Mara''s Ring

[KaRon]

Mara-Just saw picture of your ring in "Show Me...". It''s beautiful!! Do you have any side views? It''s exactly the setting I''m looking for. It sparkels aplenty but doesn''t take from center stone. How do you think a 3 carat (really good )radiant would look ok with setting? What size should small stones be? Should they also be square? I''ve always wanted a square or slight rectangle diamond but am getting discouraged with what I read about radiants. I do not like princess or emerald cuts. Maybe I should start considering round with four prong setting for a square-ish look. Would appreciate your input as well as all others. I''ve noticed how consistently you are there to help everyone. Pretty impressive. Thanks in advance.

 

[Mara]

Thanks KaRon!!

I personally like it very much myself

I have a few side views but I think they are all at home. I think I may have posted a few in past threads, check out my past threads on the ring and pictures and all that. I go insane with the camera at times. The side view is pretty cool, though you could choose a different head style if you wanted, mine is a tulip prong set. IMO the real detail work is the band itself with the prong set stones. They are prong set separately, not shared prong (for safety) and are .03c each, there are 26 of them I think. It looks alot like pave which I loved, but the prongs keep them much safer than typical pave. The mm width is around 2.6mm.

I think this ring looks best with a large center stone...so a 3c radiant or even round would look AMAZING in my opinion. Having a really large center stone with an eternity pave or prong set band is somewhat of an old fashioned look which I think is beautiful. I have tried on a few 3c stones with similar settings for fun and the center stone just blasts out from amidst the baby sparkles. Very beautiful.

On your radiant vs round question-- there can be some very beautiful radiant or squared round stones. I think WhiteFlash has the Spring Cut which may be similar to what you are looking for, and there have also been posts in the past on radiants that are cut for excellent light return so they perform better than a 'typical' radiant. You may want to look some of those threads up in the archives.

That said, I really love rounds because you can't get a better cut IMO. You can definitely do an excellently cut round stone with 4 prong setting similar to mine which does at times give the stone more of a squared appearance.

Lastly, if you have unlimited budget (don't we all wish), check out the Hearts on Fire stones, they are branded and come with around a 40% markup, but they carry a cut called the 'Dream' which is a squared corner round, basically like a radiant. They are AMAZING with excellent light return, but pricey.

Good luck, hope this helps. If you don't find the pictures of my ring on the side by searching around, let me know and I can dig them up at home and email.

Thanks again for the compliments. Our ring was custom and it was SO much fun designing it to have it made!! The waiting is what was a huge drag.

 

[valeria101]

Yeah, the "Dream" cut blends square and round. It is also sold by "Good old Gold" without such markup. Also, there is another type of square / rectangle cut you might like: it is called "Spring cut". And how about a Flanders? Cushions and more unexpected things you may find at israel-diamonds.com (talk about good prices here!) and at diamondsbylauren.com (some cushions, high end, reasonably priced but still in the retail zone). Both sites make rings of very good quality.

Another great place to make a ring is jewelryexpert.com. These will do almost anything you want in almost any way you want it... enough said.
Hope this helps!

 

[Mara]

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On 8/30/2003 7:14:29 PM valeria101 wrote:

Yeah, the "Dream" cut blends square and round. It is also sold by "Good old Gold" without such markup.
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Actually I wasn't aware that Jonathan (GOG) carried any HOF stones. Though if he does carry HOF stones, from what I have heard, HOF sets a certain price level for their stones...and the retailers cannot fall below that level. So for any HOF 'Dream' I would assume there would be at least a level of certain markup, though from jeweler to jeweler it may vary.

Jonathan sells the Queen of Hearts stone which is similar to the other squarish fancies...he posted a thread on it recently with pictures. That may be the stone you are thinking of?

For most of the well-cut branded fancies, you will pay a markup. It may be less than retail if you find an online cut you like...but almost all branded stones carry some level of additional markup over an unbranded well-cut stone.

 

[clancy]

ahh- I think you just answered my other question, as your ring was the closest to what I was looking for- what exactly do you consider the 'band' aspect of your ring? I am wanting something similar, very delicate with a princess cut solitaire- but I can't seem to explain the 'band' or setting correctly..

thanks!

 

[Mara]

If you are talking about my ring...the band would probably be referred to as an prong-set eternity style diamond band. Prong-set because there are 4 prongs holding each stone as opposed to pave which may have small 'beads' of metal holding the stones but not exactly be prongs (prongs are safer). The stones are melee stones, small ones of around .03c each. We had a hard time finding anything like this so we had it custom made...in fact the only ring I have seen in the 9 months I have had the ring that was very close to what we have (almost identical) was at this jeweler last weekend in Carmel. Very similar. We had ours custom made..and their designer custom made that one as well. Our idea for this one solidified when we saw our jewelers wife's ring which is like mine but bigger melee stones and a smaller center stone and in all yellow gold. It's very beautiful that way too.

I'll see if I can dig up a few more pix of the stone and ring closeup...I have alot here at home.

 

[Mara]

Here is a picture of the ring at an angle so you can see the head very clearly and the spaces between the prongs. I love this type of view, and the space allows me to clean the diamond daily with no hassles.

 

[Mara]

Here is a great shot for seeing the underside of the band, the prongs pretty close up (the metal you see in the band there is the prongs..) and the holes inside the band. In this type of light (this was taken without flash in the bathroom with minimal light) sometimes the ring looks very metally which is not my favorite look. But it's a good way to see the detail on the sidestones...the rest of the time the side stones are just very sparkly and you can't differentiate metal and stone.

 

[Mara]

And to balance it all out...a pic of it from the top in its box...with its lovely masses of sparkle.

Hope this helps!!

 

[Balustroid]

Mara

I love your ring. Now I want my ring to have diamonds all around too!

I just love that Michael B ring (4 prong, pave) you posted. Thank you.