Halo help- need experience advice!

[isis~goddess]

Hi, this is my first post, though i read often. You all have such good taste, so I know I''m asking the right group, but I''m having some halo trouble and I wonder if anyone can help me! Recently I aquired a 1.9 ct rb as an upgrade. It kind of happened as a surprise to me, because I had been planning on buying a oec halo ring from the fay cullen web site, but as I was internet shopping, I stumbled upon this major deal that saved me many thousands of dollars. Call me cheap, but I went for the savings, which is fine, cause I''m happy with my purchase. Because I saved so much I really want to go for that antique look and put the diamond in a halo setting, but I''m having a hard time finding one. One major problem I''m having is deciding whether to go for a bezel set or a prong set (I''d like the diamond to set as low as possible). I think I like the prong, doesn''t a bezel cover up some of your diamond and make it appear smaller? Also, of the settings I''ve seen in my price range, some have the milgrain work and some do not. I think I would prefer the milgrain for an antique look, but would not having the milgrain work make the setting look contemporary, does anyone know? Perhaps it would still look antique without it. And two more concerns, if you don''t mind , the diamond is color H. I''m really not used to it at all, being that my e-ring is a D vs2, and so white that its rediculous. I wanted a less white diamond cause I wanted an antique look, but like I said, I''m still trying to cope with it. Will a halo make the diamond look whiter if whiter diamonds are in the halo? Lastly, I posted a pic of the new solitare as I wear it now with my 2 ct diamond wedding (actually anniversary) band. Would I still be able to wear this band once I put the diamond in halo, or would that be out of control? I''d like to wear it, but, like I said, I need opinions, thanks!! Trish

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Hi, Trish,

I think you wouldn''t be able to wear the current diamond band with a halo ring. Most people choose a thin diamond band that roughly matches the shank of the e-ring setting. But you could always get two thin bands and wear them on either side of the current diamond band as an alternate wedding set or have them sized for your right hand. I just don''t think stones that large will compliment a delicate antique halo ring.

I love prong-set halos the most, and I''d highly recommend looking at Maytal Hanna or Leon Mege for a custom setting. There are many vendors with stock halo settings including WhiteFlash, Vatche, etc.

Here''s Maytal''s site:

http://www.maytalhannah.com/

Your rings are beautiful and we''ll look forward to seeing the diamond in a new setting!

 

[mimzy]

what beautiful rings!

i can''t answer all of your questions, but i''ll do my best:

- unfortunately a diamond won''t look whiter surrounded by whiter diamonds. in fact, the opposite takes place. if you do get a halo setting, make sure that the pave diamonds are G or H (or even I..) From the research i''ve done, it seems that most halo settings use H diamonds as their standard, so that shouldn''t be a problem.

- whether or not you will still be able to wear your band depends on the exact setting that you get. some halo settings are set high enough to accommodate any type of band under it, but most are set high enough to accommodate a band only as thick as the band on the ering, and some are set too low for any band at all.

- i don''t think that a bezel setting makes a diamond appear smaller, but a prong set diamond in a halo setting certainly makes it look bigger. the two are totally different looks, just go for the one which speaks to you without worrying about making it look smaller (and at 1.9 i don''t think you need to worry!!).

- Not having the milgrain work won''t make it look contemporary, IMO. but some people might say that the milgrain would add to the antique-y effect. i don''t know how well it would tie in with your current bands though (which are modern/beautiful)....


you might find that you find a setting that doesn''t match/compliment your bands and/or doesn''t fit with them. have you considered keeping your new stone as a solitaire and setting your original stone in a halo setting to wear separately?

 

[isis~goddess]

Thanks for the info, it is helpful. Maybe I should just keep the solitare the way it is, since it looks good with the band right now. I just can''t resist this halo look, and I don''t want to take my original e-ring apart to make that into a halo ring because it is so unique. I get tons of comments on that one, kind of don''t know why I wanted a bigger ring actually. Oh yea, because I''m female . Attached a pic of original ring. I designed it myself, but the tree rings aren''t fused so they flop around. In fact, they were flopping when I took the pic. I do have an emerald my hubby brought back from South America though, that would look good in a halo. Guess I need more time to think about this whole thing, but appreciate the comments! Trisha

 

[mimzy]

good call i''d say.

an emerald or an emerald cut diamond? either one would look absolutely gorgeous in a halo! that sounds like a good choice.

 

[isis~goddess]

It''s an emerald cut emerald. Deep, saturated almost bluish/green. Most beautiful color on an emerald I''ve seen. My husband got it in Bogota, Colombia. .7 ct or so, so not big, and clarity average, but hey, I''m lucky he even came back at all from the kidnap capital of the world, much less remembered to go jewelry shopping for his wife while he was there! Guess I''ll change gears and start looking for settings for that one instead, see what I can come up with. I don''t want to go custom, I just want to find a premade setting, I don''t have time to go back and forth with a custom jeweler, I''m raising two little kids by myself here while hubby is out of the country for many more months to come! I looked at the WF website, nothing appealed to me at all. Haven''t looked at Vache yet, (may not have spelled that right, I''m new to this). Let me know if you have more suggestions for places I should look! trish

 

[angeline]

isis, one of your questions was on halo vs prong halo settings? and which made the stone look smaller? I remembered this pic and finally just found it of the difference in look between the prong and bezel set for a halo.

HTH!

 

[angeline]

#2

 

[isis~goddess]

awsome! thanks for those pics, its so much better to see a side by side comparision like that. yea, i really like the prongs better, but i guess i really wont be able to wear my current wedding band with it if i decided to put a 1.9 in halo.

im going to go to a local jeweler today and bring my band to see what styles may work with my wedding band incase i change my mind about the halo thing, which i hope i dont do. im torn, i want to put the diamond in halo, yet wear it with my current band which wont work with halo. oh well, i guess if this is a big problem for me, i shouldnt complain...