CAD feedback for target ring

[HarrietVane]

Hi all! After getting a lot of good feedback from the kind people here I am in the process of designing an engagement ring with David Klass. I knew I wanted a ruby target ring with a non-standard shape and @Muluver provided this inspiration picture which I loved:


I made a mockup in PowerPoint of what I wanted my ring to look like along with lots of bullet points and my boyfriend contacted a lot of jewelers. He's an engineer and was very happy with David's price and approach, so we decided to go with him. Here's my main mockup:


I also looked at a lot of different gallery inspirations and fell for this leafy one. I saved it from here but can't remember who originally posted it.


This is the CAD that we got back from David (extremely fast!) and I'd love feedback from those more knowledgeable than I am!


The center diamond is going to be a lab OEC (yet to be purchased), the "petals" will be French cut rubies, and the small diamonds outside will be lab MRBs. (I'm hoping that since the lab stones are not the focus of this thread that it's okay to post it here, but I can ask it to be moved to the lab diamond sub-forum if that is more appropriate.) There is going to be milgrain around the bezel, the outside of the rubies, and the outer edge of the ring. The plan is to have the ring be platinum.

Here are the changes I've come up with so far:

• Ask for the ring to be made smaller overall, since I'd like to be able to wear it everyday and as it currently stands it's a bit big for that for me. (This is what I get for using a cocktail ring as my inspiration!) I'm hoping to end up with a length of more like 17-18 mm instead of the current 22. I wear about size 6.75 in rings but my fingers are not particularly long. If need be we can get rid of the outer diamond halo to keep the size down. As a bonus, either of these solutions will probably bring the cost down a little.
  • I want the center diamond to be at least 0.5 ct so I can see the facet pattern, so the proportions may need to change a little to keep it from getting too small. I don't want it to be giant relative to the rubies but it's okay if it's a little larger than the current proportions.
• I'd like to add some sort of embellishment to the ring shoulders but I'm not sure what. I probably don't want pavé there but I'm open to suggestions!
• Should I ask for the basket to be tilted inwards more or keep it as is? Originally I was thinking of changing the angle but now I think I like it as is.

I'd love to know what you think and if you have any suggestions for improvement! Thank you in advance!

 

[HarrietVane]

Ah, I remembered why I was thinking of changing the angle of the basket. I'd like to wear a curved wedding band next to the ring, hopefully without much of a gap. Would tilting the gallery under make it easier to fit the band next to this ring?

 

[Rfisher]

Ah, I remembered why I was thinking of changing the angle of the basket. I'd like to wear a curved wedding band next to the ring, hopefully without much of a gap. Would tilting the gallery under make it easier to fit the band next to this ring?

Depends on where you want the curved WB to sit?
Are you thinking of not much of a gap at the shank
Or are you thinking not much of a gap following the outline of the halo design? I’m having trouble envisioning what you mean - can you lock it up on the cad or find a photo of something online of what you want them together to look like?

I’d also suggest getting both rings made at the same time.
If you don’t - you’ll need to send your ER back for them to have on hand while they make the WB.
That is if you want to eliminate/reduce the possibility they may not exactly match up. Construction /look/fit.



Congrats on your engagement!

 

[caolsen]

Congratulations. I’ve worked with David and he’s great.

So if you’re going with French and OEC cuts, I think modern rounds might not quite vibe with the Art Deco flair you’re going with. Have you considered OECs or single cuts?

Also, the under gallery is very florid - lots of swoosh going on there. That’s not a n Art Deco vibe that you’d fine on period pieces. Not that it’s not lovely, but a more geometric gallery would be more in keeping.

Last thing, that swooshy gallery is adding height, as well. I might suggest you get a piece of costume jewelry and make sure. 6.5 mm isn’t too high for a ring you’ll wear a lot.

 

[Lookinagain]

I think you could make the rubies smaller and still get the same vibe. I think getting rid of the outer diamond halo would change the look quite a bit, but maybe you could ask if the stones could be a bit smaller. Single cuts might be nice to use but I don't know how available they are in lab stones. I'm not versed at all in that question. I would probably tilt the outer portion downward some so the ring doesn't appear flat. I also like that the shoulders are wider on the inspiration and your mock up, than they are on the CAD. I don't know about the wedding band issue, but I would definitely ask for a plastic model of the ring before you move forward to the final so you can get a sense of the size, tilt and ability to put a band with this ring.

 

[lulu_ma]

Agree with @Lookinagain . The center rubies overpower the center right now. Can you go a smidge larger on the center?

And, also agree with @caolsen single cut or oec melee would be better.

 

[RetroQT]

Agree with @Lookinagain . The center rubies overpower the center right now. Can you go a smidge larger on the center?

And, also agree with @caolsen single cut or oec melee would be better.

I third this.

When I did my pear, I opted for rose cuts instead of modern rounds. I felt it worked better for the vintage vibe. I think going with an old cut (and a larger center with minimizing the overpowering rubies) will give it a much more authentic vibe.

Here’s my pear just so you can see what I mean. (I get people assuming all the time that this is an authentic antique piece.)

 

[oldcutclubmember]

So excited to see that the project is in the works!

I agree with many of the previous posters, I think the diamond outline is a good look and really pulls the whole setting together. I would go with single cuts, rose cuts or OECs instead as well and maybe a bit smaller in size.

I also agree that the rubies can also probably be a little smaller to make the entire ring a bit smaller and for them not to overpower the center.

 

[Niel]

I would like to take a bit about the shank. Do you like it that thin? I know you said you wanted to spice it up a little. Is there an engraving you like?

 

[yssie]

The thickness of the diamond outline varies in the original, and the size of the melee used graduates complementarily. In your CAD the diamond outline is the same width all around, and the melee are the same size. Is that what you want?

Will the rubies be custom cut for this piece?

Will you see the rubies beforehand? I strongly recommend looking at the stones before finalizing metal colour, some rubies do wonderfully in white but others need yellow to come to life.

Ditto the suggestion of single cuts rather than full cut RB melee unless you're specifically looking for stylistic contrast.

Agree with @caolsen, the leafy swooshy gallery is also anachronistic compared to the top view. Are you looking to stay true to a given period? If you are then something more geometric would work. If you're not then it's very pretty as is!

Both inspirations take a "step" approach to the onion layers of milgrain outlines. Partly an aesthetic choice, partly a function of the way that many of those pieces were manufactured. Rather than tilt the outer diamond outline, you may want to think about just having the outline lowered a little, similar to the way the rubies are stepped down from the centerstone. Red in picture attached.

 

[emmy12]

Saw this target ring with a similar shape to yours posted on IG today by (a)gildedlane.
Edit: here's the post https://www.instagram.com/p/CgR9iHwFPvB/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

It's an inverted colour scheme to your ruby and inspo ring, but the shoulders might give you a different idea for how to do those.

 

[petrock<3]

Love this thread… very exciting things going on here

 

[caolsen]

Saw this target ring with a similar shape to yours posted on IG today by (a)gildedlane.
Edit: here's the post https://www.instagram.com/p/CgR9iHwFPvB/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

It's an inverted colour scheme to your ruby and inspo ring, but the shoulders might give you a different idea for how to do those.

That’s a stunner

 

[oldcutclubmember]

I just came across another emerald target ring with a similar feel that has a .7 ct OEC as the center. I think the scale is similar to what you have in mind. They have a video of the ring on the finger so you can see how you may want to adjust the size of the rubies to accommodate the diamond border. After seeing this one, I think you should definitely keep the diamond border in the design and not get rid of it.

Pragnell | Fine Jewellery & Luxury Watches since 1850

Pragnell is one of the world’s finest jewellers creating Rare Jewels handcrafted in Great Britain. The leading authorised UK retailer for luxury swiss watches.

www.pragnell.co.uk

 

[HarrietVane]

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your feedback earlier. It was really helpful! We ended up putting the ring on hold temporarily while my fiancé defended his dissertation for his PhD (he passed!) and we got engaged with a simpler band (that I love) on my birthday last month. But now we're back at it so that the ring will be done in time for our wedding in February.

Although I 100% agreed with everyone's suggestion to have the outer diamond halo be single cut instead of MRB, DK said that single cuts aren't available in lab diamonds, and for budget reasons we need to stick with lab stones.

So I ultimately decided it was better to leave off the diamond halo instead of having it look off, especially since I had concerns about the ring being too big for everyday wear. My fiancé very correctly pointed out that we can always have a larger cocktail ring made that fits more with the original inspiration in the future when our budget is larger. (He's a good man!) The diamond halo was beautiful, but it's not what attracted me to the original ring and I'd rather skip it than do one that didn't look right or one we couldn't afford.

I put together a document of the changes I wanted and sent them to DK and here is what he came back with for the ring and a curved band that will stack with it.

He removed the diamond halo, angled the rubies downward, and reworked the basket to make the band fit better next to it. The gallery isn't as swoopy now, although honestly the original didn't bother me at all. The rubies are smaller too, which makes the overall size of the ring more wearable. The proportions look better to me now. I think I want to ask for the metal around the rubies (which will have milgrain) to be slimmed down. It looks a little thick to me here. The rubies are going to be cut for the ring. I have a costume ring (also bezeled with a halo) that's a similar height off the finger to this one and I'm able to wear it without any issues, so I think this height will be fine for me.

He also added a shoulder design that I love--I had to search for a while, but I eventually found an all-metal inspiration, since I didn't want any additional stones on the shoulder. (The shoulder diamond in the inspiration image is replaced by another metal bump like the ones below it.)



The shank for both the ring and the matching band are increased to 3mm each. The band we got engaged with is 3mm and I think it's the perfect width for my finger (size 6.75 but not very long). The curved band will have engraving and milgrain in this pattern in between the roundels. I thought it went well with the gallery of the ring.


Is there anything else I should change, aside from slimming down the metal border around the rubies? This forum has been invaluable for me in learning about jewelry and going through this process. I agreed with everyone's opinions about the diamond halo, but it just wasn't doable in this case. Someday I'll get a big ring made with it!


P.S. Here's the band we got engaged with. I love it and plan to keep wearing it too, either on my right hand, or on my left on days when I want something low-profile or yellow gold instead of white metal. (The new ring & band will be platinum.)

 

[tyty333]

Something about the shape of the wedding band is not doing it for me. Have you tried having the shape of the wedding band
mimic the shape of the ering? I wonder what that would look like? I* don't think I like how you can see it partially beside your
ering except not at the furthest out point (it's not symmetrical all the way around as far as the amount of the wedding ring
you can see). Just my opinion, YMMV.

I personally would wear your ering as a stand-alone ring or I would have a very thin (1.5mm) band I might wear with it. Again, my opinion... YMMV!

 

[HarrietVane]

Something about the shape of the wedding band is not doing it for me. Have you tried having the shape of the wedding band
mimic the shape of the ering? I wonder what that would look like? I* don't think I like how you can see it partially beside your
ering except not at the furthest out point (it's not symmetrical all the way around as far as the amount of the wedding ring
you can see). Just my opinion, YMMV.

I personally would wear your ering as a stand-alone ring or I would have a very thin (1.5mm) band I might wear with it. Again, my opinion... YMMV!

I prefer a curved band to a straight one with this style, and I do want to wear a band, but I agree with you that it doesn't look quite right as is. I think I will ask to have the band curve out more to mimic than shape of the ering more. Thank you! I would not have though of that on my own.

 

[Rfisher]

@HarrietVane
Before you ask for that border around the rubies to be slimmed in width or height
I think you should ask them to show you one if their previous project cad with this type of custom cut calibre cut target /halo ring (from same bench as your will be done from) and the finished product from that same cad. And one that’s not a circular shape halo, and one that has this type of undulating halo tilt. So you can see what the end result is.

The reason I bring this up - the design may need that metal height/width it has now for the stones to be secure /not fall out. It may look thinner once it’s finished. The bench may need that much material to start with /fabricate with.

I cannot wait to see the results.
Best wishes.

 

[HarrietVane]

@HarrietVane
Before you ask for that border around the rubies to be slimmed in width or height
I think you should ask them to show you one if their previous project cad with this type of custom cut calibre cut target /halo ring (from same bench as your will be done from) and the finished product from that same cad. And one that’s not a circular shape halo, and one that has this type of undulating halo tilt. So you can see what the end result is.

The reason I bring this up - the design may need that metal height/width it has now for the stones to be secure /not fall out. It may look thinner once it’s finished. The bench may need that much material to start with /fabricate with.

I cannot wait to see the results.
Best wishes.

That's a really good point. Thank you! I knew that I didn't know enough about reading CADs to know what to ask for. My fiancé is an engineer, so he's used to CADs, but definitely not for jewelry!

 

[molecule]

Personal opinion: I loved the original way the emeralds jut into the shank. I think if you did it that way, adding the diamond at the tip of the shank would be a great transition.

I'd consider spending some time photoshopping the original image to understand what design choices you'd like.

 

[emmy12]

Since David is custom cutting the calibre rubies, the design change that I would suggest is changing up the shape of the stones slightly as the "10 o'clock and 2 o'clock" ones. I'd like to see a bit more of a pinched corner between them so that the scalloping effect is more pronounced. Something about the way it's hitting right now makes those stones look too visually dominant/large to my eye and are distracting me from the center stone.

It looks like David copied the original emerald ring inspiration very closely (and it is so lovely) but changing from the oval to the round stone is what made the difference here. With the oval, the outer edge of the halo parallels the shape of the oval and allows your eye to direct itself concentrically around the oval. I would ask David to change these angles so that the outer curvature in the marked areas is parallel to the circle at that point (yellow lines, bottom right image). This will create the same visual circling effect and highlight the center stone better. It will also create a mini pinch at the corners that will help point the eye inward too.

Just my thoughts!

 

[HarrietVane]

Personal opinion: I loved the original way the emeralds jut into the shank. I think if you did it that way, adding the diamond at the tip of the shank would be a great transition.

I'd consider spending some time photoshopping the original image to understand what design choices you'd like.

The reason I wanted to leave the diamond off the shoulder was because I need to stick with lab ones for budget reasons and they don't come in single cuts, which I agree with everyone would be more stylistically appropriate than a MRB. Otherwise I'd be fine with a diamond on the shoulder! I'm hoping that since I moved away from the "hourglass" shape of the original to a more oval shape that will bring enough balance in the transition to the shoulders

This is my rather terrible photoshop mockup (actually done in power point) that I'd sent David before the most recent CAD.

 

[HarrietVane]

Since David is custom cutting the calibre rubies, the design change that I would suggest is changing up the shape of the stones slightly as the "10 o'clock and 2 o'clock" ones. I'd like to see a bit more of a pinched corner between them so that the scalloping effect is more pronounced. Something about the way it's hitting right now makes those stones look too visually dominant/large to my eye and are distracting me from the center stone.

It looks like David copied the original emerald ring inspiration very closely (and it is so lovely) but changing from the oval to the round stone is what made the difference here. With the oval, the outer edge of the halo parallels the shape of the oval and allows your eye to direct itself concentrically around the oval. I would ask David to change these angles so that the outer curvature in the marked areas is parallel to the circle at that point (yellow lines, bottom right image). This will create the same visual circling effect and highlight the center stone better. It will also create a mini pinch at the corners that will help point the eye inward too.

Just my thoughts!

I really like this idea! I agree that it directs the eye inwards more towards the center stone. I'm definitely going to pass your picture along to him. Thank you!

 

[sunandsky]

The ruby halo seems like it’s more tilted down n/s than e/w … just highlighting in case it wasn’t intentional. lovely ring!!

 

[lulu_ma]

How is the ring coming along? I just found this ring and thought of you. Not the perfect shape-but such a pretty ring:

Vintage Estate Art Deco Ruby & Diamond Engagement Wedding Ring Platinum For Sale on Ruby Lane

For Sale - Vintage Rings from Mayfair Estate & Antique Jewelry on Ruby Lane - What a sensational Art Deco Ruby & Diamond ring this is, set in a luxurious platinum band! Are you an Art Deco girl? Were you born in the wrong decade? This ring will transport you back to the 1920's-1930's every...

www.rubylane.com

 

[HarrietVane]

How is the ring coming along? I just found this ring and thought of you. Not the perfect shape-but such a pretty ring:

Vintage Estate Art Deco Ruby & Diamond Engagement Wedding Ring Platinum For Sale on Ruby Lane

For Sale - Vintage Rings from Mayfair Estate & Antique Jewelry on Ruby Lane - What a sensational Art Deco Ruby & Diamond ring this is, set in a luxurious platinum band! Are you an Art Deco girl? Were you born in the wrong decade? This ring will transport you back to the 1920's-1930's every...

www.rubylane.com

We just signed off on the final design this week! I realized that if I took any longer then we'll be married before my engagement ring is ready. I'm really happy with it!

Here it is:



My current project is scouring Etsy for a pair of bargain antique earrings to wear for the wedding! I was a contestant on Jeopardy last year and finished in second place, so I decided to buy jewelry with my $2,000 in prize money, but I've been dithering over what to get with it for over a year. I finally decided to get a necklace and earrings to wear for the wedding, plus a small sapphire ring (not for the wedding) since blue is the color for Jeopardy! I think I found a necklace and ring I like but I'm still searching for earrings that feel right.

 

[emmy12]

Excited to see the final product!

 

[HarrietVane]

Excited to see the final product!

It's done! Since the center is a lab OEC it can't go in Show Me the Bling, but I have a thread on it in the lab diamonds forum here. But here's a sneak peak.

 

[momofive]

Beautiful. Would love to see hand shots.

 

[HarrietVane]

Beautiful. Would love to see hand shots.

I will post some once the ring gets here!