Diamond ring enhancer to make diamond appear bigger???

[Charmed]

Hello!

My sister has a round brilliant engagement ring but along the top of the diamond is a ring of metal (either white gold or platinum) that goes around where the prongs would be (there are also prongs). This makes the diamond look bigger (it''s a 3/4 carat but looks 1 carat)and she said the jeweler said it protects the diamond as well because it goes all around. Has anyone seen this? I asked about this for my princess cut solitaire but the jeweler stated that they don''t make this enhancer for square cuts, just rounds. Is this true? I would be interested in having my diamond reset into this before we upgrade. Any responses would be great! I haven''t seen the enhancers anywhere but the jeweler here in town.

Thanks in advance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Suzanne

 

[Nate]

Any pics, either on the web on of that ring?

 

[Charmed]

I have been looking on the web, but cannot find a picture of the setting. I will keep looking. From afar, it does not look like there is a ring of metal around the diamond, thus to give the appearance of a larger stone.

 

[Mara]

Sounds like it may be similar to a bezel set stone. See the picture below, this is a very thin bezel pendant...the bezel setting does protect the girdle of the stone from chippage and also makes the stone look larger. I have seen thick bezels and very thin bezels (many old stones and old euro cuts etc) and they definitely enhance the look of the stone esp if its a smaller stone. A girl recently had a half bezel setting (similar to CowboyStu's I think) and it made her stone look huge. The stone was probably around a 2-2.5c, but it looked at least like a 3c or at least very large! It's used more commonly for pendants from what I have seen, but there are ring settings floating around as well.

Some people tend to think that the bezel set stones will not reflect light as much as an open prong setting would, but I have seen those that disagree as well. I personally like the open look of the prong set for a ring type stone (or basket), but for pendants prefer bezel.

Since you mentioned that your sister's stone also has prongs, maybe some sort of hybrid prong-set bezel? Interesting!

 

[Charmed]

Hello Mara!

Sorry, it is definitely NOT a bezel setting. Her diamond HAS prongs. I am aware of a what the bezel setting is, my friend has her diamond set in a bezel. This enhancer I will call it lies slightly below the girdle and does not have the smooth definition of a bezel setting. It is made to look like part of the diamond.

This is going to drive me crazy!

Thank you sooooooo much for your input so far! I am on a mission.

 

[diamondlil]

Hello Charmed.

I think what you are describing is called an "illusion" setting. My mother's e-ring from the 1950s was this way. It came from Bailey, Banks, and Biddle so I'm sure this was a nice setting for the times. She has since had it prong set which is more popular today. It did give the diamond a larger diameter look from a distance with the "illusion" setting, but I think a prong setting shows the beauty of the stone more--that is as long the stone is of reasonable quality.

Hope this helps.
Diamondlil

 

[tonysgeko]

Doing a search for illusion setting and found this

 

[Charmed]

Thank you diamondlil and tonysgeko!!!! That is exactly what I am talking about. I will do a search on the illusion setting! I see from your response that they set round diamonds. I was just curious if they set the square cuts. Thank you so much!!!!!!

 

[diamondlil]

I'm sure an illusion setting exists for square cut diamonds somewhere out there on the web. Since back when my mother's illusion-set diamond was purchased, square cut diamonds either did not exist or were not popular, I have only seen this on round diamonds. Nowadays, anything is possible, and there is always the custom route.

Diamondlil

 

[Charmed]

I am really having a difficult time finding the illusion settings on the web. From my searches, there aren't many out there. If someone could share with me the sites to find them or sellers, I would greatly appreciate it!!!!!! Thank you!

 

[dwieditz]

Hello Suzanne,

Any jeweler that buys mountings from the Stuller Company will be able to purchase illusion heads.
They carry a square illusion top, stock number 531. The top is available up to a 1 ct. size.
Hope this helps.

regards,
Deborah

 

[valeria101]

From Fay...

These are straightforward illusion settings, but there are lots of tricks used for the same purpose out there. Old rings (or antique style) show quite a range of such tricks. You may want to inspect the source site for more, themajority using pave.