DK CAD help!

[twang07]

Hi PSers, I am helping a friend with his proposal and engagement! I have been tasked a somewhat complex design, her dream is a floral halo with a twist shank, so we went ahead to have a verragio-inspired floral halo. After a few rounds the halo does have the right shape but I wanted to change the aesthetic of the gallery a bit so that it is lower set yet provides access to the stone for cleaning.

This is the latest iteration where he has opened the access of the halo by moving up the stone and perhaps creating an airline gap? I really can't tell what this version will look like when produced, if any PSers think otherwise please let me know.



In the last round of CADs, I had envisioned something more like this, where the floral petals of the basket terminate into the filigree work, this in my mind would have created a tiny donut in the band.




Which version do you think works better as an aesthetic design? Moving up the stone (maybe have an airline gap) or my vision where the petals terminate and flow into the filigree.

Other questions:

• I think she might do a lot of work where she uses her hands (pharmacist), so is 6.5mm a nice height?
• She does have shorter fingers on a size 5, so I am wondering if 2.75mm might be a tad too wide? But all of her rings that she had sent me for inspiration don't seem like very dainty rings. I'm not 100% sure if she knows this herself, so should I just stick with her inspirations or maybe assume that this is a bit too wide and ask to take it down ~0.5mm to a 2.1-2.2mm width? I worry this will destroy the twist effect and make it more like braided, I think she was very specific with wanting a twist. Any thoughts on if this is possible?
• Her fiance has not purchased the center stone yet, but we know we are in this range of size (1.5, 7.3mm++), we should have the stone purchased first right before it goes all the way through production? I do want to see the wax (I'm relatively close to LA, so if I can get the wax), would it be a waste of time for me to get the wax even if we don't have the stone quite yet?

Thank you for your help and insight!

 

[elliefire99]

What a good friend, helping so intensively with the ring design.

I don't have enough experience to answer a lot of your specific measurement questions, but from a purely visual standpoint, I like the slightly raised profile of the latest CAD best. It just makes the gallery look less squat and heavy to me. And I think it will be easier to clean than the extended filigree option. The gap at the base of the gallery doesn't look all that large (but hard to tell from these angles), so I'm not sure how easy it will be to get the the diamond from there.

As to whether 6.5mm is too tall? I don't know.

As for shank width, my plastic ring sizer are 3mm, and I don't thing they look too huge. My fingers are closer to an 8, but even on my pinky they're not bad. Going thinner is probably safer than thicker, but the head is big, so I don't feel that 2.95mm is out of the question.

As for the wax, I personally would wait until you have the center stone. Proportions are everything, and I'm not sure you gain much by doing it sooner? Unless you feel your friend is the kind of person who won't be able to tell what she does and doesn't like until she sees it on her finger. In which case a was could help to make sure you are going in the right direction.

 

[twang07]

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate your excellent view for aesthetics regardless. I 100% agree with getting the stone before the wax he just wasn't sure when we would need to get it so I'll push him to purchase this stone already haha.

I just don't know if by raising the stone I introduce an airline gap. I hope it doesn't because I don't really prefer the look but alas I find myself always thinking about to gap or not to gap.

At this stage she wants to be surprised so I can't ask her anymore questions regarding her preferences. She didn't really care about the gallery, from our prior conversations she only cared about the top down view, so I have some freedom here. So you think to gap is better than to not gap? Or that is not what's going to happen if the stone is raised?

 

[elliefire99]

Hmm... I say to gap But I think it does lend a bit of an airline look, so if that is something you really want to avoid, no gap.

So basically what you already knew before posting

 

[msop04]

Other questions:

• I think she might do a lot of work where she uses her hands (pharmacist), so is 6.5mm a nice height?
• She does have shorter fingers on a size 5, so I am wondering if 2.75mm might be a tad too wide? But all of her rings that she had sent me for inspiration don't seem like very dainty rings. I'm not 100% sure if she knows this herself, so should I just stick with her inspirations or maybe assume that this is a bit too wide and ask to take it down ~0.5mm to a 2.1-2.2mm width? I worry this will destroy the twist effect and make it more like braided, I think she was very specific with wanting a twist. Any thoughts on if this is possible?
• Her fiance has not purchased the center stone yet, but we know we are in this range of size (1.5, 7.3mm++), we should have the stone purchased first right before it goes all the way through production? I do want to see the wax (I'm relatively close to LA, so if I can get the wax), would it be a waste of time for me to get the wax even if we don't have the stone quite yet?

I'm a pharmacist, and my finger size is 4.75, so I wanted to chime in on these questions... My diamond is a bit deeper than hers, so it is set at 7.5mm. I've found it very comfortable and not "too high" at all.

Regarding the width of the ring... that depends on how her fingers are shaped, her comfort level regarding thicker vs thinner rings, and what type of wedding band she plans to wear with it. I don't think 2.75 is too wide IF the wedding band is thinner... like 2 mm. My last setting was more substantial than my solitaire, so it was thicker at about 3 mm. I found that it wasn't nearly as comfortable once I added a wedding band (that was 2.3 mm). Maybe you should ask David to have it start to taper a bit starting either mid-way down the twist (have the twist actually taper down) or where the twisted element ends. I hope that makes sense.

I would most definitely hold off on production/wax until the stone is purchased. You want the halo to fit perfectly.

 

[twang07]

Thank you so much @msop04 your viewpoint was exactly who I was hoping could respond. Could you also please share some of the details of your halo? How high was it...etc Like is there a right height for halos? My ring is 6.5mm high and i wacked that thing into everything so when I think about all that pave I get nervous...

 

[rockysalamander]

Stone before setting, always. Get the design close, but don't get it finial until you have the actual stone. They can re-render the ring with the new stone to make sure the proportions still work.

I actually think the gallery and flow of #1 is better. This has some of the same elements as the ring @sledge designed for his girl. I personally don't love the outer-halo position in that the 4 corners look like Mickey Mouse ears in the Verragio inspo and makes the ring head look very squarish. I think if you make the outer halo petals and NEWS, the overall flow is better (see below), and it makes it more unique relative to the inspo.



Make sure the infinity shank will have the melee rotated outward at about 20 degrees. It provides much better look from the side. You can read about this on @sledge ring.

I'm not a pharmacist, but I do wear gloves daily...though often need to pull them on fast. I would want the stone as low as possible and I'd aim to have more of a prong in halo effect so the prongs are minimal in the inner halo. I find nitrile cuts easily. I would also just consider the location of her work in terms of a ring. It may draw unnecessary attention and feel "off" in certain areas.