Hate my prongs

[Beeby]

I just had my rings remade with thinner bands and my princess cut side diamonds are prong set. When I look at the rings all I see are the round prongs and in my opinion they really detract from the stones. What can I do? Can the prongs be made smaller and less conspicuous? I'm just sick that I don't like it at all

 

[LLJsmom]

Beeby, I felt exactly the same way. I had a setting similar to yours. I HATED my prongs. I eventually got a handmade setting that gave me super delicate eagle claw prongs. I am sorry. I can't give you any good advice because I would have a completely new setting made. Probably not what you would want to do.

 

[Beeby]

Do any Jewlers have an opinion if the prongs can be filed down to look flush like this. I don't want to see the balls or notice the prongs.

 

[Beeby]

Lljsmom - Do you by chance have pic of your new ring with eagle claw prongs? Were stones princess? Thank you!

 

[LLJsmom]

Click on my topics, and you will need to search through the threads I started. I have a lot pics of this old setting.



The following was my eventual handforged setting with the prongs I loved.

 

[Beeby]

OLD RING




NEW UGLY RING





Thank you LLJsmom for the pictures. I JUST got this ring redone with my jeweler in Los Angeles. He has made many pieces for me that are beautiful and I trusted him to do this with just a little direction. I think that was a big mistake. The first picture above is what the ring was previously. I asked him to make it thinner and show less metal. I just wanted something simple clean and elegant as the old ring was too chunky on my finger.

I'm just sick that the new ring looks like a porcupine with all the little balls on it. All I see is prongs and the diamonds are lost. HELP! What can I do? I'm sending the ring back and he says he can lower the prongs but I'm still afraid I'm not going to like it. He says the prongs look that way because they are princess cut diamonds. Does anyone know how princess cut diamonds can be set so that you don't see the prongs so much? can they be set in eagle claw prongs? I should've stuck with channel setting. Would this ring be able to be altered to channel setting or do I have to start over?

CRYING HERE IN KANSAS CITY

 

[acaw2015]

He says the prongs look that way because they are princess cut diamonds.

IMHO he is right. Princess cut diamonds are completely square and so you will have to have prongs "sticking out" like this if you want the stones prong set like that. If you dont like the prongs you will have to change the design, ie how the stones are set, or change the shape of the stones, ie get rounds or square shape diamonds with cut corners.

Sorry!

 

[whitewave]

I wonder if you had the diamond set as a solitare if that would tone it down a bit. I feel like with the prongs, its all so busy and that beautiful center stone is getting lost. Just an idea I'm tossing out..


ETA: search google images for princess rings and see if you like a similar idea that might be an easier fix...

 

[whitewave]

Or you could wear one princess band on your right hand, put the main stone as a solitare and then get a pave band? I'm trying to think of not so terrible fixes that won't require a mortgage...

Think outside of the box... surely there is a fix out there somewhere...

 

[rubybeth]

Just to clarify, do you dislike the prongs on your center stone or the side stones? Because the center stone prongs can probably be more pointed, but the prongs on shared prong princess cuts are going to need to be larger to protect the princess cut corners. I think your previous channel set setting might have been more sleek, but if you want shared prongs, that's kinda just how they look. Maybe they could be made into tab shapes instead of rounded balls at the ends? Something like this:

http://www.thefacetscollection.com/Shared-Prong-Eternity-Band-Asscher-Cut-Diamonds-p/ala001s.htm

 

[whitewave]

Right, OP's prongs do seem to have balls on the end.

I foudn this one at blue nile: it seems that these prongs are "flatter" but it is hard to tell

 

[Beeby]

I just hate the look of the prongs and had no idea they would be so prominent. My old ring had 6 prongs on the center stone but it didn't jump out at me.

Looking back on my emails to my jeweler, I realize now that every picture I sent him had round stones set in shared prongs. He did not tell me that setting a princess cut would looks so radically different.

I paid $3800 for the redo and hate it. Platinum.

I have 14 princess cut diamonds VS2 G 4.70 total weight
the center is VS1 G 2.52

I know when he files down the prongs a little I will still not like it.

For what I have paid, what can I realistically ask him to do? I have bought a lot of jewelry from him over the last 22 years and we have a good relationship.

Maybe I should just do a solitaire and put the 14 stones in a band.

 

[LLJsmom]

So sorry Beeby. I know how you feel. I spent about $4500 on my reset, also platinum, and now not using it. I changed my ering into a five stone, which I wear. And I put the center into a solitaire-ish setting, which I have since traded in for an OEC.

The second e-ring of mine (where I loved the double eagle claws) was when I had Victor Canera create yet another handforged platinum setting.

I am so picky about my claws that I would have a whole new setting created because the claws on an existing setting bug me that much. I am going through something similar again, on another ring. I'm just waiting until I settle on a setting I know I will love for sure.

See? Even these prongs bother me. I major mental issues with prongs. This is not by Victor Canera, but rather an antique setting. I love everything else about this setting really.


I think you should wait and spend more time on Pricescope and look at lots and lots of settings and figure out what you really REALLY want before you reset. I know you have worked with your jeweler for a long time. But just give yourself a week or so and peruse Pricescope.

If you are considering going the solitaire route, there are many, many to choose from.
This is my thread from my second reset.
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/victor-canera-jocelyn-with-scalloped-basket.208952/

Just a thread with lots of pieces by Victor, so you can just see the claws even if you asking your jeweler to make them.
http://www.pricescope.com/forum/sho...-victor-canera-beauties-here-t175281-180.html

Leon Mege and Steven Kirsch also do AMAZING PRONGS. Look them up on the search engine here.

 

[Beeby]

I sent my rings back to Los Angeles to see if the prongs can be flattened /diminished. Does anyone know if a princess cut can be set like a pave with side rails to hide the prongs? Kind of like this

 

[AprilBaby]

I hate today it but I like your old set much better.

 

[distracts]

I sent my rings back to Los Angeles to see if the prongs can be flattened /diminished. Does anyone know if a princess cut can be set like a pave with side rails to hide the prongs? Kind of like this

You would just have to have it channel set. When round stones are bead set like that, the prongs go in the corners, but with princess cut stones, there are diamonds in the corners, so you either have to have gaps between the stones for the prongs or gaps between the stones and the raised edge for the prongs. If you don't want prongs that stick out, your only real option with a princess cut is a channel set band with super skinny sides. Most jewelers probably aren't going to be able to make it look as delicate as you want it to. It looks like part of your problem is that you keep finding pictures of round stones and asking your jeweler to do that to your princess stones, which just isn't physically possible, and he is doing his best to match what he thinks you want instead of pushing back and telling you he can't (realistically though, this is what most jewelers are going to do, because the vast majority of customers wouldn't notice and would be more upset and confused that the jeweler pushed back).

One of the first rules of having a successful custom experience is to find pictures of the parts you want that are as close to what you want as possible, including the same shape of stone. The second rule is to make sure that your jeweler has done all those things, even if not in the exact combination you want.

 

[rubybeth]

I sent my rings back to Los Angeles to see if the prongs can be flattened /diminished. Does anyone know if a princess cut can be set like a pave with side rails to hide the prongs? Kind of like this

No! Exactly what distracts wrote above. Because you are looking at rounds, they need prongs to be held in place, but with princess cuts, there are corners, so it will just look like a channel set, which is what you originally had. Compare the ring in the photo you provided to this one:

http://www.thefacetscollection.com/Platinum-Channel-Set-Eternity-Band-22-Princess-p/f2307s.htm

It's just not how princess cuts can be set. Sorry!

 

[whitewave]

I found this idea:


My thoughts: maybe your princesses are just too big? Would hubs (or you really) be offended if you repurposed all of the stones, and basically started over?

 

[Beeby]

After spending most my day on this, and going to a B & M in trying some things on I think I'm going to have my jeweler set my 2.5 K round in a simple platinum solitaire and wear it with the seven stone or one or two pave bands that I have. He is going to lower the prongs on the seven stone so they are less noticeable. The 7 stone worn on it's own isn't so bad it's just when you put it all together.

I think I agree with you whitewave that the stones are too big and fight with the Center stone. I think they fought with it when they were channel set I thought it would be better with them prong set because it was less metal but that even made it worse.

I do think my jeweler should've told me that the prongs are going to stick out he assured me they would look like the rings in the pictures I gave him but I didn't realize that those were all round stones. I'm hoping that he will do the solitaire Setting at least at cost. I have already paid so much money and feel like this project is such a failure


Let me know if anybody has any more ideas you guys are great !!!

 

[whitewave]

I mean, yeah, I never thought I would ever tell anyone her diamonds are too big!!

I think this will be a significant improvement and will clean up the look. Do you like the 6 prongs on the main diamond? Is it too large to do 4 prongs.

At any rate, your new setting will be much less "prongy" when it's done.