Marquise masterpiece for M... (created by CvB ID)

[drk14]

I've finally made it to SMTB! It will probably take me a few days to organize my pictures and write up some posts, so this first post will just be a teaser...

First things first: She said "Yes"! ...And she loves her ring!

The proposal was the day before Valentine's Day (the 13th is the date of our monthly anniversary, and her favorite number), at a romantic bed & breakfast -- a 19th century mansion, with vintage furniture and decor (so the ambiance matched the vintage-style ring perfectly!). I had arranged with the inn-keeper to have our room decorated with flowers, champagne, candles and rose-petals while I took my intended to dinner, so the scene was set for when we returned. I do remember getting down on one knee by the fireplace, but the rest is a bit of a blur! Tears were shed, smiles were smiled, and the quest finally reached its happy end.


Slightly anonymized post-proposal selfie (after we'd calmed down a bit from the excitement!)


Your not really engaged until you make it Facebook official, lol

She was so happy with the ring itself, it turned out perfect for her, and she describes it as "amazing". I snapped a really cute candid photo in which she's gazing adoringly at the ring on her hand, but it's too personal to share here, sorry! Beyond the happiness of finally being engaged to the woman of my dreams, it was very gratifying to see her genuine excitement about the engagement ring... all the time and effort put in to this labor of love paid off in the end.

Part of my journey to make this custom-designed ring a reality is described in this testimonial thread .

As time permits, I will add to my SMTB thread to write more about the ring and how it came to be -- and of course to share more pictures.

In the meantime, here are two glamour photos courtesy of the vendor (CvB Inspired Design):

 

[arkieb1]

Holy Wow, that is an amazingly beautiful ring, congrats on your engagement and having such gloriously good taste as well!!!!

 

[GliderPoss]

It's beautiful. Congratulations!!!

 

[vintageinjune]

Yay!!!!!! Congratulations on your engagement, and woo-hoo to your fiance (!) absolutely adoring the ring. It is gorgeous, that double halo with the pink melee is breathtaking! Thank you for sharing this part of the journey with us, and the perspective photos! Sounds like it was a perfect proposal too!

 

[eirwen]

congrats on your engagement! the ring is spectacular .. well done!

 

[Acinom]

Congrats on your engagement!!
The ring is stunning. I admired it on Caysies Facebook page and I am so glad you came back to share it with us!!

 

[artdecolover71]

Absolutely stunning...I love the details and it looks perfect on her finger!
Caysie and Cvb did a beautiful job. Congrats on your engagement!

 

[missy]

Wow, the ring is gorgeous and looks beautiful on your FI's hand! Congratulations and all the best!

 

[apacherose]

Beautiful ring, and the effort you put into creating this touches me - I can only imagine the sentiment of your fiancée!

Hope you post a lot more photos- the shots you posted already are amazing, this is a lovely and unique ring and I do think that you ended up going with the right designer for you.

 

[kmarla]

Your ring is exquisite! I love the fine detail and the light pink melee Congratulations on your engagement!

 

[kroshka]

Congratulations! Beautiful ring - looking forward to more photos!

Kroshka

 

[baby monster]

Gorgeous ring! The double halo gives lots of presence on the finger.

 

[purplesilk]

Great job! The ring is amazing!!!

 

[Maisie]

I really love this ring. I saw it on Caysie's FB page and wondered if it was a PS'er. It has wonderful presence on her hand! I wish you both a wonderful future!

 

[telephone89]

Congrats! That is absolutely stunning!

 

[yanaazul]

That truly is a masterpiece, exquisite! Glad you found the vendor that could make all your dreams and ideas come true, your testimonial thread was fascinating to read. Congratulations!

 

[tyty333]

Beautiful ring! That marquise is just stunning!

 

[drk14]

Thanks everybody for you kind words! For my next installment, a few words (and pictures) regarding the center diamond:

As some of you know, this entire project was a completely secret surprise for my fiancee. I knew that her favorite cut was the marquise, because of its feminine shape. Upon joining PS, I quickly learned that well-cut marquise diamonds are hard to find.

Enter PS-superheroine Niel, who found me a stunning 1.05ct E SI1 MQ in James Allen's inventory, and patiently explained to me why this particular diamond was such a great find (Niel, thank you! My FI and I will forever be indebted to you for your expert assistance).

Link to specs and 360-degree display on the JA website.


High-definition image, courtesy of JA

The crystal inclusion at the tip, which I was initially terrified of, turned out to be a non-issue: the diamond was perfectly eye-clean to the unaided eye (and in the setting, it is nestled within a V-prong, so it is challenging to find even with magnification). I now see it as a Marilyn Monroesque beauty mark.

The faceting is attractive, and achieves outstanding light performance: it is bright and lively, has almost no leakage through the pavilion, and produces predominantly broad to medium-size flashes distributed evenly across the diamond.


DiamCalc-simulated ASET, courtesy of David Atlas

I don't have any great glamour photos of the loose diamond, but the picture below turned out kind of cool. The diamond is nestled between two of my fingers (wearing a blue nitrile glove to avoid transfering finger grease!), and the metal is the shank of he gold ring. The blue and yellow colors are picked up primarily through the girdle and crown.



Stay tuned for more about the setting...

 

[KristyDarling]

There are no words. What a unique, intricate, artistic ring! Congratulations on your engagement and please post more pics soon!!

 

[drk14]

On to the setting. My aspirations for the yet-to-be-imagined ring were distilled into the following vision:

A feminine and delicate yet practical engagement ring with a unique design that showcases and enhances the central marquise diamond, and incorporates a pink feature.

The main design inspiration was a vintage platinum and marquise diamond ring that I had found on the website of the Bonhams auction house:


After a few false starts, I decided to commission this custom piece from CvB Inspired Design.

**edited by moderator to comply with our policies**

I was hooked after Caysie sent me this drawing:



Two days later she had refined the design concept for the shoulders (now incorporating navette-shaped cut-outs to echo the central marquise), and laid the groundwork for a gallery design featuring delicate filigree scrollwork:



This is the final CAD rendering (which does not show the shoulder millegrain -- in any case, all millegrain is applied by hand and not actually cast):



I have to say that I would never have considered a double halo before I saw Caysie's design, as I would have worried the center stone would be lost. But somehow, this design really works to emphasize the 1-carat marquise center. I think it's the pink diamonds -- the contrast in color really enhances the outline of the center diamond.

Another really great aspect of the design are the proportions of the head. The "preferred" L:W ratio for a marquise ranges from 1.75:1 to 2.25:1, with 2:1 considered "ideal". Now, the center diamond is on the slender side (2.22:1), but the outline of the outside (scalloped) halo has a L:W ratio closer to 1.75:1, while the pink halo proportions are very close to the ideal 2:1. Thus, in a single setting, we get to enjoy the full variety of the aesthetically preferred range of proportions for navettes, from chubby to slender! I think this is one reason why it looks so beautiful.

I will conclude this post by listing some of the setting specs, so that my next post can be less wordy (and it will feature pictures of the finished ring, I promise!).

Specifications:
Center diamond: 1.05ct E SI1 marquise brilliant, VG polish, G symmetry, 11.08mm (L) x 5.00mm (W) x 3.33mm (D)
Setting: 900 platinum-iridium alloy, size 6.625 (17.0mm inner diameter)
Melee: 0.14ctw Argyle medium fancy pink melee in inner halo; 0.25ctw colorless (G/VS) single-cut melee on shoulders and outer halo.

 

[CRYSTAL24K]

Congratulations! What a magnificent ring!

 

[Niel]

I love how elegant it looks on her slender hands.

Its truly an heirloom ring and I can't imagine it turning out any more perfectly.

I was going to comment once you posted some profile shots because, you know, I'll be oogling those...but I suppose I can pop back in for those

That marquise you have is the prettiest mq I've ever seen, and its got such a fitting setting.

PS. You were right to avoid any rose gold, the pink achieved the exact color you wanted. So fresh.

 

[drk14]

The package arrived with a week to spare before the proposal:



The ring came in a mahogany ring box that was hand made by Michael W. Benton exclusively for CvB ID.



A close-up look of the ring in its ring box:



Somehow, the above picture makes the center diamond look a bit included, but I believe the specks seen are reflections of the bezel millegrain and prongs, light from which can enter the diamond through the exposed girdle. The high-def pictures of the diamond that I posted above show that there are no such inclusions in this SI1 marquise.

Out of the box, photographed in diffuse light (northern-facing window on a snowy February day):



Maker's mark inside the shank:




That's it for now. The good news is that my next post should have some obligatory flower shots and hand shots.

Thanks for reading my thread this far!

 

[drk14]

I love how elegant it looks on her slender hands.

Its truly an heirloom ring and I can't imagine it turning out any more perfectly.

I was going to comment once you posted some profile shots because, you know, I'll be oogling those...but I suppose I can pop back in for those

That marquise you have is the prettiest mq I've ever seen, and its got such a fitting setting.

PS. You were right to avoid any rose gold, the pink achieved the exact color you wanted. So fresh.

Thank you, Niel! I was wondering when I would see you here... I'm really glad you like the ring as much as the bride-elect and I do. Thanks again for your invaluable help and support throughout this process.

Have to sign off for now, but I should be able to get you that profile shot for my next post (which should go up this weekend -- tomorrow, hopefully). So do pop back!

 

[woofmama]

The ring is beautiful! I followed your thread in RT & am so happy for you in finding the perfect designer to execute your vision. I also read your testimonial page & appreciate the thorough review you posted.

Very happy for you & your lady, a big congratulations

 

[diamondseeker2006]

What an incredible ring!!! It is so gorgeous and I love everything about the design! Your ideas were wonderful. and Caysie, a gifted artist and her CVB Inspired Design team, brought it to life! I have worked with Caysie, too, and love her! I don't know of anyone better for designing an antique style ring. Excellent testimonial, too! Thank you for your contributions to this site!

Congratulations to both of you on your engagement! If you put the effort into your marriage that you put into this ring, you will have one happy wife and happy life!

 

[Gem Queen]

What a beautiful ring. I love the way it flows. Everything is symmetrical. Love it. Congratulations

 

[sweetpea&babycorn]

What a lucky woman! This is why I love love love Caysie! She has such vision to produce beautiful, unique, timeless, classy pieces and she treats all of her designs like she is going to be wearing it herself. Your fiancé's ring is gorgeous, and the super romantic proposal totally matches the ring! big kudos to you, and hope you enjoy wedding planning!

 

[makeable]

Wow. Beautiful and very flattering on the finger. Congrats!

 

[drk14]

Thanks again for all of the wonderful comments from all of you... in the interest of getting more eye candy posted in a timely fashion, I'm holding off on writing individual responses for now. But all of the kind words and congratulations are sincerely appreciated.

OK, let me start with a couple of flower shots. It's a brutal winter here, so I had to use textile flowers...





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