Merry and Bright - a work in progress....

[mrs-b]

I wasn't going to post this now - then I completely buckled and here are a couple of progress photos, sent to me by DKJ. The ring still needs a bunch of milgrain, the prongs need to be filed down, plus various other tweaks and modifications - but here's what I have so far for anyone who would like to see a couple of progress shots. The center stone is a 3.4 H VS2 ACA, with .9ctw on the sides (.20, .15, .10 on each side). For some reason the yellow gold hasn't shown up in the first photo - but that's just a vagary of the lighting.



See the holly leaves in the basket?

 

[Bonfire]

 

[MissGotRocks]

Looks beautiful mrs-b!

 

[AprilBaby]

I love the leaves

 

[GeorgieQ]

Mrs-b this is going to be such a special ring - absolutely gorgeous!! I just love the holly detail can't wait to see the finished product on your hand (bet you can't either)!

 

[SimoneDi]

Gorgeous @mrs-b! Such a beautiful design and I feel that it is so you! Can’t wait to see more pics!

 

[Matthews1127]

This is going to be amazing!!!

 

[BlingDreams]

Love it! Especially the holly leaves

 

[yennyfire]

It's just stunning!! Can't wait to see if finished!

 

[luv2sparkle]

Yowsa!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Oh, you are full of surprises!!! That is going to be so beautiful! Can't wait to see it finished!

 

[whitewave]

Ooooh la la!! Gorgeous! That ACA is amazing and the side stones------ OMG.

 

[GearGirly]

Beautiful stone and I love your choice of yellow gold!

 

[doberman]

Can't wait to see the hand shots!

 

[junebug17]

Amazing!!! A wonderful setting for that gorgeous diamond, can’t wait to see the finished piece!

 

[tkyasx78]

I love it!!! Enjoy that beauty!

 

[Snowdrop13]

Very pretty ring, love the details!

 

[springerspaniel]

Spectacular! I think the proportions are perfect.

 

[missy]

Beautiful

 

[ac117]

Eeeeeeekkkk this is gorgeous!!! Can't wait to see the final product!! Do you know how much longer until you have it on your finger?!?

 

[mrs-b]

Eeeeeeekkkk this is gorgeous!!! Can't wait to see the final product!! Do you know how much longer until you have it on your finger?!?

*sigh*

Sort of.....

I spent a lot of time with Amy yesterday, working out what we wanted to do...and we're going to recast it. The side diamonds are currently set in platinum prongs, and we agree that it makes that part of the ring look too gray. We're going to set them differently, also, so they sink down a little and don't protrude in profile so much, and will be flush. We can also do the prongs on the side stones more delicately, if it's done a different way; at the moment we're constrained by the fact that around the side stones is platinum, whereas doing it all in yellow opens the door, structurally, to different types of options.

As I said earlier, it needs a lot of milgrain added to it, and some of the surfaces will be in a high polish (it's currently all satin finish). And...<sob>...we're taking out the holly leaves in the basket. We've had holly leaves put both in the basket and on the back of the ring. We did 2 different styles to see which I preferred and were planning to remove one lot. I've decided to stay with the holly motif on the back of the band as, in person, the ones in the basket are very difficult to make out, and instead do a different 'garland-style' basket, with milgrain on each edge of the basket. If anything, this will pump up the Christmas feel - and I have no issue with that!

So, to answer the question (finally!)...weeks....

One nice thing tho - there's actually just over a ctw of diamonds in the sides. I thought it had .9ctw. It actually has 1.01. So - lucky me. And it's not like I'm short on rings to wear in the meantime.

 

[mrs-b]

I should add - I knew going into it, that this ring would probably need at least one, maybe 2, iterations to get it fully correct. It's a new design, and somewhat uncommon for these days, when everyone (myself included!) is all about narrower bands and bigger heads. I wanted something classic looking that played with the idea of proportion and was just a little bit different. I've realized that in jewelry, I'm most influenced by the rings I saw and loved as a child, and this ring is derivative of the rings I saw on older women when I was growing up and my taste was developing. Normally, for instance, I ALWAYS have a convex swoop, going from the band up to where it joins the head. I ABSOLUTELY did not want that on this ring - I wanted an unbroken, convex curve - no gimmicks, nothing faddish, just old school solid and gorgeous.

The current center stone is 3.4ct. I have dreams of one day putting a 5+ct stone in the center. And that will be just dandy.

We're also currently working on a matching wedding band, which will be an unbroken garland of holly, and the two will ultimately be worn together.

 

[ac117]

@mrs-b I really admire how much thought and effort you put into each and every piece you have. I think that is why they turn out so spectacularly and why you enjoy them so much!! Sometimes these tweaks are necessary to get things *perfect* but it's only evident when you have the piece in front of you. It's great that DK is willing to make sure you're 10000000% happy by redoing it. I'm certain this will all pay off!!!

 

[junebug17]

I’m sorry you’ll have to wait longer for your ring mrs-b but in the end it will be worth it - The modifications you and DK are making make sense to me, and will result in an even more beautiful ring. Worth the wait to have a ring you are completely happy with!

 

[Catmom]

Can't wait to see this set when it's done! Sounds beautiful and I would expect nothing less from you.

 

[mrs-b]

Can't wait to see this set when it's done! Sounds beautiful and I would expect nothing less from you.

Did you laugh when you saw I was doing a Christmas ring?

 

[Catmom]

Did you laugh when you saw I was doing a Christmas ring?

Indeed! Sounds like something I should do, lol.

 

[PierreBear]

The holly leaves are just a wonderful touch! So exciting to see rings that have influenced you come into fruition with your own twist. I'm sure the wait will be worth it with these new changes! Excited to see the final product on your beautiful hand!

Mrs-b - I hope you don't mind me asking or feel free to not answer but I was wondering when rings have to be recasted or changes made, is there usually an extra charge or does it depend more on why there is a need to redo? I'm really not asking specifically about DK in your situation but just trying to learn about what happens on the custom route, which makes me nervous as heck since there is more unpredictability. Sorry didn't mean to take away from your exciting thread!

 

[mrs-b]

Hi @PierreBear - no problem at all!

I think it depends with whom you work. DKJ has always been the gold standard, to my way of thinking, for being willing to re-cast. We discussed right up front that we might have to try 2 or more castings to get this ring the way we wanted it to look - especially with the proportions being as specific as they were (the diamond sides in this ring are WAY bigger than normal, so we knew we might have to play around with it for a bit). So we went into this knowing multiple castings were expected and they made it clear to me that we would recast till we got it right - no extra charge involved.

However, having said that, no jeweler WANTS to recast - it takes man hours and generates expenses, obviously. But DKJ has always been willing to go the extra mile on this to make customers happy. Down the other end of the spectrum, tho, I had a horrible experience with one of the 'elite' jewelers popular on these boards who was unwilling to send me any photos prior to shipping me the ring. We agreed beforehand on everything that needed to be done and I sat in his office, drawing up details (nothing particularly tricky) of what I wanted, and it was all 'completely doable'. But when the ring came, it was different to what I'd wanted on numerous significant points, and he said "If you want this re-done, I will charge you the full price a second time." Just extraordinary. So that's the two extremes on recasting.

So the trick is to find someone who can do what you want, but who is willing to re-cast if it doesn't come out - firstly, like what you agree on or - secondly (and this is far more rare) if it doesn't come out in a way that you like when you see the finished piece. Be aware, tho, if you agree to a set of CADs, and the jeweler follows the CAD's exactly, you really don't have a lot of recourse if you don't like the finished piece. DKJ is the only jeweler I know who will re-cast for free in that scenario, tho I suspect other jewelers, like CvB might be generous in this direction also. But if the fault is theirs, most jewelers will recast for free, or for a minimal charge. But not my guy with whom I had the bad experience. He wouldn't even consider it for less than the price of a whole new ring. Nasty.

 

[metall]

Wow!! @mrs-b this is stunning! I love the holiday touch!! it is gorgeous. and I think that the gold really make it Merry and Bright indeed!

BTW, I'm not sure if it was ever answered in previous posts so please excuse me if I am a bit nosey, but what did you end up doing with the stones in your profile shot? I keep debating with myself if you made earrings or a totally mix-and-match DBTY (both would be gorgeous, i think)