Making a cushion micropave ring - pics!

[HoratioNelson]

My financee and I are in the process of having a cushion cut engagement ring made - it's likely going to have a micropave band and a single halo (only decided on the latter very recently).

We spent about 4 months trying to find the right stone - in the end we found a very firey 1.52ct F VS cushion. Faint fluorescence, table 65% and depth 67.7%. 1.09 ratio.

As this forum occasionally seems to have people looking to purchase/have made similar rings, I thought I'd post a few photos of our making process as we go along.

One thing we're a bit stuck on is what size melee to have (e.g. 1 pointers vs 2 pointers) in the band and halo.

You can see in one picture below/attached where we had some 3-4 pointers lined up (2.15mm in diameter), with some much smaller melee (can't remember exact size, but I'd guess they are closer to 1 pointers). We're using blue tack to keep the stones in place in case you are wondering...

We're also trying to work out the right size of the band to make it look delicate. My finacee is keen to have it quite thin (1.9mm if possible). The below photo shows our stone blue tacked to a band that is 2.5mm, and has a couple of the 2.15mm small melee stones set in as an example. We're going to try and go towards a 2mm band if possible, obviously using smaller melee there.

For the halo... I think the small melee here is just a bit too small (didn't sparkle so much in daylight), whereas the large is too big. We will see if we can find some 2 pointers or 3 pointers as a compromise. But I've attached a photo showing the different sized melee set loosely around the stone for a comparison.

In case anyone thinks the stone looks a bit clouded in the middle, I assure you that this is simply the bluetack you are seeing underneath the stone!

Will update as we go along this process, but I'd be really interested to hear if anyone has thoughts/suggestions on any point (however small) throughout.

 

[msop04]

...we're a bit stuck on is what size melee to have (e.g. 1 pointers vs 2 pointers) in the band and halo.

You can see in one picture below/attached where we had some 3-4 pointers lined up (2.15mm in diameter), with some much smaller melee (can't remember exact size, but I'd guess they are closer to 1 pointers).

For the halo... I think the small melee here is just a bit too small (didn't sparkle so much in daylight), whereas the large is too big. We will see if we can find some 2 pointers or 3 pointers as a compromise. But I've attached a photo showing the different sized melee set loosely around the stone for a comparison.

First of all, congratulations! Your stone is lovely!

I don't think 1 pointers will be too large. Given the size of the stone, you might even want to consider 1/2 pointers... That being said, I think that 2 pointers would be too large and may make it look like a cluster ring of sorts. This is just my personal preference, of course, and you should use whichever size melee you like. Interesed to see what you go with!