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Engagement ring setting - channel?

S

simplesimon

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 11, 2014
Messages
46
My girlfriend has expressed interest in a setting that looks like this (she provided me a screenshot and I was able to track down the exact website):

http://www.stevenstone.co.uk/shoulder-set-diamond-engagement-rings.php?ptgId=703

I thought something like this looks pretty close:

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/diamond-settings/cathedral-pave-diamond-engagement-ring-138.htm

Do I have the basic features down? She's emphasized a channel setting and in a different thread someone pointed out that the WF setting isn't technically a channel setting. I feel like the rounds in the pave setting will look even shinier than princess cuts in a channel.

I'm looking to put a 1.1-1.25ct diamond on it and she is a size 7.
 
The other difference, bsides what you mentioned, that sticks out to me in the WF one is the way the shank is not connecting to the head. In the ring she showed you the channels appear to almost be attached to the head, and the top vanishes in to the side. On the WF version they come to a point along side the head.
To me that makes the settings looks quite a bit different.
 
Hm I see what you're saying. Is there a particular name for that? I guess I'll just keep looking!
 
I don't know of a specific name for it but someone else may! I would just call them both cathedral settings. Just different styles.
 
Since she wants a platinum setting, I'm thinking about $2k at most. $3k may be too steep.

She wants more shininess so I think rounds on the side will be better?

I've heard that in a channel setting, since there's metal blocking the sides of the diamonds, it won't look as shiny because light isn't coming through the side. Is that true? From all diagrams on how light reflects, It seems like light coming from the top is the most important.
 
I think the WF ring linked above helps with the gaps issue. She just wants something shiny and isn't super particular about details. I'm the one more concerned about it because I couldn't live with myself knowing I didn't do my best to get her the best ring possible.
 
DO you know what it is your girlfriend likes about the setting she chose? The thing that stands out to me is that it has very clean, sharp lines. Prong-set pave isn't going to achieve the same feel; the James Allen setting Baby Monster found is closest on that score. If she's attracted to the look of a solid line of diamonds going down the shoulder, you might want to stick with a square cut of some sort for that detail.
 
I believe her main point was to not have sides of the diamonds show where on the band it looks like the ring is grooved.
 
The original setting is very elegant. I don't like channel settings in general but that one I like very much.


http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/engagement-rings/pave-and-side-stones/classic-truth-with-princesses-18k-white-gold-5500w18 This is the best match I can find. The original ring had channel set princess cuts, so does this. The original had a gorgeous basket that allows a flush fit band, so does this. The original has a cathedral so does tis. It's closest match I think you'll find without going custom (scroll through the images and you'll see the profile and that it can be set with a round center stone.

I think this is the best way to go. BGD has diamonds as nice as WF. Or if you want the WF stone, you can have BGD make the setting and send it to WF (they are both in Houston so it's easy) and WF can set the stone in the setting.


Otherwise:
Do you have the budget to go custom? I can think of a number of vendors that could do that relatively affordably.

David Klass is one that comes to mind. Mark Broumand is anther. And so is Brilliantly engaged.
 
Gypsy|1418414190|3800184 said:
The original setting is very elegant. I don't like channel settings in general but that one I like very much.


http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/engagement-rings/pave-and-side-stones/classic-truth-with-princesses-18k-white-gold-5500w18 This is the best match I can find. The original ring had channel set princess cuts, so does this. The original had a gorgeous basket that allows a flush fit band, so does this. The original has a cathedral so does tis. It's closest match I think you'll find without going custom (scroll through the images and you'll see the profile and that it can be set with a round center stone.

I think this is the best way to go. BGD has diamonds as nice as WF. Or if you want the WF stone, you can have BGD make the setting and send it to WF (they are both in Houston so it's easy) and WF can set the stone in the setting.


Otherwise:
Do you have the budget to go custom? I can think of a number of vendors that could do that relatively affordably.

David Klass is one that comes to mind. Mark Broumand is anther. And so is Brilliantly engaged.
Click to expand...

Gypsy, thank you for your feedback!

I think it's a bit steep for me given that she wants platinum on top of that.

Is there anything particularly wrong with the style that WF provides?
 
Could you show her pictures of all 4 settings and ask her for feedback?
 
PintoBean|1418415746|3800205 said:
Could you show her pictures of all 4 settings and ask her for feedback?
Click to expand...

We've talked a bit at a high level about the style she would want. She does want that element of surprise and I think picking out her own setting might be going too far for her. I will find out!
 
I think the question the becomes, how much do you really think she cares about the specifics? If she is happy with the general idea of a ring, but doesn't specifically care if a feature is exactly like the example, then I would go with what you like the most. I was that way with my now husband. He and I went shopping to look at things once, and we looked at styles online again, just once. I gave him a general idea of what I liked, I told him I didn't think I wanted a true solitaire, but I also didn't want a lot of bling, that I would prefer a nice center stone and maybe a TINY bit on the side, I left the cut and the actual setting up to him with the except that I didn't really want a round center stone, but I told him I didn't want to know what he had decided to go with until he was ready to give it me because I'm old fashion that I think the ultimate choice should be left up the buyer. This is what I ended up with.

2011-12-05_14-31-48_631_0.jpg

And although, it's now, for a various reasons, being remade by David Klass, the style is EXACTLY what I wanted.

If you think she might be the same way, just do a bit more shopping on your own, and I'm sure she will love whatever you pick for her.
 
Is there a giant resource somewhere, sort of like the PS diamond finder, to see what settings are out there or do the people here have a list of designers and vendors and go through each site and look through everything? I am amazed how quickly people are able to find these specific designs.

Additionally, if I get a stone from one of these fine reputable sources and get a setting from someone else, how do I go about getting it set? Sorry for the newbie questions.
 
I think the WF one is ugly. And it lacks, completely the elegance of the one she chose.

The BGD one is 400 over budget. Maybe we can help you find a stone that would make that work out as a setting.

Why don't you tell us what you want in terms of a diamond and budget and lets see if we can make the total budget work for you with that extra 400 for the setting.
 
OK so. Good Old Gold and ID Jewelry both carry Gabriel. These are better choices than the WF one.

I believe GOG and IDJ's prices are both 15-20% off what is listed as MSRP there. Call both and get pricing for these in platinum. Whichever is cheaper have the other price match if you want to get diamond from them.

https://eshop.gabrielny.com/product/ER6664W44JJ
https://eshop.gabrielny.com/product/ER7444W44JJ
https://eshop.gabrielny.com/product/ER7445W44JJ
https://eshop.gabrielny.com/product/ER6664W44JJ
https://eshop.gabrielny.com/product/ER7985W44JJ
 
Gypsy|1418423766|3800278 said:
I think the WF one is ugly. And it lacks, completely the elegance of the one she chose.

The BGD one is 400 over budget. Maybe we can help you find a stone that would make that work out as a setting.

Why don't you tell us what you want in terms of a diamond and budget and lets see if we can make the total budget work for you with that extra 400 for the setting.
Click to expand...

While I won't go so far as to say the WF setting is ugly, ;)) I agree with Gypsy that the BGD design is a far better match to your GF's dream ring. It echoes the sleekness and modern feel of the original, while the WF design has a more rounded feel overall... plus, the BGD design uses princess cuts like the original.
 
simplesimon|1418392641|3800026 said:
My girlfriend has expressed interest in a setting that looks like this (she provided me a screenshot and I was able to track down the exact website):

http://www.stevenstone.co.uk/shoulder-set-diamond-engagement-rings.php?ptgId=703

I thought something like this looks pretty close:

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/diamond-settings/cathedral-pave-diamond-engagement-ring-138.htm

Do I have the basic features down? She's emphasized a channel setting and in a different thread someone pointed out that the WF setting isn't technically a channel setting. I feel like the rounds in the pave setting will look even shinier than princess cuts in a channel.

I'm looking to put a 1.1-1.25ct diamond on it and she is a size 7.
Click to expand...


Also. No. This doesn't work. She wants channel. Not pave. Channel is much safer than Pave and much more durable.

Let me put it this way for you.

Your lady is going to buy you an engagement car.

You say you want an Mazda RX8 with manual transmission.
She buys you a Miata with automatic.

Close enough. Right? Both are Mazdas. Both are sport cars.

Yeah, no. Not close enough.
 
Based on what she's told me she wants something more blingy than a plain band and likes to have metal alongside the side diamonds. I got a picture of the earring where it was an example of what she wanted. She had emphasized the metal sides, not to have grooves.

Round and princess cut didn't seem to matter but I think round would be preferred because they'll be more brilliant, right?

setting_example.jpg
 
simplesimon|1418436219|3800367 said:
Based on what she's told me she wants something more blingy than a plain band and likes to have metal alongside the side diamonds. I got a picture of the earring where it was an example of what she wanted. She had emphasized the metal sides, not to have grooves.

Round and princess cut didn't seem to matter but I think round would be preferred because they'll be more brilliant, right?

setting_example.jpg
Click to expand...


Yea that earring is definitely a channel set not pave. If that is what she is looking for a would definitely stweren't clear of the WF setting
 
Hm...how much more would it be to change the BGD ring to have rounds instead of princess cuts? Maybe I'll bite the bullet.
 
simplesimon|1418442419|3800414 said:
Hm...how much more would it be to change the BGD ring to have rounds instead of princess cuts? Maybe I'll bite the bullet.
Click to expand...

I like princess shapes in channel set rings. They are still very sparkly, they don't have the gaps between the stones like rounds do,and her inspiration pick had squares in the channel set,not rounds. I'd leave the princesses as they are
 
So I'm an idiot and the picture she actually was referring to was this one:

http://www.stevenstone.co.uk/shoulder-set-diamond-engagement-rings.php?ptgId=16

WF quoted me about $2300 to custom make something like that. I just shot BGD a note requesting a quote.

I asked her about pave and she said whichever will look shinier. My cousin actually has a pave ring and it doesn't look very shiny and the metal in the pave kind of overwhelms the diamonds.

pave_secret_diamond.jpg
 
simplesimon|1418477460|3800505 said:
So I'm an idiot and the picture she actually was referring to was this one:

http://www.stevenstone.co.uk/shoulder-set-diamond-engagement-rings.php?ptgId=16

WF quoted me about $2300 to custom make something like that. I just shot BGD a note requesting a quote.

I asked her about pave and she said whichever will look shinier. My cousin actually has a pave ring and it doesn't look very shiny and the metal in the pave kind of overwhelms the diamonds.

pave_secret_diamond.jpg
Click to expand...


I'm confused.

Does she want the linked setting or the setting in the picture you posted?
 
Whichever is shinier/blingier. That's my criteria.
 
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