Need Advice - 3 Stone Cushion/Half-Moon Setting

[BAS2348]

Hi All,

I had previously posted several months ago that I had purchased a small cushion cut diamond from BGD. Since then my girlfriend and I have been tossing around ideas for the perfect setting that would make both of us happy which was a point she made very clear was important to her. We considered saving in the long term for a setting we had seen from LM, but in the end we agreed on a custom made three stone setting from BGD with half moons.

We sent BGD an email with our ideas, and they gave us a quote for what we had down on paper, since then we have browsed through PS and found one specific ring we both really liked - JuneRose's three stone trellis. We also found this particular setting already in BGD's inventory:

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/engagement-rings/three-stone/trellis-with-sidestones-5558

Between the inspiration ring we found on PS and the setting from BGD's inventory, we feel that we can finally see what we wrote to BGD coming together. Both of us however, have never worked with custom settings, we are trusting BGD's staff (particularly Jamie) to guide us in the right direction. So I wanted to ask all of you for an opinion based on what they suggested and our questions/concerns.

- Our center stone is 0.69 ct

- She likes graduated pavé's, from larger melee to smaller melee down 75% of the shank, what would be an ideal pavé style? (micro, channel, etc?)

- BGD suggests 0.50 ct half moon sides for a total combined weight of 1.69 ct; would this be proportional to our center stone or should we try to reduce the carat size of the half moons?

- She has small, petite fingers, size 4.75 - what would be the ideal width for the shank?

- What is the general consensus about euro style shanks based on comfort, durability, etc? I personally like the look, but she is on the fence at this point.

At this point I guess I'm just looking for some good, sound advice in terms of all the thoughts/ideas/her style I have gathered so far. My ultimate goal is to make HER happiest. We have talked extensively about how excited she is for her engagement ring, and it only makes me even more anxious to get this setting right, she has repeated over and over that she wants ONE forever setting, no upgrades at all.

Any comments, advice, general thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

My first inclination is to ask if she has spent plenty of time looking at settings and cannot find anything she loves? Because this custom project sounds a little risky to me. I would think with a .69 cushion center, the half moons should be something like .20-.30 each! Half moons would have to be ordered and then see a picture next to your center stone. Not all are cut the same like rounds are. I really think you will need small accent side stones, and I feel like you can get that in an existing setting.

I personally dislike euro shanks and always get round shanks. Please let her make these choices. She is the one who needs to love the ring and wear it for many years.

Shank width about 2mm. Don't go larger with small center stones or it will take away from your main stone.

Is the cushion one of BGs signature stones, like a hearts and arrows cushion? If so, I am not at all sure about half moons with that.

 

[tyty333]

I think 1 carats worth of half moons on a .69 cushion sounds really big to me. Ideally you would want the sides of the half moons to
be the length of the cushion. How long are the sides of your cushion?

Here is a picture of a ring Neil had made that looks like lovely proportions to me. The sides are .36 ctw. Are you sure bgd didnt mean
.50 ctw for the ring?
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/chryso-and-diamond-cushion-half-moon-ring-dk.214106/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/chryso-and-diamond-cushion-half-moon-ring-dk.214106/[/URL]

And I agree with Diamondseeker. If it's a h&a cushion I dont think half moon faceting pattern will really compliment your center
stone.

Edit...I'll also voice my opinion about the 3 stone with pave. I think it is just too much going on with a .69 cushion. I would either
stick with a 3 stone or stick with your center stone with pave in the setting. This is just my opinion though so feel free to ignore!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I think 1 carats worth of half moons on a .69 cushion sounds really big to me. Ideally you would want the sides of the half moons to
be the length of the cushion. How long are the sides of your cushion?

Here is a picture of a ring Neil had made that looks like lovely proportions to me. The sides are .36 ctw. Are you sure bgd didnt mean
.50 ctw for the ring?
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/chryso-and-diamond-cushion-half-moon-ring-dk.214106/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/chryso-and-diamond-cushion-half-moon-ring-dk.214106/[/URL]

And I agree with Diamondseeker. If it's a h&a cushion I dont think half moon faceting pattern will really compliment your center
stone.

Whoa, good find! Those half moons are .36ctw, meaning .18 cts each. That chryso is larger than their cushion, too. So I was off even saying .30 each. In fact, I like .30 sides with a 1 ct round, so I overestimated period!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Does she like halos at all? Because I think that will work best with a .69 cushion, really. I would probably only make a three stone with his signature cushion center with matching smaller signature cushion sides.

 

[tyty333]

I agree that a pave halo would be nice. Would give you some extra bling without taking away from the center stone.

 

[BAS2348]

diamondseeker2006 and tyty333 - thank you both so much for your insightful replies!

We have both sat down and browsed through many settings and there have not been many she was too impressed with aside from JuneRose's trellis. She is very set on a three stone and does not like halos at all. Our first plan was to include small cushion sidestones, but when I contacted BGD about smaller cushions they said they do not produce them in the sizes we specified (0.20 ct), they suggested rounds but neither of us were in agreement.

This is our stone, for reference:

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.698-f-si1-cushion-diamond-ags-bl-104079637016

It is an H&A cushion, it's a lovely, fire-y stone.

I did confirm with BGD that the half-moons were 0.50 ct each:

"Thanks for your reply! We order the half moons through a manufacturer so I don't see that we need to order them ahead of time until we're ready to proceed. The stones are .50cct each. They measure approx 5x3 in measurement- we based this on the measurement of your center stone to match up with them"

The completed ring tyty333 posted was exactly what I envisioned in my mind, but taking into consideration the comments about the H&A facet patterns not matching well with the half-moons, I think I'm even more stumped than when I started. The thoughts for a three stone with half-moons came from this picture she found online:



Truthfully, this whole process has been very stressful as I said, at the end of the day her happiness is what matters to me the most, and I want to do this the right way, not just jumble everything together and end up with a setting that we both dislike.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

How about small round sides which could be H&A? Ignore the setting because it could be prettier, but I think small rounds would match far better since they'd have the same facet pattern.

 

[BAS2348]

She doesn't like the way the rounds look with the squareness of the cushion. Would our best option be to just stick with a solitaire?

 

[tyty333]

I think H&A rounds would be nice too with a cushion H&A.

Maybe Neil will chime in about the size of her moons in her ring (mm wise). Something, somewhere sounds off.

I'll throw this ring out there. BGD made this setting for SLG. The only thing I would change is to pull the pear tips
up (not have the metal going so high at the tip...just looks like a place to collect gunk to me).

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/engagement-ring-help-rb-with-side-pears.154649/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/engagement-ring-help-rb-with-side-pears.154649/[/URL]

I think this might look nice.
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/engagement-rings/three-stone/the-summer-18k-white-gold-5371w18

Edit...Pretty stone!

 

[tyty333]

Can you post the LM setting that you liked?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I looked on Blue Nile and the smallest H&A cushions they have are .50 and $2000+. I am looking to see if I see anything to show you.

Don't shoot me, tyty, but I don't like pear faceting with a H&A cushion, either! I think those look best with rounds and ovals.

 

[BAS2348]

tyty333 - I'll have to agree on DS with the pears, she admires them as solitaires but didn't really like the idea of having pears as sidestones.

This is the LM setting we found shortly after we purchased the center stone:





DS - I've browsed around for small cushions and every stone I've found is no where near the size we envisioned.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Okay, she mentioned graduated sides, and I really love these:

http://www.bluenile.com/engagement-rings/recently-purchased-engagement-ring-details?ring_id=1564128811&track=product&elem=title

http://www.bluenile.com/engagement-rings/recently-purchased-engagement-ring-details?ring_id=586494302&track=product&elem=title

This is similar in style to the Leon setting with small accent sides:

http://www.bluenile.com/engagement-rings/recently-purchased-engagement-ring-details?ring_id=1449647811&track=product&elem=title

 

[BAS2348]

Okay, she mentioned graduated sides, and I really love these:

http://www.bluenile.com/engagement-rings/recently-purchased-engagement-ring-details?ring_id=1564128811&track=product&elem=title

http://www.bluenile.com/engagement-rings/recently-purchased-engagement-ring-details?ring_id=586494302&track=product&elem=title

This is similar in style to the Leon setting with small accent sides:

http://www.bluenile.com/engagement-rings/recently-purchased-engagement-ring-details?ring_id=1449647811&track=product&elem=title

DS - I love that first link you posted, the graduated pavé looks great

I think I might try to sit down with her and suggest going back to the original ring we had seen from LM, and see how she reacts.

 

[Niel]

I'll look for more info on my half moons guys!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Sometimes it just takes finding the right thing. I have had a new diamond for 3 years, believe it or not, and am just now kind of deciding on a permanent setting!!! (I can wear it because it is set in my old setting!) So I really understand the dilemma, especially with fancy shape stones. There are probably designs she hasn't seen, like those first two links. I like those myself a lot and think they'd make a beautiful ring with your stone. But she just needs to see more options before deciding. I'll look some more tonight.

Does she like antique designs at all? Because someone here set a cushion in this setting before. It is graduated, so another one to at least show her.

 

[tyty333]

I looked on Blue Nile and the smallest H&A cushions they have are .50 and $2000+. I am looking to see if I see anything to show you.

Don't shoot me, tyty, but I don't like pear faceting with a H&A cushion, either! I think those look best with rounds and ovals.

No shooting ...I'm not really fond of it either. I thought I'd just post it because BAS might like it.

Edit...I also like that first setting from Bulenile that DS posted.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I looked on Blue Nile and the smallest H&A cushions they have are .50 and $2000+. I am looking to see if I see anything to show you.

Don't shoot me, tyty, but I don't like pear faceting with a H&A cushion, either! I think those look best with rounds and ovals.

No shooting ...I'm not really fond of it either. I thought I'd just post it because BAS might like it.

That was a very good thing to do! He may as well know all the options!

 

[tyty333]

I'll post 2 settings from James Allen that I think are nice...
https://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/pave/14k-white-gold-inspired-diamond-engagement-ring-item-41042

And for a little bit of milgrain...I would ask for claw prongs
https://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/pave/14k-white-gold-reverse-taper-milgrain-diamond-engagement-ring-item-49486

These settings may be "to much" setting for your stone. I think they give more of an overall ring look and put less emphasis on the
center stone. Still pretty settings but you may not be looking for that type of look.

 

[Niel]

The chryso in the link was 6.44*6.11
The half where 4.53*2.76

 

[E B]

I think half-moon sidestones would be fine with your cushion, but it may take a few pairs of sides to get it just right. Here's a three-stone with a cushion center (and this cushion is smaller than yours by measurement) from DBL with .21ctw half-moons:

http://www.diamondsbylauren.com/ind...-fancy-intense-yellow-vs2-gia-great-cut-r3710

 

[E B]

Chunky tapered baguettes may look good too (similar sized center stone, .46ctw bags, these ARE on the large side but make it a true three stone): http://www.diamondsbylauren.com/ind...w-orangy-brown-vs2-princess-cut-diamond-r6983

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Nice finds, EB! I think it is possible they'd have to have the half moons custom cut, because they probably would need to be in the .20 range.

Just so everyone knows, BG grading reports, the last I was told, have the measurements of the cushions measured differently from all other cushions. Part of the measurement is diagonal. How they do that and not explain it on the report, I do not know. But I do know we can't compare his measurements to Niels or DBL's, etc.

 

[BAS2348]

Again everyone - I am very much overwhelmed by the amount of help you all have offered! Thank you for taking time to look up settings/stones/etc.

EB - the setting with the fancy yellow you posted is exactly what she's picturing in her mind, I'm just puzzled at why BGD suggested 0.50 ct sides versus something smaller, considering Jamie said they procure them from a manufacturer. I will ask them about reducing the size of the half-moons, if that's possible.

DS - your point about the way BGD measures the cushions has been hanging over my head throughout this process, is that perhaps why they might have suggested bigger sides? We truly do love our stone even if it is small, but I think our mistake was not researching enough about cushions before purchasing it, especially when it came to settings

Thank you again everyone, I'm glad we're not going at this alone without any additional help. It's complicated planning a setting you can see in your minds eye and not be able to translated well into a physical design.

 

[BAS2348]

https://www.gabrielny.com/engagement-ring/ER9186W44JJ

Found this setting from Gabriel & Co. that seems to fit the bill for what we had in mind. Is it too overcrowded?

 

[mrs-b]

Hi BAS

I like the ring in the link you pasted directly above - but you'll notice that the center stone in the photo is 1.5ct. You'd need to have the whole ring scaled down to fit your stone - including the width of the band. This would be fine if you wanted to go custom, but I think I can probably safely say that you'll struggle to find a setting in the proportions you need as a pre-made stock setting.

On the other hand, I love your half moon and cushion idea. It's all a matter of taste; the cut of the half moons next to the cushion wouldn't worry me; but rounds, on the other hand, next to a cushion, wouldn't appeal to my eye at all. Three *cushions*, alternately, is one of my favorite designs of all. Either way, if you go with half moon sides, I agree - the half moons need to be waaaaaay smaller than half a ct each or they will overwhelm the center stone (I'm thinking .3 ctw at MOST - personally, I'd probably do .25ctw). I'd then go with a pave band, and I'd be looking for a band width of 1.8mm - 2mm at most.

The trick to this ring, I think, is in the proportions. Properly scaled, it will look fabulous. Badly scaled...it will look messy and clumsy.

Have you thought about getting a quote from David Klass? He does excellent work and this sort of style would be right in his wheelhouse. HIs prices are very reasonable, and I'm sure he could source half moons in the size you'd need.

 

[BAS2348]

Hi BAS

I like the ring in the link you pasted directly above - but you'll notice that the center stone in the photo is 1.5ct. You'd need to have the whole ring scaled down to fit your stone - including the width of the band. This would be fine if you wanted to go custom, but I think I can probably safely say that you'll struggle to find a setting in the proportions you need as a pre-made stock setting.

On the other hand, I love your half moon and cushion idea. It's all a matter of taste; the cut of the half moons next to the cushion wouldn't worry me; but rounds, on the other hand, next to a cushion, wouldn't appeal to my eye at all. Three *cushions*, alternately, is one of my favorite designs of all. Either way, if you go with half moon sides, I agree - the half moons need to be waaaaaay smaller than half a ct each or they will overwhelm the center stone (I'm thinking .3 ctw at MOST - personally, I'd probably do .25ctw). I'd then go with a pave band, and I'd be looking for a band width of 1.8mm - 2mm at most.

The trick to this ring, I think, is in the proportions. Properly scaled, it will look fabulous. Badly scaled...it will look messy and clumsy.

Have you thought about getting a quote from David Klass? He does excellent work and this sort of style would be right in his wheelhouse. HIs prices are very reasonable, and I'm sure he could source half moons in the size you'd need.

Mrs-blop - thank you for suggesting David Klass, I was able to speak with Amy today and she extremely understanding of our circumstances and what we were looking for. She also said they could cut half moons for us if they did not have the sizes we needed in stock. I am very excited to talk further with her and David in regards to our design. I have sent them an email and am awaiting their reply for pricing.

 

[BAS2348]

The chryso in the link was 6.44*6.11
The half where 4.53*2.76

Niel, thank you for chiming in with your stone specs, I specified to Amy that your chrysoberyl ring is more or less what we are looking to have made with similar proportioned half moons. Your ring is beautiful and I'm glad we ran across it.

 

[Niel]

The chryso in the link was 6.44*6.11
The half where 4.53*2.76

Niel, thank you for chiming in with your stone specs, I specified to Amy that your chrysoberyl ring is more or less what we are looking to have made with similar proportioned half moons. Your ring is beautiful and I'm glad we ran across it.

It's been sold to another PSer, the new owner has smaller fingers than me. Closer to your girlfriend's if you want to see

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/engaged-chryso-diamond-ring-by-niel-david-klass.215263/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/engaged-chryso-diamond-ring-by-niel-david-klass.215263/[/URL]