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Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help Pls

sunkissedx3

Rough_Rock
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Jul 23, 2013
Messages
43
So, first of all, I am SO SO HAPPY to be engaged to the man of my dreams =D He proposed in Florence, Italy, on the Ponte Vecchio bridge where he vowed to cross every bridge in life with me. <3

My ring is a gorgeous 1.8 cushion halo made by Victor Canera. The shank, donut, and struts are absolutely perfect but I'm concerned about the way the stones are set in the halo and the gaps between the stones. I want this to be my forever ring so it's important that it's as close to perfect as can be.

I was involved in picking the diamond and the type of setting because I'm very particular and meticulous. We didn't decide on a specific vendor together, but I did ask him to consider Victor Canera, Steven Kirsch, Leon Mege, Hannah Maytal, and also ERD. He knew I really liked the hand forged settings but I said I would also be happy with a CAD from ERD. After doing some research of his own on here, he decided to go with VC since he is so highly recommended by PSers, especially for the Emilya halo. I didn't know where my ring was being made, but I did have a list of specifications, most of which I copied from Frankiextah for her VC halo ring. Some of of the things I asked for were for diamond melee size on halo to be uniform in size, set closely together as possible with no gaps, halo melees around 1.3-1.5mm, minimal metal at lip of halo, shank 1.9-2.1mm, small donut and very curved struts. I later found out from my fiance that VC said he couldn't accept specifications or any alterations to the Emilya because he was extremely busy and would not take the job otherwise. He said not to worry it'll turn out great because he's made it hundreds of times. I thought that VC would be more accommodating from what everyone else had said about him on the forum, many saying they exchanged dozens of emails before beginning the process. This made me nervous, but I trusted VC would make me the perfect ring, after seeing so many amazing ones posted on here.

Victor did make the donut and struts as specified, shank is 1.8mm, halo melees are a bit too small, in size and compared to the width of the overall halo. When looking at the ring from above, the melees look smaller than the width of the halo upon close inspection. I measured the halo melees with a small optical ruler and they are only about 1.0mm. What I love about VC's halos is that the melees on the halo tilt perfectly into the "shallow U" prongs, and the width of the melee is almost as wide as the halo width, thereby minimizing metal seen from the top. In my ring, the melees don't extend to the edge of the halo.

Here's some photos of my ring compared to his other work:

my ring:
See top and side of halo, melee doesn't extend to edge, can see the little "U" scoops and metal instead of the melee sitting right inside the scoop as seen in his other work (see this in a lot of CAD halos). Also note gaps in stones, when looking from top can see a line between each stone instead of a continuous row like on the shank
ring1_61.jpg

love the donut and struts
ring2_63.jpg

excess metal on halo that melees don't cover
imag1019.jpg
imag1016.jpg

see bottom edge and can be seen a bit on side of halo, excess metal "rim"
imag0986.jpg

Hard to show in photos but with flash you can see the metal more, and in person I can see it
imag0967.jpg

lip slightly thicker than I would have wanted but not a big issue
imag1029.jpg

stones don't match up on both sides, I'm not too concerned about it but I did notice it
myringmid.jpg


others made by VC:
perfectcushhalo.jpg
pvchalo1.jpg
pvchalo2.jpg

Frankie's ring
7_3.jpg
image_41.jpg
image_42.jpg

Susimee's ring
IMG_5045.jpg
IMG_5167.jpg
IMG_5196.jpg

Here's a CAD halo ring made by ERD showing less metal with melees set closer:
erdada.jpg

Does anybody else agree with me that my halo is a bit flawed?? In the other rings shown, the melees are set right into the shallow "u crescent" and only the tiny prongs show, not the metal between the prongs. Also, the melees are very small, and 5 rather than 6 across each side would have looked better in my opinion, seeing as a lot of the cushion halos VC did around the same size had fewer and slightly larger stones around the halo. The melees are too spaced as well showing a line between them.

I feel bad because my fiance did everything right, he went to VC so he wouldn't have to worry about how the ring would turn out, he wanted it to be perfect for me, and I am grateful for that and for my ring. I am not trying to find something wrong, but I can clearly see the difference in the photos, and feel like he could have gotten a CAD setting from ERD for half the cost that looks the same or better. The ring really does look BEAUTIFUL, but looking very CLOSELY it bothers me because I've seen better work by VC. I don't want to upgrade my ring in five, ten, or twenty years from now, so I don't want this to be the reason for why I would want to later on.

I haven't mentioned anything to my fiance because I don't want to upset him, and I haven't contacted VC either. I know many PSers are very particular about their ring as well, so I hope somebody understands me, and I would really appreciate your thoughts on this.

Thanks all
 

sunkissedx3

Rough_Rock
Joined
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Messages
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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

Oops, I meant "Susimoo's" not "Susimee's"
 

Victor Canera

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

Hi sunkissedx3

I'm sorry if there has been any mis-communication on this project. Sometimes when not dealing directly with the end user of the ring as with a boyfriend in the middle things aren't communicated clearly.

I did not and would not say that I wouldn't accept modifications to the ring because I was busy. That's a fact.

What I communicate to clients is this: creating a halo (a nice one at least) is not just about melee size or other hard specifications. Let me give you an example. If larger melee were used on your halo, maybe only 5 stones would fit in between each side of the halo (between the prongs) and their size would need to be much bigger to eliminate the spacing caused by the removal of 1 diamond. In that case, I might think that the look is a little too big with the melee. There are other things to consider besides this as well. Another example, I had a client asking that their culet be right basically on top of the donut when looking at it from the side. What they were not considering was that they might have gotten that idea from a client who had a 2.2ct round diamond. Their center stone was a 1ct cushion and setting the culet right on top of the donut from the profile would have made the halo abnormally low.

So, what happens when clients see a ring made for a completely different sized diamond or even a different shaped diamond and try to use those specs for their own stones, I feel that those specifications would not be ideal and wouldn't create a really nice halo. This is the reason that I don't like to accept specifications for one ring that's based on another diamond shape\size\finger size etc.. There are a lot of things that are considered for a nice halo that the client probably wouldn't even think about and it's not just a formula like x + y = beautiful halo is all I'm trying to say. It's much more of a give and take IMO to make a beautiful halo. It's much easier for me in that case to communicate to the client that each ring is unique and different and in general one client's ring will be similar but not exactly the same as other Emilya rings I've done in the past.

Having said that, if you feel that your ring needs modifications in some way, I'd be happy to discuss it with you.


My Best,

sunkissedx3|1408668909|3737212 said:
So, first of all, I am SO SO HAPPY to be engaged to the man of my dreams =D He proposed in

he couldn't accept specifications or any alterations to the Emilya because he was extremely busy and would not take the job otherwise. He said not to worry it'll turn out great because he's made it hundreds of times. I thought that VC would be more accommodating from what everyone else had said about him on the forum, many saying they exchanged dozens of emails before beginning the process. This made me nervous, but I trusted VC would make me the perfect ring, after seeing so many amazing ones posted on here.

Thanks all
 

patricias

Shiny_Rock
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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

The metal in the setting keeps your stones in place. For structural reasons you want to have a good strong setting, especially on a ring that you'll wear every day. The ring looks great to me, and I'm a jeweler.
 

Gypsy

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40,225
Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

You don't want your stones girdles exposed. That makes it unsafe. It's supposed to be set in with the metal there to protect it and take the hits, not the stones. :confused:

I
 

Fancygems

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

Looks beautiful, enjoy your ring and your engagement. Your fiancé did wonderful.
 

sunkissedx3

Rough_Rock
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Jul 23, 2013
Messages
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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

Gypsy said:
You don't want your stones girdles exposed. That makes it unsafe. It's supposed to be set in with the metal there to protect it and take the hits, not the stones. :confused:

I

I'm comparing VC's work to VC's own work.... I don't suppose that all of the other PSer's rings I mentioned are "unsafe" and mine is "safe". All pave is delicate... and I do realize the stone doesn't go all the way to the edge, but there is a difference between less and more metal to me. But that's okay, I was asking who sees the difference.
 

susimoo

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

Hi!!

Thank you for posting my photo's. It's been a wee while since I looked at them. :love:
I still prefer to look at my VC on my hand. :bigsmile:


I'm not technical so I'm not going to comment on your specific issues. I'm just not qualified. I'm sure others will come at my back to help. I do have to say all I see is a beautiful ring. :love:

I would urges you to raise this directly with Victor. If you are unhappy, then talk it over with him. Victor is an absolute gentleman. It has been my experience and others that he always goes over and above to make us happy.
I am sure you can work this out.

Congratulations on your engagement. :appl:
 

diamondseeker2006

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58,342
Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

I think your ring looks gorgeous and I'd like to see some hand shots of it at a normal viewing distance. I really can't tell anything from the macro shots, but I don't see any glaring problems. Handforged rings are always going to be unique and quality doesn't get much better than Victor's.
 

arkieb1

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

I currently own Frankie's ring the one pictured above. The difference might be the tilt angle, the diamond currently in that ring is a fair bit larger round shape, the angle of the halo tilts down more if that makes sense so that might be why you see less metal it is possibly further underneath the line of sight, but there is still a metal edge. I am guessing the issue of why yours is not the same is that your stone is a different shape and a different size to mine and your halo has been made to suit your particular stone. Cushions and rounds have different crown heights and a whole heap of different variables.

I also agree with the others if you have no metal edge then what will happen is if you bump your hand against things you will smash and crack your melee so they are more likely to come loose or break.

If the ring is a big issue and making you unhappy contact Victor and explain your concerns and allow him to sort it out.
 

princessfeedme

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

Hi, sunkissedx3! I do see what you're seeing. The shallow u-pave is a bit deeper than his usual halos, regardless of stone shape. I think Gypsy was agreeing with you in her comment (correct me if I'm wrong,) because the deep scoop exposes the girdle of the melees more than usual, making them unsafe. Also, the trench in between each "U" is a bit wide...forming a sort of "V" gap between each melee stone, instead of a narrow slit...if that makes sense? I think the wide V-gap may be a contributing factor to the "misalignment" in that picture of the red line you drew. Anything unsymmetrical drives me insane, so I understand where you're coming from. Regarding the size of melee stones in the halo itself, I would defer to his expertise. You should not hesitate to contact Victor about this, especially after he's responded to this thread.
 

Acinom

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

Congrats on your engagement. I wish the two of you a happy life.

To my eyes your husband and Victor did a great job. Please note - as already mentioned above - that the ring is specifically made for your stone. Thus, every Emilya will look a bit different depending on shape and dimensions of the stone.

Also, the ring is made according to your fiancee's specifications. I would indee contact Victor, especially since he reached out to you.
As the creation of a handforged ring is very time consuming and due to the fact that there is nothing wrong with the ring, I would offer to at least pay part of the additional costs if the ring is to be adapted..
 

me&myboys

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Messages
386
Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

Hi :wavey: :wavey:

I'm definitely no expert but looking at the images alone, they most certainly look different!!

If the others you showed were made by VC, then there should be no question about the safety or integrity of that style of ring. Yours most certainly looks "heavier".

To my untrained eyes, the two profiles below look nothing alike :think: :confused: I'd rather have the "other" type - everyone never questions VCs work so the design should be perfectly safe, right?! So yours, then, appears to be over-engineered for no real advantage.

_21565.jpg

_21566.jpg
 

SB621

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

Since VC already popped on and suggested you contact him that would be my recommendation. I have worked with many PS and non PS vendors and have found the best way to solve the issues I'm having are to go straight to the source. If you feel their is a workmanship issue I think VC is more then happy to disccusswith you and hopefully you can resolve.

I just wanted to bring up one point even though VC sort of touched on it already. And that is the halo, due to the size of your center stone, melee, prongs etc will be different by ring. I wouldn't expect your melee to line up perfectly as the math might just not work out that way.

My other observation is from owning an Emilya with both a round and a cushion. My round was similar to frankie's ring that very little metal lip showed from the side but on my cushion it is more apparent. It doesn't bother me and I always assumed it worked out that way either because of the different shape or the fact that my cushion was much larger then my MRB. So perhaps the tilt has to do with the shape of the center. I would imagine because of the corners of the cushion you can't tilt as much as an MRB.
 

artdecolover71

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

how wonderful that VC replied directly and hopefully you can work it out asap.

Good luck-I only hear rave reviews about his customer satisfaction....
 

chrono

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

arkieb1|1408686456|3737337 said:
I currently own Frankie's ring the one pictured above. The difference might be the tilt angle, the diamond currently in that ring is a fair bit larger round shape, the angle of the halo tilts down more if that makes sense so that might be why you see less metal it is possibly further underneath the line of sight, but there is still a metal edge. I am guessing the issue of why yours is not the same is that your stone is a different shape and a different size to mine and your halo has been made to suit your particular stone. Cushions and rounds have different crown heights and a whole heap of different variables.

I also agree with the others if you have no metal edge then what will happen is if you bump your hand against things you will smash and crack your melee so they are more likely to come loose or break.

If the ring is a big issue and making you unhappy contact Victor and explain your concerns and allow him to sort it out.

I'm quite sure it is the tilt angle, when you were concerned about seeing a lot of metal. The amount of metal support isn't less, but is less obvious because the angle allows more of the diamond to be seen (and less of the metal to be seen). Will a rounder cushion shape allow more tilt since the reason VC is unable to create a more drastic tilt is due to the round vs cushion shape? But in doing so, it will no longer be following the outline of your cushion. I think there are trade-offs which is best discussed directly with VC.
 

Bonfire

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

Very honorable of Victor to reach out to you. Please allow him to explain and work with you to arrive at a mutually satisfactory solution. :wavey:
 

Clairitek

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

SB621|1408701775|3737382 said:
Since VC already popped on and suggested you contact him that would be my recommendation. I have worked with many PS and non PS vendors and have found the best way to solve the issues I'm having are to go straight to the source. If you feel their is a workmanship issue I think VC is more then happy to disccusswith you and hopefully you can resolve.

This. I hope you are in communication with him privately right now. He's a great vendor from what I hear (never done business personally).
 

luvsdmb

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

This would drive me nuts. Hoping you can get it worked out and everything fixed to your liking. :))

myringmid.jpg
 

quaddio

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

luvsdmb|1408730131|3737603 said:
This would drive me nuts. Hoping you can get it worked out and everything fixed to your liking. :))

I agree, this isn't the look I'd want for a modern cushion. I can also see your point about the underside of the halo being a little 'blobby' compared to the samples you posted and when compared to the band on your ring. The underside of the halo (struts??) appear to join the halo at a wider point than some of the others.

I'm sure your vendor will make it nice for you - come back and post more photos!
 

luvsdmb

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

luvsdmb|1408730131|3737603 said:
This would drive me nuts. Hoping you can get it worked out and everything fixed to your liking. :))

Just to be clear, your picture that I re-posted with the red line showing how the diamonds on the side of the halo don't match up is what would drive me nuts. I think this setting works with just about any diamond. :bigsmile:
 

sunkissedx3

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

Thank you so much everyone for your advice, you've all been so helpful and I really appreciate it.

I did contact Victor and he was very accommodating, offering to redo the ring for me. I apologize for jumping the gun and saying otherwise as it seems things were miscommunicated. I am very happy and appreciative that Victor is willing to go above and beyond to make me happy. Thank you Victor.
 

sunkissedx3

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Jul 23, 2013
Messages
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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

princessfeedme said:
Hi, sunkissedx3! I do see what you're seeing. The shallow u-pave is a bit deeper than his usual halos, regardless of stone shape. I think Gypsy was agreeing with you in her comment (correct me if I'm wrong,) because the deep scoop exposes the girdle of the melees more than usual, making them unsafe. Also, the trench in between each "U" is a bit wide...forming a sort of "V" gap between each melee stone, instead of a narrow slit...if that makes sense? I think the wide V-gap may be a contributing factor to the "misalignment" in that picture of the red line you drew. Anything unsymmetrical drives me insane, so I understand where you're coming from. Regarding the size of melee stones in the halo itself, I would defer to his expertise. You should not hesitate to contact Victor about this, especially after he's responded to this thread.

Thanks for actually understanding what I was pointing out! I think because the stones are only about 0.5 pointers, it's more difficult to precisely set them without any gaps? Or the tiny gaps are more apparent, and so are the scoops. There are no "glaring" imperfections, someone else looking at my hand would never notice, but I look at my ring all the time and I happen to be extremely picky. I originally wanted a slightly larger halo (1 pointers 1.3mm) so I'm very happy Victor is redoing and says it's possible to make it a little wider.
 

nomissjane

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

Victor is such a gentleman. I'm certain that this will be resolved and you will be delighted with the result. Having worked with Victor twice now from the other side of the globe...under it that is, I know just how accommodating he is and just how much he likes to get it just right for each client.
 

hearts-arrows_girl

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

Your ring is gorgeous! I hope all turns out to your liking with your re-do.
 

junebug17

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

Victor Canera is awesome.
 

sunkissedx3

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

Gypsy said:
You don't want your stones girdles exposed. That makes it unsafe. It's supposed to be set in with the metal there to protect it and take the hits, not the stones. :confused:

I

Gypsy, I'm confused... I'm not sure if you meant my ring was safer because it had extra metal, or unsafe because the scoops are lower exposing the girdles. So I'm sorry if I misunderstood your comment.
 

diamondseeker2006

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

junebug17|1408829872|3738227 said:
Victor Canera is awesome.

He absolutely is!!!!

Hope the remake is everything you hope for!
 

Tekate

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

I dream of having a VC ring.. because I see the beauty and how concise his shop is... someday I hope to contact him to have my mediocre but loved diamond placed in his design.. the guy has class.

junebug17|1408829872|3738227 said:
Victor Canera is awesome.
 

momhappy

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Re: Newly engaged-VC ring not perfect or am I too picky?Help

sunkissedx3|1408759151|3737866 said:
Thank you so much everyone for your advice, you've all been so helpful and I really appreciate it.

I did contact Victor and he was very accommodating, offering to redo the ring for me. I apologize for jumping the gun and saying otherwise as it seems things were miscommunicated. I am very happy and appreciative that Victor is willing to go above and beyond to make me happy. Thank you Victor.

I'm glad to hear that he is accommodating you - I could see your concerns, so I hope that they are addressed:)
 
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