New at all of this. Have setting. Need diamond. How big???

[joikd]

Hello. I''ve been lurking for a little while trying to learn (I don''t own any jewelry)--there is much more to all of this than I thought. Great forum, though!!! Everyone seems so helpful!

So, heres my situation. My girlfriend fell in love with ring about a year ago (it''s the one that''s attatched). Well, to make a long story short, I bought it at that time, but without the center diamond. I wanted to choose that myself. So, it''s been sitting in my closet for the past year. Now I have the money for the diamond. The center stone that was to originally come with it was .50 ct. The jeweler said that they might be able to squeeze up to a .65 ct. in there. How true that is, I don''t know. I''ve been checking out different diamonds, and after much back and forth with my girlfriend, I have concluded that she would definately love a solasfera. So, here''s my questions:

--How do I determine how many carats? Let''s say I get the maximum that will fit--will it look out of proportion?
--How do I determine the maximum carats that would fit?
--Can I just send it to the place I want to buy the diamond (like GOG), and ask their opinion?
--Would a solasfera make the rest of the smaller diamonds look bad?
--My thinking is that since the other diamonds in the ring are all fairly small, I can upgrade the rest of them over time--does that sound good?

I''m sure I''ll have more questions, but that''s it for now.

Appreciate any help,

Jered

 

[MWG]

Hi,

You will need to speak to a professional and they can measure the prongs width and depth to determine the maximum and minimum stone that you can fit in the prongs provided by the setting.

Talk with GOG who sells the diamonds you want and they should be able to fix you up.

Now, since you are wanting a SUPER CUT DIAMOND, how is it going to look up against the regular cut side stones? Something to think about.


Good Luck
MWG

 

[SBee]

That''s a really pretty style! I''m also wondering how it would look with a solasfera in the middle, in contrast with the other "regular" diamonds...

Can you afford 3 solasferas? err or is the plural of solasfera "solasferi" ?

 

[JulieN]

I would not put a Solasfera into that setting. Solasfera would be a busier look than normal, and that ring already has a lot of little glitter stuff going on.

The setting would not really support size upgrades.

 

[RockDoc]

I'd suggest talking to the company you bought the ring from. In that the ring was never used, worn or set by you, perhaps they would exchange it for one that would fit the size stone you now want to put in the center of it. Hopefully they make the same design to accomodate larger stones. Since it is new still, they could resell it as new to another customer.

I don't think that would be unreasonable for the company to consider doing for you. After all you are a previous customer, and they would be sellling you a higher priced riing.

There isn't much sense to trying to put 5lbs of doo-doo in a 1lb bag. I would not suggest you consider squeezing in a bigger stone. The setter would have to "spread the prongs" outward, and the angle of the prongs not proper, so it is sensible to think that the stone would be set as securely if this were done.

The prices of metal and diamonds has increased over the past year, so they may actually allow you slightly more as a credit, in an exchange scenario. I'd certain not hesitate to bring that up to the previous seller.

Rockdoc

 

[denverappraiser]

If the jeweler won’t trade in the ring for a bigger variety, talk to the folks at GOG or whoever you’re planning to use to set the stone. What will and won’t fit will depend on the distance between the prongs, how the prongs are attached to the mounting and how the whole piece is constructed. Sometimes there’s quite a bit of flexibility and sometimes there’s not.

Years a go I was managing a fairly busy shop full of bench jewelers. Almost daily we would have one of the sales people come back with approximately this same question. “What’s the biggest diamond we can set in this ring?” From the showroom side, this question boils down to “What’s the limit on the sale?” Almost everything is possible if you’re willing to work hard enough at it so from the shop side the question is “Can you make this ring, or a ring that looks sort of like it, fit a doorknob?” Retrofitting that ring to accept, say, a 3 carat would be a fair amount of work but I’m confident that anyone wishing to sell you a 3 carater would be willing to take it on in order to get your business. A few hundred extra dollars to the bench jeweler just isn’t that big a deal.

What’s the biggest diamond that will fit in that ring? What’s the biggest diamond you’re prepared to buy?

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[risingsun]

I had a setting with "regular diamonds" and bought an A Cut Above diamond to upgrade the center stone. The ACA was so far superior to the rest of the stones, that I ended up trading in my original setting for a new one with ACA quality diamonds. In my situation, I chose a HOF semi-mount. What a difference!