Thoughts on oval sapphire engagement ring CAD?

[shkra11]

We picked a gorgeous yellow/green/blue colorchange oval sapphire for my engagement ring and they sent me the CADs (below) for the custom setting. (Apologies if I'm not using the right terms- I'm new to this and happy to learn.) I wanted something like the schubach scroll (links to pics below), but w shank as thin as possible (under 2mm and I like 1.5 by the basket, thicker at the halfpoint is fine), no surprise stone or donut, set low, no bridge, and w no gallery/rail bearing or only a very thin one. I tend to like as open as a culet/gallery as possible. (Those are my preferences, but I also don't want to require anything that would make the stone not sit right to get light or be very fragile.) I'm asking for all 18k gold (that's the highest carat gold recommended for everyday-wear rings, right?) except gallery rail/bearing in 14k rose gold.

We went through one round of CADs where they sent me something completely different from what I asked for. Now the CAD seems on point- is there anything I should be concerned about or ask about before they make the wax mold? Does this look like what I'm asking for? They said that they can't really give me exact measurements of the thickness of the shank until they have the wax- does that sound right?
Thanks so much for any help

Schubach scroll pics:
(In case it changes what's possible for the setting the schubach site says that their pics below of the round scroll setting are with a 2ct stone, 1.5mm at basket and 2mm at the halfway point. My stone is an almost 3ct oval sapphire - so about 2.6 ct if it were a diamond)
http://shopping.schubachstore.com/site/cart_imgs/Scroll Solitaire_REG.jpg
http://shopping.schubachstore.com/site/cart_imgs/Scroll Solitaire_3_REG.jpg
http://shopping.schubachstore.com/site/cart_imgs/Scroll Solitaire_4_REG.jpg
Schubach scroll video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Cjd_P3Wp2Q
There's a version of the schubach made for an oval: https://images.custommade.com/w0_ZV...custommade-photosets/173866/173866.504450.jpg

CADs

 

[chrono]

18K is a softer metal and since it is going to be an ER which is worn quite often, I am concerned that the setting isn't going to hold up well if it is under 2 mm. In fact, I'm not sure whether 2 mm will be sturdy enough for many years down the road. The fact that it is a 3 carat stone, I would want the setting to be beefier and sturdier to be able to hold the stone safely. Believe me when I say I LOVE thin and delicate settings, which is why I use platinum for that but not on my 18K gold rings.

The gallery in the video is very open and different from yours in the CAD (which is more enclosed). Are they supposed to be the same?

 

[shkra11]

It's hard to describe right, so adding pics just in case it helps any comments on the CAD or if you only came here for sapphire eye candy. It sparkles bright yellow (which is why I was thinking yellow gold for most of the setting), and the stone has touches of yellow along with pale/medium blue/green depending on lighting.

 

[shkra11]

Chrono (thanks so much): I didn't ask for an exact replica, but I'm not sure that I see the differences in the galleries between the video of the scroll and my CAD - could you point them out please? I want as little of the split as possible to be visible from the top down view, so it just looks like a normal solitaire from the top- might that be the reason for the difference in the gallery? (so maybe my scrolls are closer to the stone gallery than the setting in the video?). Ideally, I would like no gallery rail/bearing, but the jeweler said it's necessary. I also asked if the prongs could be kinda free-floating, just attached to the scroll design, without connecting to a basket underneath, but the jeweler said that wouldn't work.

For your thoughts on the ring standing up over time as 18k and 2mm, what do you think might happen to it? My other engagement ring (he proposed w/a family heirloom while we were looking for the sapphire) is yellow gold (probably more than 18k) and an emerald, but maybe more like 2mm and a very enclosed gallery w/a halo. I'm wearing it every day (although I know emerald's are much more fragile) and checking the prongs to see when I need to take it to get adjusted/fixed. I know that the emerald and prongs will need to be looked after and fixed/replaced over time and I'm fine keeping tabs on my prongs for this sapphire ring too. For this sapphire ring, the jeweler said that she was making the shank deeper (taller out from my finger) in order to have more metal there for thickness/stability, but not have the shank be wider - does that sound like a good solution? I guess good to know your opinion either way - if the jeweler tells me that the shank needs to be wider than 1.5 by the basket, at least I know they aren't just making it up.

 

[chrono]

The background story helps a lot and makes sense why it is different and more enclosed. The designer certainly understands the fine balance between beauty and structural integrity. He (I will assume male) put the scrolls much closer together to give the setting more strength since you have no gallery, hence no support structure to hold on to.

Gold wears down and will thin, so over time that 2 mm will become 1.5 mm. When there is less metal, it becomes weaker and not able to hold the stone safely (stone might fall out) or the setting will become out of round (which might compromise its ability to hold the stone safely).

I am sure the family heirloom started out much thicker and over time, has now thinned to 2 mm. In addition, the enclosed gallery added strength to the setting itself.

I agree with the jeweller that another way to make the setting look thin, yet remain strong, is to add depth to the metal. It will look taller from the side view but will look thin from the top view.

 

[shkra11]

Gold wears down and will thin, so over time that 2 mm will become 1.5 mm.
I am sure the family heirloom started out much thicker and over time, has now thinned to 2 mm. In addition, the enclosed gallery added strength to the setting itself.

Thanks again for the info. If the jeweler (a woman) says it can't be as thin as I'd like, even just at the basket, then I'll just go along with it. I wish I could find information about how much gold you lose/how much wears away with typical wear. I looked around online, but couldn't find much. I'd guess that prong issues could come up quickly if you don't pay attention, but that going from 2mm to 1.5mm would take a good amount of time. We'll see. The jeweler is making the CAD knowing I'm asking for 18k and said that 18k was fine. I guess we'll see as this goes on.

 

[chrono]

I like your approach and it sounds like you are working with an experienced jeweller. I wish you the best and hope you'll return with updates and pictures of your completing ER!

 

[shkra11]

Just to update, I asked them to:

• - taper the ends of the scrollwork more to make it more delicate/fine and less cutesy/bubbly

• - to make the ridges/lines in the shank go away and have the shank just look like one solid piece instead of 3 separate strands coming together

We'll see how this goes. I'm nervous. Are waxes usually exact same size/width etc. of what the ring will be?

 

[chrono]

Are waxes usually exact same size/width etc. of what the ring will be?

Not exactly, because they will polish some of it away. The wax will usually look quite bulky, but the end product not necessarily so.

 

[shkra11]

Not exactly, because they will polish some of it away. The wax will usually look quite bulky, but the end product not necessarily so.

So I should consider asking them to make changes if it looks way way bulkier than what I want, but if it looks kinda close, but a bit bigger, I should let it go?

And thanks again for all of your help. I've been lurking and learning for a while, but didn't get help finding the stone here bc my guy wanted to first consider stones from jewelers with longstanding relationships w his relatives (so we could get a very good discount, so he knew they would do right by us or risk losing the entire "clan's" business, and so he could build a relationship w them and keep things in mind to buy me down the road). I tend to kinda research and think through plans super extensively (and would normally have gotten thoughts here on the stone too), but this was his call to do it (w my input). So, with my help from what I've earned here, he kept having them get more stones in along the lines of what we wanted until we fell in love w something in the right price range.