Basket or No Basket

[AwwSHT]

I have been looking at settings for an engagement ring and found a beautiful ring by A. Jaffe. The setting showed the center stone and side stones completely. What I mean is that the only thing holding in the diamonds were the prongs. It did not have the basket underneath the diamond. My question is how important is it to have the basket under the diamond? Does it increase the risk of the diamond coming loose to not be supported by the basket or can strong prongs hold it securely?

 

[denverappraiser]

It would be very helpful if you could post a picture of the ring we're discussing.

The bridging underneith the stones is important. This is what keeps the prongs from spreading apart as the rings flexes throughout the course of everyday wear. Although there are some ways around this using special alloys and heavy bands (ie. tension settings), most designers will have some structural parts behind the stone that tie it all together. If you look carefuly at the design, I'm fairly confident that you will find something there that ties the prongs together.

Neil Beaty, GG ISA
Independent Appraisals in Denver