Help on my pave ring - not having a good experience getting it made.

[thread]

this site is amazing. i am going through a heck of a time and could certainly use your help. here''s the deal. i bought an e-ring and asked my girlfriend to marry me on xmas eve ''04. i bought a 1.1 round brilliant diamond. it is a D, VVS1, 6.64 wide, ideal cut, no culet, no fluoresence - it''s awesome. decided to go for great quality over size. anyway, I had the ring set in a single pave platinum ring (almost channel set in its'' appearance - but it was pave) and we wanted to have 3 rows of pave - but the jeweler talked us out of it. he said the single row and 2.5 mm ring size would promote the center stone best. she is a size 5. several weeks after my fiance was wearing it, i found the Michael B 3 sided pave ring with pave up the prongs and knew immediately - that was the ring i had in my mind. didn''t envision the prongs being pave - but loved it. found it on pearlman''s site. so, i went back to the jeweler with the picture and said i wanted it. he said no problem - he could have it custom made. so i gave him the picture and 4 weeks later i got it back. they ran into problems with the pave on the prongs and only went up to the base (not up on the prongs). not only that, but the base pave looks messy. in addition, the width of the ring is closer to 4mm, not 3mm. it''s flatter, not as coned as i wanted in terms of the ring curve either. the inside of the ring looks drilled out all over in a totally un-even way. and when i got home from picking it up, i found a missing pave diamond on the base. all in all - i think it was a disaster. i am not sure if i''m being overly anal here. SO, i called bill pearlman and he is sending me their Gumuchian Fils setting to check it out. i think it''s a private label under bill''s name. does anyone know the difference between the Gumuchian and the Michael B. The Michael B is over 8k and the Gumuchian is just under 5k (and has about 20 less diamonds - but those diamonds don''t cost that much)? also, based on the width of the diamond (6.64), what is the ideal ring width? Can i get a 2.5 and have it 3-sided pave? i really like the thinner band to make the stone hang over the ring more. i realize this is a rant - but i am frustrated with my current experience and want advice on what to do next. here are my questions recapped:

1. is it normal for the inside of a pave ring to be all drilled-out in a totally uneven way?

2. am i being anal, or is this a botched job.

3. is 2.5mm width do-able with a 3 sided pave ring? can i get even closer to 2, like a 2.3?

4. given i have a d vvs1 center stone, is it possible to get D, E, VVS, VS pave stones for the ring? With 129 of them or 150 with the Michael B, is that much more money than F, G?
i want the ring to appear as white as possible - given how white the center stone is.

5. do you know the difference between the Gumuchian and the Michael B - why the price is so different? here are the two pictures. the prong setup is different - maybe the Michael B has thinner prongs.?.

thanks much. here are the two different picture of the Gumuchian and Michael B.

 

[Mara]

I can only answer two questions...yes the ring sounds like a botched job... and also no I don't think you will be able to get 3 sided pave done safely anywhere near 2.3 or 2.5mm. I would think around 3mm most likely if not even slightly larger. Keep in mind that when you are talking 3 sided pave, the diamonds have to fit into metal safely on ALL sides...so that means more metal, as well as diamond width and depth...than just a single row. If you want a very thin band aka 2mm or under, stick with a single row like the MB rings or Ritani rings.

The 3 sided pave MB ring with the pave up the prongs was actually a custom job that MB did for someone here on Pscope, his name was lenhejo. Then I believe MB started actually producing the ring...the price tag is RIDICULOUS at $8k..I'm sorry but there is not enough on that ring to make it $8k! I don't know what the difference is between the one Bill is sending you and the MB one though.

Have you seen the Ritani rings like Kayla's set? It has diamonds on the basket of the head as well as the pave band...so it's very similar but is much cheaper than the $8k for just e-ring...but it's not 3 sided.

Oh and lastly, don't waste money on VVS stones for a pave ring, no one will be able to even SEE each individual stone, much less find out they are VVS. If you feel the need to go with something expensive, go with VS though I would not hesitate to go SI with pave since the stones are so tiny, esp in the MB style rings. All you see is sparkle. In terms of color etc...F/G pave should be fine with a D or E stone as well since the stones are so tiny. But again, whatever you want to pay for...I don't know what your budget is like!

Good luck!

 

[thread]

couldn''t get the images of the rings up - so giving you the URLs:

Gumuchian:
http://www.pearlmansjewelers.com/Product.asp?DesignerID=37&ItemTypeID=1&ItemID=2219&start=0

Michael B:
http://www.pearlmansjewelers.com/Product.asp?DesignerID=18&ItemTypeID=1&ItemID=2473&start=6

 

[thread]

cool, thanks for the quick response. bill is selling a 1.16 carat 3-sided at 3mm for 4,800. think i can get the price down from the price posted on the site?

 

[Mara]

I think Pearlmans will negotiate slightly but don''t expect too much off...I think I asked them about MB in the past and got about $300 off a $2400 setting...but we ended up going custom and getting almost twice the amount of melee stones for the same cost and I had a more unique (and safe!) ring.

 

[thread]

u think the melee is a lot safer than pave? elaborate if you would...

 

[Mara]

melee are the small stones that are used in pave settings....

you may want to talk to Bill about your questions as well....

 

[thread]

so you paid the 2400 for a much better ring or 2100?

 

[thread]

i definitely will. just like getting educated on my own too. thanks for this. so, melee are 58 facted rb right?

 

[Patty]

Here is the Gumuchian:

 

[Patty]

And here is the Michael B:

 

[Patty]

Date: 2/20/2005 4

4:54 AM
Author: thread
i definitely will. just like getting educated on my own too. thanks for this. so, melee are 58 facted rb right?

Yes, the melee are full cut stones with all the facets. But what Mara is telling you is correct. You do not need VVS melee. I don''t know if they even grade the melee that precisely. I think that they buy melee in large quantities and they usually are a mix of color and clarity...like F-G, VVS-VS or H-I, SI or something.

Mara''s stones are prong set, not pave. Most of the melee you see will be either bead set, like you see in pave settings where little beads of metal hold the stones in place, or shared prong set where two stones "share" a prong, or prong set which is when each stone has its own 4 prongs. Mara''s ring has each stone held by 4 prongs which is why she says hers is more secure.

I really like the picture of the Gumuchian ring. I hope you like it when you get it!

 

[dommie]

OH MY GOSH!!!! Trust me my heart goes out to you!!!! Funny thing is my fiance and I went through the exact same thing. We ran into a con artist of a jeweler here in toronto canada who told us the same thing as yours did ......that he would make us the michael b 3 sided exactly as the picture it was a total HORROR STORY!!!!!!!
In the end we got a lopsided ring that looked nothing like the michael b, it was lopsided etc!!! and plus he charged another 2000.00 for the diamond prongs which looked like blocks and covered my whole d colour, 1.50 vs1, very good cut stone.....took the whole brilliance out of the diamond!!!!
I am totally not done with the jeweller do you have anything that you are going to be doing about the jeweller with the issue? Did he give you your money back??? Ours didnt since he said he would remake it we diecided to opt out and GO DIRECTLY to another jeweller since he made our life as an engaged couple hell.
GREAT NEWS is we met an AMAZING JEWELER. got my ring custom made but...not the same as the 3 sided pave. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT....it is more like a prong set in micropave I absolutely love it....I will get pics for everyone soon!!
I want to wish you luck!!!!! Let me know more!!!
Let me know what you''re doing and how your process is going!
GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[thread]

this is all wonderful information and support. THANK you all.

 

[rms]

Date: 2/20/2005 3:47:10 AM
Author:thread

5. do you know the difference between the Gumuchian and the Michael B - why the price is so different? here are the two pictures. the prong setup is different - maybe the Michael B has thinner prongs.?.

thanks much. here are the two different picture of the Gumuchian and Michael B.

I have a little bit of info on this...when I was shopping for rings, Bill sent me a sample of the 1 sided pave from his Pearlman''s collection that was essentially like the Michael B princess ring I liked, except for the pave on the head of the ring. He told me that Gumuchian Fils is the designer that makes that ring for his collection. I would state that the basic difference is really just that...Bill Pearlman has his own private collection of rings, and some of them resemble other rings by other designers. The key word in my mind though is "resembles". For the one sided pave ring, I liked the Michael B ring a lot more. It just seemed to be overall more sparkly, with a bit nicer detailing in the metal, and a little bit thicker. Now, for the 3 sided pave ring, I cannot say, so I would be interested to hear how you feel about it when you get it. Since you are essentially going to see nothing but diamonds on the 3 sided pave, it might have almost the same look as the Michael B, or it might still be different somehow. For the cost difference, I would love to know your thoughts. Bill spoke very highly of Gumuchian Fils as a designer and of their work quality. I am sure you know you can see some of their line on his website as well.

I am really sorry to hear of your troubles in the custom route. But you are doing your homework, and I am sure that everything will work out for you...best of luck.

 

[thread]

ok, so i just got back from checking out the Michael B 3-sided pave and up the prongs. there''s a store that carries it in nyc at 5th ave and 45 - michael c fina. IT IS AMAZING! even the top of the prongs have a tiny diamond on each of them. they have a 2.5mm and a 2mm - both are shared prong pave - which i like more than the beads now that i have seen it. more diamond - it''s very white. they told me the pave were all F VVS2. i was very surprised to see that the ring width was smaller than the 3mm on the Pearlman site. the smaller width is so much better for my 1.1 ct diamond. the price was really really high. $7,800 for the 2mm and $9,800 for the 2.5mm - granted that was retail in the middle of nyc. amazing - it''s gonna be hard to beat the look. when i get the pearlman gumuchian this week, i''ll have to bring it over and compare the two. i HOPE the gumuchian holds a candle to it - half the price.

 

[Mara]

i would drop the extra $8k on a much bigger stone but that's just my tastes!!

in terms of images, i like the MB much better than the G ring. hopefully you feel just the opposite!

 

[thread]

thanks for the advice. in terms of dropping that kind of cash on a setting vs. getting a bigger ring - we are so in love with the center diamond - we just want to find the best home for it. the gumuchian ring is 3mm - if i can get it in a 2.5 - i will likely go with it. seeing it on tuesday. having seen the MB ring today - it will be hard to match it (but the price is so much lower - i wonder if it''s cause of the diamond quality). after seeing your ring and the MB ring, i am sold on the prongs over the bead. we shall see.

q - do you thing the shared prong is not as safe as 4 prongs per diamond?

 

[valeria101]

There's quite some room for a very nice pave setting ar the price point you have in mind...

NiceIce makes some awesome pave rings very Daniel K. looking (if not the same). You might want to take a look and ask if another DK design appeals to you but is not shown on the spartan NiceIce website

Art of Platinum would be another place to browze - there is an entire "fan mail" thread with their work around here ! (LINK)


Between the two settings at Pearlman's, the density of the pave makes all the difference: there's allot more space between the small stones in the other setting than the MB one. Once platinum acquires some patina, the look of the setting will change substantially - not "bad", just one thing to consider.

Aparently, the pave rings by Vatche come just about between those in terms of "diamond coverage" - at least judging from photos. There is a full pave version too.

 

[Mara]

I love the look of pave but our jeweler flat out told us he didn''t think something like that was safe for long-term daily wear. Who knows as I don''t recall many problems from people with pave on here, but then again I don''t know how long many of these people have had their rings. Jeweler told us a few horror stories on how pave/bead set stones become lost or the settings become bent and stones pop out etc. Platinum is not indestructible, and having each stone with 4 prongs each just seemed the safest way to go, esp since I am hard on my hands and wear my rings almost all the time for almost everything. I didn''t want to have to worry about the setting being too delicate etc. So it really depends on the person and their habits as well. Also maybe a profession, aka do you work with your hands?

The downer is that 4 prong set means more metal, I like the idea of shared prong over bead set, as it''s less metal but safer than bead. So maybe that is a middle ground.