CAD's have come in - what do you think?

[DiamondJ]

Hi,

I have had my ring for 6 months or so, when the centre stone came loose under the bottom right prong as the stone was not centered correctly in the head, the original ring was hand made, however in a BIG rush so there were a few things that I thought were cosmetic however the more I looked I noticed structural issues. So I had to have it remade, however due to cost (the original was made in South Africa and I live in Australia) because in Australia you are looking at 3 - 5k for a handmade platinum setting and that is with me providing the metal and pave stones.

So the jeweler has sent me the CADS to approve, I don't have any experience in looking at CAD's and knowing if they're quality or not, so hoping for a bit of assistance?

The centre stone 1.20ct

Thanks!

 

[laurenk]

Hello
I cant help as Ive never gone down this path, however, are you having the CAD done in Australia or South Africa? I couldn't understand. If in Australia, Id love to know who you are using and to follow your journey as Im thinking of redoing my halo.


p.s whilst no expert I think it looks lovely!

 

[DiamondJ]

Hi!

its a slightly complicated storey... we had the ring made in South Africa in December last year (it is where I'm from) the jeweler is an actual brick & mortar store and usually quite good, unfortunately for them they had the centre stone for about 4 weeks and didn't start making the ring until the day it needed to be picked up. My brother flew over from Australia to South Africa to go pick it up and just before he needed to leave to come back to Aus they were still making it, so when I saw it I knew there were issues with it but still liked it anyway.

So fast forward to now, I told the original jeweler I wanted it re-made, so they are paying for the jeweler her to fix it. I live in Brisbane and have been to MANY jewelers (all proper jewelers, not chain stores) for quotes here and most were ridiculous and were lacking in service and some had less knowledge than I do!

The jeweler I am using is called Carmody jewelers in Brisbane, very good service so far and he is a master jeweler, the ring will be remade via casting and then he will set all the stones, he is using all new platinum (but my stones) and the cost is $2400, so still quite expensive.

 

[laurenk]

Thanks for your info! I get so nervous trusting anyone hehe so love word of mouth. Im glad you have your ring being fixed to how you want it. Lots of ladies on here have had CAD rings so hopefully someone will shed some light on your pics. Ill give Carmody a call, I too would be using my own diamonds and metal but if the end result is breathtaking, Im happy to pay for it. Cant wait to see how yours ends up!!!

 

[DiamondJ]

Are you in Brisbane as well?

 

[laurenk]

Yes I am!

 

[chrono]

I'm not sure what are the elements that you like/dislike, hence I do not know what to advice.

You may want to consider a slight tilt for the halo so that it flows a little better when viewed from the side (not so flat looking or plonked onto the shank). Did you also want your shank to be nearly 3 mm thick? It doesn't need to be this thick in order to be structurally sound. Do you want the melee diamonds on the split shank to stay separate (up to the metal) or join up into a short line of single diamond melee? By doing the latter, you can thin out the shank a little, if you prefer something more delicate looking. The split part of the shank is also rather straight; would you prefer them to be slightly more curved?

 

[DiamondJ]

Hi,

thanks for the reply, yes exactly what I was thinking, it looks a bit chunky and heavy, my previous ring, the split shanks were 1.5mm each which came together to form 3mm at the bottom, from looking at the ring on my finger, I couldn't see any of the 3mm band.

I've asked the jeweler to thin the head slightly of the halo, the two front prongs need to be moved back a bit as I think they are too close to the v shaped prong. The melee will also share beads instead of having 4 per stone and I've asked the for the shanks to be a bit tapered as well, so hopefully it looks a bit better next time!

is there a limit for how many changes I can request to the CAD drawing?

The jeweler mentioned having holes all the way through under the melee to make cleaning easier - is this normal practice?

 

[laurenk]

Hi diamondj
hows it all looking?

 

[DiamondJ]

Hi Lauren,

Its going ok, I requested some changes and received another version of the CAD, obviously the prongs look a bit weird and I don't really like the beading on the shank.. so hopefully it all turns out ok!

 

[laurenk]

Are the going ahead with it using these new CAD images? It must be so tricky to really visualize it from a cad but I think it really will be lovely! I'm wondering who else could offer you a professional opinion? Did you love the rings they had in store? Or previous custom makes?