BGD Crossed Trellis - CADs are in!

[crr243]

Hey all,

I ordered a BGD Crossed Trellis set with the following:

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.885-h-vs2-round-diamond-ags-bl-104071920010
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.313-h-vs2-round-diamond-ags-c-104070177078
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.313-h-vs2-round-diamond-ags-c-104070177077

The CADs are in and I'm looking for thoughts and opinions!

I ordered the setting in Platinum and asked them to angle the side stones a bit. After further discussion with BGD, it sounds like they now use a Pt950/Ir instead of the Pt950/Ru they used to use because of feedback from customers. I'm a bit concerned about that because of patina and wear, but BGD seems to think it's a non-issue.

That said, here are the CADs!

 

[OoohShiny]

I like it

You could see if they can get hold of Pt900/Ir100? I think it's halfway strength-wise between Pt950/Ir50 and Pt950/Ru50

 

[crr243]

I like it too. Nothing jumps out to me as requiring a change.

I asked BGD about alloys. They will not make the ring in Pt900/Ir because of malleability and brittleness concerns. They have had casting issues with Pt950/Ru and Iridium is easier to source, so the vast majority of their rings are now made with Pt950/Ir. They don't see a longevity or durability issue with the Pt950/Ir.

This seems contrary to what I've read throughout this forum, where Pt950/Ir is said to scratch and patina a lot more rapidly than 950/Ru. There has to be a reason that Tiffany uses Pt950/Ru.

 

[OoohShiny]

I like it too. Nothing jumps out to me as requiring a change.

I asked BGD about alloys. They will not make the ring in Pt900/Ir because of malleability and brittleness concerns. They have had casting issues with Pt950/Ru and Iridium is easier to source, so the vast majority of their rings are now made with Pt950/Ir. They don't see a longevity or durability issue with the Pt950/Ir.

This seems contrary to what I've read throughout this forum, where Pt950/Ir is said to scratch and patina a lot more rapidly than 950/Ru. There has to be a reason that Tiffany uses Pt950/Ru.

Weird...

Pt950/Ir has less tensile strength than the other alloys: https://www.pricescope.com/journal/overview_common_alloys_used_jewelry but I guess a lot of jewellery is made with it so it would be 'acceptable'...

I am also struggling to find anyone willing to work with alloys other than Pt950/Ir or, at one place, Pt950/Cu!

I guess we could go with 950PlatOro as it seems to offer all the benefits needed:

950 PlatOro is 95% platinum and 5% gold by weight. Also from Hoover & Strong, it has high flow characteristics which keep porosity to a minimum. It is ductile, with similar hardness to Pt950/Ru.

but I imagine it's quite expensive...

EDIT: Maybe it's not?
http://www.platinumguild.com/files/pdf/V10N2_platoro.pdf

The price of PlatOro™ is comparable with 900Pt-Ir.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Cads look great! I don't know much about the various alloys. My ring is platinum but it's vintage and die struck and after two years there are no signs of wear on the shank! But I wanted to point out that polishing platinum back to shines is very very simple and easy to do at any good local jeweller for very little cost, so this is not much of a concern in my book.

 

[Lorelei]

You are going to have an incredibly elegant and beautiful ring, congratulations!

 

[crr243]

Pt950/Ir has less tensile strength than the other alloys: https://www.pricescope.com/journal/overview_common_alloys_used_jewelry but I guess a lot of jewellery is made with it so it would be 'acceptable'...

I am also struggling to find anyone willing to work with alloys other than Pt950/Ir or, at one place, Pt950/Cu!

This is what I'm struggling with before giving approval to start manufacturing. If I'm at the jeweler polishing the platinum every year, I might as well go cheaper and re-plate the white gold once a year instead...

 

[Dreamer_D]

Pt950/Ir has less tensile strength than the other alloys: https://www.pricescope.com/journal/overview_common_alloys_used_jewelry but I guess a lot of jewellery is made with it so it would be 'acceptable'...

I am also struggling to find anyone willing to work with alloys other than Pt950/Ir or, at one place, Pt950/Cu!

This is what I'm struggling with before giving approval to start manufacturing. If I'm at the jeweler polishing the platinum every year, I might as well go cheaper and re-plate the white gold once a year instead...

There are lots of threads with the pros and cons of different metals. Have you read them? It might help. "Upkeep" is not the only issue when comparing the two metals.

 

[Mikla]

IMO, platinum doesn't need to be polished every year. The patina it develops over time is beautiful. I love it, but of course it's a personal preference.

 

[crr243]

And the glamour shots are in!

 

[crr243]

The sides are angled maybe a little bit more than I expected, but I'm sure it'll look fantastic once I have it in-hand.

The arrows on that diamond are gorgeous!

 

[starryeyed]

The sides are angled maybe a little bit more than I expected, but I'm sure it'll look fantastic once I have it in-hand.

The arrows on that diamond are gorgeous!

I think the gentle curve of the baskets as you look across the profile looks very elegant and well balanced.

 

[EvangelineG]

Very elegant and fluid! It looks beautifully made!

 

[OoohShiny]

I think that looks very fluid too, which I love in a ring because it looks 'organic'

We will look forward to the Real Life pics!

 

[crr243]

They sent the ring out at 5:30 PM local time last night. I got a call from FedEx at 7:50AM this morning, about 14 hours later, that it's in Calgary waiting to be cleared through customs...

That was a 24 hours faster than expected.

 

[m-2-b]

Love it! The angled side stones look great! Please come back w/ hand shots in SMTB!

 

[crr243]

I just picked up the ring and it's gorgeous!

Unfortunately, it's also too big! I sized it based on the best information I had - sizing printouts, her parents, her knowledge of her own size, the size of my little finger etc. I couldn't get her into a store to size accurately. Based on how it fits on my little finger, it's probably 0.25-0.5 too big. I'm going to discuss with BGD how we can proceed with a resize from Canada.

She's also going to kill me on the size of the diamonds. I see now what people say about ideal cuts facing up larger than less ideal cuts. I looked at a few 1ct diamonds in stores and thought that would be a nice size. This 0.885ct AGS 0 BGD Blue looks way larger than any of the 1ct diamonds I saw in-store.

 

[OoohShiny]

I just picked up the ring and it's gorgeous!

Unfortunately, it's also too big! I sized it based on the best information I had - sizing printouts, her parents, her knowledge of her own size, the size of my little finger etc. I couldn't get her into a store to size accurately. Based on how it fits on my little finger, it's probably 0.25-0.5 too big. I'm going to discuss with BGD how we can proceed with a resize from Canada.

She's also going to kill me on the size of the diamonds. I see now what people say about ideal cuts facing up larger than less ideal cuts. I looked at a few 1ct diamonds in stores and thought that would be a nice size. This 0.885ct AGS 0 BGD Blue looks way larger than any of the 1ct diamonds I saw in-store.

I'm glad to hear it's as good in the flesh as it is in the pics!

I think that it might perhaps be best to go with it as-is - could there be a risk that it's too small or still too large if you do send it back for a re-size before you've given it to her? I imagine that re-sizing twice could be potentially weakening for the ring, so perhaps you will have to use it as it is, then just send it back for a re-size once you've done the proposal and can get it sized correctly once and for all!

 

[crr243]

I think that it might perhaps be best to go with it as-is - could there be a risk that it's too small or still too large if you do send it back for a re-size before you've given it to her? I imagine that re-sizing twice could be potentially weakening for the ring, so perhaps you will have to use it as it is, then just send it back for a re-size once you've done the proposal and can get it sized correctly once and for all!

I'll definitely be resizing it after the proposal, not before. I'm finding out what it would take now, before the proposal, because we leave the country just 23 days after my planned proposal date. If I know what it takes and can make arrangements beforehand, I can be ready to send it off and get it back before we leave, should I go that route.

That said, BGD's warranty seems only to apply to the setting, which is less than 25% of the cost of this ring. Spending hundreds of dollars round-trip to get it resized to cover a warranty that would then cost me hundreds of dollars round-trip to utilize in the feature is probably not the best plan. It'll cost me < $100 to size it locally, and it will definitely be completed in time for our trip. If there are material issues in the future, it would likely be cheaper to fix it locally than pay the shipping and insurance to send back.

 

[OoohShiny]

I think that it might perhaps be best to go with it as-is - could there be a risk that it's too small or still too large if you do send it back for a re-size before you've given it to her? I imagine that re-sizing twice could be potentially weakening for the ring, so perhaps you will have to use it as it is, then just send it back for a re-size once you've done the proposal and can get it sized correctly once and for all!

I'll definitely be resizing it after the proposal, not before. I'm finding out what it would take now, before the proposal, because we leave the country just 23 days after my planned proposal date. If I know what it takes and can make arrangements beforehand, I can be ready to send it off and get it back before we leave, should I go that route.

That said, BGD's warranty seems only to apply to the setting, which is less than 25% of the cost of this ring. Spending hundreds of dollars round-trip to get it resized to cover a warranty that would then cost me hundreds of dollars round-trip to utilize in the feature is probably not the best plan. It'll cost me < $100 to size it locally, and it will definitely be completed in time for our trip. If there are material issues in the future, it would likely be cheaper to fix it locally than pay the shipping and insurance to send back.

I see your dilemma!

Does work by a third party invalidate warranty against lost stones, though?