Change prongs to make diamond look bigger?

[huangt0n]

Hi Psers,

For those who don''t know my dreadful story, I am unhappy with my engagement ring because of how the prongs look from the top view. I believe I have decided that it is not in my best interest to upgrade right now because the difference between a 1.2 and 0.8 are not significant enough to me.

There are diamonds on the prong, which make the prong tips look thick. I feel that my diamond looks smaller than 0.8. I have the opportunity from my jeweler to change the prong head to a standard one without diamonds. She tells me that it should make my diamond look bigger and give me the more delicate look I am trying to achieve. I asked another jeweler and he said that changing the prongs won''t change the effect. A 0.8 will look that way no matter what you do (unless you add a halo of course).

I paid $700 for the custom head. Should I redo it? Which jeweler is right? I am afraid that if I redo it, it will look the same and then I am at more of a loss because I will no longer have the diamonds to enjoy from the profile view. I don''t want to mess it up again.

 

[huangt0n]

My diamond looks really different in various lighting.

 

[huangt0n]

This is the custom diamond head. Is it worth losing this to possibly make the 0.8 look bigger? Or will a normal 4 prong head not make my diamond look bigger? Please help!!!!! I''m so tired of this ring stress. I just want to love my ring like all the other happy PSers. : )

 

[neatfreak]

I don''t think it''ll make the stone really look bigger per se. But a more delicate setting always makes the stone pop more, giving the illusion that it''s bigger IMO. Are you after delicateness or size? because it obviously won''t change the size of your stone, but it would make your ring a lot more delicate.

 

[MMT]

I just wanted to say I think your ring is beautiful. If your not happy though it probably will continue to bother you unless you do something about it.

 

[Sharon101]

Is there a way that you can try on a plain smaller pronged ring with the same size centre diamond?

I personally dont think the new prongs will make your diamond look bigger......but, if you dont like the prongs in themselves, you might get some extra pleasure from the change.

You mention that you do like seeing the diamonds on the prongs from the side view. Maybe you could add an eternity ring rather than touching the prongs at all. This would give you more diamond coverage and is something that you could wear with any future upgrades.

ETA- personally I would like both diamonds on the sides and smaller prong tips.......are you sure that the jeweller cant file them down somehow?????? Do all diamond prongs look extra thick????

At the end of the day, if the thicker prong tips cant be changed, then I might opt to change them but only if I had tried one on and was positive that the result would be an improvement. I am guessing that there are many prong styles around and this needs to be looked into.

 

[LD]

I don''t think that changing the head will make the diamond look bigger. Is it that the prongs look a little wider than you''d want? If so, can''t you ask your jeweller to thin them down so they''re more pointed. I think Mark Morrell does this to his claws?

 

[HeartingDiamonds]

More delicate prongs ought to give you the illusion of a bigger diamond (note: perhaps a little, but not by much).

If its going to cost you $700 to get a new head, I would personally save my pennies and opt for a halo setting instead (assuming you like halos) - that is the best way to make your diamond appear larger. I was looking at a pair of halo earrings with .75 center stones yesterday and they look like 1.5-2ct honkers! Maybe that is the kind of finger coverage you ought to consider? That, and thin shanks will make you center diamond pop.

I worry that switching heads at this point will not be enough to make a significant difference in your eyes.

Much luck to you!

 

[CharmyPoo]

If you can't notice a difference going to a 1.2 ct, I doubt you will notice much difference with the prong changes especially since your prongs aren't even that bulky right now. I am sorry to say but if you aren't happy with the size and you said you can afford to go bigger - just do it. No one here can make you feel like you have a bigger diamond than you have. No one is going to tell you that your diamond looks huge on your finger. It is a good size and I think it looks nice on you but it isn't large especially compared to the other diamonds on here. Unless you get a halo or side stones, there is nothing you can do to your current ring to make the diamond look significantly bigger.

 

[huangt0n]

Thanks for the responses. I''ve already asked them to file it down once and they are unwilling to do anymore to jeopardize the stability of the diamond. I do love the claw prongs and that would be the best of both worlds to have the diamonds on the prong and to have claw prongs. The jeweler said she was willing to redo the prongs at their cost. She has been encouraging me to just get the standard platinum head to minimize the appearance of prongs from the top view. I will have to see if they can just put less diamonds on the side of the prongs and perhaps taper it to do a claw on the top?

In response to the comments: My wedding band is a matching eternity band, so I do have finger coverage. However, I feel that at times maybe all the diamonds will make the center look much smaller. However, I love my eternity band so I am def going to keep it!

I like the way halos look, but just not on me. It''s not my style, but maybe this will change in a couple of years.

Good point that if I can''t notice much of a difference between 0.8 to 1.2, then I will probably not notice much change from the prongs. I had not thought about it that way. Thanks for giving me a realistic perspective. It is helping me sort through my thoughts!

 

[amyjokerette]

I love the prongs from the side, I think they are great... but I think I might agree with you that they are a bit "heavy" from the top. I think changing the prongs will make the diamond look only slightly larger... but it might be worth it to you. Because the majority of the time people will see your ring from the top.

Also, I think I read in another post somewhere that you already had them file the prongs down because they were "uneven". Are these photos in this post before that or after that. It might just be me... but the lower left prong seems larger than the others.

 

[huangt0n]

Sadly, these are the after photos. They said that any other difference is just due to the fact that it is hand made.

I am going to push that they will redo the prongs and perhaps do just three on the side and taper the metal so it won''t be heavy set. If anyone has pictures of diamond prongs though, feel free to post it here so I can show them that it is a feasible task and I''m not being overly demanding. Thanks!

 

[amyjokerette]

Here are some I have found...

http://www.michaelcfina.com/images/products/full/PL0512CLCO0043.jpg

http://www.jewelryexpert.com/catalog/graphics/Mille-Baci-Sapphire-Ring-1119.gif

http://www.1diamond.com/c_images/JudithConway_LD-0345P.jpg

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/31ZTMXHWYXL._AA280_.jpg


I happened to come across this... which is a little different... rose-gold prongs:

http://www.tacori.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/2561PKRD7_main.jpg

 

[huangt0n]

Thanks for the help Amy. I really appreciate the time you put into helping me find other picture with diamond prongs. BTW, your ring is lovely.

 

[luvmyhalo]

Here''s one with diamonds on the prongs...

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/e-r-d-eeeelicious-my-little-beauty-zillions-of-hand-shots.68699/

 

[risingsun]

I''m surprised you didn''t notice a difference between a .80 and a 1.2 ct stone. My first upgrade was from a .80 to a 1.23 and I noticed a signicant difference. Remember that the ring will be in a setting and that will also enhance the size. The suggestions that you have the prongs reworked is a good one and I hope it does work out for you.

 

[huangt0n]

Thanks for that last link luvmyhalo. After looking at that ring, I think my main issue is that the prongs do not wrap around on top of the diamond perhaps? My prongs just stick out and it looks bulky. I wonder if that ring had smaller prongs from the top view because of the basket?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I truly think your setting is lovely and I wouldn''t even consider paying $700 to change the head. The diamonds on the prongs make the setting special, and I do not think the prongs make the stone look smaller. Your best bet is to wait and someday get a larger diamond. I wouldn''t waste money now altering this setting. Can you check the cert and get the diameter measurement of your stone? I am curious as to whether it is small or average size for a .8.

 

[huangt0n]

Diamond Seeker,

The ring is uncertified so I can''t tell you the specs. When I talked to the local jeweler in Austin (not the one where I purchased the ring from) and he compared it to an ideal cut 1.2 carat, the diameter difference was less than 1 mm I think or something around that amount.

I would not be paying $700 to get the prongs done. The jeweler agreed to redoing it because I am not happy with it. I am not sure if they are willing to redo the prongs at their cost if I want something other than the standard platinum prongs though. Ideally, I would like for them to try it again and just have the prongs wrap the diamond more like how claws do it.