Help Please - Need Your Advice!!

[Roubaix]

Been reading a lot around here as I get closer to purchasing an ER for my GF.

As for the rock I am thinking of a ~0.75 G, VS2-SI1 , H&A with a good HCA scoring. I am really leaning towards a purchase from Whiteflash due to others positive feedback and their excellent reputation.

The setting I am most interested in, and ultimately what I feel the GF would be most pleased with is a squared shank in platinum from Blue Nile. She has relatively small fingers in length, size would be 5.

http://www.bluenile.ca/product_details.asp?oid=5749&keyword_search_value=5749

Now the hardpart,
BlueNile says the will not sell a setting without a rock in it. I know they carry some very nice diamonds. I would really prefer to have a true H&A and I do not believe BN carries them. I do not see anything really similar on WF as the setting I am looking at.

I guess I was being naive thinking I could buy my setting from BN, ship it to WF and have it set with one of their ACA H&A RB. Being as I live in Canada I was also obviously trying to complete this purchase having the entire ring shipped only once over the border.

I like the setting and I want a H&A, and I don't think I can get both from the same retailer. I don't think custum would be as friendly to the budget.

Any advice on my situation?

 

[Ellen]

Send WF the link to the setting and get a quote for custom, you might be surprised. Tell them your quandry.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Or, it may not even have to be custom. That looks like a stock Stuller (or similar) setting, and WF might even be able to order one for him. If not, I''d just have the stone set in the least expensive solitaire setting at WF and let your fiance choose the setting she wants after you propose.

 

[Roubaix]

thanks for your replies

Ellen- I sent an inquiry yesterday to WF to see about the custom route, I am awaiting their response.
DS2006- Thats a god idea, I will call WF next week so see if your suggestion is possible.

I invite any comments as well on the ring itself. Since I am looking at going with a solitaire I want the ring to be somewhat unique and thats where the Euro shank comes into play.

will a .75C RB look pretty good on a band that is 3.3mm wide from a proportions standpoint? I figure the diameter of the diamond will be approx 5.8mm, with a table around 56% then the table of the RB would be approx 3.3mm wide. So in essence the table of the diamond would match the width of the setting.

Will this look nicely proportioned? or am I overanalysing the numbers?

 

[monarch64]

I think your proportions will look great visually. That is to say, I think a .75 diamond will look fab with a 3.3mm band, esp with a euroshank... I love the idea of the euroshank, I would love to have one myself but just haven''t gotten around to having my solitaire and WB changed into squared off rings. Best of luck to you!

 

[Ellen]

Date: 2/9/2008 8:53:46 AM
Author: Roubaix
thanks for your replies

Ellen- I sent an inquiry yesterday to WF to see about the custom route, I am awaiting their response.
DS2006- Thats a god idea, I will call WF next week so see if your suggestion is possible.

I invite any comments as well on the ring itself. Since I am looking at going with a solitaire I want the ring to be somewhat unique and thats where the Euro shank comes into play.

will a .75C RB look pretty good on a band that is 3.3mm wide from a proportions standpoint? I figure the diameter of the diamond will be approx 5.8mm, with a table around 56% then the table of the RB would be approx 3.3mm wide. So in essence the table of the diamond would match the width of the setting.

Will this look nicely proportioned? or am I overanalysing the numbers?

Good deal, let''s see what they say. They are closed on the weekends, so you might not hear anything until the beginning of next week. However, occassionally someone is there after hours, so you you might not have that long to wait. Never know.

As for the the proportions of stone vs. band, my opinion is in the minority. Most will tell you to go with a thinner band, to make the diamond "pop". But they''re all size fiends.

I''m not. I like thicker bands (as evidenced from my own Ering), and size, or the perceived appearance of, are not all that important to me. So I think it would be fine, but if you really want the stone to stand out, you might want to consider a thinner band.

 

[susiegrneyes]

Blue Nile does actually sell some H & A branded stones. They are not listed specifically as such, but the stone I purchased does have the H & A girdle inscription. Good luck with your purchase.

 

[Roubaix]

I''ve spoken with WF they provided me with 2 options

1. custom would be ~$3000 (this is a budget breaker, so a nogo)
2. stuller makes a euro solitaire ( i don''t really like the setting, so nogo - http://www.stuller.com/products/product.aspx?s=222401

a third option is to get a different setting, something like
http://www.whiteflash.com/Engagement-Rings/Styles/Solitaire/Cathedral-Setting_692.htm#

part of me says get the above setting from WF so I can get a H&A rock. The other part of says to let the setting drive the decision and get the original euro shank from BN and "settle" on a BN signature round which may exhibit some H&A patterning.

ON a side note, I feel way more comfortable with the amount of additional information provided by WF such as idealscopes, BN realy seems to have limited information available online, some diamonds dont even have incvlusions plotted on the reports.

I really like the setting from BN, but on the otherhand I prefer WF as an online vendor and prefer their H&A diamonds.

any suggestions out there??

 

[diamondseeker2006]

If that Blue Nile setting was all that special, I could maybe see going in that direction, but I honestly think WF probably has better quality settings. The cathedral setting you posted from WF looks just fine. It does not make sense to me to sacrifice on diamond quality just to get the BN setting. I think the ring and stone from WF would be a much better choice.