Need help buying diamonds for 3 stone ring

[Jason77]

I would like to buy a 3 stone ring with larger center stone and smaller side stones. Would my best option be:

1. to buy a loose center stone online and buy the setting and side stones locally, or

2. buy 3 loose stones online and have them set locally?

If #2 is the best option, how do I "match" the sidestones? Do I just find diamonds with similar characteristics, or does this need to be done visually? Do vendors sell matched pairs? Also, are there any guidelines as to how big the sidestones should be if the center stone is ~ 1.0 carat? Thanks for your help,

Jason

 

[Maisie]

Whiteflash has a three stone setting which comes with the side stones. You would then need to choose the centre stone from their range and they would set it for you.

http://www.whiteflash.com/Engagement-Rings/Styles/3Stone/-Trois-Brillant-_1031.htm

Thats assuming you want round brilliants of course

 

[jstarfireb]

Three-stone mountings often come with the side stones already mounted. Ask the vendor for info on the cut, color, and clarity of the sidestones so you can match them. For example, this ring from Whiteflash comes with 2 ACA F-G VS stones, which gives you a lot of room to work with, so an ACA or ES stone with color and clarity through H-I VS2-SI1 should match nicely. With this ring on the other hand, you pick your sidestones. Whiteflash actually has a feature that allows you to search for matching stones, so that you could find 2 nearly identical sidestones and match them to the center.