Lab melee... any ideal cuts out there or is it wishful thinking?

[whitewave]

So I might dip a toe in lab grown with setting my round sapphire. I am curious if anyone has done lab grown melee for a halo? I’m getting to the point where I want to set my stones, but not all of them have to be made into a glam expensive ring. I always wanted this yellow sapphire to be a fun daisy ring.

I did send a query to DK so I will let you know if I get a reply (lol). I have read in the archives that Stiller has lab melee.

I found a guy in India on Etsy who sells lab grown melee but I’m not sure it’s worth a $140 gamble on the cut grade. (12 of them in a parcel)

Of course, using high end earth melee would be FAB because I have it on my aqua and that really did step it up a lot, but I’m really not sure I want to do that with the daisy ring.

What’s the scoop out there on lab grown melee for halos? Thanks.

 

[Ra2nl]

People who are ordering moissanite from the Chinese vendors are using lab grown melee for their halos. I don't know how good they are because i never seen one.
You can look at Alibaba for Tianyu or Starsgem. Starsgem is also on Ebay.

 

[OoohShiny]

It would be cool if we could find a good vendor of ideal cut melee!

Takara had small Ideal cut stones on their website IIRC, but they weren't super cheap. It might be worth speaking to Rhino since he's been getting Takara stones in - even if they are CVD instead of HPHT (it seems they may actually be CVD...) at that size I don't think you'd have any issues with stria.

 

[SouthernElle]

DK set my MMD, he used earth melee, so I’m not sure that he routinely uses MMD melee? Stuller does sell it, with two options for clarity / color. The prices aren’t that much different though. $30 was the difference between earth and MMD for 12 .0025ct melee.

 

[whitewave]

DK set my MMD, he used earth melee, so I’m not sure that he routinely uses MMD melee? Stuller does sell it, with two options for clarity / color. The prices aren’t that much different though. $30 was the difference between earth and MMD for 12 .0025ct melee.

Thanks.

This is the guy I found on Etsy

This item is unavailable - Etsy

Find the perfect handmade gift, vintage & on-trend clothes, unique jewelry, and more… lots more.

www.etsy.com

DK hasn’t gotten back to me yet

 

[distracts]

Yeah, I suspect at that size, there's not much difference in price because so much of the price is coming from the cutting, versus the price of the rough.

 

[whitewave]

Oh

Yeah, I suspect at that size, there's not much difference in price because so much of the price is coming from the cutting, versus the price of the rough.

ok, so you think these aren’t much cheaper than mined of the same size? I have no idea how much melee is

 

[distracts]

Oh


ok, so you think these aren’t much cheaper than mined of the same size? I have no idea how much melee is

I don't know how much mined melee is but I suspect there's not a huge price difference - I would ask DK if you're having them make the ring though. But my guess is that by the time you're getting ideal cut, most difference in value is gone. If you're getting just generic cut there may be more.

 

[Ra2nl]

I found this in the Starsgem thread in Fabulous Fashion Jewelry.

And this i found on AliExpress

 

[whitewave]

I found this in the Starsgem thread in Fabulous Fashion Jewelry.

And this i found on AliExpress

Thanks.

 

[SouthernElle]

2.6mm lab created, full cut F+ was quoted as $498 from Stuller. G/H was $342

 

[whitewave]

2.6mm lab created, full cut F+ was quoted as $498 from Stuller. G/H was $342

Per each?

 

[SouthernElle]

Per each?

Sorry, no for 12 that was the total. Just to compare easily to the Etsy price. I just checked their price for earth stones, $1472 for F+ and $1347 for G/H. So the bigger you go for melee, the more the savings.

 

[whitewave]

Sorry, no for 12 that was the total. Just to compare easily to the Etsy price. I just checked their price for earth stones, $1472 for F+ and $1347 for G/H. So the bigger you go for melee, the more the savings.

Thanks!!

 

[Ada Diamonds CEO]

Just like natural melee, there are wholesalers that offer great make and great color, and there are other vendors that will sell anything.

Be on the lookout for blue tinge/nuance in the melee, as it's a big problem in smaller lab diamonds. The blue comes from boron atoms in the crystal, as boron is one of the ingredients in the growth cell to grow HPHT diamonds (and the vast majority of lab melee is HPHT).

In addition, if you're pairing a CVD center with G or worse color with lab melee (which will be D color to faint blue), the result can be an unappealing clash of yellow/brown warmth with blue undertones.

Stuller and Hoover & Strong both offer lab melee, but I don't know about their quality as I buy directly from the producers.

 

[whitewave]

David Klass does have access to ideal cut lab melee, g color vs.

 

[whitewave]

I’m so excited! All he has to do is change the size to 10.25 and we are off!!

To be completely honest, I wanted this ring to be the least expensive as possible. I’m on a supposed bling ban, but by using lab melee, I’m able to squeak by.

I am also curious to dip a toe into lab stones, although I don’t think I would use again in the future as I expect their prices to fall. Maybe at some point a 2 carat tennis bracelet? Something like that?

So my little heart ring tells me to love myself and this daisy ring will give me flowers in my life.

 

[whitewave]

Just like natural melee, there are wholesalers that offer great make and great color, and there are other vendors that will sell anything.

Be on the lookout for blue tinge/nuance in the melee, as it's a big problem in smaller lab diamonds. The blue comes from boron atoms in the crystal, as boron is one of the ingredients in the growth cell to grow HPHT diamonds (and the vast majority of lab melee is HPHT).

In addition, if you're pairing a CVD center with G or worse color with lab melee (which will be D color to faint blue), the result can be an unappealing clash of yellow/brown warmth with blue undertones.

Stuller and Hoover & Strong both offer lab melee, but I don't know about their quality as I buy directly from the producers.

Thanks, I am pairing with a yellow sapphire.

 

[winnietucker]

Looks good! Can’t wait to see the completed project.

 

[whitewave]

It’s been raining here, so here is the sapphire in poor light. This stone is super hard to take a good photo of.... one of the worst stones I have tried. It’s much prettier in person and has eye catching sparkle.

 

[whitewave]

I don't know how much mined melee is but I suspect there's not a huge price difference - I would ask DK if you're having them make the ring though. But my guess is that by the time you're getting ideal cut, most difference in value is gone. If you're getting just generic cut there may be more.

To address this, the price difference was large enough for me to do lab. We are doing 3mm so not sure that’s melee size in the end...

 

[whitewave]

Looks good! Can’t wait to see the completed project.

Thanks, me too. I’m super excited about making this ring.

 

[distracts]

To address this, the price difference was large enough for me to do lab. We are doing 3mm so not sure that’s melee size in the end...

Yeah, I would expect by 3mm there would be a good price difference. Under 2mm, not sure. I guess I wouldn’t call 3mm melee size!

 

[whitewave]

In the light box. Nothing captures this stone as how it looks in real life. It’s THE hardest stone I have tried to take a photo of.

These photos do not to it justice in any kind of way.

 

[Ra2nl]

I’m so excited! All he has to do is change the size to 10.25 and we are off!!

To be completely honest, I wanted this ring to be the least expensive as possible. I’m on a supposed bling ban, but by using lab melee, I’m able to squeak by.

I am also curious to dip a toe into lab stones, although I don’t think I would use again in the future as I expect their prices to fall. Maybe at some point a 2 carat tennis bracelet? Something like that?

So my little heart ring tells me to love myself and this daisy ring will give me flowers in my life.
[/QUOTE

This will be a beautiful ring, don't forget to post when the ring is finish.

 

[whitewave]

I surely will. Thank you.

 

[Eellee44]

Wow looks like it will be a beautiful ring! Cant wait to see it!

I am late to the party but I have a lab CVD centre in a lab melee halo from starsgem and the melee don’t look blue or yucky in any way if anyone is interested for future reference.

 

[whitewave]

Wow looks like it will be a beautiful ring! Cant wait to see it!

I am late to the party but I have a lab CVD centre in a lab melee halo from starsgem and the melee don’t look blue or yucky in any way if anyone is interested for future reference.

Oooh, that’s gorgeous! Thanks for showing it.

 

[whitewave]

Ok, DK should have the sapphire and maybe it’s his slower season, so I didn’t ask and he didn’t say a time frame on this.

 

[OoohShiny]

Hey, @whitewave - not sure if this might be of interest??

List of MMD / Laboratory Grown Diamond sellers

@abbit bought an awesome bezeled half-carat from TriJewel, and it looks like they sell loose stones in a range of cuts! https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/show-me-the-bling-the-laboratory-grown-version.250831/post-4649790 https://www.trijewels.com/LabDiamonds.aspx?LDSearch=Asscher...

www.pricescope.com