- Joined
- Jan 16, 2018
- Messages
- 1,256
Hi all,
Long time since I posted on this forum, and a very long time since I’ve posted an update about my own ring, but I wanted to return here to give a final update about the ring and the proposal. Everyone on RT was such a huge help during this process that I thought that I owed it to you all to post some eye-candy here.
I also wanted to post a review about the designer than I ended up going with for the custom bezel setting, Eric at EVS Designs, as he knocked it out of the park and was an absolute pleasure to work with.
As some of you know who had been following my original thread, I ordered a bezel-set solitaire ring from James Allen with a G/VS1 AGS0 diamond. After delivery I initially liked the diamond, but after looking at it for about two weeks there were a few things that bugged me about the ring:
1.) The bezel was slighting thicker on one side and the diamond was too high
2.) There seemed to be a visible tint to the diamond, especially in indoor lighting
I realize that it may seem silly to many forum members to be worried about the tint in a G color diamond, but it was very prominent to me. I realize that I am extremely color sensitive, as looking at colors is part of my job, but I wanted to make sure the diamond would be white from all angles. So I went back to the drawing board and started looking for lower-set bezel rings along with diamonds in the colorless range. Below is a synopsis of the path to the new ring, which I will split up into three sections: The diamond, the ring, and a separate post for the proposal with pictures. I’ve included more detail on the setting design, as that was the coolest and most rewarding part of the process to me.
The Diamond
As mentioned above, I went back to the drawing board with the diamond search, adjusting my ideal criteria to the D/E color and VS1/2 clarity ranges. Won’t bore you too much with the details here, but I decided on a diamond with the following specs:
Grading Lab: GIA
Carat Weight: 0.91
Measurements: 6.22X6.23X3.85
Color: D
Clarity: VS2 (crystal as the only listed inclusion)
Cut: Excellent
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Girdle: M/ST (3.5%)
Depth: 61.90%
Table: 56.00%
Crown Angle: 35.00
Pavilion Angle: 40.80
Star: 50%
LGH: 75%
The diamond was absolutely beautiful, and exactly what I was looking for: An H&A colorless diamond without any eye-visible inclusions. There are only a few clear/white crystals, which are completely invisible to the naked eye. Heck, I even have trouble finding them with a 10X loupe.
The Ring and EVS Designs
After deciding to return the original ring, I spent quite a bit of time looking for new low-set, cathedral shank bezel setting. As some of you already know, my (now) fiancée is a medical student and will soon be a doctor, so having a setting that wouldn’t catch on gloves while still looking timeless and elegant was the #1 priority. However, none of the off-the-shelf bezel ring designs were quite what I was looking for. Either a.) The diamond was set too high b.) The bezel was chunky and/or c.) The shank didn’t look quite right. Thus, I decided to go the custom route. This is when I contacted Eric at EVS Designs.
http://www.evsdesigns.store/index.html
I previously worked with him on one previous smaller project (a pair of earring jackets) and was blown away with his level of responsiveness, attentiveness, and attention to detail even on such a small order. By the time I contacted him for the E-ring, I pretty much knew exactly what I wanted in the ring design, and had (poorly) drawn a schematic by hand.
As with the prior project, he responded within a few hours and told me that he would have a CAD ready for me the next day. The original CAD came back almost exactly how I had envisioned it in my mind, except that it was actually a bit too low and the shank profile was a little off. I asked him to make a few minor adjustments (raise the diamond by .3-.4mm and adjust the shank profile) and he had the revision to me the day after, which was absolutely perfect. I gave him the go-ahead to begin the casting process, and he had the ring set and ready to go within a week of receiving the diamond. Below are the pictures that he sent me of the ring before shipping it off:
As you can see from the side profile, the diamond is set as low as possible while still showing the entire side profile view and leaving room for a plain wedding band to sit flush with the ring and not hit the diamond. This ring is 1.5mm lower than the ring from James Allen (4.6mm vs 6.1mm) despite being a slightly larger diamond. The bezel on this ring is also the perfect thickness. It is sturdy yet refined at the same time.
As with the previous project, working with Eric was one of the best shopping experiences I’ve had. He has a gift for taking your vision and turning it into reality with the least possible effort on your part. I has pretty astonished that he was able to take my terribly drawn pen sketch and turn it into perfection within a span of 2 CADs and 2 days. And best of all, his price for the custom setting in platinum was almost exactly the same as the price of the James Allen setting at 25% off ($770 for his custom setting vs $750 for the JA bezel). Honestly, I wish I had just gone with him for the original setting, as it would have saved me a lot of hassle with the return process. But, as they say, hindsight is 20/20. J I know that he will be my go-to person for all of our future jewelry purchases.
After receiving the new ring, which was even more beautiful in person than the photos he sent me, all that was left to do was wait for the proposal.
The Proposal (And hand shots):
I'm not going to go into too much detail here, as I prefer to keep this special moment between us. We did not take any pictures of the proposal, as it was only the two of us. I'll just say that I proposed at night on a secluded beach while we were visiting her hometown. Needless to say, it was the best moment of my life to date, but I imagine that it will be tied or surpassed by our wedding day and the birth of our future children of course.
So without further ado, here are a few pics.
She loves it, and I love that she loves it, which is really all that matters.
In closing, I'd like to thank everyone here on PS for helping me to navigate the world of diamonds and engagement rings. This ring is symbolic of the closing of our separate lives and the beginning of our life together, and I'm happy to have shared this process with you all.
Long time since I posted on this forum, and a very long time since I’ve posted an update about my own ring, but I wanted to return here to give a final update about the ring and the proposal. Everyone on RT was such a huge help during this process that I thought that I owed it to you all to post some eye-candy here.
I also wanted to post a review about the designer than I ended up going with for the custom bezel setting, Eric at EVS Designs, as he knocked it out of the park and was an absolute pleasure to work with.As some of you know who had been following my original thread, I ordered a bezel-set solitaire ring from James Allen with a G/VS1 AGS0 diamond. After delivery I initially liked the diamond, but after looking at it for about two weeks there were a few things that bugged me about the ring:
1.) The bezel was slighting thicker on one side and the diamond was too high
2.) There seemed to be a visible tint to the diamond, especially in indoor lighting
I realize that it may seem silly to many forum members to be worried about the tint in a G color diamond, but it was very prominent to me. I realize that I am extremely color sensitive, as looking at colors is part of my job, but I wanted to make sure the diamond would be white from all angles. So I went back to the drawing board and started looking for lower-set bezel rings along with diamonds in the colorless range. Below is a synopsis of the path to the new ring, which I will split up into three sections: The diamond, the ring, and a separate post for the proposal with pictures. I’ve included more detail on the setting design, as that was the coolest and most rewarding part of the process to me.
The Diamond
As mentioned above, I went back to the drawing board with the diamond search, adjusting my ideal criteria to the D/E color and VS1/2 clarity ranges. Won’t bore you too much with the details here, but I decided on a diamond with the following specs:
Grading Lab: GIA
Carat Weight: 0.91
Measurements: 6.22X6.23X3.85
Color: D
Clarity: VS2 (crystal as the only listed inclusion)
Cut: Excellent
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Girdle: M/ST (3.5%)
Depth: 61.90%
Table: 56.00%
Crown Angle: 35.00
Pavilion Angle: 40.80
Star: 50%
LGH: 75%
The diamond was absolutely beautiful, and exactly what I was looking for: An H&A colorless diamond without any eye-visible inclusions. There are only a few clear/white crystals, which are completely invisible to the naked eye. Heck, I even have trouble finding them with a 10X loupe.
The Ring and EVS Designs
After deciding to return the original ring, I spent quite a bit of time looking for new low-set, cathedral shank bezel setting. As some of you already know, my (now) fiancée is a medical student and will soon be a doctor, so having a setting that wouldn’t catch on gloves while still looking timeless and elegant was the #1 priority. However, none of the off-the-shelf bezel ring designs were quite what I was looking for. Either a.) The diamond was set too high b.) The bezel was chunky and/or c.) The shank didn’t look quite right. Thus, I decided to go the custom route. This is when I contacted Eric at EVS Designs.
http://www.evsdesigns.store/index.html
I previously worked with him on one previous smaller project (a pair of earring jackets) and was blown away with his level of responsiveness, attentiveness, and attention to detail even on such a small order. By the time I contacted him for the E-ring, I pretty much knew exactly what I wanted in the ring design, and had (poorly) drawn a schematic by hand.
As with the prior project, he responded within a few hours and told me that he would have a CAD ready for me the next day. The original CAD came back almost exactly how I had envisioned it in my mind, except that it was actually a bit too low and the shank profile was a little off. I asked him to make a few minor adjustments (raise the diamond by .3-.4mm and adjust the shank profile) and he had the revision to me the day after, which was absolutely perfect. I gave him the go-ahead to begin the casting process, and he had the ring set and ready to go within a week of receiving the diamond. Below are the pictures that he sent me of the ring before shipping it off:
As you can see from the side profile, the diamond is set as low as possible while still showing the entire side profile view and leaving room for a plain wedding band to sit flush with the ring and not hit the diamond. This ring is 1.5mm lower than the ring from James Allen (4.6mm vs 6.1mm) despite being a slightly larger diamond. The bezel on this ring is also the perfect thickness. It is sturdy yet refined at the same time.
As with the previous project, working with Eric was one of the best shopping experiences I’ve had. He has a gift for taking your vision and turning it into reality with the least possible effort on your part. I has pretty astonished that he was able to take my terribly drawn pen sketch and turn it into perfection within a span of 2 CADs and 2 days. And best of all, his price for the custom setting in platinum was almost exactly the same as the price of the James Allen setting at 25% off ($770 for his custom setting vs $750 for the JA bezel). Honestly, I wish I had just gone with him for the original setting, as it would have saved me a lot of hassle with the return process. But, as they say, hindsight is 20/20. J I know that he will be my go-to person for all of our future jewelry purchases.
After receiving the new ring, which was even more beautiful in person than the photos he sent me, all that was left to do was wait for the proposal.
The Proposal (And hand shots):
I'm not going to go into too much detail here, as I prefer to keep this special moment between us. We did not take any pictures of the proposal, as it was only the two of us. I'll just say that I proposed at night on a secluded beach while we were visiting her hometown. Needless to say, it was the best moment of my life to date, but I imagine that it will be tied or surpassed by our wedding day and the birth of our future children of course.
So without further ado, here are a few pics.
She loves it, and I love that she loves it, which is really all that matters.
In closing, I'd like to thank everyone here on PS for helping me to navigate the world of diamonds and engagement rings. This ring is symbolic of the closing of our separate lives and the beginning of our life together, and I'm happy to have shared this process with you all.
Thank you for sharing your story with us. The ring is perfect and I am so happy for you that she loves it too!!! Congratulations!
The ring is gorgeous and I am sure she was thrilled! Congrats!!!!
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