-the-standard-engagement-ing-ness.
Now for the questions:
She has mentioned a couple of times, that it might be nice to wear the engagement ring with her band, I don’t see that happening with the above setting. Can we get something custom done wit the band that will fit around the ring?
If I want to have a diamond set into a setting like this, what info do need to give them about the diamond, and is there anything special involved in setting the diamond, that a normal jeweler could not do? I ask because it’s not your typical pronged setting.
This is where I may be getting myself into trouble, the setting below is a similar style, but the casting has some detailing that I think she would like on the band. If this came in all platinum with sapphires instead of emeralds, this would be a great alternative.
Would it be prohibitively expensive, or even possible, to have detailing like this added to the platinum setting above? Would it be worth the risk of damaging the ring? Am I just wanting too much from what I can afford?
I picked the sapphire setting above because I thought it had a better balance/ratio between the size of the center stone and the size of the surrounding ring. Many other art deco settings I saw seemed to have more center with less surround. If anyone has any suggestions as to where I might find something similar, or even something differnet that might fit the list of qualities given above, I’d love to hear about it.
Another thing that concerns me is Fay Cullen’s return policy. If I do buy this setting, it’s made to fit whatever diamond I give them the specs for. It doesn’t look, to my untrained eye, that there is a lot of “wiggle” room regarding adjustment if the casting is off by too much. It looks like it either fits, or it doesn’t. I don’t want to have to buy a second diamond to fit the setting.
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