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New rose gold Montana sapphire ring (diamond zone).

chloeishere

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
189
I put this in the Catch-all thread in late May and never got around to posting my own pictures! I was going to post this in the inexpensive colored-stone rings thread, but I really am giving a full review of the vendor here so I guess I should post it on it's own.

From the Catch-All thread:
It's actually a reset. I got a cathedral solitaire Montana sapphire ring from ElleW/ Freke several years ago, but it was several sizes too big, white gold (I have a nickel allergy) and too high-set for my personal style. The vendor was just able to squeeze it into a stock setting (it's a 6.3x5mm oval), in 14k rose gold. I'm really pleased by how it turned out, especially with a vendor I haven't used before! It arrived but the lighting is awful for sapphires. Will try to get a good picture on tomorrow!

I'm sure you will recognize the style-- the new setting is from Diamond Zone. I was originally going to get it in white gold, but upon confirmation that the white gold alloy they use does contain nickel, I switched it to 14k rose gold. I really love it in the rose gold, so it definitely worked out for the best.

Here's a bunch of pictures:
Original ring (second-hand from ElleW)-- I loved the sapphire but was not able to wear the setting. It's a good native-cut oval with a typical Montana light blue-green color:
img_2866c.jpg

I knew I wanted a fairly inexpensive art-deco inspired setting and kept an eye out for something that spoke to me. I liked the setting from diamond zone, and did a quick photoshop to see how it'd look:
ps_sapphire_ring.jpg

After emailing with Ilya, I mailed off the original ring (Diamond Zone set the stone for me). I paid the invoice, and a few weeks later Ilya sent me some pictures of the completed ring:
_30697.jpg

I love it! Glamor shots:
img_3110c2.jpg
img_3126c.jpg
img_3086c.jpg

At arm's length:
img_3110c1.jpg

I know someone on here (Acinom?) shares pictures of the "worst color"-- because as many experienced colored-stone forum members know, most colored stones aren't as vividly colored in all lights. Here's the "PS worst color" (I still like it) that I ever see for this stone (bathroom at night, LED bulbs).
img_3091_copy.jpg

Setting/ vendor review:
This was my first time purchasing a setting from Diamond Zone, and the email point of contact for me was Ilya. He was always professional and responded quickly, almost always within one business day and sometimes only a few hours later even outside of business hours. At the last minute I thought to ask about the nickel content of their white gold, and he responded quickly to answer my questions and to agree on the metal change and update the invoice. He sent several high-resolution macro pictures of the finished ring before he sent it to me to make sure I was happy with how it turned out, which I really appreciated.

From the top the ring is immaculate, in my opinion-- the miligrain is very even and well done.It doesn't look like an inexpensive setting.

However, the price is reflected in the construction-- the price is minimal and so the gold used in the setting is also minimal. This is not a heavily-constructed ring for everyday wear, and I wouldn't recommend diamond zone for an engagement ring setting (at least not without talking through the planned use and expecting to pay a few extra hundred dollars for a heavier construction). Here's a few pictures of the setting.
img_3107_copy.jpg
img_3098c.jpg
This is where the difference compared to one of my everyday rings really shows:
img_3101c.jpg

I love the ring, I find it comfortable to wear, and it exceeded my expectations drastically for the price point! But I want to be clear that the setting is lovely but constructed in a way that's appropriate to the cost.

Because I was really patient (read: was too busy with other things to pursue this project until everything fell into place), this ring cost less than $450. I don't think I could make something similar for the same price, but it ended up being an inexpensive project with a result that I love!

I hope this is helpful for others considering diamond zone for settings!
 

Acinom

Super_Ideal_Rock
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May 15, 2013
Messages
10,535
What a beautiful ring!! Thank you for sharing the pics and your interesting review. I posted your ring in the 'fabulous under 1250$ thread as well. I could not resist to publish it there as well.

Enjoy wearing your ring!!
 

missy

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Jun 8, 2008
Messages
50,583
Love the reset. Gorgeous in every way! Wow setting. :love: And I love the blue. :love:
 

dk168

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Jul 7, 2013
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10,330
It's a lovely ring, and the rose gold brings out the blue in the sapphire. :love:

It's true with regard to you get what you pay for, and that quality comes at a price, based on my own recent experience with having my cheapo aquamarine from Jeff Davies set by another eBay setting vendor based in China.

It is still a lovely ring, however, like the OP's ring, the shank at the bottom is rather too narrow and thin for my liking.

For future projects with nicer stones, I shall request for thicker shanks and be prepared to pay a bit more for the settings.

DK :))
 

minousbijoux

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Aug 5, 2010
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12,688
You and userang (?) are almost twins! That ring looks awesome on your hand - you have done well at a great price.
 

userangl28212003

Brilliant_Rock
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Jan 26, 2014
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878
minousbijoux|1436045288|3899011 said:
You and userang (?) are almost twins! That ring looks awesome on your hand - you have done well at a great price.
Yea thats the setting I really wanted,but my stone didn't fit so the new version is a few mm smaller, but it is cool that she did a montana sapphire in it too. It is also good to know that he will change the color of the gold when requested, I always wondered that :)
 

chloeishere

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
189
Thank you all for your kind comments!

Acinom-- thanks for cross-posting to the $1250 thread! I really was planning to post there, but then the post was so long that I thought I should just do a separate thread.

Missy- thanks, I love the blue too! I'm a huge fan of Montana sapphires.

dk168-- I don't have a ton of experience setting stones, and I know when I was first looking at rings (for my engagement ring) lots of people said not to use the inexpensive ebay vendors for an engagement ring, but I really didn't understand why until I could compare them. I thought the shank difference showed that pretty well-- the diamond zone ring is certainly good enough to wear without concern, but I doubt it would hold up without needing repair for 30+ years of daily wear.
I do like that they are located in Chicago, especially since I'm also in the Midwest. Shipping was really fast, and I felt much safer sending the original ring between states instead of internationally.

Minouxbijoux-- I know, I thought that was funny! Completely independently came up with the same plan for Montana sapphires (though hers is a darker, lovely more trade-ideal color). Part of why I held off on posting for a bit was because the rings are so similar and she posted first. :)

userangl28212003|1436100605|3899176 said:
minousbijoux|1436045288|3899011 said:
You and userang (?) are almost twins! That ring looks awesome on your hand - you have done well at a great price.
Yea thats the setting I really wanted,but my stone didn't fit so the new version is a few mm smaller, but it is cool that she did a montana sapphire in it too. It is also good to know that he will change the color of the gold when requested, I always wondered that :)

I love your ring too-- your sapphire is a lovely color! I wasn't sure about the metal either, but he did change it with no problems and there wasn't a charge to do so! Future options! I'll have to stick with rose or yellow gold, or I guess platinum due to the nickel.
 

Rockinruby

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
2,740
Beautiful ring! I love the Montana blue in the rose gold setting! :appl: Thanks for sharing the shank comparison pics also. Really good info!
 
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