Designing an eternity band

[alene]

Our 20th anniversary is in a couple of months and I'm working with David Klass on designing an eternity band to mark the occasion. It'll be a pretty substantial, stand-alone piece. The stones are .22 - .23 BGD signature stones (except one). It'll be brushed/matte 18 K yellow gold. I'm super grateful to @Dreamer_D for the initial feedback on the possible design in my previous thread. The inspiration photo is what I sent to DK. I have the first CADs and I think they look great, except I want small beads rather than flush-set stones. Any other thoughts?

 

[alene]

Here are the initial CADs

 

[Dreamer_D]

The channel for the bead setting may be hand carved so it wouldn't be in the CAD. This is how it would have been done back in the day and its how they can get such a thin rail. So ask him how the stones will be set and clarify you want them bead set in a channel. If you can dig up a ring he has done previously with the same setting style that is ideal for communication bc obviously, lots can get lost in translation! I think you basically want the Big Boy, full eternity version of the band in this IG post:

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

I would also ask for the diamonds to be totally flush to one another with no gaps between. May not be possible with these diamonds and your finger size but if that's the case I'd want to figure out another solution than large gaps between diamonds.

I would also ask if the ring can be less than 3mm thick. The diamonds are only 2.42 and protrude above the metal so I would think you could shave a bit off the height there. Maybe it accounts for polishing but I'd ask about reducing the depth.

 

[alene]

The channel for the bead setting may be hand carved so it wouldn't be in the CAD. This is how it would have been done back in the day and its how they can get such a thin rail. So ask him how the stones will be set and clarify you want them bead set in a channel. If you can dig up a ring he has done previously with the same setting style that is ideal for communication bc obviously, lots can get lost in translation! I think you basically want the Big Boy, full eternity version of the band in this IG post:

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

I would also ask for the diamonds to be totally flush to one another with no gaps between. May not be possible with these diamonds and your finger size but if that's the case I'd want to figure out another solution than large gaps between diamonds.

I would also ask if the ring can be less than 3mm thick. The diamonds are only 2.42 and protrude above the metal so I would think you could shave a bit off the height there. Maybe it accounts for polishing but I'd ask about reducing the depth.

Thanks so much, Dreamer! I was hoping you'd respond! I didn't even realize the band is 3 mm thick, will check with DK on this. I do want metal between the stones, like in the inspiration photo, but I like the boxy outline of it, so maybe I need to be more clear about that?

 

[Dreamer_D]

Thanks so much, Dreamer! I was hoping you'd respond! I didn't even realize the band is 3 mm thick, will check with DK on this. I do want metal between the stones, like in the inspiration photo, but I like the boxy outline of it, so maybe I need to be more clear about that?

I didn't notice that detail! Yes I would be more clear on that bc the inspo is a little unclear and the CAD isn't reflecting what you want. Another image might help. You want the diamonds bead set into little squares, like this? But again, Big Boy version.



I don't think the proportions are quite right in the CAD anyway. Assuming 4mm diamonds in the inspiration, the rail between the diamonds is 0.5mm. At present in the CAD the metal between the diamonds is about 1.0mm which seems like a lot to me. Maybe it accounts for carving out the seats for the diamonds, like in the photo I just posted. The picture above would have been hand carved, and maybe that's what they intend. But its still something to clarify. I would probably want the rails between the diamonds to be quite minimial.

 

[alene]

I didn't notice that detail! Yes I would be more clear on that bc the inspo is a little unclear and the CAD isn't reflecting what you want. Another image might help. You want the diamonds bead set into little squares, like this? But again, Big Boy version.



I don't think the proportions are quite right in the CAD anyway. Assuming 4mm diamonds in the inspiration, the rail between the diamonds is 0.5mm. At present in the CAD the metal between the diamonds is about 1.0mm which seems like a lot to me. Maybe it accounts for carving out the seats for the diamonds, like in the photo I just posted. The picture above would have been hand carved, and maybe that's what they intend. But its still something to clarify. I would probably want the rails between the diamonds to be quite minimial.

Thank you! This is great, will send it to him as well. I think the other photo needs to be magnified to see the rails between the stones. Will definitely need to clarify the proportions.

 

[alene]

I have new CADs, which I think are much closer to what I have in mind. Any concerns with these?

@Dreamer_D, would love to hear your thoughts!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Very nice! I might ask about how the prongs will be finished to ensure they are soft and round and ideally you don't want them to protrude above the level of the rails. But otherwise it seems this fits the brief very well!

Will you have engraving? What metal will you use?

 

[alene]

Very nice! I might ask about how the prongs will be finished to ensure they are soft and round and ideally you don't want them to protrude above the level of the rails. But otherwise it seems this fits the brief very well!

Will you have engraving? What metal will you use?

Thanks so much! Great idea to check on the prongs, will definitely ask! It’ll be 18K brushed/matte yellow gold.