French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions appreciated

[littlelanhua]

Hi all! I am in the process of researching for upgrading my wedding set. I know what I'm doing with the E ring, but I am still tossing up ideas for the wedding bands – I know I definitely want 2 thin bands to sit either side. My latest idea is French cut bands ala Leon Mege – do people think the difference in sparkle between the bands and the rb solitaire will be off putting to the eye?

Would I be better off just sticking to pave bands?

 

[slg47]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

I think this would look lovely. Pancake has the antique calibre bands flanking her ering, although hers is an emerald cut. Maybe search for pics of her set? it is quite beautiful IMO

 

[littlelanhua]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

Yes, I've seen Pancakes set, it's gorgeous isn't it, and it really got me to thinking about my set. Looking back at Pancake's posts – its seems the French cuts were chosen to complement the unique flashes of the EC and Pancake was worried that pave might be distracting. Pancake – do correct me or chime in if you're out there!

I guess I'm sort of worried about the opposite thing, that the unique flashes of the French cuts might clash with the very busy flashes of the rb.

 

[slg47]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

yeah I am not sure what would look best, the french cuts and the pave are different looks--I'm assuming no local stores carry french cut bands for you to try on?

 

[littlelanhua]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

I've tried the pave on in person, it looks good, sadly not much hope I can try French cuts on where I am, I did ask one high end jeweller and they thought I was talking about a cut of meat

 

[slg47]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

I've tried the pave on in person, it looks good, sadly not much hope I can try French cuts on where I am, I did ask one high end jeweller and they thought I was talking about a cut of meat

hahahaha!

 

[geckodani]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

What about something that incorporates french cuts and rounds? Something like this one from singlestone, but with modern rounds>

 

[kelpie]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

I'm not sure about the mix with RBs, but in my set I wear a european cut engagement ring, a french cut spacer and a rose cut wedding band. I adore the mix of all the cuts.

 

[antelope1]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

Does someone have a linky for Pancakes set handy? I am intrigued!

 

[geckodani]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

Here's a link to pancake's thread: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/overdue-pics-of-my-set-erd-hd-e-ring-with-lm-wbs.152641/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/overdue-pics-of-my-set-erd-hd-e-ring-with-lm-wbs.152641/[/URL]

 

[yssie]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

killer pic kelpie! Your solitaire is SO beautiful, and with the other two...

/threadjack

 

[LGK]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

I think the mix of the two cuts would look totally yummy. Though it's hard to tell without seeing the two and comparing in person unfortunately- but I would think that the small size of the french cuts would help them blend too. I am not a super matchy-matchy person though, so YMMV.

Kelpie, your set is just to die for!

 

[piratefan]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

littlelanhua,

I think the mix of the two would be awesome. Have you seen jgny's reset thread? https://www.pricescope.com/communit...-antique-calibre-band-w-tiffany-metro.150452/ She reset her round brillant into a antique calibre type setting. She also got a thin micropave "string' band so you can compare the two. I think it is a lovely look

Edit to add: Kelpie I looove your set!!

 

[littlelanhua]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

Thanks for all your suggestions and links everyone It gives me confidence that the rings will complement each other rather than clash. My next challenge is to find someone locally to get the stones in and make up the thin bands – im pretty sure the new set will be in white gold so LM is out, and anyway I'm not a huge fan of big purchases over www. Any Sydney siders out there with suggestions of where to get a delicate French cut band made up?

 

[littlelanhua]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

I'm not sure about the mix with RBs, but in my set I wear a european cut engagement ring, a french cut spacer and a rose cut wedding band. I adore the mix of all the cuts.

lovely set kelpie! i love that non matchy look.

 

[SandyCheeks]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

Kelpie your set is so darn gorgeous and I can't believe all (except the SS mount) were found on Ebay!!!!! Just exquisite, I'm on a mad tear to find a band from Ebay but no luck so far.
Littlelanhua can't wait to see what you match your RB with.

 

[pancake]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

Hey littlelanhua Thanks all for the lovely comments about my set! These are my thoughts:

I don't think that the contrast between the FCs and the RB will be a problem. However, be aware that the antique calibre bands get dirty REALLY easily and they lose their sparkle quickly unless cleaned regularly (I clean mine almost daily). I suspect that a pave band would not have this issue as much just because there are more facets and a bit more "splinter sparkle". The other thing is that the FCs are in general quite a bit more expensive than pave bands (Leon is not the cheapest for pave bands, and even using his string bands as a comparison, my antique calibre bands were $1800 each, whereas the string bands are only $1200).

I was definitely concerned about pave bands potentially "outsparkling" my solitaire, and that was part of the reason why I opted for the FCs (the rest was just that I loved the look). However, I have also tried on my ER with two Tiffany Metro bands and it actually looked fine. Also be aware that the FCs in the antique calibre bands are so small that you really can't see the faceting - they do give off a lovely twinkle which is totally different from pave, but they are too small to see detail at normal viewing distances.

Overall I think it depends on your budget - if you have a bit more to spend and like the antique calibres, then go for it! Otherwise I think two thin pave bands would look beautiful too, especially as you have a brilliant cut centre stone. The only other consideration I would take into account is the width of your ER shank - keep this in mind when choosing your flanking bands as I think proportions are really important to make it work.

Make sure you post pics of the final result!!

ETA: I just read your question about getting such bands made up in Sydney - I think this will be really difficult. When originally playing around with ideas for my band/bands, I got quotes from a number of vendors for French cut eternities - M Khordipour, Singlestone and Leon. Leon happened to have these tiny stones in a package from somewhere and so the antique calibres were not too expensive. The other two vendors were very helpful and quoted me about $2800-$3000 for a ~2.5mm FC band, with the bulk of the cost being in the custom cutting of the stones. Neither of those vendors could make a band any finer than 2mm. I think it would be nigh on impossible to get FCs through a Sydney vendor, and I don't think anyone has FCs as small as Leon.

 

[PinkTower]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

I'm not sure about the mix with RBs, but in my set I wear a european cut engagement ring, a french cut spacer and a rose cut wedding band. I adore the mix of all the cuts.

Ive not seen this before. So beautiful.

 

[littlelanhua]

Re: French cut bands flanking rb solitaire-opinions apprecia

Thanks for your input Pancake. I am sorely tempted to get 1 antique calibre from LM and try it out, I just don't think I can find anything else like it. It will mean I will probably have to switch all rings from wg to plat - but I've been leaning towards this anyway. Unfortunately I don't think there will be many pics soon, I am really taking my time on this one and making sure I get it absolutely spot on - i'll be sure to post when I do take the plunge though.