18K or 14K (and diamond stuff too)

[JHeincker]

Hey all, I posted a few weeks ago about princess cut stones. While I haven''t made my final choice on a stone yet, I am definately closer. I appreciate all the help from everyone.

Turns out that a lot of the jewelers here in the relatively small town of wichita KS don''t have or really offer ASET or idealscope images of the diamonds they would offer. They claim that they can tell by the cut specs which diamonds they would even want to see and would in turn offer me. Maybe they can do this, but I can''t. I like seeing the images. Therefore I am thinking about buying a diamond from one of the recommended vendors here. (probably WhiteFlash - they seem to know the most about PC) then having the setting and head done at a local jewler HOWEVER....

The jewlers are telling me that its better to use 14K white gold because it doesn''t need Rhodium plated at all, and is stronger. I know that 14 is less valuable than 18. Are they just trying to save some coin or is there an advantage to this? I have even heard that there is 19K available for use. I know that she will want something very shiny and very white. What is the best route here?

Different jewlers are giving me trouble about the head. Only one or two have actually offered to customize it to the way I want it. The others just grab their books and show me what they can offer. I am in the process of trying to upload a very crude CAD drawing to pricescope to show you all what I mean. I''ll do my best to describe it though.

the style in the mall stores was called fire over ice. Im sure most people are familiar with it. Here is a link just in case. Fire over Ice Ring Her and I both love the way you can see the entire stone from the side and it looks like its just hanging there. We are looking for somthing similar in a solitare. Some jewlers have said it can be done, others say the stone will be loose a lot so lets not even do it. I see both sides. I am an engineer by trade so I understand forces and how it could become loose. I also have a few fixes. They would require a custom head and wouldnt be as good as some of the simple more standard solutions. Nonetheless she isnt some adrenaline junkie that is going to be smashing her ring all up. She will take EXCELLENT care of it, so I''m not that worried.

Finally, the prices of the mountings have varried drastically. Some say 700 others no more than 400. Go figure the places I felt more like knw what I wanted are more. Why is there so much variance?

Thanks again for all your help past and future!

 

[The sun is shining]

Some of the experts will chime in about the diamond, but from what I can see, the mount should be secure as it isn''t a tension setting. Many diamonds are held in by claws - mine is, and held by less metal, and I have no issues.

In regards to the metal type, I would personally go 18k or platinum. To get the metal all white it is rhodium plated, but there are different mixes of gold to create the white colour, some use higher mixes of nickel (which people cam be allergic to) or palladium (someone please correct if I am mislead). Nickel is obviously cheaper.

In my expericence, prices can reflect the quality of the vendors work. The cheapest is the best, not always. Price can be a result of a lot of things. Starting with the metal alloy they use, down to how precise they are. Look at the quality of their work, and if you think someone''s work is superior, it probably is. If it''s a ring she loves, get someone who can truley visualise what you are trying to create. There is nothing worse than wanting to have the same ring remodled to someing similar because she is not entirely happy (and very hard to justify).

Good luck!

 

[DLFB]

I was told about the 14 and 18k thing too...but I still want an 18k. My GF right now is wearing an 18k which I gave to her a while back (not an e-ring) and she still loves it to this day.