Needing suggestions for custom design

[Lal]

Hello!

I''m in the process of trying to custom design my ring. I''m wondering if there is some program out there that I can use to try to design and visualize it before presenting it to the jeweller.

Also, I''m hoping to do a pave type of style, kind of like the Michael B. pave style or a modification of it. I am wanting to get as much sparkle as I can. Do you think that having ideal cut diamonds will help or is this unnecessary? At what size would it matter to have higher quality cut stones?

Thanks!
Lal

 

[valeria101]

Yeah, I would use better cut accent stones - regardless of their size. Also, these are not graded so it makes sense to handpick the better from the pack - with those specialty melee, I suppose this much care has already been taken.

As for the design, you can probably use any 3D graphics package for fun, but it makes little sense to start learning the tricks just for one project. If you take a look at the recent threads about two such designs made for "Appreciative of Expertise" and "Color Gemstones Nut" they would give you an idea about how the designs evolve. Those sketches are made using CAD/CAM, but I do not know what software package... you could ask, I would think. The oldest in use might be AutoCad. I have used to 3DS sometime ago and I found Corel most fun to work with - but this is mainly 2D and, really, just "for fun" for me.

In all good faith, pen & paper might be the lest overkill

If there already is a model you like but not quite, you can easily print a decent version of the picture and superimpose (using a transparent sheet placed over the printout) the details you want; this is very fast and you can 'add up' details from diferent printed designes as long as you can scale them up to fit.

Hope this helps...

 

[DavidEmslie]

Most of my customers bring me a pen and paper sketch, or send me a photo via Email before I do a CAD/CAM custom design and photo. Asking for changes to be made, then a series of Emails and photos and some phone calls go back and forth untill the design is just right. With requests and recomendations as to what will work best untill agreed, often times designing around the types of jewlery one already has if needed to make it all match and look right.
The biggest misconception about a designer and what people think a designer is, most people think they are stuck with that designers style of ring...no, the goal is to make YOUR style of ring

Then a wax is cut on the milling machine, the system we have is accurate to 1/8th of the thickness of a sheet of paper. Its pretty amazing.

Then it is cast in the metal of choice and finished like any other piece of traditional jewelry, and deliverd too the customer either in person or via FedEx.

As far as diamonds go perfect stones for the job as needed are just a phone call away, or are in stock. On anything custom and special it is always nice to use the best possibe melee, E-G color range is my preference for design. And VS to Si1.

Mostly it depends on how nuts one wants to go. I wont say the sky is the limmit on what can be done but there are more options out there than most people think.

One just has to ask the right people

 

[Lal]

Thanks for the replies!

I'm quite an amateur at this, so how can I ensure that the side stones are fairly good quality if it has no certification? What tools can I use as a consumer to help select the better cut stones?

Lal

 

[valeria101]

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On 4/26/2004 1:17:09 PM Lal wrote:



What tools can I use as a consumer to help select the better cut stones?

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If you are talking about accent diamonds (say up to 0.25 cts) - really none but his trust of the seller. Worse still, there is not much a seller can use to demonstrate the quality of these, unless he shows the finished product and YOU know what to look for! So... better jewelry gets better cut melee. 'cause the average buyer would not have it otherwise (and whoever spends allot on one piece is likely both to have more jewelry, and more knowledge about it). Most of times, this rule of thumb works nicely.

You will see people here using an Ideal Scope on small stones (10 pointers): this is not even intended, and no one seems crazy enough to look for ultimate perfecton in these tiny bits. It is quite amazing that they get near such precision in the first place! According to my 0.2, at least...

There really is only one consumer's tool to judge diamonds: get to see lots of them !

Common sense rarely fails...

 

[DavidEmslie]

When it comes to smaller stones they are almost strictly a comodity, All good designers are going to use high quality stones, and make recomendations for matching to other stones.
Remember folks, any good designers final product is a reflection of there quality of work. So it is in there best interest to make it the best they can as it means more business. One gets something beautiful based on recomendations durring the process. This includes stone and metal quality, workmanship and the overall balance too the design to make you what you want.

 

[strmrdr]

whiteflash.com has aca melee diamonds down to I believe .10 that are h&a.
They arent on the website so you would have to drop them an email.
imho there is a difference.
The small ideal cut diamond in my pricescope pin looks way better than others Iv seen in the same size.
2x the sparkle and fire in my opinion.

 

[DavidEmslie]

People, there are reasons why melee is not avalible too you, and only avalible to fine jewelers and manufatures who can actualy use/set the stuff. There are very good reasons why too.

1. Being that it should be the same grade or one color grade less than the center stone, this way it complements the center stone.


2. Stone size is important, some stones dont fit into some settings, or have to be made for the setting ect.


3. Melee can break durring setting, and is generaly only sold in lots of at least a carat or more. Getting a match for a customer that needs say one five point stone is going to be expensive and a waste of time to dealers, customers, vendors on all accounts.

Finding sources for melee as a consumer is a true waste of time, yeah, you may save $50 or $100 after spending hours searching only to end up paying a higher setting cost from the setter who will take on the liabilty of breakage, shipping ect ect. Costs of changing a design to accomidate the stones you bring them ect.

A good example is that yes, honey comes from bees, and yes, I could go out into the woods looking for a bee hive, and get my own honey (and maybe get stung)...or I can go too the store where someone has already done that, and get what I need and want and have that convince and safty. And know that it is done right

For any ring usualy it takes less than a carat of stones for melee, depending on size, shape and quality for E-G color stones that are VS the cost depending on size can be from $600 to $1200 per carat. I have seen other jewelers charge as much as $1500 to $2000, witch is high for anything under 10pts. Really small stuff or highly included/silver cape or brown junk can be from $50 to $300 per carat.

As with anything, you get what you pay for, however melee is not like a center stone, its a comodity, and always being used, so getting matching stones that are exact for a job are going to be comprable in price from anyone. There are some companies such as mine that get a bit better rate for volume as we wholesale designs to jewelry stores. But even then such a discount is not more than about $50 a carat, its just not worth the hassel for the expertise you get when dealing with a competent source.
What the designer needs to know is this, what kind of design, and what type of center stone needs the melee as a complement? From there the right melee can be used.

 

[strmrdr]

If I was spending the time,energy and money to have a custom ring made every stone in it would be to my specifications if not selected by me.
There is not a big price difference between the well cut melee and the garbage cut ones.
Iv seen the difference and would not settle for run of the mill diamonds.

 

[DavidEmslie]

exactly, witch is why you want to specify what you want/need and get them from the maker of the ring, its not worth the searching to save the minute amount when the right stones are a phone call away from the ring maker or in stock. You want to be working with someone who WILL get you the right stones for the job. Like it has been stated, the cost for doing such is nominal.

 

[Lal]

Hi there,

I just met with a local custom designer in Vancouver, B.C.. We were able to discuss the design that I was thinking about. I'm wanting to use a lot of melee stones about 1.5 mm in diameter to create that similar Michael B. setting look (does anyone know about what carat weight that would translate into?). He said he might need about 50 of them (I wasn't expecting that many!). He says he uses all ideal cut melee stones, D-E in color with VVS clarity. I didn't think this was necessary as I thought the cost would be substantially more to use such high color and clarity grades. He said that the cost difference is quite minor since they have them in bulk (and he didn't have lower color/clarity grades anyway).

Unfortunately, when I asked him what the breakdown of the cost was, he was unwilling to tell me how much the melee stones translate into. The ballpark price quote for the custom design setting including materials was about $4000 Cdn plus taxes (GST 7%, PST 7.5%, and possible luxury tax 10%; and add $500 if platinum setting)!! Although I was expecting to pay a little more for a custom job, I wasn't quite expecting this amount. In fact, the setting itself is going to be almost as much as the center diamond itself.

Since he won't give me an idea of how the price breakdown works (ie, how much materials cost), I was wondering if anyone knew why the cost is what it is. I believe his custom work is high quality and he says he doesn't use waxes/molds; all the work is done by hand.

Now, I'm thinking that I'll probably have to change my design setting since this is working out to be more expensive than I thought

 

[ChooChoo]

Why don't you post a scan of the design you want and ask the jewelers here to privately send you a quote? I would change the jeweler before I changed my design...

 

[Lal]

Ok, here goes.

I don't have a scan of the design, but I will briefly describe what I am looking for. If anyone has seen anything similar to it on a website, please let me know. I don't NEED to have it custom made if I can find something similar.

Basically, I am wanting to have a fairly thin band that has a honeycomb pave diamond pattern on the sides (like the Michael B. design) but not an eternity band. The difference is that I want the sides to come up to the diamond (ie. have shoulders), but not all the way up to the top, just to about the middle of the diamond (so it's not high or low set). Also, I'd like the diamond to be set in a cross prong type setting.

The center stone is about 6.1 mm in diameter. Thus, I think the band should be no more than 3.5 mm in diameter. According to the local jeweller, it would take about 50 melee stones to create this look, with the stones at the center about 1.55 mm in diameter but the ones at the side to be 1.5 mm in diameter in order to keep them sitting very flush to each other. Finally, I'd prefer the metal to be 19K white gold, if possible (or 18K white gold with palladium as I heard this creates that white, white look?)

The other thing to keep in mind is that this setting should not make it difficult to have a wedding band sit flush against the engagement ring.


So, if you are a custom designer and can create this for me, please private message me

I'd also appreciate anyone with any suggestions!

 

[Lal]

I haven't got any feedback yet...

Is it too difficult to make?

 

[chialea]

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On 4/28/2004 5:28:38 PM Lal wrote:


Basically, I am wanting to have a fairly thin band that has a honeycomb pave diamond pattern on the sides (like the Michael B. design) but not an eternity band. The difference is that I want the sides to come up to the diamond (ie. have shoulders), but not all the way up to the top, just to about the middle of the diamond (so it's not high or low set). Also, I'd like the diamond to be set in a cross prong type setting.
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I know this isn't quite what you're looking for, but it sounds somewhat like this setting:

This is one of my top few contenders, but I really think I need to see it in person. Notice the matching wedding band, and the lack of annoying pokey things at the sides. I'm not sure if it comes in anything but platinum, but I've heard platinum is preferable for pave in any case, as it will keep all those little stones from falling out all over the place...