WF Custom Ring From Start to Finish

Hello.  My name is Dale and I am a Geologist and Engineer by trade and know a fair amount about rocks!  Recently I have come to realize that I want make my girlfriend my wife.  After much research I have decided to trust the many positive reviews I have read about Whiteflash (WF) and called Bob Hoskins to help me choose a stone and design a ring.  

Since this process is stressful for me, as I am sure it is for others as well, I thought I would document the process and let you know the type of experience that I have with them...hopefully a very positive one!

First of all I was in the market for a ~1.00 ct square radiant.  My gf loves this cut and it was important that I get a nice one.  However this stone is rather scarce so my options were rather limited.  Cut was my first priority and a close second was that I wanted the stone to be eye clean... I was also on a budget, like so many of us need to be.  

Bob sent me several different GIA certifications to choose from that matched my criteria and I narrowed it to two.  He called the wholesaler and had them compare the two stone side-by-side and sent Bob the one that performed better.

WF then sent be a backlit image and 40X image of the diamond so that any flaws would be clearly visible.  This was very helpful to me and eased some anxiety of buying online.  

I will post pictures below and I ask that you post your honest opinions of the look of the radiant diamond.

Next step is that I am having them make me a custom ring in palladium (something they are just starting to do so I am a little nervous of the final product, but for now I am trusting in WF and Bob to do a great job based on the reviews I have read here).  

I expect the CAD drawings in about a week, followed by the wax, once the CAD is approved.  I will post all those pictures as I receive them.  I hope you all provide me some honest feedback along this journey.

Thanks in advance. 

-Dale

 

* Too much of a good thing can be wonderful * ~ Mae West

September 6, 2009

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Piece of cake and a candle.
**ng gift**

hey dale, wecolme to PS!

thanks for sharing your experience with us. we love to travel the road together with our fellow PSers when it comes to searching and building a ring!

i am no expert with square radiants, but the stone looks beautiful.

share the cads with us as soon as you get them!

what kind of setting were you thinking about?

~Can I have a cookie now?~

Thank you for the welcome...

To answer your question...She has always wanted a rather simple, classic solitaire ring but she prefers her rings a little on the chunkier side.  Furthermore, she also told me once that she did not want diamonds on the sides.  However I wanted to give her something that was well....a little more than just a simple solitaire.  So after a lot of looking I got some inspiration from a Ratani Basket and prongs and a gallery design from Judith Conway.  Other than a little additional tweaking, such as slightly widening the band to 3.5mm to give it a slightly "chunkier" feel and adding a slight taper just prior to the diamond to accentuate the stone, that is the basic setting.

In other words, if you were to look straight down on the ring it would look like a classic solitaire; but look at it from an angle and you will see more.  It willl have 12 tiny diamonds in the gallery (6 facing toward the wrist and 6 toward the fingernails when wearing) and 3 tiny diamonds on both the front and back crossbar to add some (I hope) additional beauty and visual interest when looking at the ring from an angle other than vertical.

Once the pictures are ready, I will post them and they will do a lot better job of explaning than I just tried to do.  I just hope it turns out like I envision...    and what she wants!

~Can I have a cookie now?~

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Piece of cake and a candle.
**ng gift**

........... Karl has joined the diamond trade and is now posting as Karl_K

CAD’s ARE IN!!!  I just received my CAD drawings from WF and they were created very timely - only 4 days.

Now before I show the CAD images, let me say that it did not turn out as I had expected.  I basically asked them to use the shank from a Judith Conway design and a basket from a Ritani design and merge the two.  Their result was less elegant and the proportions were off a bit. 

I do realize that the CAD is a rough, blocky, heavier rendition of the final ring, but that said it was still not quite right.  Therefore, I have laid out several minor alterations to the drawings that I would like to have made in a PowerPoint presentation and emailed it back to them.  I incorporated photos (again) of both rings that inspired me and pointed out precisely what I wanted to see reflected in my custom ring.

Vera from WF responded to me very quickly and thanked me for detailing my thoughts precisely and without hesitation told me she would be sending me a revised rendition within a few days and told me she felt she knew exactly what I was asking for.  I hope the next set of drawings is closer to the ring I am envisioning.

Wish me luck and thanks for all your support!

Geo-dale, welcome!

Your diamond looks lovely!  Though I don't know a thing about radiants, I know WF is excellent and I'd trust them to steer you in the right direction!

When you described your setting - it was just as the WF CAD shot.  Can you post pics of your inspiration?  Are you going to set the diamond in an east/west direction?  The jeweler that is working on my new upgrade has a radiant set that way and it's really striking! 

Thanks for sharing your experience.  I look forward to following along in the process!  

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"Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one"

~~~ When in doubt...don't.~~~