Getting studs! Question about settings.

[alene]

A few months ago i purchased a BGD stone thinking of making a 3 stone ring. I then changed my mind and got a halo and figured I'd get a pair of studs at some point. It took months to find a matching stone but i just found pretty much a perfect match! Now i have to figure out the settings. My main problem is that I'm allergic to nickel and can no longer wear most white gold. BGD does not have nickel free gold and suggested platinum. Do you guys think it makes sense to just get the stone and try to set them locally? Is it really hard to find
earring settings with a nickel free alloy? I'd rather not pay for platinum but wonder if it would be a pain to look for settings separately. My other question is on baskets vs martinis, i had a pair of martini settings before and liked the look but found then very uncomfortable to wear. Would baskets stick out too much in the ears?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I wear and prefer baskets because I like an even number of prongs. BG sets their stones low in the baskets, so I would not hesitate. And I would absolutely just go ahead and get platinum settings unless you are planning to upgrade the studs relatively soon. I plan on upgrading once and I will get the platinum baskets then.

 

[distracts]

It is REALLY HARD to find nickel-free white gold, ESPECIALLY from local vendors. I have not ever found a single local vendor that carries it or is willing to work with it. YMMV though. I thought BGD did do palladium WG or maybe the Stuller X1 upon request though? Maybe that's WF? Can they do palladium? Otherwise I'd just do platinum.

My preference for studs is 6 or 8 prongs with the rounded back.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

WF ordered my palladium white gold huggie hoops for me but it cost extra, so you may as well go with platinum. I was just afraid diamond hoops would be too heavy in platinum. But I would definitely get studs in platinum as long as it was my permanent pair.

 

[alene]

Thanks guys! I asked Leslie to hold on to the diamond and will call back to speak more about my setting options tomorrow. I'm in NYC so I should have some options locally that I want to explore before making the decision, I want to at least check if some of the local PS vendors carry palladium or palladium WG.