My version of the Princess Diana Bracelet

[SB621]

Hello Everyone!

I'm usually a lurker on the pearls forum, but I thought I would share with all of you my upcoming pearl/ CS bracelet project. I love the look of pearls and CS's, a love that was truly inspired by the late Princess of Whales. She had a gorgeous aquarmarine and pearl set that I loved (pic below) that I'm trying to produce something similar. I contacted Dana at mastercutgems and he had a huge blue topaz, emerald cut at 72.17cts. Unforatunely it is irradiated and heated- dont' care so much about the heating, but the irradiation I'm not thrilled about. Unforatunely I can't find anything else in that shape and size within my price range. So I bought it. The topaz will bet set into the clasp of the bracelet.

Now i'm on the hunt for the pearls that I will match it with. I would like to do a triple strand of white peals at least 7.5. I would rather have 8 to 8.5 though.

I will keep everyone updated as the project moves forward! This might be a long term one though!

 

[iLander]

Hi Sarahbear

I came over to the dark side (pearls) a while ago. CS was getting a little critical, I thought. IMHO, some of the newbies were getting clobbered when all they wanted was a little encouragement.

I think this is a plain awesome project I can't wait to see it done!

I would think Pearl Paradise (since they have so much white) and DanielM could whip this up for you in no time.

 

[SB621]

Thanks Ilander!! I'm trying to find better shots of the gemstone clasp from the inspiration shot but i'm not finding anything on the web. I wanted to keep the clasp simple- do you have any ideas for setting?

and yes I'm actually looking at PP as we speak for bracelets. I live in Japan so I might try to price some out here as well. Orginally I was thinking 8.0- 8.5 but if I'm going to do a triple strand and the gemstone is 28mm long I should probably keep the pearls closer to 7-7.5. do you agree?

 

[iLander]

Thanks Ilander!! I'm trying to find better shots of the gemstone clasp from the inspiration shot but i'm not finding anything on the web. I wanted to keep the clasp simple- do you have any ideas for setting?

and yes I'm actually looking at PP as we speak for bracelets. I live in Japan so I might try to price some out here as well. Orginally I was thinking 8.0- 8.5 but if I'm going to do a triple strand and the gemstone is 28mm long I should probably keep the pearls closer to 7-7.5. do you agree?

I think you need to get the setting made first, because whoever makes it will have a certain arrangement for the holes and who knows if they will be 7 or 8 mm apart? If you end up with pearls too big, it will be clunky. First setting, then pearls.

I know, takes the fun out of it (you'll need to wait for the pearls and not be able to play with them) but in the end, it's the best thing in my opinion.

And actually, I think the setting IS the clasp! In beading, it is very common to have a fancy bejeweled clasp like Princess Di's. I've attached an example that is obviously not nearly as beautiful as the one you are making.

Also, don't forget how much length the setting will take up from the bracelet length. It may take a full inch or more and you won't need 3 7 inch bracelets. You may be better off with one 18" (3 x 6) necklace rather than 3 bracelets and lots of wasted pearls.

 

[Fly Girl]

Sarah - I've thought of trying the make that same bracelet. I have a 7+ ct aqua that was actually cut by Dana, although I purchased it through Litnon. I agree with iLander that her aqua is the clasp. Stuller has a number of stock settings, but most of them are for smaller stones and for two strands of pearls. A gorgeous clasp is a great way to dress up a pearl bracelet.

A sample Stuller clasp. http://www.stuller.com/products/81027/?groupId=39494

 

[Kaori Oku]

That is gonna be so amazing!

 

[movie zombie]

That is gonna be so amazing!

ditto!

MoZo

 

[Gailey]

I can't wait to see this one finished, sounds wonderful.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Love the look!

How about this one?

http://www.doverjewelry.com/catalog/bracelets/vintage_2100diamond_aquamarine_platinum_bracelet.html

 

[SB621]

HI:

Love the look!

How about this one?

http://www.doverjewelry.com/catalog/bracelets/vintage_2100diamond_aquamarine_platinum_bracelet.html

Hey Canuk-gal,
I actually saw that bracelet not to long ago and I thought it was divine! If I had a spare 7-8k I would definitely buy it!

 

[SB621]

I"m not quite sure who to contact to do the setting? The topaz is rather large. 72.17 cts measures out to be 28.5 x 18.3 mm. I"m not sure who will do a custom setting. Does Stuller customizer their settings? Can anyone give a recommendation.

Ilander I know you suggested DanielM- do you think he is comfortable/ capable of doing a clasp?

TIA!

 

[iLander]

I"m not quite sure who to contact to do the setting? The topaz is rather large. 72.17 cts measures out to be 28.5 x 18.3 mm. I"m not sure who will do a custom setting. Does Stuller customizer their settings? Can anyone give a recommendation.

Ilander I know you suggested DanielM- do you think he is comfortable/ capable of doing a clasp?

TIA!

I would email him with a link to this thread and ask him what he thinks. He will let you know what he can do, and send you a computer drawing before you finalize anything. I think he has a lot of skills and I don't think we've seen them all, yet.

Stuller will charge an arm and a leg to customize something, IMHO, since they are such a big company and custom isn't actually their thing.

Set your mind at ease, email Daniel, see what he thinks.

 

[cushioncutnut]

Hi Sarahbear

I came over to the dark side (pearls) a while ago. CS was getting a little critical, I thought. IMHO, some of the newbies were getting clobbered when all they wanted was a little encouragement.

I think this is a plain awesome project I can't wait to see it done!

I would think Pearl Paradise (since they have so much white) and DanielM could whip this up for you in no time.

yeah... they tend to do that over there. You gotta give everyone a fair shake. Everyone has to start somewhere right? What better than PS? No need to chase everyone off just because they are not an expert....

o.k... back on topic................ I think that Princess Idea Bracelet will be SMASHING!! Oh I would love to see you walking down the street wearing it!! You would probably think I was a strange stalker gazing at your wrist. LOL! I would love to see more people wear this kind of jewelry.......myself included. I so admire and appreciate these kind of pieces of jewelry. The kind that says "in your face"...but still has a classic beauty to them!! So GORGEOUS!!

 

[SB621]

Thank you CCN- I'm also a big fan of in your face jewerly...and I love your pieces too! They are gorgeous!

Ok to update everyone I have emailed my local jeweler out of Hong Kong and Daniel M to see if either of them can do it and what the pricing would be on it. I definitely want to do gold and not silver. I'm starting to think DanielM could do a modified basket setting for the clasp and it could look really nice. Cross your fingers for me!

 

[cushioncutnut]

Thank you CCN- I'm also a big fan of in your face jewerly...and I love your pieces too! They are gorgeous!

Ok to update everyone I have emailed my local jeweler out of Hong Kong and Daniel M to see if either of them can do it and what the pricing would be on it. I definitely want to do gold and not silver. I'm starting to think DanielM could do a modified basket setting for the clasp and it could look really nice. Cross your fingers for me!

Thank you!

Fingers are crossed. This is going to be beautiful!!

 

[SB621]

Thank you CCN- I'm also a big fan of in your face jewerly...and I love your pieces too! They are gorgeous!

Ok to update everyone I have emailed my local jeweler out of Hong Kong and Daniel M to see if either of them can do it and what the pricing would be on it. I definitely want to do gold and not silver. I'm starting to think DanielM could do a modified basket setting for the clasp and it could look really nice. Cross your fingers for me!

have no idea why i wrote "face jewelry" i meant to just say that i'm a big fan of your jewelry. no idea where that came from

 

[SB621]

Thanks Ilander!! I'm trying to find better shots of the gemstone clasp from the inspiration shot but i'm not finding anything on the web. I wanted to keep the clasp simple- do you have any ideas for setting?

and yes I'm actually looking at PP as we speak for bracelets. I live in Japan so I might try to price some out here as well. Orginally I was thinking 8.0- 8.5 but if I'm going to do a triple strand and the gemstone is 28mm long I should probably keep the pearls closer to 7-7.5. do you agree?

I think you need to get the setting made first, because whoever makes it will have a certain arrangement for the holes and who knows if they will be 7 or 8 mm apart? If you end up with pearls too big, it will be clunky. First setting, then pearls.

I know, takes the fun out of it (you'll need to wait for the pearls and not be able to play with them) but in the end, it's the best thing in my opinion.

And actually, I think the setting IS the clasp! In beading, it is very common to have a fancy bejeweled clasp like Princess Di's. I've attached an example that is obviously not nearly as beautiful as the one you are making.

Also, don't forget how much length the setting will take up from the bracelet length. It may take a full inch or more and you won't need 3 7 inch bracelets. You may be better off with one 18" (3 x 6) necklace rather than 3 bracelets and lots of wasted pearls.

You are a genius iLander- I didn't even think of just getting one long necklace and breaking it up for the bracelet. I think that would be best to ensure that all three pieces will be as uniform as possible. I'm going for white rounds with a high luster. it is funny that the actual gemstone and pearls will not be the expensive part of this piece at all. I'm still waiting for the quotes to come in but i bet the work on the clasp will easily be triple what I payed for everything else....oh the joy of custom work!

 

[SB621]

quick update- Daniel M turned down my project I'm a little bummed but not completely surprized as this is not his area of work typically. I hope to hear back from my HK jeweler by Wed.

 

[cushioncutnut]

Hopefully it will work out with the jeweler in HK. If not, you may want to consider Sally from Hearts of Water.

 

[iLander]

quick update- Daniel M turned down my project I'm a little bummed but not completely surprized as this is not his area of work typically. I hope to hear back from my HK jeweler by Wed.

Did Dan say why he's turning it down? Is he too busy, or is it too difficult?

It does seem like a pretty tricky business, since it's a catch and a mount.

I hate to say it, since I think he's way overpriced, but maybe it's time to consult . . . gasp . . . Leon.

Let's hope it doesn't come to that, try your HK jeweler first.

We may have to take this back to colored stones for suggestions on the "big gun" jewelers.

 

[Fly Girl]

Sarah - I'm following this project with some interest. I plan to visit my jeweler in a week, or so, and I'll try to take along my aqua and ask him about the way to go about getting a setting/clasp. My guess is that this will be a custom bench job, and it will be a matter of finding the right person who is interested in doing the work. Someone whose primary interest is artistic design is probably not the guy.

I'm attaching a couple of multi-strand clasp shots showing two different clasp arrangements. In both cases, the clasp will need to be much wider, taller and thicker to accomodate your substantial stone. I'm trying to picture the size of pearls that will be needed to keep the proportions attractive. I'm thinking you will be needing multi-strands and somewhat larger pearls than Diana has. I would also ask for an additional safely chain for my bracelet.

Clasps are here. http://www.stuller.com/search/results?pg=1&query=multi-strand+clasp

 

[SB621]

oh crap I posted a whole long reply last night about the quotes but it looks like it never posted (or it was deleted but I don't see why it would have been deleted). So I will retype and hope it works this time.

DanielM said No- he was very polite i think he just didn't have any interest in something like this.
Sally from HOW said yes and quoted me pretty much what I thought it would costs in 14k white gold. HOwever if I did the project in silver it would be 1/5 of the white gold price and very under budget which would be great.
HK jeweler said yes and for 14k white gold quoted me approximately 60% under what Sally wanted for white gold.

Now my dilema. I have had many projects done by my HK jeweler and while they have good work- it is not great work if you know what I mean. I have never loved any single piece they have done for me. It always falls short but they have great pricing (being out of HK). So I'm tempted to use them being that they want 60% less then Sally to do the project in white gold but i have a feeling that is because they will use less gold then sally would have plus her quality is just over all much better. But I would perfer to use Sally for these reasons but at the same time my DH and I will be buying a house and 2 brand new cars in the next few months so I would hate to spend more on this project knowing we will need the money soon....plus Sally isn't going anywhere so I could technically finish this project next year, though I would hate to put it off....ok now i'm just rambling.

I'm following up with Sally to make sure she completely understand the details of the project and to see if there are a few ways we could bring the price down. I will keep everyone updated.

 

[cushioncutnut]

oh crap I posted a whole long reply last night about the quotes but it looks like it never posted (or it was deleted but I don't see why it would have been deleted). So I will retype and hope it works this time.

DanielM said No- he was very polite i think he just didn't have any interest in something like this.
Sally from HOW said yes and quoted me pretty much what I thought it would costs in 14k white gold. HOwever if I did the project in silver it would be 1/5 of the white gold price and very under budget which would be great.
HK jeweler said yes and for 14k white gold quoted me approximately 60% under what Sally wanted for white gold.

Now my dilema. I have had many projects done by my HK jeweler and while they have good work- it is not great work if you know what I mean. I have never loved any single piece they have done for me. It always falls short but they have great pricing (being out of HK). So I'm tempted to use them being that they want 60% less then Sally to do the project in white gold but i have a feeling that is because they will use less gold then sally would have plus her quality is just over all much better. But I would perfer to use Sally for these reasons but at the same time my DH and I will be buying a house and 2 brand new cars in the next few months so I would hate to spend more on this project knowing we will need the money soon....plus Sally isn't going anywhere so I could technically finish this project next year, though I would hate to put it off....ok now i'm just rambling.

I'm following up with Sally to make sure she completely understand the details of the project and to see if there are a few ways we could bring the price down. I will keep everyone updated.

Well I am glad that you have a few options. If you are in no hurry, and knowing that the HK jeweler always falls below your expectations, I would say go with Sally. Her workmanship is incredible and I think this piece deserves to look like a piece that you would want to hand down for generations.

 

[Fly Girl]

Most of my colored gemstones that get set go to the local jeweler for basic settings. My thought is the emphasis is on the color and the stone, and the setting is just there to hold it in place. A few gemstones go the designer route, which costs many times more than the basic setting, but the finished piece is a nice heavy one-of-a-kind piece that gets lots of comments. People recognize the better quality.

I generally get my settings done in 14k gold, but for my Dana aqua I was actually thinking of going with silver if it would hold down the price a lot. I'll also shop around for pretty white pearls, but I probably won't pay for top, top quality. I don't plan on wearing mine a lot, and I figure I will get a lot of the look from the blue stone and the white pearls. I doubt that the clasp will be all that noticable.

But, it really depends on what you are looking for from this piece. There is nothing quite like fine quality jewelry to make a woman feel really special. I was at the opera tonight, and women pull out their big flashy pieces for the occasion. This special bracelet would certainly qualify.

 

[SB621]

UPDATE!

I have decided to go with Sally on this project and I'm excitied to see how it turns out. In regards to metal type I haven't quite decided yet if I want to do the whole thing in white gold or at Sally's suggestion creating it in sterling silver with rhodium plating for the bright finish of white gold. She also suggested doing the jump rings which will attach the pearls to the metal pieces in 14k white gold as well as gold stablizers midway around the bracelet on each side to keep the pearls in line, and the body of the work in sterling.

By adding the white gold elements the price went up signficantly so at this point I'm thinking for a bit more I should just do the whole thing in white gold. As soon as I hear back from Dana I will have him send the topaz to Sally. I asked Sally when she sees the topaz if she could email me what size pearls I should be looking for - for the triple strand. The topaz is 28mm long so I'm guessing 3 strands of 8mm white or cream pearls would look great.

 

[SB621]

Gemstone is on it's way to Sally as of today. She will evaluate the stone and start sending me ideas for the clasp. Once we know the size of the clasp I will need to sourse pearls for the bracelet. I did bite the bullet and the entire bracelet will be done in 14k white gold. I talked to DH and he said to just go ahead and spend the money and do everything correctly.

I will keep everyone updated! I hope you aren't sick of my bracelet saga yet!

 

[iLander]

PLEASE DO keep us updated! I am excited to see this one done, it will be amazing!

 

[Fly Girl]

I just found a website with lots of pictures of the Diana bracelet here. http://dianasjewels.net/bracelets.htm

It looks like there is a flower and diamond clasp opposite the aquamarine.

 

[Fly Girl]

Close up of the flower shaped clasp.

 

[Fly Girl]

A few more photos of the beautiful Diana wearing this stunning bracelet.