Idea for Leon Mege to set my alexandrite...

[RNgemlover]

Well, taking the safe route, I''ve sent my alexandrite (1.18 carat pear) to be certified by GIA, and have put a sapphire in the ring I had made for her. I am thinking I need to put her in something a little more substantial, and on the advice of several, I have requested a quote from Leon mege. Here is a VERY simple drawing of what I think I''d like. Pear shape east/west, as in a thread I just recently saw and loved. Bezel set. Surrounding the alexandrite, 3mm round brilliant diamonds also bezel set. I want this to be nice and heavy, but i don''t want to disract from the beauty of the alexandrite either. Any advice? Or any other custom designers etc?

 

[arjunajane]

I''m not sure if I understand how the diamonds are working? Are they in a halo?
Will be exciting to see a LM men''s ring btw

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

I think that''d be a really cool design, although I''m not so sure about the diamonds around. I think the best way to show off the alex is to have it bezeled, like you want, but have it be the center attraction - no sparklies around it to take the spotlight away

It would be really cool set in that direction in a heavy band though, and of course, I have no doubt Leon''s work would be fantastic.

 

[RNgemlover]

Well I don''t want the diamonds to remove interest... hrmmmm..... I was hoping they would add. I want them to be bezel set. There will be more than in the drawing. What is a halo exactly? I think I know, but I''d rather be sure.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

As best I know, a halo is smaller diamonds or other stones surrounding the center stone. Example attached.

I think the 3mm diamonds are kind of big if you want them surrounding the pear - it may be more doable if they were a bit smaller?

 

[RNgemlover]

hmm... maybe smaller diamonds. But I want them large enough to really flash, that I why I wanted 3mm. 2mm is too small for my taste...

 

[LD]

I love the idea of setting the pear E/W but honestly don''t like the idea of the diamonds. If you want the Alex to take centre stage I''d leave them out. My other concern is that 3mm diamonds will be too big for the size of the Alex proportionately and you''ll end up dwarfing the centre stone. My Alex pear is set with a halo (I won''t bother posting a pic because I''m sure you know which one), it''s 3ct and the diamonds are 1.5mm each.

 

[ma re]

I have a question. Would you like the alexandrite to take the center stage, or would you like the diamonds to sparkle like crazy? It''s kind of hard (if not impossible) to get both, especially in a men''s ring, without ending up with something feminine. Trust me on this, cause our tastes seem similar, whenever I find something I like it turns out to be unisex at best

What are the exact dimmensions of the alex BTW? If it''s something like 7x6, I wouldn''t go with diamonds wider than 2 mm next to it. What about setting them vertically "in the walls" of the bezel? That way you could set them as large and as many as you''d want - at least in theory - without looking over the top.

P. S. Our tastes in cats also match, although mine is domestic, love Siamese

 

[innerkitten]

Have you asked Leon? maybe you need a designers opinion? I don''t think there is anything wrong with 3mm to be honest. it''s a little different and will be a little more flashy but it could look interesting and unusual. I think 2mm or 1mm is more standard. I have seen some older halo style rings with larger diamonds around them and they looked great. As long s it doesn''t take away from the center stone it should be fine. maybe you could hold it up next to a few sizes of diamonds and see.

 

[innerkitten]

Link to cats please!

 

[chrono]

I know lots of men''s rings are gypsy set but I find that colour changers do not look as good once bezeled. They need maximum light exposure to show off the colour change otherwise they''ll mostly stay in a flux state of mixed colour in addition to looking a shade darker. I bezeled a pear cc garnet years go and never saw that pure teal and purple red again. I recently removed it from the setting and now it behaves the way it should.

 

[RNgemlover]

Well, I''m not opposed to prong setting the alexandrite, with relatively thick, rounded prongs. But I think the diamonds are necesarry. Maybe 2.5mm instead of 3mm.

 

[chrono]

If you really want diamonds, I''m with Ma Re in that they should be as small as possible, otherwise they will compete with the Alex.

 

[mochi]

I agree, you want that beautiful alex to really stand out and be noticed. I can''t wait to see the end result.

 

[RNgemlover]

Hard to picture, harder still to explain... What about the alexandrite prong set (thick rounded topped prongs)... I bit higher than the bezel set diamonds? So the diamonds would be just under the pear? Know what I mean? Maybe that would give me pop, but not distract...

 

[T L]

Are you sure you want to work with Leon? From what I hear on PS, he kind of makes the design decisions, while you just stand by from the sidelines. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, which I very well could be since I never purchased anything from Leon. I'm only going by the many posts I've read on PS about him.

 

[RNgemlover]

If that is the case, absolutely not. I have also sent pictures to the man who has made a few things for me in the past. I know in a general way what I want. Not interested in the designers ego lol! Like it or not, it''s all about me! lol!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I''d probably contact Mark Morrell or Wink Jones for a man''s ring. I think diamonds always enhance the color of a colored stone, but I am not wild about little diamonds on a man''s ring.

 

[FrekeChild]

I took some liberties with my ghetto photoshopping job (pastry chef/psychologist NOT graphic designer or artist).

This is how I kind of saw your drawing...

 

[FrekeChild]

This is with smaller stones, and more of a halo kind of thing...Keep in mind I have no idea of the dimensions of the stone, so I was kind of making it up as I went. Also, the stone seems like it''d be nice in yellow gold, but really, either white metal or the YG would suit it I think...

 

[FrekeChild]

And some other ideas that I had.

Channel set through the center, eternity style.

 

[FrekeChild]

And my favorite, channel set around the edges of the ring. This could be done with bigger stones. If you let me know the dimension of the alex, I''d be able to figure it out better...

 

[RNgemlover]

WoW! how cool! I''m nost sure of the dimensions exactly, but nearly 8x6mm. It''s in Carlsbad, CA atm...

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Oh I have to say I like the last one the best, followed by the third one with channel setting down the middle. Gets you the sparkle without taking away from the alex.

You know what might be cool? A darker metal - I'm not really sure what it is but maybe like platinum with a darker finish on it? Or is it a different metal altogether? Not sure but I like the idea of something darker, then the alex. shining out and the diamonds sparkling (NOT a black band or anything, just gun-metal gray-ish) I'll stop now.

EDIT: I think I'm thinking titanium ... but I have no idea what's like as far as setting a gemstone into it

 

[mochi]

Freke, that''s awsome. You should go into jewelry designing. I really like the last one.

 

[Harriet]

Date: 2/28/2009 3:16:04 PM
Author: shaunrice
If that is the case, absolutely not. I have also sent pictures to the man who has made a few things for me in the past. I know in a general way what I want. Not interested in the designers ego lol! Like it or not, it's all about me! lol!

shaunrice,
I have four rings from Leon and one more on its way. He wanted to set my spinel and spessartite contrary to my suggestions. But, I stuck my tongue out at him and got what I wanted. You sound every bit as stubborn as I am.

P.S. I like Freke's designs, but I'd go with a prong setting too.

 

[chrono]

Date: 2/28/2009 9:10:31 PM
Author: FrekeChild
And my favorite, channel set around the edges of the ring. This could be done with bigger stones. If you let me know the dimension of the alex, I'd be able to figure it out better...

This one with the 2 thin lines of channel set at the edges is my favourite. It has some sparkle, the alex pops and you still get a masculine ring. Freke's awesome with the photoshop - it's clear enough for everyone to understand.

 

[VRBeauty]

Date: 2/28/2009 4:38:13 AM
Author: ma re
What about setting them vertically 'in the walls' of the bezel? That way you could set them as large and as many as you'd want - at least in theory - without looking over the top.

I was also thinking about setting the diamonds so they face out, rather than up, in the bezel.. or having a beveled bezel (

) so the diamonds sit at an angle to the stone. That said, I really like Freke's last two options.

Another option that came to mind is Movie Zombie's spessartite ring, which has the stone set in a concave bed (if I remember correctly). You could set your alex in the middle of a concave channel, and then put diamonds under it per Freke's design, or on the upper edges of the channel.

eta -- I just took a look at MZ's sring and I was wrong -- it doesnt appear to be concave at all. Still, I think a concave design is worth considering to showcase your alex.

 

[RNgemlover]

I like #1, and #2. But, I want the diamonds set just under the alex. so hard to explain. As though the alex is sitting on a bed of diamonds. Make any sense?

 

[FrekeChild]

Ok now that I know that the alex is 6x8ish I can give you a better idea of what different size diamonds will look like next to it.

1mm