Mark Morrell Petite Sunburst or Petite Torchiere?

[KittyBling]

Hi all,

I''m posting this on behalf of a friend of mine. I introduced her to Pricescope a while ago while I was a lurker and although she never joined up she learnt a great deal from this site and her and her FI purchased a diamond through a vendor and have had them hold it while they save and decide on a setting. Well they have enough funds now for a setting and I showed them Mark Morrell''s website a few weeks ago and they were blown away by his rings. They both loveee the Petite Sunburst and Petite Torchiere and are having a hard time deciding between the two. I''m no help because I think both of them are beautiful and I can''t seem to choose one over the other.

My friend likes the surprise diamonds in the Torchiere but feels that it might cover up too much of the stone and that the ring looks beautiful in the magnified pictures but the things she likes might not easily be visable in real life. For the Sunburst she feels it might be too ''simple'' but likes the fact that it seems a bit ''higher'' than the Torchiere.
Since they are both having a hard time deciding I thought I''d put it out to you guys and see what you think and feel would be the best choice and I''ll show her this thread. Alternatively if you have another great solitaire setting in mind (6 prongs rather than 4) then please feel free to share that too.

FYI the diamond is 0.84 and her ring size is around 3.75. I haven''t got the hang of posting pics yet so here is the link to Mark Morrell''s website, which shows both settings:

http://www.mwmjewelry.com/


Thanks

 

[D&T]

How bout the torchiere without the diamonds like this?

 

[KittyBling]

We came across that while looking for pictures of Mark Morrell rings and she didn''t like the particular setting without the diamonds. I think thats the Flame setting. Thanks anyway.

 

[D&T]

Mark actually does the Torchiere w/o diamonds head on the sunburst shank, if that helps. The head is the same, I've asked him about it. Because it sounds to me that she likes the Torchiere but without the diamonds?

 

[Tuckins1]

Torchierre!!! It''s my all time favorite!!!

 

[litebrite]

She can''t go wrong either way - MWM makes beautiful rings and the finish, luster and craftsmanship are extraordinary.

It sounds like she is inching towards the Petite Sunburst. She can always bling it up with a nice eternity band

Hopefully the following threads and photos will help her decide. Everyone says that IRL the heartprongs are much more delicate.

Here''s a in real life photo of a petite torchiere of 1 ct: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/mwm-petite-torchiere-photos.94411/page-2 That''s a size 5.5 ring.

IRL handshot 1.04ct sunburst 7.5 ring size

.81 petite torchiere no handshots though.

.86 sunburst 5.5 size

 

[Ellen]

I vote for the Sunburst, that''s my kind of ring. Simple is elegant, nothing wrong with that!

However, they are both beautiful, actually just about everything he makes is. So you can''t go wrong either way!

 

[gwendolyn]

The Torchiere basically is the Flame (for whoever mentioned that ring)--the head is the same, the difference between the two is the shank (the Flame has a knife-edged band and the Torchiere has a rounded band).

I don''t think you can go wrong because everything Mark makes is absolutely stunning, but to me, the Torchiere is just a little more special, a little more different, than the Sunburst, and that''s the setting I personally prefer between the two. The Torchiere used to be my hands-down absolute favourite setting, but I too am a little worried that not enough of the sides of the diamond will show. So my new idea for a favourite ring is something like this...

This ring belongs to PS member JadeLeaves. I am thinking about having this head put on a plain rounded plat shank (like the Torchiere has, so without the gorgeous sidestones she has on hers). That way, there''s still the beautiful, elegant almost lace-like detail where the head meets the shank, but also enough of the exposed side of the diamond to make me drool.

So, maybe they would want to have something custom like this done by Mark, to get the best of both?

Just an idea!

 

[KittyBling]

Thank you for your responses so far ladies!

Gwendolyn you raise quite a good point about too much of the diamond being covered. From what I can see it seems to be that the Torchiere covers up the diamond slightly more than the Sunburst. What does everyone else think? I''ve seen JadeLeaves set and its totally gorgeous. My friend did consider 4 prongs but she prefers 6 prongs however I''ll show her this pic and see what she thinks! One thing I''ve noticed from MM''s website is that he says something along the lines of there are no 4 prong versions of his 6 prong settings. So I''m assuming this would be a custom piece and would cost more than his signature settings, added to the fact that he states that he''s not taking on anymore custom projects at the moment. Even if she did like it, it will probably not be an option

but yes that is also a beautiful setting and I must show it to her!

Thank you once again everyone and please keep your responses coming! I should have made this into a poll. Silly me!!

 

[gwendolyn]

Date: 8/11/2009 9:25:41 AM
Author: KittyBling
Thank you for your responses so far ladies!


Gwendolyn you raise quite a good point about too much of the diamond being covered. From what I can see it seems to be that the Torchiere covers up the diamond slightly more than the Sunburst. What does everyone else think? I've seen JadeLeaves set and its totally gorgeous. My friend did consider 4 prongs but she prefers 6 prongs however I'll show her this pic and see what she thinks! One thing I've noticed from MM's website is that he says something along the lines of there are no 4 prong versions of his 6 prong settings. So I'm assuming this would be a custom piece and would cost more than his signature settings, added to the fact that he states that he's not taking on anymore custom projects at the moment. Even if she did like it, it will probably not be an option

but yes that is also a beautiful setting and I must show it to her!


Thank you once again everyone and please keep your responses coming! I should have made this into a poll. Silly me!!

Does it count as a custom project if she can just point to the head of JadeLeaves' ring (assuming she'd choose it, that is) and say, "Make me that on a plain band, please." I wouldn't have thought so, since he wouldn't have to draw up any plans for it, but I don't know.

For me, I am probably going to go completely custom with him, because if it's possible, I want the entire profile of the stone to be open, but I adore the little surprise diamonds at the base, so I don't know if it's possible to get what I want. I also prefer 6 prongs over 4 (for a round stone, anyway, they just make more sense!), but 4 prongs leaves the possibility for more diamond viewing because there's (potentially) less metal around the stone, depending on the design. For me, more diamond viewing is more important than the number of prongs, but maybe your friend wouldn't agree.

Anyway, if she does like JadeLeaves' head more than the Sunburst or Torchiere, it's worth at least shooting Mark an email to ask if it would count as a custom project since he's done it before.

 

[KittyBling]

Yeah, I guess you''re right there, if Mark has already made it then I guess it won''t exactly be a ''custom'' ring right from scratch. Btw your vision of a ring sounds lovely

and I''m sure you can''t wait to have it on your finger!

 

[KittyBling]

Date: 8/11/2009 1:32:32 AM
Author: litebrite
She can''t go wrong either way - MWM makes beautiful rings and the finish, luster and craftsmanship are extraordinary.

It sounds like she is inching towards the Petite Sunburst. She can always bling it up with a nice eternity band

Hopefully the following threads and photos will help her decide. Everyone says that IRL the heartprongs are much more delicate.

Here''s a in real life photo of a petite torchiere of 1 ct: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/mwm-petite-torchiere-photos.94411/page-2 That''s a size 5.5 ring.

IRL handshot 1.04ct sunburst 7.5 ring size

.81 petite torchiere no handshots though.

.86 sunburst 5.5 size

Thanks for the links litebrite, I have no idea how I missed your post the first time round

It always helps to see real life pics of the rings so you get a feel of how they would actually look in reality. The heart prongs are lovely but they always seemed so big to me in the professional pics and in actual fact they do look quite dainty in real life.