Looking for Toronto jewellers for a custom e-ring setting

[raddygast]

Hello all,

I have not yet asked this on these forums, as I have been hanging out in the Colored Stones subsection, but I thought now would be the time.

I am looking for suggestions on Toronto area jewellers? I already have two that I have been checking out, but the city is very large and I want to consider all options. Here are the parameters.

I will, most likely, be acquiring my own stone (not a diamond). It will be a red spinel (Mohs' scale: and so will not cause any difficulty in setting. I do realize that jewellers are often reluctant to take a customer's stone, but they must do it sometimes because there are lots of people out there who set "heirloom" diamonds. In terms of insurance liability, I realize it's a risk if the stone just shatters, but I'll take that risk.

What I'm looking for is a jeweller/metalsmith specializing in custom settings. I don't want anything too weird and artistic, because this is for an e-ring and I want the design to fare well over the years. At the same time, I don't want a purely "classic" setting. I'm looking for someone who can come up with sketches or designs based on a conversation and maybe a review of some designs I've seen that me and my GF like.

Above all I want someone who is REALLY up on their alloys. I really want to go platinum but I'm on a budget and may have to do WG, and so I want someone that has a lot of experience, not someone who'll just push the nickel-WG alloys on me. Would rather palladium white gold, or at least a jeweller that can show me several options and how their appearance differs. Also want someone who will stand by their setting and state that it does not need rhodium plating. Would rather avoid the plating if possible.

If anyone has personal experiences, please let me know. I know (from the search function) that a lot of you members are actually from Toronto, but what I'm looking for isn't where to purchase a stone, it's where to best design and craft a wonderful setting for an unusual gem.

Many thanks in advance,

 

[Bruce M]

I recently had an e-ring custom-made by Stephen Leung at the Diamond Shoppe downtown (6 Charles Street East, 921-9055). It might not work for you, but here''s what I found.

He was willing to set a diamond purchased on the internet into a ring with no quibbling at all, even though he seels diamonds too.

He''s a graduate gemologist and has been in business for over 20 years. He clearly knows what he''s talking about, and impressed me more than anyone else I spoke to in my searches in the last few months.

He took a picture of a ring I''d seen (it was a very clear picture) and made the ring very well. It was yellow gold with white gold prongs in a trellis or X-prong sort of style for a solitaire diamond. It turned out exactly as I and my girlfriend had in mind.

He didn''t volunteer info, but always answered questions fully. I asked him about plating. He said white gold is usually plated in rhodium but it wouldn''t be necessary for this ring for reasons he gave.

He was very keen to have the white gold prongs in 18K white gold rather than 14K so he could hallmark it 18K. He seems to take great pride in his work.

Whether he''d be right for you I don''t know. He''s a tiny bit impatient and I don''t know if he''d work as well with sketches and a customer who may need more of a designer. But he seemed to know a lot about design so it might work great.

He''s pretty busy and was one day later than he''d agreed when I ordered the ring two weeks earlier.