How much sparkle do french cuts give?

[pancake]

I love French cuts - they twinkle in such a beautiful way!

I believe the cost lies in the fact that most jewellers have to have the stones custom cut, as FCs aren''t rolling around everywhere these days. I bought a channel-set eternity from LM (it''s tiny - 1.4mm, with the FCs set upside down so they''re like little pyramids) which I believe was made with existing FCs, but when I asked Single Stone for a quote they said it was going to cost $40 per stone for the custom cutting.

 

[Gailey]

Date: 3/3/2010 9:52:03 PM
Author: stepcutgirl
Well I finally found a jeweler who has done a diamond french cut halo around a colored stone and he says it is exquisite! Way way out of my price range, but that makes me very happy to hear!

I don''t suppose he had a picture by any chance?

 

[stepcutgirl]

Date: 3/4/2010 8:49:58 AM
Author: Gailey

Date: 3/3/2010 9:52:03 PM

Author: stepcutgirl

Well I finally found a jeweler who has done a diamond french cut halo around a colored stone and he says it is exquisite! Way way out of my price range, but that makes me very happy to hear!

I don''t suppose he had a picture by any chance?

Nope, it was Ari at SS. He said he only recently starting taking pictures to keep.

 

[GG414]

I don''t own any french cuts, but I have looked at A LOT of antique rings and I think your round sapphire w/french cut diamonds probably would be beautiful. I can''t remember seeing any diamond halos w/french cuts, but maybe this ring will help you picture how french cuts look next to a round solitaire better (even though it''s an OEC). I don''t think the two cuts look too busy together.

http://www.langantiques.com/category/10/4/item/10-1-1368/

this one is less helpful, but i thought very interesting.
http://www.langantiques.com/category/10/4/item/10-1-2136/

 

[stepcutgirl]

Those are beautiful! Yes, the more and more I picture them the more I feel certain I will love it.

A bit of a snag with pricing has come up with the company I was wanting to go with, but I sure hope it works out.

 

[Gailey]

Date: 3/5/2010 2:29:08 AM
Author: GG414
I don''t own any french cuts, but I have looked at A LOT of antique rings and I think your round sapphire w/french cut diamonds probably would be beautiful. I can''t remember seeing any diamond halos w/french cuts, but maybe this ring will help you picture how french cuts look next to a round solitaire better (even though it''s an OEC). I don''t think the two cuts look too busy together.

http://www.langantiques.com/category/10/4/item/10-1-1368/

this one is less helpful, but i thought very interesting.
http://www.langantiques.com/category/10/4/item/10-1-2136/

The ring in the second picture mentions calibre cuts (relating to the emeralds). I''m confused a bit about the differences between Calibre cut and French cut. I found this thread: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/tiffany-deco-ring.64525/

I''d really like to see a picture of both cuts. Diagem, can help?

 

[Gailey]

Date: 3/5/2010 9:51:04 AM
Author: stepcutgirl
Those are beautiful! Yes, the more and more I picture them the more I feel certain I will love it.

A bit of a snag with pricing has come up with the company I was wanting to go with, but I sure hope it works out.

It sounds like an expensive project. I hope you get it worked out SCG because I am dying to follow along. I want tapered french cuts for the shoulders of a ring I am planning. It''s begining to sound like I might have to sell a kidney!

 

[stepcutgirl]

Well at first it was sounding completely doable. Then when the designer went to the diamond cutters with pics of what we want the price I believe more than doubled.

So, we are continuing to explore possible options to get it back into my price range, but it may just be impossible. I am not giving up with out a fight though...and there are still those Sholdt settings I am going to see next week before I decide 100% that this is what I want.

As to the Calibre vs French cut..I asked about this. If I understand correctly calibre is any shaped stone that is specifically cut to fit around another stone. So if I were to do this halo it would be made up of calibre french cuts.

 

[bgray]

calibre (calibrated) are square -not the same as french. a french cut has a slightly domed top due to the faceting. yes any row of stones can be cut to fit ergo become calibrated but calibre are pretty much usually squares

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 3/5/2010 11:35:37 AM
Author: stepcutgirl
Well at first it was sounding completely doable. Then when the designer went to the diamond cutters with pics of what we want the price I believe more than doubled.

This sounds familiar ... WHERE have I heard this before?

I didn''t want to be a party pooper but this is a well-traveled road (with baguette halos being priced, rather than french cuts) and it always proves too costly/complicated. I suppose its possible that will one day change -- hope you''re the victor in this scenario!

 

[bgray]

Date: 3/5/2010 1:28:43 PM
Author: decodelighted

Date: 3/5/2010 11:35:37 AM

Author: stepcutgirl

Well at first it was sounding completely doable. Then when the designer went to the diamond cutters with pics of what we want the price I believe more than doubled.

This sounds familiar ... WHERE have I heard this before?

I didn''t want to be a party pooper but this is a well-traveled road (with baguette halos being priced, rather than french cuts) and it always proves too costly/complicated. I suppose its possible that will one day change -- hope you''re the victor in this scenario!

I brought up the difficulty earlier in the post--the faceting of the frenchies makes it very complicated to cut them to fit togather as opposed to squares or baguettes being easily trimmed to fit.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 3/3/2010 7:55:05 PM
Author: decodelighted
What''s your budget? French cuts that will have to be custom cut into a halo will likely prove to be VERY expensive. Maybe you should start with a quote before you get your heart set one way or another?

ETA: My educated but amateur guess would be the setting would be 2x or more with French cuts vs. standard RBs or single cuts. RB or single cut maybe $1500-2500, custom-cut Frenchies: 5-7K

Yup ... and I predicted the price gap.

 

[stepcutgirl]

good call!

I hope to come out the victor as well, but if it''s out of reach then so be it. The vendor I really would like to use for this is diligently seeking other avenues to make this happen, but for the price I am able to pay, it may not happen.

 

[bgray]

its hard when you want what you want. i have a thought but you may not be keen on it. what about an octagonal halo so you would have a row of perfect squares on fours sides and you could pay extra for the corners to be calibre'd OR have small wedges with a brilliant cut bead set to separate the four sides........there are many alternatives on this theme you could do to keep the price down--its a matter of avoiding the need for cutting the frenchies at the curves.

 

[Gailey]

Date: 3/5/2010 1:18:21 PM
Author: bgray
calibre (calibrated) are square -not the same as french. a french cut has a slightly domed top due to the faceting. yes any row of stones can be cut to fit ergo become calibrated but calibre are pretty much usually squares

That''s funny because everytime I have come across the term it is usually associated with a non-square stone????

 

[bgray]

Date: 3/5/2010 2:14:28 PM
Author: Gailey

Date: 3/5/2010 1:18:21 PM

Author: bgray

calibre (calibrated) are square -not the same as french. a french cut has a slightly domed top due to the faceting. yes any row of stones can be cut to fit ergo become calibrated but calibre are pretty much usually squares

That''s funny because everytime I have come across the term it is usually associated with a non-square stone????

not sure what you are seeing--I have never the term associated with anything other than stones cut to fit together-usually geometric shapes