DecoDaze
Shiny_Rock
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2010
- Messages
- 205
I tend to be more of a lurker than a poster, but this forum has been invaluable to me in the creation of my dream ring, so here's my attempt to give back via a detailed account of my process. I finished my PhD in December, and this ring is in celebration of a feat that took me a really long time and a great deal of blood, sweat, and tears to complete (I had some health problems and two kids along the way). I started with the thought that I'd get something pretty but inexpensive, but that thought slowly expanded (aided quite a bit by the encouragement of friends and DH) to: "this is a major accomplishment that will never happen again, so go for it!" I decided that at the top of my list was a 9ish mm OEC in a low color in a custom setting.
I got in touch with Erica at LAD, Grace at JbG, and Adam at OWD. They all came up with some good contenders (and kudos to Grace for many detailed email exchanges), but my "go for it" still came with a budget, so it was difficult to find an OEC with the parameters I wanted under budget. Then Erica came across my stone, which was a consignment in a platinum ring. Erica was wonderful, answered all my questions, reassured me frequently, and ultimately made the purchasing process very smooth.
I loved the stone, which Erica sold as a CAPE stone, and has a noticeable body tint. I call it "light champagne;" it came back as Q/R from GIA. It's the perfect shade; sometimes it looks ivory, sometimes light yellow, sometimes just a bit warm. It tends to capture the ambient colors, so it can look green or blue or red or pink. Very cool! It doesn't have traditional OEC faceting, but its tiny table and giant perimeter facets really speak to me. (A non-jewelry obsessed friend commented: "Wow, I don't even like diamonds, but that is beautiful. It looks like a star!") I think I really lucked out, too, because it's shallow, so it faces up large, but it has light play from edge to edge and is just gorgeous.
I had the diamond removed from its original setting and started to think seriously about how I wanted to set it. I went through so many variations it would be impossible to recount them here. But eventually, I decided that I wanted to work with Caysie van Bebber at CVB Inspired Design. I love what I've seen of her work here and on her FB page, and I thought with her help, I would end up with something truly fantastic. I was right!
Ultimately, my inspiration ring was actually one of Circe's (whose entire collection I deeply admire!). This one: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/omc-in-art-deco-emerald-setting.205831/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/omc-in-art-deco-emerald-setting.205831/[/URL] My design is quite different, but my favorite part of her ring is how the emeralds just peek out from the side of the center stone in the top-down view. You'll note that my rubies do the same. I decided to go with rubies for the sake of endurance, and unplated white gold for warmth to complement the warmth of my stone.
I sent photos of Circe's ring to Caysie, along with some comments about other features I would like, and she sent back some sketches that I thought were an amazing first draft. We consulted about the details and went through two (or maybe three?) more versions, and then she had CADs created. We did two rounds of CADs, and then it was ready to be cast. (The ruby collar on the ring is hand forged.) I was really happy with my communication with Caysie, who understood my requests for changes, even when I didn't have the right vocabulary, and who made some wonderful suggestions to make the finished ring really flow.
We ran into a couple of snafus, such as the bench putting the head on the wrong way, but Caysie was apologetic about the delay and took care of it immediately. The whole process took quite a while (about 4 months from deposit to final payment), but I had told Caysie that I wasn't in a hurry, so that wasn't a problem.
And I am absolutely thrilled with the results! I love every single detail on this ring, and I love it from all angles. It is truly my dream ring. And now, I will let the ring speak for itself.
Stone stats:
GIA Old European Brilliant
9.41 - 9.54 x 5.31mm
2.83 ct
Q to R range
VS1
no fluor
41% table
56% depth
Vendor photos:
I got in touch with Erica at LAD, Grace at JbG, and Adam at OWD. They all came up with some good contenders (and kudos to Grace for many detailed email exchanges), but my "go for it" still came with a budget, so it was difficult to find an OEC with the parameters I wanted under budget. Then Erica came across my stone, which was a consignment in a platinum ring. Erica was wonderful, answered all my questions, reassured me frequently, and ultimately made the purchasing process very smooth.
I loved the stone, which Erica sold as a CAPE stone, and has a noticeable body tint. I call it "light champagne;" it came back as Q/R from GIA. It's the perfect shade; sometimes it looks ivory, sometimes light yellow, sometimes just a bit warm. It tends to capture the ambient colors, so it can look green or blue or red or pink. Very cool! It doesn't have traditional OEC faceting, but its tiny table and giant perimeter facets really speak to me. (A non-jewelry obsessed friend commented: "Wow, I don't even like diamonds, but that is beautiful. It looks like a star!") I think I really lucked out, too, because it's shallow, so it faces up large, but it has light play from edge to edge and is just gorgeous.
I had the diamond removed from its original setting and started to think seriously about how I wanted to set it. I went through so many variations it would be impossible to recount them here. But eventually, I decided that I wanted to work with Caysie van Bebber at CVB Inspired Design. I love what I've seen of her work here and on her FB page, and I thought with her help, I would end up with something truly fantastic. I was right!
Ultimately, my inspiration ring was actually one of Circe's (whose entire collection I deeply admire!). This one: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/omc-in-art-deco-emerald-setting.205831/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/omc-in-art-deco-emerald-setting.205831/[/URL] My design is quite different, but my favorite part of her ring is how the emeralds just peek out from the side of the center stone in the top-down view. You'll note that my rubies do the same. I decided to go with rubies for the sake of endurance, and unplated white gold for warmth to complement the warmth of my stone.
I sent photos of Circe's ring to Caysie, along with some comments about other features I would like, and she sent back some sketches that I thought were an amazing first draft. We consulted about the details and went through two (or maybe three?) more versions, and then she had CADs created. We did two rounds of CADs, and then it was ready to be cast. (The ruby collar on the ring is hand forged.) I was really happy with my communication with Caysie, who understood my requests for changes, even when I didn't have the right vocabulary, and who made some wonderful suggestions to make the finished ring really flow.
We ran into a couple of snafus, such as the bench putting the head on the wrong way, but Caysie was apologetic about the delay and took care of it immediately. The whole process took quite a while (about 4 months from deposit to final payment), but I had told Caysie that I wasn't in a hurry, so that wasn't a problem.
And I am absolutely thrilled with the results! I love every single detail on this ring, and I love it from all angles. It is truly my dream ring. And now, I will let the ring speak for itself.
Stone stats:
GIA Old European Brilliant
9.41 - 9.54 x 5.31mm
2.83 ct
Q to R range
VS1
no fluor
41% table
56% depth
Vendor photos:
a true heirloom piece!
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