i know this is extravagant, but how much would it cost?

[mequaring]

how much do you think a pure diamond band would cost. Lots of people have simple gold bands, and this would be similar to that, with no markings or frills, just a pure diamond ring

 

[sumi]

Do you mean like an eternity ring? I don't think that's too extravagant. I have a channel set eternity ring as my wedding ring. The diamonds are princess cuts so there is no space between each stone. It basically looks like a band of all diamonds, with thin bands of platinum on the top and bottom of the ring. I think this is fairly common for wedding bands (at least in LA). I think the price would depend on the size/quality of the stones. I am sure there are lots of people here to point you in the right direction.

 

[mequaring]

no, i mean a ring that is made of no other material than diamond, and looks simply like a clear band with one continuous diamond making up the entire ring

 

[pqcollectibles]

I would suggest you give White Flash a call. White Flash cuts their own diamonds. Maybe they can give you an honest answer as to whether this is even feasible, let alone practical??!!

 

[sumi]

wow! Do you mean like the ring is cut from one huge diamond? yikes! that does sound extravagant. hey, if you come across a piece like that please post pictures. I can't even imagine........

 

[TooMuchInformation]

Firstly, I doubt this is even possible.

Second, if it is possible, you'll be wasting a lot of diamond (you're cutting out the entire center), so you'd want a massive diamond with a great "ring" of structure, but included like heck in the middle.

Third, a diamond of the size necessary to make an unending ring would be, how do you say, probably a lot more expensive than you think. I don't know if I'm being unreasonable, but I would assume a stone like that would cost you in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, providing that you can even find one.

I think I'm more right than you'll want me to be.

 

[valeria101]

Just when I thought this is going to be a random, uneventful day !

Did you ever see one made of clear quartz? Yours will look the same (clear, no sparkle). Some seller who deals with industrial and speacilty ROUGH may be able to take the Q seriously. If you were asking for, say, diamond beads I knew for sure that the place to dop the inquiry at is Roughdiamonds. And I do not know anything closer matched. After all, if someone made a watch glass of diamond, why not a torus? My primary concern communicating about this would be to make it sound serious (tough that, given the expected price for a glassy ring), but all in all, who knows? Honestly, diamond would make a not so appropriate material for carving a thin torus since it is so brittle: first time that thing would drop 2 inches on a hard surface you are likely to obtain earrings or dust

Simmilar shapes have been made from sapphire and other gems (the Torus cut) - so your idea is not all that much off, is not even new - but no way the same technique could be applied here. Oh, and if you want a really expensive, but wearable stone-only band (awesome concept, as far as this person is concerned), what's wrong with jade? At least that's good for carving, and can pack in the required value too

Oh, and if you want a continuous band of sparkly diamonds with no metal showing, you still need the traditionsl small prisms around the finger. Maybe a wizard can make an invisible setting in a hidden bezel for you. somewhere in the world (unfortunately) exists a pen covered like this: why not a poor ring?

Cost: you are asking for a serious technical challenge, so R&D costs will have to be factored in beyond the usual categories... No way I could get close to truth without investigation, but I would start praying for the lower 6 digits if my request is a total technical novelty.

 

[aljdewey]

A potential flaw with this idea.....




People's finger sizes fluctuate with weight or medical conditions......and there would be no way to size a ring like this.

 

[hoorray]

Interesting concept, but one issue (aside all the other ones about size and cost) is that a diamond sparkles because of light reflecting through facets cut into the stone. To get it to sparkle in this design might be pretty tough, and then you've defeated the whole point of a diamond!

 

[mike04456]

----------------
On 1/13/2004 11:46:29 PM mequaring wrote:





how much do you think a pure diamond band would cost. Lots of people have simple gold bands, and this would be similar to that, with no markings or frills, just a pure diamond ring
----------------

What you're talking about is theoretically possible (I think you could use a laser to cut the center out of a large piece of rough, though I would be concerned about the heat build-up) but it's one of those things that you can't possibly afford if you have to ask the cost.

While you could use industrial rough, I would be very concerned about the durability. Diamond is the hardest substance but--as valeria said--it is not the toughest. A blow in the right direction or a fall onto a hard surface could easily shatter such a ring, especially if it was already heavily fractured and included. Assuming you want something white and clear, I would think you'd be starting with at least a 50 ct piece of rough and possibly quite a bit larger. Rough like that does not come cheaply, even for manufacturers let alone consumers.

Paul of Antwerp would be the one to ask, since he owns a cutting factory, but the question is so off the wall I'm not sure what even he would say.

 

[pqcollectibles]

----------------
On 1/14/2004 3:15:14 PM LawGem wrote:

----------------
On 1/13/2004 11:46:29 PM mequaring wrote:



how much do you think a pure diamond band would cost. Lots of people have simple gold bands, and this would be similar to that, with no markings or frills, just a pure diamond ring
----------------

What you're talking about is theoretically possible (I think you could use a laser to cut the center out of a large piece of rough, though I would be concerned about the heat build-up) but it's one of those things that you can't possibly afford if you have to ask the cost.

While you could use industrial rough, I would be very concerned about the durability. Diamond is the hardest substance but--as valeria said--it is not the toughest. A blow in the right direction or a fall onto a hard surface could easily shatter such a ring, especially if it was already heavily fractured and included. Assuming you want something white and clear, I would think you'd be starting with at least a 50 ct piece of rough and possibly quite a bit larger. Rough like that does not come cheaply, even for manufacturers let alone consumers.

Paul of Antwerp would be the one to ask, since he owns a cutting factory, but the question is so off the wall I'm not sure what even he would say.

----------------

I would be interested to see what Paul has to say about this question. He is sooo knowledgeable!

 

[mike04456]

If you're not set on diamond, there is at least one company I'm aware of that has a line of rings carved from other gem materials:




http://www.balocchipreziosi.com/




It's a flash site, so you have to click on "collections," "the jewels," then "rings." They have some neat stuff, though none of it looks anything like a tradional wedding or anniversary ring.

 

[mequaring]

Thank you for all of the suggestions and thoughts, and who is Paul of Antwerp, and how would I be able to ask him?

 

[pqcollectibles]

Check the Members list for his name,.... Paul Antwerp. You can PM or email him or both.

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Hello Mequaring,

I received your PM, but I think it is more interesting to answer on the forum.

One thing is sure: your idea is definitely extravagant.

Part of my answer is definitely guesswork, so if I end with an estimated cost, please do not take me up on that.

First, I think that it is impossible to produce this from rough of industrial quality. I fear that it would plainly fall into pieces. I think that you definitely need the finest quality of rough in order to let it endure the process of lasering and cutting it.

Technically, the first step would be to laser the hole. For industrial use, the finest rough is used with a hole laser-drilled through the center. This hole has a specific diameter, and that stone is used to produce wires of an exact diameter. Theoretically, we have the same procedure here, we laser a hole in the stone.

Afterwards, we can finish the piece, by polishing the inner and outer surface. This requires the design of specialized tools, and considering the complexity of the task, which also involves cutting concave and convex facets, I would foresee a cost of 200,000 USD for the design and production of these specialty machines.

Then, we have the cost of the rough. Depending on the size of your finger, you need a bigger or smaller rough stone. I estimate that you at least need a perfect sawable rough stone of 150 Carats. Such stones are not found every day, and since I am not used to dealing with them, I just estimate their cost at 4,000,000 USD.

To obtain insurance on such an experimental cutting process will be impossible, so please foresee your check before anyone starts with the process.

Finally, such a magnificent jewel will both be ugly, because of little to no light return, and extremely fragile. The slightest blow, even just putting your hand on the table, might cause the ring to break.

Therefore, if you want one, you should foresee at least 4,500,000 USD. However, you can just as well throw your money away. Therefore, I suggest that you just give that amount to me. You can PM me for my account number.

Take care,

Paul

 

[highendgems]

interesting...this is th estupidiest thing i have ever heard and nobody would waste this much material. cant somebody stop this thread?

 

[winyan]

HEG

There is nothing wrong with the exchange of *ideas*, and the fact you think this thread is stupid is merely your *opinion*.

Others here don't feel that way.

Including myself.

win

 

[pqcollectibles]

Actually, HEG, it was an interesting idea to ponder. And Paul was so very nice to grace the Forum with hands on, professional information. A view into the world of diamond cutting.

I found it interesting that industrial rough has a hole cut in the center to start. That the tools to cut such a ring don't even exist.

Thanks to Paul, those of us not in the biz learned something new.

Thanks much Paul!

 

[mike04456]

----------------
On 1/16/2004 3:14:28 PM highendgems wrote:





interesting...this is th estupidiest thing i have ever heard and nobody would waste this much material. cant somebody stop this thread?
----------------

If you want to stop what you think is a stupid thread, why perpetuate it by contributing a post?

Personally, I found the idea fascinating, and I'm glad we got Paul to address it so quickly and comprehensively.

 

[boonerings]

To really make it interesting, mount a diamond shaped billet of platinum or gold on top!

Such a ring might work in glass or ceramic or something. Who knows, depending on the tooling, the guys that grow the lab made diamonds might be able to start with a washer shape rather than a diamond shape. The cost likely wouldn't be appreciably less than a real one! The question comes back to Why? You could always get a glass ring and do a diamond coating on it like they do on high end machine tools. OK, so it would also be expensive and wouldn't look pretty either. It would be different though.

 

[fire&ice]

----------------
Personally, I found the idea fascinating, and I'm glad we got Paul to address it so quickly and comprehensively.
----------------

Me too! Thanks Paul!

 

[mike04456]

Doing it with synthetics might seem cheaper ... except that, to my knowledge, no one has yet grown a 150 ct synthetic crystal or anything close to that. It can't be done by the new Apollo CVD process, and while conceivably it might be possible with the more traditional HPHT processes, growing such a crystal might take a year or more at the current state of the art. This would be freakishly expensive given what's involved. And you'd have to do it that way, because synthetic diamond crystals grow as cuboctahedrons--you can't grow one in a torus-shape.




The CVD-on-glass idea would work, although indeed it would not be very attractive--you would get a fuzzy, milky film over the glass instead of something clear and lustrous (unless the diamond film was very shallow).

 

[boonerings]

It actually might be possible to injection mold a ring with a clear resin such as lucite, where a high percentage of diamond dust was included in the mix. If properly done, you might get it to sparkle all the way through the ring just due to the random angles of the reflecting chips. True, it's not quite the same as one single diamond, but could be done in the 4 digit range, not the 7 digit range.

 

[Giangi]

Very interesting Paul!
One question: would the surface be smooth as in a cabochon or would it have some very simpe faceting (something like a rose cut)? I have seen both done in quartz.

 

[Hodne]

Paul: I'll take two