Acceptable diameter variation for a 5 stone non-graduated ring

[CMN]

What is an acceptable diameter variation for a non-graduated (ie uniform) ring? Is there a good rule of thumb?

If any one can help that would be greatly appreciated. I have been trying to progress a 5 stone (everyday) ring for some time. This is a significant purchase for me and I am afraid of making a mistake. I live in Australia so if I indeed get it wrong it is not feasible for me to use a vendor‘s upgrade policy to return and start again.

I have also tried to search the threads but couldn’t find what I was looking for - if I have missed something feel free to point me in the right direction.

Thank you all so much.

 

[dk168]

How are the stones set?

Channel set would be more forgiving, claws/prongs less so.

I believe it is down to personal preferences, in that if I can see a size difference regardless of the actual dimensions, then it is not acceptable to me.

DK

 

[CMN]

Hi @dk168, it will be set in a trellis setting with claw prongs.

 

[CMN]

Can anyone else help?

 

[Karl_K]

What size diamonds?

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

I find about a 10% max variation from center to sides works well and is most cost effective since you see the center stones the most.
E.g. 3.6 3.8 4.0 3.8 3.6
But to see no graduation at all then 3.8 3.9 4 3.9 3.8 you will just get away with
The first example will cost about three quarters as much as all 4mm

 

[CMN]

What size diamonds?

Hi @Karl_K, in the 0.30 ct range.

 

[Karl_K]

Hi @Karl_K, in the 0.30 ct range.

I was going to take a shot at the answer but Garry's answer above has far more experience in the area than mine behind it.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

There are no 28 and 29 point nice cut diamonds - so stay 30-35 points then

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I am stricter on the size difference, personally, and I'd stay at .30-.32 if making a 5 stone for myself (which I hope to do eventually). I'd definitely also use all the same color.

 

[niteowlsam]

I just made a five stone cushion ring. My stones range from 5.04*5.02mm to 4.95*4.95mm. I can see a difference between the largest and smallest stones, but they were set in a graduated way so the smallest stones are on the outside.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

I am stricter on the size difference, personally, and I'd stay at .30-.32 if making a 5 stone for myself (which I hope to do eventually). I'd definitely also use all the same color.

Color is harder to pick in small stones.
D to F same same. I to K you will see

 

[oncrutchesrightnow]

There are no 28 and 29 point nice cut diamonds - so stay 30-35 points then

Interesting. Are there no well cut diamonds below 30 or are there well cut diamonds at 25 because they are a division unit of 100?

 

[mrs-b]

There are no 28 and 29 point nice cut diamonds - so stay 30-35 points then

I don't know what that means. I did a 7 stone ring with 26/27 point diamonds, and they were individually certified and beautifully cut. They were all 56-57% table, all 61.4 - 61.7% depth, all 34.5 / 40.8 crown/pavilion angles, all were 75% LG, and all colorless and eye clean. I saw photos of them and checked for good, strong, uniform, clean arrows patterns. The diameter of every stone was between 4.12 and 4.17mm. I collected them over a significant period of time to make sure they were as uniform as I could get them, and they were INDEED nicely cut stones.

@CMN - I stay at a diameter difference of no more than .05mm. General theory is that you can see .2mm difference between stones, but I can see less than that. So, to err on the side of safety, I keep it to .05mm.

I'm not sure where you're getting your stones, but WhiteFlash should be able to help you out in this regard.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

27 will be in the quarter carat parcel.
In theory 28 29 are too. But if a 28 can be cut from a rough then most of the time a 30 can and it's worth 30% more.
Hence no 28 and 20s

 

[CMN]

I don't know what that means. I did a 7 stone ring with 26/27 point diamonds, and they were individually certified and beautifully cut. They were all 56-57% table, all 61.4 - 61.7% depth, all 34.5 / 40.8 crown/pavilion angles, all were 75% LG, and all colorless and eye clean. I saw photos of them and checked for good, strong, uniform, clean arrows patterns. The diameter of every stone was between 4.12 and 4.17mm. I collected them over a significant period of time to make sure they were as uniform as I could get them, and they were INDEED nicely cut stones.

@CMN - I stay at a diameter difference of no more than .05mm. General theory is that you can see .2mm difference between stones, but I can see less than that. So, to err on the side of safety, I keep it to .05mm.

I'm not sure where you're getting your stones, but WhiteFlash should be able to help you out in this regard.

Thanks @mrs-b; your comments are really helpful. Yes I’m getting them from Whiteflash. At the moment I have selected 5, D’s, with the smallest being 4.29-4.31x2.64 and the largest being 4.35-4.38x2.68. There is an option of swapping one of them out but I am nervous about the clarity of the alternative option which has a notation of surface and internal graining.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Internal graining is mostly a problem with medium to very strong fluorescence.
And in SI2S

 

[mrs-b]

Thanks @mrs-b; your comments are really helpful. Yes I’m getting them from Whiteflash. At the moment I have selected 5, D’s, with the smallest being 4.29-4.31x2.64 and the largest being 4.35-4.38x2.68. There is an option of swapping one of them out but I am nervous about the clarity of the alternative option which has a notation of surface and internal graining.

These sound wonderful. Are they all ACAs? If so, I wouldn't be concerned about clarity issues at all.

Looking forward to seeing how this beauty turns out!

 

[CMN]

@mrs-b, yes they are all ACAs. I’m excited but also nervous about getting it wrong. At the moment I’m leaning towards the 5 stones with diameter variation noted above; I think I have a mind block over swapping a new one which has graining, also the arrows seem a bit off.

 

[RunningwithScissors]

I find about a 10% max variation from center to sides works well and is most cost effective since you see the center stones the most.
E.g. 3.6 3.8 4.0 3.8 3.6
But to see no graduation at all then 3.8 3.9 4 3.9 3.8 you will just get away with
The first example will cost about three quarters as much as all 4mm

I have a question. (Bear with me if this sounds stupid.) Because the mm spread is listed as a range, for example let's say 4.42 -4.45 mm, then do you use the average of these two numbers, 4.435, when deciding how to line up your diamonds, or do you use the smaller (or larger) of the measurement range of each diamond?

I'm asking because I'm purchasing about 30 little diamonds, a few at a time, for a tennis bracelet project. I was told to purchase them within a .15 mm spread for an undetectable gradation in size. I want to make sure I'm calculating / evaluating their spread based on the correct number.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mrs-b]

@mrs-b, yes they are all ACAs. I’m excited but also nervous about getting it wrong. At the moment I’m leaning towards the 5 stones with diameter variation noted above; I think I have a mind block over swapping a new one which has graining, also the arrows seem a bit off.

Hi @CMN -

I'd be very surprised if the arrows were a bit off in an ACA. But if it bothers you, ask them to switch it out. I'm sure they'd do that with no issue. Ditto the graining issue. I'm pretty sure WF can rustle you up another ACA with no difficulty whatsoever. If this is something you intend to do only ONCE in your life - go all the way with it and have *exactly* what you want. You don't want to be redoing this in 2 years.

Good luck!

 

[mrs-b]

I have a question. (Bear with me if this sounds stupid.) Because the mm spread is listed as a range, for example let's say 4.42 -4.45 mm, then do you use the average of these two numbers, 4.435, when deciding how to line up your diamonds, or do you use the smaller (or larger) of the measurement range of each diamond?

I'm asking because I'm purchasing about 30 little diamonds, a few at a time, for a tennis bracelet project. I was told to purchase them within a .15 mm spread for an undetectable gradation in size. I want to make sure I'm calculating / evaluating their spread based on the correct number.

Thanks in advance.

@RunningwithScissors -

Are you looking to do something which, when completed, shows a noticeable graduation - not necessarily from stone to stone - but from beginning to end? If not, I'd try to keep the difference to less than .15mm. I used to have 2 diamonds that were .1mm apart in diameter, and I could regularly (read "always") tell the difference. I had to stare at them - and they were unset - but even so. The idea of being able to tell the difference under *any* situation bugged me. Below .1mm - they may as well be the same to my eye. If you're *not* looking for a noticeable graduation, I'd keep them less than .1mm apart - and then mix them up so there's no continuous graduation.

As for averaging the size when calculating diameter - I always take the average, and in my collection of matched stones, I always looked for a difference of no more than .03mm in the diameter. So my stones were (and I had a LOT of this exact size) - 4.12 x 4.15mm.

And I'd be the first to admit that this is somewhat anal retentive - but there you go. They're a beautiful match and I'm very, very happy with them.

 

[RunningwithScissors]

@RunningwithScissors -

Are you looking to do something which, when completed, shows a noticeable graduation - not necessarily from stone to stone - but from beginning to end? If not, I'd try to keep the difference to less than .15mm. I used to have 2 diamonds that were .1mm apart in diameter, and I could regularly (read "always") tell the difference. I had to stare at them - and they were unset - but even so. The idea of being able to tell the difference under *any* situation bugged me. Below .1mm - they may as well be the same to my eye. If you're *not* looking for a noticeable graduation, I'd keep them less than .1mm apart - and then mix them up so there's no continuous graduation.

As for averaging the size when calculating diameter - I always take the average, and in my collection of matched stones, I always looked for a difference of no more than .03mm in the diameter. So my stones were (and I had a LOT of this exact size) - 4.12 x 4.15mm.

And I'd be the first to admit that this is somewhat anal retentive - but there you go. They're a beautiful match and I'm very, very happy with them.

Hey Mrs B

Your rings are lovely . Thank you for answering my question about whether one should take the average of the mm spread numbers when determining diamond placement (instead of taking the smaller or larger number).

All of my 30+ diamonds will be within a 0.15 mm total spread, so there will be no visible graduation of size. Individually (one diamond to its neighbor) the max spread I have is 0.02 mm. I have eagle eyes and there is absolutely no seeing that small of a size difference!

Its so much fun to see all my little bitties lined up in a row!

 

[CMN]

Hi All, this arrived today. I have been busy working so haven’t had time to fully appreciate it but thought I would make a quick post. It’s so much sparklier in real life.

 

[RunningwithScissors]

Hi All, this arrived today. I have been busy working so haven’t had time to fully appreciate it but thought I would make a quick post. It’s so much sparklier in real life.

Beautiful! Which setting did you go with? (Can we pics of the profile?)

 

[oncrutchesrightnow]

That turned out great. Hoping for more pics.

 

[Cerulean]

So pretty! Would love to see more pics! What’s your finger size? What size stones did you go for?

 

[CMN]

@RunningwithScissors profile photos.

 

[CMN]

 

[CMN]

So pretty! Would love to see more pics! What’s your finger size? What size stones did you go for?

Finger size is 5.25 but I went with 5.5 for some swelling room in warmer weather. The stones are 0.30s in D.