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J color sidestones

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Snicklefritz

Brilliant_Rock
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I''m searching for a mounting for my 2.7 K RB and having a heck of a time doing it. Looking at in-store stock settings, I can see a difference in the color of the melee sidestones (G-H coloring)compared to my K. In some lighting conditions it''s hardly noticeable; in others it''s pretty evident, and I don''t like it. So I''m planning to custom order a setting with J color sidestones. But, I have no idea how that will look? No store has a setting with J color sidestones for me to look at. I''m planning to go with a white gold setting with round sidestones. Is it safe to order a stock setting with very good quality J color sidestones? Whiteflash has said they can order premium cut J color melee sidestones for their stock settings. If I order a ring with custom J color melee, understandably it would not be returnable. So should I order a white gold setting with J color melee? Will it still look nice? I think it would, but I''ve never seen a setting with J color melee. Anyone have experience with this or pics? Thanks!
 
Here''s the setting from WF I am considering. I would like to add some milgraining to the edge of the band.

Double Pave
 
Date: 7/22/2009 12:42:52 PM
Author:Snicklefritz
I''m searching for a mounting for my 2.7 K RB and having a heck of a time doing it. Looking at in-store stock settings, I can see a difference in the color of the melee sidestones (G-H coloring)compared to my K. In some lighting conditions it''s hardly noticeable; in others it''s pretty evident, and I don''t like it. So I''m planning to custom order a setting with J color sidestones. But, I have no idea how that will look? No store has a setting with J color sidestones for me to look at. I''m planning to go with a white gold setting with round sidestones. Is it safe to order a stock setting with very good quality J color sidestones? Whiteflash has said they can order premium cut J color melee sidestones for their stock settings. If I order a ring with custom J color melee, understandably it would not be returnable. So should I order a white gold setting with J color melee? Will it still look nice? I think it would, but I''ve never seen a setting with J color melee. Anyone have experience with this or pics? Thanks!
J is 2-3 shades down from this, and only 1 away from your K. I would think it will blend nicely.
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Thanks for responding Ellen. I think you are absolutely right that they will blend well. I guess I am concerned that J color sidestones will look dark, not bright and shiny. A couple sales people have said similar things.

Anyone have any additional thoughts?
 
By sidestones do you mean pave sized melee ... or like three-stone ring size sidestones? Pave is always going to look whiter than your large stone - guess its just HOW MUCH whiter it will look. Color is more visible in stones the larger they get it seems.
 
I think they will look lovely if they are ideal cut ACA melee. It will give your set a "custom" look that you won''t get with sidestones several shades different in color than your solitaire.
 
Date: 7/22/2009 6:59:23 PM
Author: sarap333
I think they will look lovely if they are ideal cut ACA melee. It will give your set a 'custom' look that you won't get with sidestones several shades different in color than your solitaire.
Can you get ACA melee in J colour?????
Many designers have told me you can go up one shade from the colour of your centre and it will draw focus to the centre stone. I wouldn't go up more than 1 grade though.
Depending on how big you want the melee I wouldn't worry about ACA especially if they are less than 1 pointers. Besides unless WF is doing the ring I don't think you can get ACA melee anyway.
J/K colour VS full cut melee would be the best choice. Maybe I/J melee but you should rely on a good quality setter to use his judgement. They will be selecting the best stones size wise and are in the best position to colour match as they are doing it.
 
Date: 7/22/2009 7:10:09 PM
Author: ChunkyCushionLover

Date: 7/22/2009 6:59:23 PM
Author: sarap333
I think they will look lovely if they are ideal cut ACA melee. It will give your set a ''custom'' look that you won''t get with sidestones several shades different in color than your solitaire.
Can you get ACA melee in J colour?????
Many designers have told me you can go up one shade from the colour of your centre and it will draw focus to the centre stone. I wouldn''t go up more than 1 grade though.
Depending on how big you want the melee I wouldn''t worry about ACA especially if they are less than 1 pointers. Besides unless WF is doing the ring I don''t think you can get ACA melee anyway.
J/K colour VS full cut melee would be the best choice. Maybe I/J melee but you should rely on a good quality setter to use his judgement. They will be selecting the best stones size wise and are in the best position to colour match as they are doing it.
I too was thinking that J color sidestones would add to the custom look of my ring, sara. Very good point.

Sorry CCL, no ACA melee in J color, but they can order what they call "premium cut", which I imagine is still pretty good.

I looked at a local jewelert store today and they are willing to work with me, and have a setting I like a lot. The melee in this setting would be 2mm. They could make it with whatever color melee I want, and have said that they use very good quality stones. I''ll have to get more details.
 
Sorry, typo -- delete ACA - I meant "ideal cut." When i was looking for a scattered band to go with my J solitaire, several vendors told me they''d be able to order me "well cut" or "ideal cut" smaller stones in H-I-J color, which would avoid the "too white" problem I was concerned about.
 
Date: 7/22/2009 6:16:51 PM
Author: decodelighted
By sidestones do you mean pave sized melee ... or like three-stone ring size sidestones? Pave is always going to look whiter than your large stone - guess its just HOW MUCH whiter it will look. Color is more visible in stones the larger they get it seems.
I thought pave would look whiter too! But I have had a couple of sales people say that because the diamonds don''t get much light in the setting, and are lower colored, they will look dark. I''m confused.
38.gif
 
Anyone else? Thoughts?
 
If the diamonds are ideal cut or well cut, the light should be coming out of the top of the stone, and it won''t matter if they won''t be getting much light from the sides and bottom -- they should still be sparkly.

The color of the stone shouldn''t impact the sparkle; the cut does - at least that''s my understanding!
 
Date: 7/22/2009 6:13:02 PM
Author: Snicklefritz
Thanks for responding Ellen. I think you are absolutely right that they will blend well. I guess I am concerned that J color sidestones will look dark, not bright and shiny. A couple sales people have said similar things.

Anyone have any additional thoughts?
Well cut J melee should not look dark. Ask WF whether they think you should go with stock melee or special order.


And you''re welcome! Your ring is going to be beautiful.
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Date: 7/22/2009 7:52:22 PM
Author: Snicklefritz

Date: 7/22/2009 6:16:51 PM
Author: decodelighted
By sidestones do you mean pave sized melee ... or like three-stone ring size sidestones? Pave is always going to look whiter than your large stone - guess its just HOW MUCH whiter it will look. Color is more visible in stones the larger they get it seems.
I thought pave would look whiter too! But I have had a couple of sales people say that because the diamonds don''t get much light in the setting, and are lower colored, they will look dark. I''m confused.
38.gif
The diamond melee/pave WILL look whiter and brighter because of how small they are, not necessarily because of their color. Light is reflected from the top of the stone so it shouldn''t matter that they''re in a setting. They won''t look dark. It will just be a different shimmer compared to your large stone. You''re not comparing apples to apples when trying to match small melee to a large stone. I wouldn''t worry about it :)
 
The smaller stones face up so well. I think getting them from WF you will be very pleased...It will be a gorgeous ring, I look forward to seeing it once it''s finished if this is what you choose to do...
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I went with H/I mellee for my half-eternity band that I wear with my K. In some lights where the K takes on a lot of color I can see a difference, but as others have mentioned this may just be because the little guys always look white whereas the larger diamond takes on colors around it and goes darker in direct sunlight/spotlight. Most of the time it just looks like a finger of bling
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Mine are 5 pointers though. I have held them next to my F diamond and also cannot tell the difference at all!

If it were me, I think I would just get a plain gold solitaire band. The thing is, those little guys always look white, and so even J color melee would probably still look much whiter in the majority of situations compared to your solitaire, which will change colors in every different situation -- K diamonds are real chameleons. If not, then I would just order the stock setting because the body color will NOT show in such small diamonds, all you see is white light return -- the diamonds are set so that all you see is the "face up" position, so there is little body color to show that isn''t masked by white light return. So there is no need to go lower in color.

As an aside, I hope you won''t buy from the jewelers who told you the J mellee diamonds would look dark
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Clearly not a lot of diamond knowledge there! LOL!
 
Thank you for you input Ellen, sara, vgirl, Kaleigh and DD. Your thoughts and opinions have been truly helpful. I think I will probably go with getting the lower color melee in whatever setting I choose. I expect that they will blend with my K better in low lighting conditions, and look just as bright as the K in high lighting conditions, which is the overall effect I am going for. I''m going to check out a few more jewelers tomorrow so as not to limit my options. Thanks for settling my nerves.
 
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