Diamond Pendant Design Feedback

[pittin]

This has been the toughest year of my life. I grew up as a gay kid in rural Mississippi, so I do not say this lightly. In 2015, I experienced major, personal devastation. I won't go into the details, but as I'm recovering I have felt a desire to create something symbolic. Now I need your help.

As a kid, I always loved shiny things. I loved my mom's few, small diamonds. I was taught to be very ashamed of my affinity for gems/unicorns/the little mermaid - "as I was supposed" to like GI Joe/Football/etc. I'm now 30 years old and in this difficult period I am doing a lot of self-examination. I want to indulge the kid in me who loves shiny things. As an act of self-compassion and acceptance, I want to make a diamond pendant! I am a senior administrator in my organization, so I tend towards conservative dress. A pendant will work nicely, as I intend on wearing it under my shirt. I considered a ring with a center diamond, but I haven't found any that suit my taste.

Thanks to all of your advice in this forum, I have already bought the stone and ended up choosing a 62 point A Cut Above diamond. Obviously, I wish I could go all out on a bigger, clearer, whiter stone, but I am happy with this choice and I am on a tight budget. I had a fabulous experience with Whiteflash and the stone is phenomenal.

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3597952.htm

I have begun working with a local (Portland, OR) jeweler and intend on casting the pendant in palladium. I was originally quoted $500-600 for the design. Now, the jeweler says she will be unable to make the original pendant for less $900-1,000. This is out of my budget, unfortunately. The compromise is to remove the solid window panes and reduce the overall size of the pendant.

I am not particularly concerned with the pendant looking "masculine," as it is a diamond pendant and that is not the point, but I would like for it to look/feel substantial. But I worry that the open version will look more "dainty." I'm looking for feedback on A) the overall design and B) whether or not the price is appropriate for such a small pendant.

I do prefer palladium, as I like the characteristics of platinum group metals and I personally think palladium is under-valued in the jewelry market. Platinum is clearly out of my budget.

I apologize for the long intro, but I wanted it to be clear that this is a pendant for a male and context is always helpful.

Thanks

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I actually like it a lot with the open window panes! However, I think maybe her price is too high considering it is palladium and not gold or platinum. I would honestly get pricing from David Klass Jewelry (see facebook for his page a numerous pictures). His prices are reasonable and he can make almost anything. Members here have posted pictures of things he has made them.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/show-us-your-david-klass-bling.196654/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/show-us-your-david-klass-bling.196654/[/URL]

Even though I like the pendant, is there any way you'd reconsider a ring? You'd enjoy seeing that ACA throughout the day, and the pendant would mostly be hidden and even when it wasn't, you'd only see it in the mirror! We have several male members here with nice diamond rings! A couple of them have Boone titanium tension rings:

http://www.boonerings.com/stone.htm

I am so sorry for your very difficult year. I hope that 2016 brings you much peace and happiness.

 

[PintoBean]

I agree with DS2006 - check out David Klass. Just an FYI, I spoke to him before Christmas, and he indicated he would be out of office until January 11.

 

[Andelain]

I love it, do it! I wear a signature pendant myself, I think your design is great. Best with the open panes. Nice stone choice, too.

 

[tyty333]

I like the open panes better too. I think you can get the weight/heftInes throught the thickness of the pendant.

I don't have a lot of experience with cost but it does seem high. I wonder what the finished weight is?

I third (or is it forth) talking to David Klass. I just got a quote back from him last night at about 8:30 eastern. I think he responded to my email in less then 30 minutes.

I hope you continue to heal. Creating a piece of jewelry can be very empowering. I almost get a feeling of inner strength when I put my pieces on. The feeling that I helped design something that is so lovely (to me) just gives me a shot of confidence. I hope it does the same for you.

 

[VRBeauty]

Without reading your explanation of what you were looking for, my first thought was that those beautiful internal vertical lines would "disappear" if worn against anything but a finely woven fabric - or possibly very smooth (no chest hair ) skin. Are you planning to wear it on a fairly long chain? I think a pendant of that length would be more comfortable worn below the collar bone, especially since it has a fixed bale. I think changing the length/width ratio a bit, so it's not so long relative to the width, might make it more substantial looking and versatile to wear - after all, there might be time when you would want to wear this without covering it up. I have a classic "dogtag" style pendant that's 18X38mm excluding the bale (i's drilled at the top for the bale) - so closer to a 2X1 ratio, as opposed to the 3+X1 of your design.

 

[Tekate]

I love this pendant.. I have a palladium ring (had it made).. the thing I found about palladium is that it is light, not as heavy as platinum and it doesn't need re-dipping! I hope you can find a jeweler to create this pedant necklace.. I so understand your desire to make a signature piece, I did that when my 1st husband and I broke up.. I had a ring made.. it is an aquamarine with little diamond chips (it's too small for me now ((30 years ago this is)) and one diamond fell out) but I can tell you for me this was such a wonderful experience.. and helped me along on my terrible journey.

I hope 16 is a wonderful year for you and that this piece is made and you come back and show in the show me the bling forum!

Happy New Year!!!! and peace to you.