Help with 5 stone, maybe with pink sapphires

[trulytess]

Hi Folks,

I've been lurking for a while and am grateful for all I've learned from all of you.

Yesterday my dear husband gave me a 7-stone pink sapphire & diamond ring in platinum from Tiffany & Co as a belated gift for our 10th anniversary. While I love it, I am painfully aware that it was overpriced for what we got, and I got the okay from him to go back to the drawing board without hurting his feelings.

I like the 7-stone look but would prefer bigger rocks, so I'm thinking of going 5-stone in platinum with 1 carat total weight or higher. I'm torn between 5 diamonds or a mix of diamonds and pink sapphires. I'd even consider all pink sapphires. I've seen a couple of settings I liked, one at bluenile.com and the other at sndgems.com:

http://64.70.201.108/collectionrings3.jpg

http://www.bluenile.com/product_details.asp?oid=487&catid=8

I have a few questions to ask all of you ...

1. Is it worth the trouble of buying the individual stones and finding a jeweler to arrange them in a setting? (I'm located in Atlanta.) Would I save money doing this or would I just increase the likelihood of ending up with a ring with rocks that don't match? One thing I've learned here is that it's hard to evaluate colored gems like pink sapphires, so I'd feel a little out of my element buying solo stones.

2. Do you know any good sites where I might find similar settings to the ones I describe above?

3. I've noticed that most sites don't tell you much specific about the stones in multi-stone low-carat settings. Should I be wary of that? For instance in the two rings I mentioned above that I am considering, all I'm told by the vendor is the average or minimum color/clarity. Is it just silly to expect GIA certification on each stone in a 5-stone setting?

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[trulytess]

Here is a photo of the ring my husband gave me. I know you folks like photos.

 

[Kamuelamom]

Welcome to pricescope!

You received a lovely ring. I love the pink with the diamonds.

I just received a 5 stone diamond ring we purchased off a for sale thread on DT, just about 1 ctw. While I like the iceyness of it, the setting is just too wide for my finger (size 4.5) so I'll probably going to have it reset into a 3 stone and do earrings out of the remaining 2 stones. Not sure what yet.

What size is your finger? I think it would just depend on the look you like, and also the size. Personally I love the pink sapphire/diamond combo. What a dilemma you have.

If it helps, I think my stones range from about just under .20 ct. and taper up to the center which looks about .30 ct.

Unless you are totally putting together a custom piece, I think it is rare that each stone has a GIA cert, such as those rings assembled from say, all ACA stones or similar, which I've seen folks do. I'm guessing that price in total by the time you're done may be compatible with your Tiffany piece. I usually see a range of clarity / color for multi-stone rings that are pre made. Experts please correct me if I'm wrong. For example, my 5 stone wedding band (different from the one I just mentioned) is a G/H, VS1/VS2 stones (5 stones), then the total CW is noted. Basically you can do it anyway you want to. Just depends on how much you want to spend.

Let us know what you decide. I'm interested because I'll be doing *something* also with this new band I just got. If you can share any ideas I'd appreciate it. Good luck.

 

[valeria101]

That is a very nice ring you are holding! Congratulations!

Having a nice piece like that for reference to start making one is quite a challenge: it would be rather hard to match not only the stones, but the quality of craftmaship. To end up something equaly nice, but bigger I would think having it entirely custom made (as oposed to having stones set in a pre-made setting). The diamonds will have to be bought as a set (probably you will need to go for some nice H&As to top the quality of the stones in your current ring), and so should the sapphires. The jeweler can probably take better care of the pink sapphire side of the business: small stones like this are rarely available retail. I doubt this can be achieved at much less than the Tiffany. That you rezent their markup-well, surely almost everyone on pricescope did and/or does.

Anyway, thake a look at this site (page 6 and 8 among anyversary bands). The model may be what you want, and they seem to work with pink sapphire too. Whiteflash sells small H&A stones...

Hope this helps!

 

[rocks]

LOVE the pink sapphires. i've seen that ring at tiffany, and it is beautiful. i have two fuschia sapphire rings myself...they are fabulous! i've had them for about 3 years...long before they became so popular.

the matching (color and cut), should you decide to reproduce the sapphire and diamond common prong ring may be a bit of a challenge, though doable...also,the colored stones can cause an optical illusion...generally, if you use the exact same diameter for the diamonds and colored stones, the colored stones will look smaller, so you would be wise to have one artisan/vendor source the stones and make the ring. also, though i know that alot of people participating in this forum don't think much of tiffany, their workmanship on band rings is particularly good. there is a huge difference between the typical web vendor's quality on these things, and the ring that you recieved. finally, diamonds of the size that you are interested in are rarely certified, though it isn't unreasonable to expect that the color grade be the same for a ring with 5 or 7 stones.

good luck!

 

[Kamuelamom]

Valeria, I had a peek at that site. It has some lovely bands. Now I'm thinking of incorporating pinks in mine too since I will have it reset anyway. If the setting were not so wide(the individual prongs add to the width, I would not mind it. Granted it is too big as is. But even if I size it it down to fit my ring finger, it would still look too wide because of the setting itself. It is so wide enough to cause a gap between the two fingers on either side of it. The only way it would look right is to wear it on my middle finger on my right hand. A bit much for me I think.

Trulytess, I hope you can find something you like. Like Valeria said, I think we *all* understand how you feel about the pricing to some degree. Surely it would be out of my budget. But if your DH can afford it and you like it, you may want to just consider keeping it.

Just some thoughts. Do keep us posted.

 

[trulytess]

Great comments. Thanks everyone!

I took a look at the settings Valeria mentioned. Those ones on pages 6 and 8 really are pretty (especially the one on page 6 - that would look gorgeous with pink instead of blue)! I think I'd prefer a narrower band though.

Kamuelamom, the finger I'll be wearing the ring on is a size 4.5.

 

[NY SPARKLE]

I have a 5 stone pink sapphire and diamond ring and absolutely adore it.

It recieves so many compliments. The pink sapphires I have in my ring are a light pink color that really go well with the icey diamonds.

 

[trulytess]

photo please!!

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

I like the Dvatche settings...pictured below...I posted one with sapphires, rubies, and diamonds..

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]