Designer Wedding Sets

[yellowfan]

Anyone know off hand what grade of diamonds big designers such as Tacori, Ritani, or Michael B. guarantee the side diamonds to be in their wedding sets? Would they be H&A? no fluorescence? Color? Clarity? I have looked at some Tacori settings and its hard to nail the salesperson down on what your actually getting and I thought it was odd. They would say colorless F-G and VS2 but nothing else....Thanks for any input.


Happy New Years,

Lori/yellow

 

[glaucomflecken]

Hi!

I have a tacori rosebud custom ring set with 2 .33 side diamonds versus the standard smaller ones. I was told the color of all the stones is G and the clarity is VS2. I don''t think they are H & A ( I could be wrong) but when I have examined them under my loupe they look well cut (the symmetry and polish looks good) and they sparkle immensely. All the melee stones sparkle well too. I have an old e-ring with similar sized melee and side stones which were premium cut and I can tell a big difference in how well they sparkle. You could probably e-mail the workshop and see if they could answer your questions too.

 

[Kamuelamom]

I don''t have any of the brands you mentioned but I do have a DVatche (well what''s left of my Dvatche)

. Does that count? Anyway my side stones (pear shape) are F/G VS1/2 stones, and my WB is at least the same though there are 3 rounds and 2 pears in it. I''d need to look at the appraisal to know for sure. All the stones are very white and sparkly.

 

[yellowfan]

Thanks for your replies! I'm trying to learn about the settings as much as possible. I'm going to take the "upgrade" leap in the next month and I want it to be for a lack of better words, what I want! Halfway to my dream ring! Kmom-is your ring photo here? I have seen the Tacori line but not the Dvatche one you have. I've been looking at the 3 row pave Scott Kay setting, but I also love Mariahlyn's ring (Jaime). I've had such a headache but fun, looking at the diamond vendors here. I just don't want to get the wrong stone or setting. I am turning my old one into a RHR. Even, my daughter is having fun, I just surprised her with a tanzanite ring, her first! I hope she doesn't lose it!


Have a nice Sunday!

Lori/yellow

 

[rms]

Hey gang,
I too know the color and clarity of my Jaffe sidestones to be F/G VS2. But although they have lovely sparkle, I do not know the cut. Other replies here also have a lot of info on color and clarity, but not cut. So I am curious if the vendors/designers tend to leave that out for a reason?

 

[dominic]

Michael B use F VS1 I believe. See Pearlmans excellent site for a service second to none!

www.pearlmansjewelers.com

 

[Mara]

I tend to think that designers do not expect the masses to ask what kind of cut quality their melee is going to be. When you are talking about .01 or .02c stones or similar, the stones are so incredibly tiny, and grading each diamond would take forever and raise the price of your ring by 10xfold probably.

It's probably easier for them to tell color and clarity than to determine the actual cut of such a tiny stone. Or it's quite possible they purchase melee in grading chunks, aka here's a bag of F-G VVS and that is how they know that the stones are F-G VVS for their sale advertisements.

People also have said in the past that sometimes they got an odd man out melee in their ring, aka a yellow stone or one with strong fluor, so mistakes can be made one would assume, in the melee parcels.

It's funny that lately there has been all this questioning of melee quality and who sells top-grade, when in reality you probably won't see one whit of difference between one designer vs another if they are well-known, they are probably not going to put crappy melee into a $2k ring. If the diamonds sparkle, that is almost all that is really needed to know when it comes to melee. Maybe this melee scrutiny is the natural next step for us obsessed diamond lovers?!

I have ACA H&A melee in my wedding ring and 'well-cut' melee in my e-ring (I asked for well-cut, but who really knows what I got from my local jeweler), and to be really honest, I maybe see a very tiny difference when both rings and clean and sparkling in the same light, but it's so slight that only I could pick it out knowing what I am looking for. During daily wear when they start to get dirty, they look exactly the same. So even an extremely precise H&A cut melee doesn't knock your socks off compared to regular melee. It's fun to have and cost pretty much the same as getting custom work with regular melee elsewhere so it made sense, but there isn't a huge lightbulb going off on one vs the other.

As long as you don't have J I3 melee in the ring, which you probably WOULD notice in terms of impeding sparkle with so many inclusions, I think in general you'd be fine with a mainstream designer.

 

[fortheloveofdiamonds]

Date: 1/9/2005 1:43:37 PM
Author: dominic
Michael B use F VS1 I believe. See Pearlmans excellent site for a service second to none!

www.pearlmansjewelers.com

I have the Michael B. Three sided pave. I have had it appraised. The ring sparkles like crazy. The diamonds on the band are D-E-F in the VS range, some of the stones are fluorescent, but none appear cloudy or milky in sunlight. Richard Sherwood graded them as a fine make 2A stones.

I second Dominic! My experience with Pearlman''s was second to none!!!!

Good Luck

 

[Kamuelamom]

Yellowfan, you''re asking some pertinent questions about designer rings. When making a luxury purchase, especially in designer names, I''d want to learn all I can too before I plunk any substantial money down. I think it''s a natural part of the process to question and "scrutinize" your purchase, especially when spending a lot of money on a product so I hope you don''t feel bad for asking. I spent a lot of money on my DVatche setting. It was not perfect.

In fact I had major issues with it.

I''ve read other similar stories about other designer settings having issues as well. Granted that''s not to do with the stones themselves, but the agony and frustration of spending all that money only to have issues leaves a lot to be desired IMHO. If I had to do it again, I''d hire a great benchman, and have him make me a custom ring from scratch, incorporating a look that I really like. It''s a matter of finding someone you trust and have confidence in.

Anyway, here''s my ring in a collage I made after I had the prongs redone.

 

[yellowfan]

Kmom,

Thanks for posting the photos of your beautiful ring! I love the pear sides! Is the matching band also DVatche? It is very nice. I haven''t thought about the band yet! I figured if I got a 3 band pave, I would not get a band. Now you have me thinking again......!



Best,

Lori/yellow

 

[GETanEDGE]

Hey There!

I recently purchased a Ritani setting with 3 - .10 carat sidestones on each side.
The sales person told me they were F color, VS2. I don''t think they go into a whole
lot more detail because the diamonds are fairly small and they are channel set.
They look clear under a loupe and sparkle like crazy, I think that''s all that matters
in the long run. One thing you might consider is getting your center stone the same
color grade as your sidestones. That way nothing jumps out at you.

 

[Kamuelamom]

Date: 1/10/2005 11:56

9 AM
Author: yellowfan
Kmom,

Thanks for posting the photos of your beautiful ring! I love the pear sides! Is the matching band also DVatche? It is very nice. I haven''t thought about the band yet! I figured if I got a 3 band pave, I would not get a band. Now you have me thinking again......!



Best,

Lori/yellow

You''re welcome. Yes, the band is DVatche also, although I purchased them separately from two different vendors.