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Harry Winston inspired halo in Sydney??

Mikki

Rough_Rock
Joined
Sep 3, 2006
Messages
4
Hi everyone!

I've been reading a lot of your posts and am so impressed with the knowledge of everyone on this board. I'm hoping someone may be able to help me out with some recommendations. My lovely partner and I are discussing getting engaged. I have a diamond that I bought a number of years ago sitting loose after the ring it was in broke. It's a nice diamond so we want to use it for the engagement ring instead of buying a new one.

The specs are princess cut, 2.02ct, H, VS2.

We now have to decide on a setting. I am super picky when it comes to settings, so my partner is happy for me to do the research to come up with the setting I love. I've been coveting a Harry Winston inspired halo and pave band. I know there are quite a few of you who have had such rings custom made (they look gorgeous!). In particular, Lemondrops has an amazing Steven Kirsch princess halo that I stalked on here :love:

I got a quote for this setting from Steven Kirsch, and also spoke with Yoni from Eternity diamonds. They were both very helpful. Steven's work is so beautiful though his price tag is higher. Yoni seems decent too and costs half of Steven's quote.

I am in Sydney, Australia, and torn as to whether we should go to the expense and risk of sending the diamond to the US or try to get a ring made locally. Does anyone know of jewellers in Sydney who do great pave work? I have seen some local halos but they don't seem as well crafted. I am wanting no airline, minimal exposed metal, angled halo, rounded corners of the halo, basket setting instead of cathedral, curved struts etc. The local settings I have seen don't fit those requirements and the jewellers keep pushing bezel set halos on me. They look nice, but it's not what I'm after!

Any Sydney recommendations would be much appreciated. Do you think getting Steven, Yoni or another respected US jeweller is a better option? Thanks for your help!
 

arkieb1

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
May 11, 2012
Messages
9,786
I am in Brisbane not Sydney and I use three jewellers here none of their pave is of the same quality as Victor or Steven. In Sydney MissKitty use to recommend these guys;

http://www.garyballjewellers.com.au/

Look at her post and see if you like her rings;
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-sapphire-and-diamond-halo-right-hand-ring.188360/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-sapphire-and-diamond-halo-right-hand-ring.188360/[/URL]

If you are on a budget someone like David Klass will do a decent job but he is in the US.
 

WillyDiamond

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Dec 7, 2004
Messages
1,452
If on a budget, Chris at BE
 

gr8leo87

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Apr 24, 2015
Messages
381
You could try ordering just the setting from one of the vendors and get it shipped to your city and get it set locally.

Sending the diamond and receiving it back could be a problem with customs and GST.

You can ask the vendor to produce the setting exactly to your stone's dimensions. It may or may not be 100% but it should be pretty close.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
 

Mikki

Rough_Rock
Joined
Sep 3, 2006
Messages
4
Thanks very much for your suggestions. I'm going to look into all of them!
 

mochiko42

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Sep 28, 2013
Messages
2,663
You could look at Alistair Kelsey. His work isn't on the same level as Victor or Steven but he is in Sydney area and does some nice work for competitive price. Some PSers have used him for colored gemstone rings. http://www.alistairkelsey.com
 

misskittycat

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Dec 8, 2012
Messages
1,068
Yes, Dana from Gary Ball Jewellers is great. I use him for almost all of my personal stuff. He's not cheap, however, and his prices have been going up. But if you want to keep it local, he's a good place to start. He's not Victor or Steven quality but for Australia I think he's good. I have a Legacy style halo by him (my engagement ring) and another couple of halo rings (my sapphire one and my 4ct OEC reset). I'm not 100% happy with the pave work on my OEC - I still think you can see a lot more metal on the halo than I would like BUT I have never ever lost a pave stone from any of Dana's work. Ever. And I have been wearing his stuff for more than 10 years.

After all that, If I were to get something made I would likely go the Victor/Steven route, or CVB/LAD (more my style). If we didn't live in Australia I would have gone with one of those vendors for my reset. The value of the Australian dollar is making overseas vendors less attractive at the moment, unfortunately.

Other Sydney jewelers seem to struggle with outside stones. A Friend of mine has a Fairfax and Roberts engagement ring with is breathtakingly stunning, but she is always losing Melee (she lost three last year). Musson have a good bench - could be worth asking.
 

laurenk

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
Messages
973
Hello, I've just looked over Hardy Brothers site located in Brisbane QLD - I'm unsure of any details but I beleive their work looks really quite good.....
 

misskittycat

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Dec 8, 2012
Messages
1,068
I've just had another thought - Rox in the Strand Arcade do amazing work. Their bead set pave is great - worth checking out whether they set outside stones and what their HW style halos might be like.

http://www.rox.com.au/rings
 
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