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N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Grail)

M

moonraker

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 12, 2011
Messages
9
Hi all :wavey: ,

N00b here and let me first say that PS is an incredible resource and I've learned more than I ever wanted to know about diamonds (but that's a good thing now). I've read and searched exhaustively and am finally ready to post re: starting the quest for my GF's dream e-ring, a.k.a. the holy grail.

She likes surprises so the responsibility for this is largely on me (no pressure, right?) Over time, I've slowly (and sneakily) been able to glean her ring preferences. Simply put: she loves sparkle. Lots of it. She loves round cut and halos. Also, thin single band with diamonds everywhere (in shank or pave?)

I've prioritized the C's:

- Cut: Ideal / H&A
- Carat: Thinking between 1.4 and 1.7
- Color: G,H,I
- Clarity: VS2 or eye clean SI1

So now I turn to PS to humbly ask: how do I maximize sparkle, period? I know cut is the key for the center diamond. Does it make sense to go smaller carat for better color? Where I am getting hung up is mainly on the halo... I've seen both round and square shaped halos? I have no way to find out her preference there without being obvious. Also, are diamonds embedded in the shank sparklier than a pave? I need to figure out a way to get the most sparkle out of the setting and halo too. I've looked at settings w/ melees, paves, etc: Vatche Grace, Amphora, Halo Prongs.

Basically, I'm looking for help creating the sparkliest e-ring setup based on her preferences I've discovered. Please educate me. Thank you all for your time and contributions to make this place such a valuable resource as I begin my quest for the holy grail.
 
Re: N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Gr

what is your budget? I think we can help you come up with a beautiful round cut in a halo :)
 
Re: N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Gr

Oh, I love the Vatche Grace! I definitely think going with H color for the center stone will allow you to maximize your size. Most any of the vendors around here can do lovely halos. And getting a beautiful ideal cut center stone will insure that you get maximum sparkle!
 
Re: N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Gr

Just from doing a quick search it looks like Good Old Gold and WhiteFlash have some 1.5 ct. H SI1 and VS2 H&A stones in the $11,500 to 12,000 range. What is your total budget for the ring?
 
Re: N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Gr

I would stick with rounds as they have the most finger coverage/ face up size and personally i think they sparkle more then square/ princess cuts.

If she wants sparkle and a halo then you can't go wrong with the Harry Winston inspired Halo. See picture attached below- though it is a cushion there are several round version's that are gorgeous in pave and very sparkley! JbEG, WF, ERD, Leon and BGD all due their own HW's inspired settings.
 

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Re: N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Gr

Ah, completely forgot the budget, sorry! I was assuming 15k max for this setup. I have a good idea what the stone would cost, but the prices of settings were harder to peg since I was looking all over the place with criteria of thin band w/ lots of small diamonds on it, and a halo.
 
Re: N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Gr

I love that Leon setting that Sarahbear just posted but I think it is around 5k just for the setting. You could definitely get a non-handmade setting that is very nice but it would have slightly more metal showing. As other posters mentioned JbEG, WF, BGD, and ERD make CAD/cast setting that are very nice.

You could do the Leon (if I am correct that it is 5k, it could be more??) with this diamond (slightly smaller than you were looking at, but a halo adds a LOT of size)
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamond/diamond-detail/?product_id=AGS-104048388004
 
Re: N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Gr

With regard to the Pave in the Halo (and the band if you are going that route).

Ensure the cut of the Pave so they sparkle equally well to the center stone. I've seen women with rings out there that have sparkly center stones and really dull or different colored Pave.

An exaggerated example of that would be a f colored center stone with K colored Pave. It doesn't look good.

I know first hand BGD uses H&A G colored pave. I had them set in my fiance's e-ring and w-ring.

If you want to short cut your search for sparkle factor in center stones, a simple way of doing that is looking at the H&A cuts. It's a good start that helps narrows the 'cut' category. After that you just have to look at color, clarity and carat. The other nice thing about the H&A's is selected vendors offer better upgrade and buy-back policies on their premium H&A's .

Good luck! If it helps at all, much like you, I went the whole process alone. By alone, I mean, my GF wasn't included but my friends at PRICESCOPE were in my corner! I had a blast doing it and my now finace LOVES the outcome and that to did the process alone.

You can search my posts to see what I bought, designed and had manufactured.
 
Re: N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Gr

Thank you all for the responses, I genuinely appreciate your help! After looking at a TON of halos, I keep coming back to Leon Mege's 811 Adrianna I believe it's called. Combine this with a round H&A and you can't get much sparklier than that, can you? I think a few ladies have this setup (heb, lesco). It seems like this setting is around $5k but if I wanted to get a quote from him, what information do I need to give him re: pave, shank, etc (I don't want to mess up the technical terms)?

Also, I saw this other setting that looks similar to the Adrianna but I think it is BGD. Here's the link. If you scroll down in that thread, the profile of that ring looks different, is there specific term for it?

slg47: Thanks, the Leon is definitely what I'm leaning towards. If it's around $5k, that means I'd have to compromise slightly on stone. Do you happen to know any other settings that looks exactly like this? You mentioned though that they would have more metal & less sparkle showing though, hmm.

Sarahbear621: Perfect, thank you. You mentioned that there are a few variations out there that people have done with pave, etc. I've seen DCDiamondGirl's, lesco's, heb's, and of course the awesome one you linked from frankie. Besides center stone, are there differences between them all?

diamondseeker2006: Thanks, that's around the price I've been finding in my early stone search. Everyone has great things to say about all the preferred vendors, but is there one in particular I should focus on for an ideal cut H&A round?

IceExplorer: Haha you sound exactly like me except you've already gone through everything. Thanks for the reply and congrats on your end result, looks awesome. I took your advice and looked through your posts; very informative!
 
Re: N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Gr

Moonraker, the best way to approach Leon for a quote is to send a photo of one of his finished rings that you like and ask him for a quote to make the same thing for a 1.5 ct. stone, or whatever. He knows the sizes of all the components. That is by far the easiest way to get a quote from him! Honestly, Leon is the master of that type of ring, and I have a classic solitaire setting from him. But the other master who is sometimes overlooked is Maytal Hannah. She also makes pave rings and she does an outstanding job for a reasonable price. My daughter just had her wedding band made there. So you might want to check out her site at least.

http://www.maytalhannah.com/

As far as hearts and arrows stones go, I have personally bought from Good Old Gold and WhiteFlash, and I would now add Brian Gavin Diamonds to a search because he was formerly with WF. These three consistently have the best selection of stones and are known for top cut quality. All have a return and trade-in policy as well.
 
Re: N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Gr

Engagement rings direct (also known around here as ERD for short) makes several beautiful halo settings. One of the most favored around here is called the winnie which is a Harry Winston inspired ring. If you look at the settings under this link (Mark's HW inspired collection)
http://www.engagementringsdirect.com/JewelryList.aspx?Inspired=Harry+Winston you will see lots of lovely ones. You should contact him for a quote too - I would imagine it is less than Leon.

There is a beautiful halo on his site called the Grace that is around 3300.

Good luck!
 
Re: N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Gr

You sound like you've done your homework very well! No matter what you choose, your gf is going to be thrilled because you've put so much time/effort into getting her the perfect ring for her.

I just wanted to add that JBGG has some AMAZING halo rings too.

http://www.jewelsbyericagrace.com/jbeg_signature_settings__custom_design

Keep in mind when you look at the pics, most are CAD renderings, so they look more "boxy" or bulky than the finished product.

Here is a better link to many finished products to give you a better idea of what they look like not in CAD form
http://jewelsbyericagrace.smugmug.com/JbEG-Signature-Settings-and/Halos

BGD does amazing custom work and have made some BEAUTIFUL halos that are slightly more "budget" friendly than Leon. However Leon is amazing and his work is like art (although BGD pieces are beautiful too) but I think that any of the other vendors make beautiful pieces too without the hefty price tag (meaning you can have a larger center stone). However there was one Leon that was just done...and WOW, it's one of the most beautiful pieces I've ever seen. If you check JBEG site, you can see a few of his pieces that they have (are being consigned) just to get a better idea of his work.

Enjoy the search and I can't wait to see what your going to go with! One lucky lady!

And your budget is great too. Here are some videos that will help you sort out your color preference, etc done by GOG. You can search though them and get a pretty good idea of what styles you like (pave, channel set, etc) and the color/clarity difference in the stones in many comparisons.
http://vimeo.com/diamondinfo/videos/sort:date
 
Re: N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Gr

If you want to ask Leon for a quote, frankiextah posted all of the relevant info in her thread (I think she used cutdown pave, no pave on donut). It might be worth asking for a quote just to see how much it is and to compare all of your options. Also, a Leon setting will take 6 weeks or so so if you are on a timeline then one of the others might work.

As you can see from the pictures, one of the finer CAD/CAST settings (BGD, JbEG, ERD, WF) do not show a TON of metal but if you compare closely to the Leon you will see that the Leon has a more refined/exquisite look. Also, the halo adds a LOT of size, so comparing a 1.3 carat to a 1.5 carat solitaire you might notice a difference, but the difference is much less if you compare a 1.3 carat to a 1.5 carat in a halo (just food for thought).

Either way it seems like you're on the right track to getting your GF the ring of her dreams :)
 
Re: N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Gr

NooB it looks like you are off to a great start! And I'm sure you will have a beautiful ring as a result.

I had to chuckle at your post title, I feel for guys on this subject. I can't even decide on a setting for MYSELF, let alone someone else. Keep us updated.
 
Re: N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Gr

diamondseeker2006, thank you for the mention of Maytal Hannah as her work looks beautiful. Searching PS I found this MH setting (Charmypoo's ring) which I think would be perfect (w/ a round center). Deep V cut pave is about as sparkly as I can get the band, right? I keep trying to compare types of pave to determine which sparkles most.

CharmyPoo-MaytalHannah-Rocks-Closeup2.jpg


vintagelover229, the JBEG rec is wonderful as well! JBEG has a similar halo here but it's a different type of pave that seems to show a bit more metal? This is where I keep getting hung up on terminology as I would ideally want the least amount of metal showing and most sparkle/diamonds on the band. It's much harder/impossible to re-size an eternity band though, right?

file.jpg


Cut: H&A versus Star 129?

I have also hit another potential bump in the road with my discovery of Star 129 diamonds. Personally, I prefer the H&A cut. However, this is not my ring and as I mentioned above, she loves sparkle. The H&A gives more of a broad sparkle while the Star 129 cut seems splintered & has more flashes. When I saw the Star 129 I thought it was sparklier, but the cuts are so different! Also, would matching a Star 129 with a halo/melee be a problem since the stones on the setting would be different cuts? Trying to figure out which type of sparkle/cut she would prefer is going to drive me nuts. And here I thought I had a decision made with the H&A already.

bigdiamondtinygal, I'll definitely add ERD to the quotes list, thanks for that reccomendation! And slg47 thanks for making me aware of Leon's timetable. I'm not in a hurry but that's definitely something to keep in mind. Petrock<3, the subject title is truly how I felt starting out haha. It literally is a quest but I've learned so much so fast with PS.

Thank you all again for the valuable input!
 
Re: N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Gr

I'd probably stick with the hearts and arrows stones, if it was me. I am SURE she will consider it very sparkly, especially in the setting you are considering! There is a greater selection of H&A available and you may not pay the premium you have to pay with some of the other branded stones. I'd either go with Leon or Maytal for the setting, personally.
 
Re: N00b Starts Quest For GF's Dream E-Ring (AKA the Holy Gr

diamondseeker2006|1295271971|2824847 said:
I'd probably stick with the hearts and arrows stones, if it was me. I am SURE she will consider it very sparkly, especially in the setting you are considering! There is a greater selection of H&A available and you may not pay the premium you have to pay with some of the other branded stones. I'd either go with Leon or Maytal for the setting, personally.
Click to expand...

yeah, I think sticking with the H&A rounds is a good idea. Here is BGD's version of that setting just to compare
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/home/ring-details/?product_id=5493
 
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