custom ring help

[mingagreen]

Hi all, I need some help! I went to the jewler today actually to pick up my ring and there were a few things that I didn''t like about it. I didn''t bring it home because the rhodium wasn''t right under the stone. But the main problem was that the "halo bezel" around the stone wasn''t close to the stone. It look like the ring was too big for my .52 diamond. It just looked out of place. This was my main concern from the beginning and I tried to explain how I wanted the halo as close to the stone as possible and I was assured it would look the way I was explaining. They did say it was done as close as possible, but because there is a 4 prong head inside the bezel they need room to open it up and place the stone in and therefore it can''t get closer but it just doesn''t look right. I don''t know what to do. I really love the ring but if it isn''t going to look right what shall I do? Have any of you been unhappy w/ a ring enough to start over and if so how did the jewler handle it? I feel so bad b/c I agreed to the wax and they have been so patient w/ me. I have invested so much time and research into this and I want it to be perfect.
Thanks all,
Mingagreen

 

[FireGoddess]

Oh minga, sorry this happened to you. You are in no way alone.

My ongoing experience is here:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/mixed-feelings-about-new-pear-setting-opinions.25036/=


Do you have a picture of the ring as it is now?

 

[Kaleigh]

Can you post a sketch or picture so we know what your design intentions are, or were??

 

[PhillipSchmidt]

You know your terminology very well.

If you don''t get the ring home we can''t see a photo and pass comment.

I got kinda lost in your description, but it seems the scale looks wrong and perhaps the ring is too meaty.

I hope it is something that can be put right. I''d hate to think the jeweller did all he could to give you exactly what he thought you wanted and ends up loosing out.

Good luck. Hopefully he has more patience yet.

 

[mingagreen]

Yes Fire I do recall your story so I know I am not alone!! It is just scary! I hate to be a pain in the arse, but I can be rather picky, especially when it comes to jewelery!
If you do a search called "wax model" my ring and wax will come up maybe that will give you all a better idea of what I am doing. Sorry I can''t link you, I am not computer savvy yet!! And DH is at work!

 

[FireGoddess]

After looking at the wax again, I have a few questions:

1. What size stone was supposed to fit into the original ring you were having the wax made to emulate?
2. Was your wax version made the exact same size?

It looks like (and I am totally eyeballing here) the original ring was going to hold a stone larger than 0.5 ct. If your wax copy was made the same size, I could see that the setting would then overwhelm or diminish the impact of your center stone and there would be extra space. Is this what happened? Or is the halo just bigger than you anticipated anyway?

 

[mingagreen]

Well Fire you are right, although I caught that and they remade the wax to be more proportioned for my .52 stone. They understood what I was getting at, but it just isn''t tight enough and I don''t know how and can be made tighter at this point. The original ring , in the pics, was made to holds about a 1 carat stone. The ring looks awesome and proportioned aside from this one issue. They said they might be able to add alittle extra metal around the top ridge of the halo so we shall see. Also, they had to unset my stone today, is this going to compramise the strenght of the prongs, setting, unsetting and resetting using the same head??

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 2/23/2005 7

2:37 PM
Author: mingagreen
They said they might be able to add alittle extra metal around the top ridge of the halo so we shall see. Also, they had to unset my stone today, is this going to compramise the strenght of the prongs, setting, unsetting and resetting using the same head??

1. I hope the extra metal looks okay...and that it doesn''t distract from the aesthetic of what''s already going on with the halo.

2. As to your second point, I would actually love for an expert to chime in here because I''d like to know that answer myself!

 

[PhillipSchmidt]

Just had a look at the wax.

I don''t like it all. Not the ring but the business. Only a new setting would do.

The only thing I can suggest is that the prongs were attached to the casting and can be swaped. This means you can upgrade later. I don''t know your finances but if a bigger diamond is in the pipe-works, then you can still have the perfect ring. Adding metal into the halo is just a stop-gap.

The claws will be damaged; they may still be ok. It depends on how they were set, ie grooved that were cut-in not being too severe - which I doubt, and how they were unset - nice and gently. It may be a moot point as they probably should remove the setting head before adding extra metal. If they don''t it means it is in good shape as doing that makes adding the metal easier, so it won''t bother them either way.

Nice setting, btw.

Perhaps you could ask them to forge you a smaller hallo with one less diamond and with the existing hallo (that could easily be cut clean off), add a nice bail and have a matching pendant - open in the centre or set with a coloured stone???...

See me, the jeweller talking - note how everything costs you more money. Well it is good to have options...

 

[mingagreen]

Good Morning,
Well after a restless night over this I am ready to figure this out!! I don''t want to waste anyones time!!
Platinumsmith, Upgrading my diamond would be fun but it is exactly what I don''t want to do! It is 37 years old and is going to stay in our family ( was my mother-in-laws) and the reason I was doing the setting upgrade was to enhance the diamond, it is a beauty, (F vvs2) I am content w/ the size of my stone, it fits my life, I just wanted more going on w/ the whole ring.
I am a bit worried about the strength of the prongs now, it was the first thing my husband said."is the diamond going to be safe in there now that they unset it once?" As far as adding metal, they would have to do it after the diamond is set b/c what is happening is when they "open" the prongs to set the diamond, they need the extra space between the halo and the head, after they get the stone in and tighten the prongs there is too much space between the halo and head, for my eyes anyway, and the sales woman noticed it too. So how do you get around this. Is there anyway to eliminate the "head" and set the diamond with some other prong style? See, i imagine that but then think that the edges of my diamond don''t even come close to the edgaes of the halo so how else could they set it? Oh this is tough!

 

[valeria101]

Date: 2/23/2005 5:18:13 PM
Author:mingagreen

They did say it was done as close as possible, but because there is a 4 prong head inside the bezel they need room to open it up ...

Yeah... this is why you don''t see standard "tiffany" heads set inside bezels all that often.

More likely, small prongs are attached to the inner edge of the bezel, so the girdle of the diamond sits right on top of the metal border.

(the picture comes from here - and that diamond can''t be allot larger than yours: it is .8 cts but a deeper old cut)

 

[valeria101]

Date: 2/24/2005 8:15:56 AM
Author: mingagreen

Is there anyway to eliminate the ''head'' and set the diamond with some other prong style?

I didn''t even see your Q before posting the bit above !

However, I can''t really tell from the wax pics if anything like this can still be done t your setting. Besides, it''s up to the jeweler to say what they can do or not.

There are other ways to deal with the issue, I bet. Besides, some setting are meant to have a gap and that makes them lighter and more lace-like to me. Perhaps this look could be achieved without adding a ton of metal to the setting.
The one in the pic (link) does not appear to have been made like yours (by casting the complete frame in one block). If the front look is right perhaps it could be made up. I know the example is not quite close to the target, all I meant to show is the front look: how the diamond bezel set inside a larger pave frame with a bit of space between them.

Hope some of this makes sense.

 

[mingagreen]

Valeria,
I actually took the first pic you posted with me as an example of how I wanted the center diamond to be set. I think the whole issue is that there is a 4 prong head inside the bezel. I didn''t know the inner workings of this issue, had I known that they needed extra space to open and close it, i wouldn''t have agreed to this ring.

 

[FireGoddess]

So...the question is, will your jeweler recast a NEW ring that has the prongs built into/added onto a slightly smaller halo, so that your stone will fit snugly into it? Or do you now have to work with this ring that has a 4 pronged head built within a surrounding halo? I don''t think you''re going to be happy with whatever they do to modify the existing ring. It sounds like a recasting is in order. Have you talked to your jeweler again?

 

[mingagreen]

Well I spoke with the jewler and they are going to add the "extra millgrain" to the top ridge and we will see how it looks. they said you won''t even be able to notice that it was an add on. I really want this to work, but I have this feeling like it will look crappyand doctored. i have seen some amazing things done though! Thank you all for your advise and I will keep you posted.

 

[oldminer]

I SAW YOUR NOTE ASKING FOR MY RESPONSE. Can't really say much more than has already been said. Custom work is always tricky and not every attempt makes a perfect fit with what the customer may have had in mind. It is very difficult for a relative novice to know that from the approval on the wax, the final, metal, ring will look as good as they wish it would. Jewelers depend on this mid-step approval process as it does catch many problems before the metal is worked on and more labor is wasted. However, if the jeweler estimated high enough, on average, to cover a reasonable problem, then you will end up getting something you'll like enough or more.

Be sure to insure the jewelry. If there is a loss of the diamond a few days, months or years after the ring is made, it is primarily your insurance that will cover such a loss. You don't want to be put in a postition to have to PROVE that the jeweler's negligence caused the loss of the stone. That may be difficult for you to do. This is what insurance is for, so I do recommend it to you especially if you have lingering doubts about stone security and metal fatigue. It would be a very costly thing to prove metal damage.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 2/24/2005 2:10:48 PM
Author: mingagreen
Well I spoke with the jewler and they are going to add the ''extra millgrain'' to the top ridge and we will see how it looks.

I don''t quite understand... your concern was about the prongs holding the stone inside the bezel, the millgrain on the edges has nothing to do with it

 

[mingagreen]

Thank you for your response Dave. I know things will work out in the end here. I have enjoyed working w/ this jewler immensly and do trust their craft. I have my ring on my ins. policy already and will update it as soon as I get the new estimate.
Yes you are right Valeria, that is one of my issues!! The other issue is the way it looks and this is their solution. As far as the prongs go I am going to trust that they do the right thing. I know they know that I am aware of the stregth issues unsetting and resetting can cause. Thank you all for your input. It is so nice to be able to vent and hear others responses in situations like this.

 

[mingagreen]

Well I just got back from the checking out my ring and I think things are going to be ok. They took out the old head and replaced it with what seems to be a head w/ slightly thicker prongs and it seems to fill in the space between prong/diamond and halo/bezel edge. (does that make any sense?!) So they are doing the final touches and should be done by Tuesday.

 

[PhillipSchmidt]

Did they add the metal and enhance it with milligrain?

That was what more then I had thought of. I have also been thinking they could make some extra pave around the centre stone, on a different plain - depending on space, (milligraine might do).

I had thought the head had better be replaced, but assumed they were the best ones to decide on that. I thought it was clear in my response...

Anyhow, it sounds like they are doing the business and doing it well. Good luck!

Cheers

 

[mingagreen]

Good Morning,
Platinum, they didn''t add the millgraining to the edge because after further talking it over they decided it would diminish the look of the ring. Inside the halo/bezel dish (lol that sounds rediculous!) there is a mirror finish which really adds to the "look" of the ring, so if they added metal not as much light would be let in. Thare also wasn''t enough room to add another row of pave''. The head that is in there seems as though it can be "popped" out so if SOME day I just have to have a bigger diamond I think it would be easy to replace. They set the diamond before they attatched the head which eliminated the need to open and close it while inside the halo. And like I said it seems as though the prongs are just alittle thicker and help to fill in the space between the halo and stone. I can''t wait to get this ring on my fingure so I can post pics and see what all you think.
Lisa

 

[valeria101]

Date: 2/26/2005 8:7:45 AM
Author: mingagreen

They set the diamond before they attatched the head which eliminated the need to open and close it while inside the halo.

Honestly, the design seemed like an easy shortcut at first: the result of some struggle to get the "bezel" look and still use some good old handy four prong head. Perhaps this makes shaping the cast easier - what do I know

Which doesn''t mean that a practical idea can''t be nicer than the disparate elements of design picked up into it. In fact, there seem to be more designs going this route

All for the better - your ring may just be the start of a trend.

Here''s the "other" four-prong-head inside bezel I was talking about. So what if it''s not done the old way ? Why on Earth not