Finished my OEC engagemnt ring! PICS

[mmullen68]

this is an update from my previous post when i was asking opinions on an 1.1 Carat SI2 J that i bought. I finished designing the ring and picked it up yesterday. its white gold. and i had him make the lip on the one side to cover a very small nick on the girdle. also had him the diamond i got what i think is a great deal on at $1687(tax included) and the setting was $1250 so my total cost came out to $2937.00 including tax. i think i did pretty well for a ring over a carat considering what ive seen online. proposing Saturday in Payson, AZ at a waterfall, hope she loves it! I absolutely LOVE Old European cut diamonds now! highly recommend if you can find a good one.

I had one question on whether or not its somewhat normal for a custom hand made ring to have slight imperfections on the setting. im really nit-picky and notices one prong seams ever so slightly tilted and on one side of the band where the diamonds are there seems to be a smaller gap than the others but i dont think its noticeable unless your looking extremely hard. it doesn't bother me i was just wondering. if anything it gives it a little character i guess

would love to hear what you guys think, overall i love it!

 

[Dreamer_D]

The diamond looks great. Did your future fiancé request a style like that? It is very bold and distinctive.

I do notice a number of imperfections in the mount; the rails are wavy, for example, around the diamonds on the shank. That is fairly common with most "custom" jewelers. It is few and far between who can produce really great work in my estimate. Whether it is acceptable to you or not, I cannot answer.

 

[mmullen68]

yea i noticed that after reading your post and looking back at the pics since they magnify a bit. I wonder if he could fix that, hmmmm. i doubt before Saturday. the other one looks pretty straight as well as the other side but now that's gonna bug me! lol. might just have to proceed and worry about cleaning it up afterwards unfortunately. hope this doesnt turn into a pain. luckily i know the jeweler pretty well as hes a friend of the family so i think he'll be cool about making sure im 100% satisfied. its odd to me he wouldnt have caught that and tried to fix it though so im a little worried that he may not be able too or he may not be the quality of a jeweler i thought originally. i guess with price you'll always sacrifice a bit of quality but things should be straight regardless. uggh hope this doesnt turn into a hassle as this process has been stressful enough! appreciate the imput. im definitely not a jewelry expert since im young and this is my first pig peice of jewelery ive every bought so i dont really know where to gauge quality and what would be a small acceptable imperfection vs getting a little sloppy on something that should definitely be requested to be fixed or improved.


are all the mass produced catalog rings/settings handmade or machined somehow? i had a friend who bought a setting out of a catalog and when he got it it didnt look nearly as perfect as it did in the catalog he selected from. one of his prongs seemed a little off after having it set so i assumed maybe it wasn't a huge deal for Small things like that not to bee 100% perfect. this is gonna stress me out now lol. hopefully it would turn out ok, i definitely wanna give my future fiance the best i can.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I think that the quality of your setting is about on par with my own experience using a typical local B&M jeweler. I would not personally try to get it fixed by that jeweler. I have never ever had good results with that -- if they could do it right, they would do it right the first time. So all this is to say, if you are not happy then see your jeweler and ask about options. The only options I would personally take would be a refund or else an exchange for a setting from a casting house that has better workmanship. Then all you have to worry about is prongs. Casting companies make the mount and send it to the jeweler, but the local person does the finish work: setting the diamonds, shaping the prongs. So the end result will only be as good as the bench person used by your local jeweler.

On the other hand, at leasy 99.9% of the general population wears and enjoys rings with worse workmanship! You don't have to be PS picky.

 

[ariel144]

It is beautiful and unique. OEC's are the best kept secret in diamonds (except on PS) IMO...love the old cuts too in any shape.

Can't wait for some hand shots. Congrats on your engagement...of course she will say yes!

 

[mmullen68]

thank you and really appreciate the input. im so torn here. on another thread i got alot of negative feedback on the design of the setting itself being too modern for an oec so i really started to doubt my choice to try for something different. originally i had debated between halo and this setting and went with this since halo is so popular and wanted something different. the milgrain was not in the original photo i had showed the jeweler and wasn't in the wax mold either, not that i could see at least and that seems to be where the problems have been pointed out. other posters regarding this issue also said that the half bezel isnt letting enough light in and is dulling the stone and that i should get a refund and try for a 6 prong Tiffany setting or something similar. i did find one i liked which was 6 prong except it had a halo around it with a plain band. they advised me to seek a refund and not let the guy try to make anything else due to the craftsmanship he did on this one but rather order one thats already made and just have him set it. i didnt mean to post threads so similar but thought maybe i should have posted this thread in show me your bling so thats where the other thread is if you want to view it. this is just a bad feeling all around because i was hoping to have a final product that would be unique and likeable by not just my fiance but others as well. now im no so sure. im indecisive as it is so this was tough all around. i do feel a little better that you stated yours had similar small imperfections but im more worried about the negative comments ive gotten on here greatly outweighing the positive. the positive comment above is the only one i got i think ladies definitely give your men props because this process is tough! lol i think im gonna go back in today, express my concerns and see what jeweler says. i know he'll be cool but just dont know if i should try for a refund and go with a premade setting or maybe even propose and later explain to my future fiance the dilemma i had and that shes more than welcome to change it if she wants too. if i went that route i would still let the jeweler know so that i could be sure a refund and change of setting would be per-established if she felt the imperfections would bug her to much.

 

[bunnycat]

thank you and really appreciate the input. im so torn here. on another thread i got alot of negative feedback on the design of the setting itself being too modern for an oec so i really started to doubt my choice to try for something different. originally i had debated between halo and this setting and went with this since halo is so popular and wanted something different. the milgrain was not in the original photo i had showed the jeweler and wasn't in the wax mold either, not that i could see at least and that seems to be where the problems have been pointed out. other posters regarding this issue also said that the half bezel isnt letting enough light in and is dulling the stone and that i should get a refund and try for a 6 prong Tiffany setting or something similar. i did find one i liked which was 6 prong except it had a halo around it with a plain band. they advised me to seek a refund and not let the guy try to make anything else due to the craftsmanship he did on this one but rather order one thats already made and just have him set it. i didnt mean to post threads so similar but thought maybe i should have posted this thread in show me your bling so thats where the other thread is if you want to view it. this is just a bad feeling all around because i was hoping to have a final product that would be unique and likeable by not just my fiance but others as well. now im no so sure. im indecisive as it is so this was tough all around. i do feel a little better that you stated yours had similar small imperfections but im more worried about the negative comments ive gotten on here greatly outweighing the positive. the positive comment above is the only one i got i think ladies definitely give your men props because this process is tough! lol i think im gonna go back in today, express my concerns and see what jeweler says. i know he'll be cool but just dont know if i should try for a refund and go with a premade setting or maybe even propose and later explain to my future fiance the dilemma i had and that shes more than welcome to change it if she wants too. if i went that route i would still let the jeweler know so that i could be sure a refund and change of setting would be per-established if she felt the imperfections would bug her to much.

I understand you confusion mmullen. You kind of have your threads reversed. Even though you've posted this in Rocky Talky, this is kind of your "show me the ring" thread. And in most Pricescope etiquette, a SMTR thread is to show off, not give feedback to the OP.

In your other thread you posted in SMTB (The show and tell section) that is where you asked for input on quality and got feedback related to quality and styling because you were asking for feedback on the ring. (Normally, this kind of thread fits here in Rocky Talky, but hey...)

You could ask that thread to be moved here or if you just aren't sure what to do and want to discuss it more or you could give your GF the ring as it stands and ask for her opinion, and ask her if she'd like to make a change to it at all.

 

[mmullen68]

heading to the jeweler now. wish me luck. hope it goes well! will update

 

[mmullen68]

in order for me to be able to propose on Saturday i worked out with him to keep the ring for now and he agreed to accommodate any changes, remakes or new setting order if she'd like. I think this way is best to make sure she gets exactly what she wants. We've been together 5 years so she definitely wont be shy about telling me the truth. I'm just not gonna sweat it, give her this ring that i put a lot of stress into and see what she wants to do. who knows maybe she'll love it as is. wouldn't surprise me with her, one reason why i love her! thanks for all the input everyone. I'll shoot an update with what she decides just for the heck of it.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Okay, good luck and we'll be interested to hear what happens! (I think I would have him put it in a plain solitaire for the proposal, though, if it were me since that setting is not going to be satisfactory from a workmanship point of view aside from the style.)

 

[heididdl]

I give you alot of credit for designing a one of a kind piece for your GF. My husband as terrific as he is has not a creative bone in his body after 27 years of marriage I get a $100 at each holiday to put towards my next project, as he has no clue what to select.

That being said I am sorry if you got negative feedback, as a woman however we have ideas in our heads (even if we never tell you) of our perfect ring. I have two BFF that don't wear their ring as the settings were not what they wanted. So I do think your current plan is a good one.

although I do like modern settings and yours is kinda cool but i also understand the feelings of OEC lovers feeling it should be set simple or more antique.

The bottom line is you and your girl should be happy.