how expensive is BGD custom ring? pear halo recommendations?

[pregcurious]

Re: how expensive is BGD custom ring? pear halo recommendati

I just have to say, you guys are great. I learned more about plain shank halos on this thread than I have during all my searches about them.

 

[Gypsy]

Re: how expensive is BGD custom ring? pear halo recommendati

...4 claw prongs on the center stone, no v at the tip. Halo tilted 20 degrees down away from center stone...

Thanks for the help, knowing how to describe it makes it a lot easier.

However, I'm not so sure about the quoted parts. Why no V at the tip? The halo I linked had a V and it looked fine. And as that would be the area most prone to damage, it would be nice to have it protected for our piece of mind.

And would you mind explaining what having the halo tilted 20 degrees from center stone means? I don't really get it.

Mostly because it was 4 in the morning and I didn't see the v tip on the BGD one. Sorry. That's up to you. I've seen settings with it and without it and liked both depending on execution, and with BGD you are in good hands with execution. It is a good thing for protection, and I agree that if you like the look (I thought you didn't) it is a good call to include it.

Preg-- Plain shanked halos are a bit of a 'specialty' of mine. It's the only area in which I will claim more experience that most others on the forum.

 

[Gypsy]

Re: how expensive is BGD custom ring? pear halo recommendati

And would you mind explaining what having the halo tilted 20 degrees from center stone means? I don't really get it.

Absolutely: here, this pic illustrates the tilt, and why it's desirable.

 

[fruxo]

Re: how expensive is BGD custom ring? pear halo recommendati

Absolutely: here, this pic illustrates the tilt, and why it's desirable.

Ah, great picture, thanks. Yeah, that is definitely something I'd want even if I hadn't even thought about it before.

 

[JMarie15]

Re: how expensive is BGD custom ring? pear halo recommendati

Wow- I have learned so much on this thread!! I am also looking into pear halos..and thats what I want for my engagement ring! I have read about the 20 degree tilt in the halo, but never knew what it meant. that illustration showed me perfectly, and I deifnitely want that as well! I will be designing my ring with my boyfriend, so I'll be sure to bring all of this ingo!

Gypsy- Any advice on what kind of "basket" I should have in order for my wedidng band to sit flush with my e-ring? I know it should be set "high", but im not excactly sure what they looks like. I'm looking to create a ring thats a pear diamond set in a bezel with a halo around it (much like the pear diamond that cushioncutnut has posted in the past). Also wanting a common prong band (and halo) so there is no metal showing around the band or halo. Just wondering if you had any ideas to describe to my jeweler to achieve this! Please post pics of you have any!! I'm having a hard time finding things about it on the internet! thanks!

 

[Gypsy]

Re: how expensive is BGD custom ring? pear halo recommendati

This is my basket and it allows for a flush fit 2mm high band. Obviously I'm partial to designs like this for baskets. The key is no donut and no pave on the wires. For a pear there will be one wire that goes to the point. So it might be easier than you do concave wires instead of convex ones (mine are convex), now that I think about it. But convex would work too, like I told Fruxo.

As for no metal. That's more difficult.

Why, because it requires someone very good with pave who understands the different pave styles and how to get each style right.

Mike R who posts on this forum, VIctor Canera and Steven Kirsch are really the only vendors that are pave experts that I recommend for hand forged pave. ERD also has a hand forged bench that is very good, and does CAD pave that is very good. So I would recommend them as well. And the only other CAD vendor I would recommend for pave is BGD.

Those are the people I would work with for pave. Other members have different or additional people they would consider like Leon Mege or WF but I wouldn't work with Leon cause he chipped two different center stones of people I know, and didn't tell them and they had to figure it out on his own and he was a pain in the neck about it and denied his culpability. I won't work with vendors like that.

I REALLY don't recommend most local benches for pave work. I've seen what the turn out and it's no where near the quality we get out the vendors above. My own favorite local store Joe Escobar has a hand forged and a CAD bench that both do lovely work, truly, but their prices are much higher than the vendors we recommend, so although the quality is great it's usually but it is normally cost prohibitive to work with them (but not if you pick an existing design of theirs, then it's affordable).


BUT... this pave tutorial might help you.

What it sounds like you want is a cutdown pave style like V cut or U cut. My own is V cut, I believe or close to it (I asked for a wee bit more metal on the corners so that my halo would be more octagonal than cushion shaped).

http://artofplatinum.com/vault/pave-types

You also want to talk to your vendor about the melee point size in your halo. My stone is an asscher that is 6x6 (or close to it). And I originally had one pointers and now have 1/2 pointers.

For a pear over carat (nice choice), since they are spready, you are usually fine with 1 pointers for a pretty delicate halo. But a learned to ask to gauge how good a bench is with pave is to ask them for 1/2 point melee. If they panic, then their pave confidence isn't that great. If they are okay with it then they are probably pretty comfortable with pave and worth a second look.

If you have any other questions just bump this thread and I'll keep checking it. You can always page me.

Also Mike R on here is a vendor who does hand forged so if you have some technical questions I've found him to have both a great personality and a great deal of expertise. So you can probably either page him, or call him and see if he'll talk with you for a spell. Most of our vendors are pretty friendly.

 

[fruxo]

Re: how expensive is BGD custom ring? pear halo recommendati

Wow- I have learned so much on this thread!! I am also looking into pear halos..and thats what I want for my engagement ring! I have read about the 20 degree tilt in the halo, but never knew what it meant. that illustration showed me perfectly, and I deifnitely want that as well! I will be designing my ring with my boyfriend, so I'll be sure to bring all of this ingo!

Gypsy- Any advice on what kind of "basket" I should have in order for my wedidng band to sit flush with my e-ring? I know it should be set "high", but im not excactly sure what they looks like. I'm looking to create a ring thats a pear diamond set in a bezel with a halo around it (much like the pear diamond that cushioncutnut has posted in the past). Also wanting a common prong band (and halo) so there is no metal showing around the band or halo. Just wondering if you had any ideas to describe to my jeweler to achieve this! Please post pics of you have any!! I'm having a hard time finding things about it on the internet! thanks!

I ended up making the custom pear halo ring I talked about in this thread, and I got the pictures of the finished ring today I was going to send you a private message so you could have a look and get my opinions of what I liked and what I would have done different, but it seems they don't have that enabled on this forum. Unfortunately I don't want to upload the pictures before I propose as I just caught my girlfriend browsing the pricescope bling section (she's not supposed to know about this site!) and I'm paranoid she'll see it. But keep an eye out for a thread with pictures and review etc next weekend or so

EDIT: but in short, I'd definitely recommend BGD. As far as I can tell, the ring looks lovely, the service was amazing and the equivalent ring at james allen costs $2350 and is not nearly as nice, not to mention that I could tweak this to my exact liking (although I was in a bit of a rush so I couldn't really fully take part of this perk as much as I might have liked under other circumstances). Anyway, I paid $2700, so a very impressive price all things considered.

 

[Gypsy]

Re: how expensive is BGD custom ring? pear halo recommendati

Wow- I have learned so much on this thread!! I am also looking into pear halos..and thats what I want for my engagement ring! I have read about the 20 degree tilt in the halo, but never knew what it meant. that illustration showed me perfectly, and I deifnitely want that as well! I will be designing my ring with my boyfriend, so I'll be sure to bring all of this ingo!

Gypsy- Any advice on what kind of "basket" I should have in order for my wedidng band to sit flush with my e-ring? I know it should be set "high", but im not excactly sure what they looks like. I'm looking to create a ring thats a pear diamond set in a bezel with a halo around it (much like the pear diamond that cushioncutnut has posted in the past). Also wanting a common prong band (and halo) so there is no metal showing around the band or halo. Just wondering if you had any ideas to describe to my jeweler to achieve this! Please post pics of you have any!! I'm having a hard time finding things about it on the internet! thanks!

I ended up making the custom pear halo ring I talked about in this thread, and I got the pictures of the finished ring today I was going to send you a private message so you could have a look and get my opinions of what I liked and what I would have done different, but it seems they don't have that enabled on this forum. Unfortunately I don't want to upload the pictures before I propose as I just caught my girlfriend browsing the pricescope bling section (she's not supposed to know about this site!) and I'm paranoid she'll see it. But keep an eye out for a thread with pictures and review etc next weekend or so

EDIT: but in short, I'd definitely recommend BGD. As far as I can tell, the ring looks lovely, the service was amazing and the equivalent ring at james allen costs $2350 and is not nearly as nice, not to mention that I could tweak this to my exact liking (although I was in a bit of a rush so I couldn't really fully take part of this perk as much as I might have liked under other circumstances). Anyway, I paid $2700, so a very impressive price all things considered.

I'm doing back flips over here! I can't WAIT to see this, and it's going to be sweeter to see it after she's got it on her hand. Please post pics from all angles and on and off the hand!

CONGRATULATIONS!