Need pendant advice!

[MichelleCarmen]

Okay, I''m going to be setting my mom''s eng. diamond into a pendant for myself. Right now I already have basket setting stud earrings and will be wearing the pendant with the earrings. What I''m wondering is should I just get a basket setting pendant so it matches the earrings or should I get a bezel setting for it''s advantages?

The basket setting looks nice but it''s harder to see from a distance. Also, I hear they don''t lay as nicely and tend to flop around. . .is this true? Any experience here? The basket setting is also cheaper (and my budget is only $300-350, and the setting has to be platinum).

Bezel settings are not my style as much, but it will make the .5 look bigger and it will lay flat. Plus, I won''t as easily loose the diamond if one of my toddlers yanks on my chain and it breaks. . . but as I said, my necklace won''t match my earrings, AND the setting will cost more. . .

I''d love to hear any opinions or advice!

(oh and for fun, I tried all kinds of settings on at Tiffany''s and they all looked really pretty and this just made me more confused!)

Thanks,
Michelle

 

[Kay]

I have the same dilemma. I have been wanting a pendant (hinting to FI what a great wedding gift it would make) but am not sure between basket and bezel set. I also have basket set studs, but figure the earrings and pendants will match well enough as long as they are all round diamonds. I have a basket set garnet pendant, and it does bounce and twist a lot. I have not worn a bezel set stone, so I cannot comment on whether they lay flatter, but I don't notice them bouncing and twisting on other women when I am scoping out jewelry I covet. For a 1/2 carat stone, I think a bezel is the better option to emphasize size.

Another option is to get a half bezel setting. Pqcollectibles posted hers a while back, and I can't get that gorgeous pendant out of my mind. Maybe she'll post it again so you can see it. The half bezel gives you the size increasing advantages of the full bezel, but leaves part of the diamond girdle exposed so it will look more like your earrings than a full bezel. Just an idea.

 

[hoorray]

I just set my original e-ring diamond in a platinum besel set pendant, and it looks great, even tho my earrings are basket set. I don't think it is noticible at all since they are both "white". (I never even thought of that until this thread

)My setting is more than just the bezel -- it is a vertical bar (1 inch or so) with the bezel set diamond about 2/3rds of the way down. (I don't have a picture -- sorry). Nice and interesting with more style than just a stone. The setting without the chain was only $110. The jeweler who did it for me had a catelog of settings to pick from, and none was very expensive. You might see if yours has something similar.

 

[fuffi]

I love prongs for diamond studs and rings, but IMO a prong set diamond on a large area like the neck gets a little lost. Unless of course, the rock is huge...

When I had an old e-ring diamond set into a pendant a couple of years ago I ended up going with the style below. I liked it so much, I had drop earrings made to match.

 

[niceice]

That's a pretty pendant Fuffi!

Michelle, the comment you made about "bezels not being your style" seems to answer the question... If they're not your style, you're likely not to wear the pendant as often as you would if you set the diamond in a basket similar to your earrings... We can't even count how many times we bought a piece of clothing that was "all right" but not quite our style and sits to this day in our closet...