another 6 vs. 4 prong issue to consider

[sammyjoey]

here are the various pros and cons i have seen or heard regarding the 4 vs. 6 prong debate in mounting a round brilliant diamond

1. 4 prong shows more of the diamond than a 6 prong
2. 6 prong won''t have the tendacy to make a round stone appear square like some 4-prong settings do.
3. 6 prong is more secure, because if one prong fails, you still have 5 more to hold it

so for the main points, each has one aesthetic pro or con, but the 6 prongs are generally held to be safer.

BUT, the other day, a jeweler told me i should go with the 4-prong because IT would be more secure. he said the prongs of a 4-prong setting are much thicker and stronger than the prongs of a 6-prong setting so in order to break a 4-prong, you have to hit your hand so hard you will definitely feel it, see the prong is broken and take it in. but with 6-prongs, despite having strength in numbers, each individual prong is more susceptible to breaking, and you might not even know it. plus, he said he has people with 6-prong setting constantly bringing them in because the prongs are weaker and the shift around the circumference of the diamond.

i still feel that each has its own pros and cons and it is, in general, an issue of personal preference. but im wondering if anyone on here is buying his arguments for the 4-prong setting being the safer and more secure of the two.

thanks

 

[Regular Guy]

Sammy,

I''m not sure that this particular thread will be helpful, but I found it memorable. You are going to get it from both sides, yet again.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Sammy -

I have never heard that argument for a four prong vs six prong. Makes sense but the question is not so much about the prong breaking but rather about the stone falling out and you losing it. You could lose one prong on a four prong and the diamond would be gone. You would have to break 2 or 3 of the six prongs to have the stone fall out. I have a four prong setting because I have a three stone ring but am well aware of the risk. I just make sure my insurance premiums are paid up!

 

[Odilia]

I did have a jeweler tell me once that the majority of people that come to him to fix a broken prong were those with 6 prong rings.
(I don''t know about how many of those lost their diamond?)

 

[dbgaap]

It depends on how the 4-prong is made. I have seen flimsy looking 4-prongs, but my Stuller Solstice is quite sturdy:

 

[FacetFire]

Oooh, I like the look of that Stuller!

I really think 4 or 6 prongs comes down to personal preference and style. I kept going back and forth on which I wanted, so I let it come down to a matter of the rest of the setting and I just went with the number of prongs my favorite setting had - which happened to be 4.

 

[JCJD]

Call me crazy, but doesn''t it depend on how thick the prongs are? A 6-prong Solstice is going to be more durable than a 4 prong Tiffany, for example, simply because of the relative thickness of the prongs in each type of ring, not on the number of prongs. My question would be why does this jeweler make their six-prong prongs so much less durable than they make their four-prongs? I understand the desire to see the diamond through the prongs, but....

 

[RockDoc]

In re-reading some of the comment on this thread and the one linked to this, I see an issue that wasn''t mentioned.


One has to consider the size of the diamond as it would fit in the stock size settings.


Manufacturers creates specific size settings. i.e. 0.50,0.75, 1.00,1.25 etc.

If the stone being set is inbetween those sizes, the setter has a choice to make. Either he bends the prongs outward in a setting slightly small for the stone, or bends them inward on a setting that is slightly larger. Also the depth for steep stones, can be an issue, and likewise for stones that are shallow and spready.

The extent of this and the workmanship issue, could be an additional issue, particularly if the prong seats/bearings aren''t prepared properly for the stone.


Just an additional thought.

Rockdoc