Advice Needed: Vintage ring settings for a large cushion yellow sapphire

[blurtonia]

Hi all - so my ladyfriend and I are taking the plunge, and we have recently purchased a canary yellow yellow sapphire, cushion cut to be used as an engagement ring. Unfortunately I don''t have photos, but it looks somewhat like this but a little bit bigger:

http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/Sapphires/Yellow/Y2333/Cushion/stoneid=Y2333

We are designing our own ring with the help of a jeweler, and due to the large size of the stone we are leaning strongly towards having it stand on its own without any supplementary small stones. However, we are debating what sort of setting we want both to hold the stone and for the ring itself (sorry, I''m new to this, don''t know the exact terminology).

My girlfriend loves vintage jewelery, and she has a special affinity for art deco pieces (but that''s not a necessity). However, we are hoping for something unique looking to go with our unique stone. We are leaning towards 18K gold.

So, I was wondering if any of you had any thoughts as to what would be a nice vintage-style setting for such a stone. Are there any good websites which have a variety of sample settings to browse, or alternatively can you think of any nice, unique touches we could put on a ring of this nature?

Any and all advice would be appreciated, and would go a long way to making me and my girlie happy, so thanks in advance.

 

[PinkTower]

I finally found the stone I think you are referring to on the NSC site, and it was over 6 carats and you say yours is larger, correct?
Could you post a photo and dimensions? Right now, it is hard to comment. Meantime, you might do a search for yellow diamonds and get some inspiration ideas.

 

[chrono]

Date: 6/29/2009 8:53:40 PM
Author:blurtonia
Hi all - so my ladyfriend and I are taking the plunge, and we have recently purchased a canary yellow yellow sapphire, cushion cut to be used as an engagement ring. Unfortunately I don''t have photos, but it looks somewhat like this but a little bit bigger:

http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/Sapphires/Yellow/Y2333/Cushion/stoneid=Y2333

We are designing our own ring with the help of a jeweler, and due to the large size of the stone we are leaning strongly towards having it stand on its own without any supplementary small stones. However, we are debating what sort of setting we want both to hold the stone and for the ring itself (sorry, I''m new to this, don''t know the exact terminology).

My girlfriend loves vintage jewelery, and she has a special affinity for art deco pieces (but that''s not a necessity). However, we are hoping for something unique looking to go with our unique stone. We are leaning towards 18K gold.

So, I was wondering if any of you had any thoughts as to what would be a nice vintage-style setting for such a stone. Are there any good websites which have a variety of sample settings to browse, or alternatively can you think of any nice, unique touches we could put on a ring of this nature?

Any and all advice would be appreciated, and would go a long way to making me and my girlie happy, so thanks in advance.

 

[chrono]

You will find some ideas here:
www.singlestone.com
www.antiqueengagementrings.com
www.faycullen.com

 

[Indylady]

Are you looking for an actual antique ring or a repro?

 

[icekid]

Date: 6/30/2009 3:11:32 PM
Author: szh07
Are you looking for an actual antique ring or a repro?

I suspect it would be quite difficult to find an actual antique to fit the stone. You''re likely looking at custom! Single stone is wonderful at these type of settings.

 

[PinkTower]

Chrono,
Thanks for making that link work! I could not fiugre out how to do that, and that site is not user friendly. (p.s. I love your collection)

 

[chrono]

No problem, Pink.

 

[Stone Hunter]

You''ve been given great sites to check out.

For a stone that large I would set it by itself unless you added very very small diamond stones maybe 3 on each side depending on the shape of your cushion.

Is it rectangular or square?

 

[blurtonia]

Thanks for the links - these were a great help.

A clarification. We know we are going to have to do a custom setting, we are just trying to get a feel for a few different options. While we are thinking basic to let the stone stand on its own (4 or 8 claws), with a brush yellow gold band. Set as low down as we can get it. Obviously this is a pretty basic setting, and we are looking for ideas which wouldn''t make the stone seem too ostentatious, while adding some flavour and detail to the setting.

We have considered pave around the stone and even on the setting itself, but my gf thinks that may be too much.

Hope this helps to clarify the question. Thanks for all your responses so far (I can see why everyone loves this place!).

 

[blurtonia]

Stonehunter - it''s rectangle, not square. Dimensions similar to the stone linked above (sorry, don''t actually have the stone yet, so can''t get pics - I''ll post some when we get our fingers on it).

It''s a 9.97 canary yellow sapphire which is surface heavy and not too deep (hence a bit of a window, but the gf doesn''t mind, actually she kind of likes it).

Since it''s a pretty large rock for an engagement ring compared to your average diamond, we are trying to bring out the natural colour and beauty of the stone, but without making it look huge with a giant raised setting or much in the way of bells and whistles. I guess that''s why we would like a few subtle touches in the metal work of the setting itself.

 

[blingergrrrl]

How about some detailing to the gallery like this?

lang antiques: elongated yellow cushion in antique ring

What I think you are looking for is either detailing to the prongs (like split prongs, or milgrained prongs) and detailing to the gallery (scroll work, milgraining, etc) or possibly engraving to the shank of the ring but you had already mentioned you have wanted a matte finish on the shank (which I love). You can look around this site for ideas on prongs and gallery views...I will try to find some.

ETA: Aha! Here is the 2 . What she calls "crowns" I call the gallery (the metal-work that makes up the underside beneath the stone).

But just in case, here are a few other options:

Heidi Klum's yellow cushion ring with small yellow pave in the band, which I love and "tones down" the pave (as opposed to white stones):

Klum's ring (sorry I couldn't find a better pic)

Here's a pic with lotsa yellow pave (I realize this is tooo much but it gives you an idea of yellow pave with a yellow stone)

yellow pave with yellow diamond

Or you could go with a plain double-prong basket solitaire a la Leon Mege style, an all time fav around here

(you could do all yellow gold or just the prongs and basket, that looks good too - check his or this site for examples). It's similar to the Cartier solitaire from 1895 so it's a very classic and antique style. Leon's solitaire:

 

[chrono]

Many vintage settings tend to be ornate which sounds to contradict what you are thinking off. For a stone that huge, I''d go with something simple too to allow the sapphire to speak for itself. The Leon double prong setting Blinger posted is a classic - you can''t go wrong with that.

 

[D&T]

GORGEOUS Setting Blingergrrll!

great find! oh that''s gotta be on my all time favorite solitaire setting, along with a few others...lol