All prong settings created equal?

[theinquisitor]

First of all, thank you to everyone on this forum -- my bf and I have found an oval diamond that we love, thanks to all of the information and advice we''ve read here! Now we''re just trying to decide on a setting -- which I didn''t think was going to be this hard!! I''m very active and use my hands a lot, so one thing we are considering is a bezel setting, but we''re concerned about how much of the diamond will be covered by the bezel (any ideas?).

So our other option is to do a 6- or 4-pronged setting. I''ve seen the Vatche X-prong setting, and for some reason it looks stronger to me than some of the more traditional prong settings, like the Tiffany solitaire -- that is to say, it looks less likely to lose a prong if you shut your hand in the car door, for example. Is this an optical illusion? What does matter in terms of the likelihood of breaking off a prong? I''m going with a platinum head, regardless; does the thickness of the prongs tell the tale, or how far they overlap on top of the diamond? As you can see, I know very little about this!

I know that with the 6-prong setting one is less likely to lose the diamond if a prong breaks, but I like the look of the 4-pronged setting a little better. Ideally, I''d like to find a 4-prong setting with maximum strength and stability. The diamond has a thick girdle so I''m not too worried about chipping. Any advice would be much appreciated!!!

 

[denverappraiser]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I agree with what he said.

Actually, I fairly strongly oppose 4 prongs on ovals. The problem is that if the stone becomes loose during wear, there is nothing to prevent it from rotating in the setting. The effect is that it basically unlocks like a key and the stone falls out. Loose stones are bad anyway but with 4 prong ovals, it's total failure. With 6 prongs, the ones on the side prevent it from turning in the setting. I have the same complaint about square stones where the prong on the corner isn't the chevron type (sort of a 'v' shape that cups the corner of the stone). In the case of the Vatche x-prong designs, this is solved by a small wire below the girdle of the stone that actually ties the prongs together but some of the competitive designs don't include this.

I also agree with Dave that half bezels are nice. These types also can have a lower profile than most prong settings. If you are very active and you live out here in gods country, you will find that it's difficult to wear gloves with a mounting that holds the center stone up high. I suppose flatlanders don't have this particular problem but there are probably other issues.

By the way, if you slam your hand in the car door, you should probably get your ring checked anyway but I would be more concerned about the preservation of your hand than your ring. Jewelers are cheaper than doctors.

Neil Beaty, GG ISA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[valeria101]

Just out of curiosity...

What happened with the 8, 10 and 12 prong settings ? Allot of small prongs are strykingly less visible than a few large ones and seem safer by all accounts.

 

[theinquisitor]

Wow, thanks, everyone, for the input! This is so helpful. We are so thrilled with the stone we found (after much looking), we really don't want anything bad to happen to it!!

Dave -- I hadn't realized platinum was softer! I was under the impression that it was harder. I was going for a platinum head for the strength and also so it would preserve its whiteness. I'm getting a white gold ring but I know they can yellow over time, I didn't want a yellowing head to make the stone appear yellow. Is this an irrational fear? And I also didn't realize that a properly set bevel won't make the diamond appear smaller. That is a great tip. Thank you so much!

Neil -- Good to know, I will definitely not do the 4-prong, then! I really do like the look of the bezel and half-bezel settings, so I'm definitely leaning towards those after hearing what everyone has to say. I definitely want a low setting, but I worry that the caster will have difficulty creating a wedding band that will lie flush with a low bezel setting, for example. I have yet to look through their catalog, though, perhaps I will be able to find something. As for the doctors v. jewelers thing -- I'm right-handed, so if I slammed my left hand in the car door, I'd be much more concerned about the diamond!!! (Just kidding... mostly.)

Ana -- I never even knew there were 8-12 prong settings! I will look for some of those online. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Lynn B]

Very interesting! I've never seen a 10-12 prong setting, either. Does anyone have any photos?

Lynn

 

[reena]

ohhhhh, pave bezel set ovals!!!! i. love. them.

esp this one: www.escobardesigns.com

 

[Brian Knox]

Hi,

Dave is correct.

It is definitely prong set.

At a quick glance,it does have a bezel look.


Brian

 

[theinquisitor]

Wow, that ring is gorgeous. I was actually thinking about getting something like that, in a bezel setting -- to me, having the pave diamonds surrounding the center stone makes the diamond look GI-NORMOUS! We'll see what they have... I want to get it made by the jeweler where we're getting the diamond, if possible, to make things simple. We're going to look at their casting house's catalog later this week, I think.

Any thoughts on a white-gold head possibly yellowing eventually and giving the diamond a yellow cast? The diamond is an F, so I'm not TOO worried, but I just wondered if anyone else had any experience with this. Any thoughts? Does a yellow gold head make the diamond look yellow?

Edit: Yes, that does look like a bezel at first glance! But I see the prongs, now.

 

[Brian Knox]

Does a yellow gold head make the diamond look yellow?

Yes, even whitegold will impart more of a tint than platinum.

You might want to think about platinum.

Platinum will always be white and is therefore the best metal for showing off colorless diamonds.

 

[theinquisitor]

Good to know; thank you! I'll probably go with a white gold band and a platinum head, then. The wedding bands are going to be white gold, so I would like the e-ring and wedding bands to match.

Edit: I have had trouble finding a lot of info on white gold and swimming pools. I jump in a pool a few times a year, and would prefer not to take my rings off (as I know I will lose them). How bad is that amount of chlorine for gold?

 

[reena]

oh yeah, sorry im forever guilty of calling prong set + "halo" a "bezel set". oops.

 

[cflutist]

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On 9/6/2004 1:17:53 PM denverappraiser wrote:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I agree with what he said.

Actually, I fairly strongly oppose 4 prongs on ovals. The problem is that if the stone becomes loose during wear, there is nothing to prevent it from rotating in the setting. The effect is that it basically unlocks like a key and the stone falls out. Loose stones are bad anyway but with 4 prong ovals, it's total failure.

Neil Beaty, GG ISA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

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Neil is absolutely correct here. I had a 2.05 D-VS2 oval I used to wear. Well one night at orchestra rehearsal, some clown slammed my hand in a door, it broke one of the prongs, and YES, the stone fell to the ground.
I had to sit through 3 hours of rehearsal in the diamond in my pants pocket which totally stressed me out.

 

[valeria101]

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On 9/7/2004 5:21:35 PM Lynn B wrote:

Very interesting! I've never seen a 10-12 prong setting, either. Does anyone have any photos?
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Well... these happened to be at hand. The eight prong is a modern setting, the others are old. The 6-prong bezel like one has the stone bead set (the "prongs" are actually beads of metal). The "12 prong" I've seen done for larger colored stones - actually you would get many small prongs (short, thin and brittle connected to some lattice or basket for support since each would be too thin to be rigid enough otherwise) all around the gem and the number of prongs depend on the size of the gem. There must be other examples online. For once, I am very convinced that many tiny prongs are less visible than a few large ones - not to mention safer.

 

[theinquisitor]

Ana, whoa, those are some RINGS!! They're so beautiful. I've never seen a bead setting before -- how does that work?

cflutist, what a complete and total nightmare! Thanks for the cautionary tale. Thank goodness you didn't lose the diamond!