Need advice.

Date: 9/14/2007 12:05:30 AM
Author:Marina

1. How hard would it be to find a matching pair for central stones? Which vendors should I consider and what to look for? I am ok buying online as long as there is a good return policy and it's reputable vendor.
Not too difficult with the right vendor.  Good Old Gold, Whiteflash, Wink, JA, ERD and many other vendors here are used to finding matching diamonds for earrings.  I've personally dealt with GOG, WF, JA and Wink.  I'd love to deal with ERD in the future.
2. What color/clarity would work for these earrings, will H/SI2 be acceptable and which inclusions in stones for earrings are acceptable? I like H&A but it's not necessarily a requirement for earrings.
H SI2 is a great combo for earrings.  Yes, H&A isn't necessary as long as the stones are well cut.  I would say as long as the inclusions are not noticeable (not black spots or cloud making grade), they'll look great.
3. What size of central stones should I consider? These will be every day earrings but I don't want them to be too small or too big. I am thinking that anything between 0.6 to 0.8 for central stone and then 0.03 for surrounded smaller stones should look very good.
Is your design to have coloured genstones to go right in the middle to differentiate the center diamond from the outside surrounding diamond melee?  I noticed that some of the designs you posted are all diamonds but others have gemstones.
4. Most importantly, my budget is $6000 total. That includes central stones, small stones, and custom work. I didn't get estimates for custom work yet but i am thinking it will be around 1,500K. Is that reasonable? Most importantly, whoever does the work, has to be familiar with European lock and most importantly what is referred to as 'Russian lock' since this is the only type of lock that I can wear in my earrings.
I'm sorry I have no idea what it might cost.  It's been a while since I've had any major custom work done.
Sorry for a long post and thank you in advance for your help.

Date: 9/15/2007 9:01:29 AM
Author: Stardust
Not quite what you're looking for, but agree that you'll likely go over budget for something the size you want and custom work.

I didn't have time to work out copying a photo that has right click disabled so here's the link:
http://antiqueengagementrings.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=1688