Custom settings

[pregcurious]

Are there any vendors who will mail you a plastic model based on your CAD before making a custom setting? I would like to avoid custom, but avoid the issues I had with it the first time.

 

[chrono]

As far as I know, only vendors local to you (with an in-house bench) will allow you to see the rubber model prior to casting. For some vendors, the casting is not done in-house (farmed to an outside vendor) which makes this a difficult request to meet.

Pregcurious,
I'd like to know what potential issues you are aiming to avoid. The reason for the CAD is to let the customer see the end result, or as close as it will get. Even the rubber model shares the same pitfalls as the CAD in that they are bulkier and some finer details will not be seen.

 

[Michael_E]

If you can find someone with the appropriate type of 3D printer, you can get a plastic model before doing anything else. The difficult part is that most jewelers opt for 3D printers which print fragile waxy models. This is changing rapidly however and the hobbyist crowd is making printers now which rival the best of the commercial units. Check out this video, particularly towards the end, to see some incredibly detailed models which have enough durability that you could drop them on the floor with little damage. I imagine this rapidly getting to the point that you could make a computer model in the morning and have a shiny, metal plated, realistic model to try on in the afternoon. There's no sales pitch here, since no one is selling anything yet...but soon it will happen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=W9AWJ-qJ1sc#!

edited to say that viewing of the actual model takes place at 2:03 in the video referenced above

 

[pregcurious]

Thanks, Michael. This would take the "eek" out of custom design for me, and probably would have saved me some pain in the past.

 

[pregcurious]

Hi Chrono, sorry for missing the 2nd part of your post. I'm thinking of doing a 5 stone graduated ring (which is popular now on PS) with my 1/2 carat ering stone. My concern is getting the proportions right, and trying to determine how it will look on my finger. I have looked around for something like this in the B&M stores, but have not been able to find one. (I've been told to go to Tiffany's). I also am not sure I want a trellis, but instead may go for something like the 5 stone emerald cut diamond/sapphire ring, but with rounds:

http://www.gemshoppe.com/html/3_stone_rings.html

Basically, I had a very bad custom experience, would like to avoid the same.