Suggestions for setting old solitaire diamond in 3-stone ring?

[ncbrowns]

First time poster -- I've found the information on this site very useful.

I've been doing web research with the general idea of getting a 3-stone diamond ring for a Christmas present for my wife of >15 years. The basic plan involved geting a premium .60-.70 ct center ideal round cut with a pair of .30 side stones, all in a platinum setting. Staring at a relatively large purchase price, I agonized enough over the options that I decided to let her in on the surprise and make sure I was getting something she'd actually like. One issue is that she doesn't wear a lot of jewelry and wasn't sure about adding another ring to wear.

The basic plan we came up with is to have this ring replace her original 30 pt. solitaire engagement ring that I bought her as a college student. For sentimental reasons, we would re-set the original diamond as one of the two side stones. When I purchased the original ring, it came with an in-house appraisal from the seller that rated it as G color and VS2 clarity. No lab report or any indications on cut, and I've not had any detailed analysis on it. So the new purchase would be the setting, a side stone roughly matching the original, and a center stone like I describe above. I went down to a local jeweler (CMI in Raleigh, NC) who would be able to do this after the Christmas rush, but I'm sure there are other options. (Aside: He took a look at the original diamond and said that he thought it might be a "high quality SI1", and it sounded like he was being charitable.)

I have a few things I'd like advice on:

1) Doing a "create your own" 3-stone ring from an online retailer seems straightforward. This plan seems substantially more complicated. Is this something that people would recommend doing with an online vendor? If so, how would that work?

2) The original plan called for a platinum setting, but the ring will be worn together with a 14K yellow wedding band and a yellow gold anniversary ring. Presumably, I should use a yellow gold setting on this one to match, right?

3) If the setting is yellow gold, what should I be looking for differently in a center stone? I think I've seen recommendations that you can more easily cut corners on color in this case. Is that so? Anything else?

4) To what extent is it important to match the center stone and side stones in cut quality, color, and so on? Most of the create-your-owns on the online retailers tend to match all three. I want to get a premium-quality center stone, but it's not clear how well this will match up with the side stones, given that I don't have a good feel for the cut quality of the existing one.

Feel free to offer advice on anything else I didn't think to ask.

Thanks,
Pat

 

[MrsFrk]

What a great idea!
You could do a yellow gold shank (the round part of the ring) and platinum prongs/head.
If you are looking for a classic 3 stone setting, working with someone online should not pose any problems. There are stock settings that they can easily acquire.
I have a 3 stone with diamonds that are E,F, and G colored...but those colors are all GIA. Your original stone may or may not be a G, you should probably compare it to some reputably certified loose diamonds, and keep the new stones close, colorwise. For my eyes, side by side I could tell a color difference with more than two grades; an E and G looked pretty darn similar, but I could tell an E and H apart, side by side. I''m sure there are people on Pricescope who could tell and E and G apart instantly.

 

[gailrmv]

If she prefers platinum, she could always wear the rings on different hands.
I am also in NC and had several very positive experiences with Grimball Jewelers in CH.
Good luck with this wonderful project!

 

[fisiogrl]

What a lovely idea - hope it won''t be too difficult!

I don''t know how easy it would be to match your original stone - depending on how it was cut. I like the idea of trying to keep the stone, but if you can''t find a match maybe you could turn it in to a pendant. Make sure that you are really happy with the match or it could really bug you both!

Also, you really should not put gold and platinum side-by-side or the platinum will wear down the gold. If you do stick with yellow gold, it will be easier. (And cheaper!) There might be a white and yellow gold combo that could change the look a bit.

I hope that you will keep us updated on what you do. Good luck!

 

[solange]

Tiffany''s has three stone rings in a platinum mounting with yellow gold prongs. The ones I saw were with colored stones on the side. I don''t recall if they had this setting with three diamonds and yellow gold prongs but it might help to incorporate the yellow gold of the other rings.

I was able to get what looks to me like the almost identical setting from a jeweler in the Diamond District. I did not know about buying on line then. It is a hand made mounting and looks quite nice. I have a diamond center stone and Burmese rubies on the side. There are several similar rings posted here on Pricescope.

 

[Mara]

fisio makes the point i was going to which is that you should be as concerned with matching the cut of the original stone as the color/clarity issue and maybe even more so. depending on how the original stone was cut, matching it may take some work. for example if it was a mediocre cut then do you really want to find 2 more mediocre cut stones? i understand sentimental reasons for wanting to set the original ring as a side stone but the kinds of stones you have available to you now and with finding PS and this knowledge you can gain...i would not be satisfied personally with using that original stone as a side stone and essentially building an ''okay'' ring in terms of sparkle and cut.

now if you have some great cut stone there, then finding 2 others to match it may be easier. but the bottom line is that if you are building something for her, you want it to be blindingly beautiful, so i''d say that you may want to think about not using that original stone and having it set into a pendant or something...and building a 3 stone from scratch so that you could use all amazingly cut stones that would blind one with their cut.

this is two cents from a self-processed cut-obsessed gal...i had an okay stone and then put it next to an H&A and the difference was definitely visible, my husband noticed it too. so from that point on, cut is my most important thing!! good luck with the project, whatever you decide.

 

[ncbrowns]

Thanks all, for your feedback. We''ve decided to just go ahead and get an all-new ring in 18K, so matching a stone with a lower-quality cut won''t be an issue. We''ll figure out what to do with the original some time down the road.

Thanks,
Pat

 

[gailrmv]

That is great!
You could always put the orig stone in a pendent!
Also, I think that if you and she like the white metal look, you could have the 3 stone be a stand-alone and wear her gold rings on the other hand.
Good luck with the project - it sounds like you have put a lot of time into it already. I am sure it will come out wonderfully!! Good luck! Show us pics when it is done!