Multiple Castings.. Custom Engagement Ring?

[CraigJ1980]

Hello,

I am anxiously waiting for my custom engagement ring to be completed, but one thing that I found interesting is that the jeweler making the ring said they couldnt produce a wax because it would be in multiple castings. They said due to the "complexity of the ring" this is the best way to do it? Does this make sense? They seem to know what they are doing as they do a lot of custom work for big name jewelry stores "Birks" for one they mentioned. Im just confused by this whole thing thought since I have only ever seen rings done in one casting?

This is a link to the ring, it's a Claude Thibaudeau. Mine will have a 1.33 carat VS1 G color RBC HCA 1.7.... not an oval diamond, and the river stones will be princess cut diamonds, not sapphires and the two round accent stons on either side will be AAA blue ceylon capphires instead of RBC diamonds. Other than that it will be exactly like this according to them. Any input on this would be great.
I am a nervous wreck praying for the ring to be perfect when it fially comes in and I think I am paranoid, I just don't want to screw this up.
http://www.kassabjewelers.com/inventory/claude-thibaudeau/plt-1957-mod/


Thanks!

 

[D&T]

I think perhaps what they meant to say that they cannot produce you a wax to show or try on, because they will be in multiple pieces. The wax melts away during casting.

I have done custom work with multiple waxes for pieces of the ring had to be cast separately, mostly because I was working with two tone, or the head and shank was not all one piece and I did stop in to see all the wax pieces and they were fragile wax.

I could see this design being cast in three separate pieces, then fused together the center section where they show the blue sapphires would be one pieces, and the two outer pieces and fused together, or whatever correct term is. My one local jeweler used fused when we talked but that was two tone.

ETA: I love Claude Thibaudeau's design, and have seen his designs in person. It is an outstanding piece for sure.

 

[denverappraiser]

Yep, that’s a pretty complicated ring to make.

One of the hardest parts of producing quality work is finishing the metal after it’s cast. It's routinely way harder than the CAD work. For example, those little bezels on the side are going to be a problem because you can’t get a tool in there to polish them and whatever you do it'll make them out of round. The solution is to cast them separately, finish them separately, and then assemble the ring out of metal instead of wax. It’s more work to do it that way, but it’s also the path to the best results. The picture in the ad is a computer image, not a finished piece so it’s a bit hard to tell how they assembled it but I’d guess it’s at least 3 pieces. Maybe 4 if there is a problem setting the sapphires between the prongs. What you're jeweler is telling you is correct, and it's a good sign that they know it. Not all do.

By the way, Claude Thibaudeau does a nice job on this sort of thing. It's a LOT of work to do it right and it's part of the reason their designs are so expensive.

 

[CraigJ1980]

Well this is awesome feedback! I think they said like 4 separate pieces? Yes they said they could only send me all the separate pieces so it wouldn't really help much visually for me, but promised it would look like the picture, with changes of course. I was lookign at a similar design with more diamonds on the prongs, but it was much larger at probably 8mm wide for the band. This was is 6mm at the shoulders and 5 mm at the bottom. Nonetheless I feel much better that they do in fact know what they are doing which is what they assured me. When you spend this much money you tend to get cold feet especially since I've never done this before. Thanks again for the input! This jeweler actually has already made a similar Claude thibaudeau design and they are located in Montreal as well. One of their diamond setters works part time for Claude Thibaudeau as well.

 

[Bonfire]

Please come back and post some photos when you get this ring!
Your GF is a very lucky girl, I love Claude Thibaudeau!

 

[CraigJ1980]

Thanks, it's a replica Claude Thibaudeau, but am confident it will be awesome! Definitely nervous until I see it in person though. Thanks again for the responses!

 

[tyty333]

Do you have a link to the setting you are replicating? I'm so curious to see!

 

[CraigJ1980]

Hello,

The link is posted in the original posting by me you can see it is highlighted at the bottom

 

[Skhii]

Hello,

The link is posted in the original posting by me you can see it is highlighted at the bottom

Wow, your ring is going to look fabulous! Please share photos of the ring once it's completed... and hand shots when you propose!

 

[CraigJ1980]

Planning to pop the question mid-November so could be a while, but will hopefully remember in terms of finger shots. I asked them to take a couple professional photos of the ring once it finished so hopefully they dont forget. I will post once I have something for sure!