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Newbie with Richard Landi setting question. Sorry, long!

S

sugarski

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
266
Hello all, I have been reading this site quite a lot over the past few weeks as I research rings, and I want to thank you all so much because you have been incredibly helpful.

I've been married almost 20 years and never had (or especially wanted) a diamond. I had a gold band, but lost it from a chain around my neck about 2 months ago. I decided to turn this unfortunate event into an opportunity to get a nice new ring. I decided on a Cartier Trinity tricolor ring as my new band. It's ordered, and I am having them engrave the names and birthdates of my 3 daughters on it, one on each band. :)

Then for the diamond. I inherited a ring with an 80-point, F, VS2 RB center stone a few years ago. I never liked the setting (a very high 4-prong setting with two very small, poor-quality side baguettes [they look like little chips of glass]) and since I am not a big jewelry person, it's been sitting in my jewelry box all this time. Well, I have finally decided to have it reset into something I might actually wear! I would never pick this stone if I were starting from scratch- I would much rather have a larger OEC in a warmer color, honestly- and the cut is just "very good" according to an appraisal I had done by a local jewelry store, but I figure I can still make something pretty out of it. To my untrained eye it looks fairly nice and sparkly, and I definitely do not want to spend a lot of money on a new diamond.

Which brings me to the setting. I love classic 6- and 8-prong solitaires, but have decided on a plain shank halo, since I have short, sausagey fingers (size 8.5) and I think in a solitaire the stone would look super small on my finger. I think I want this halo by Richard Landi, and they carry his line locally. I am not a big fan of bright-white metals; considered unplated wg, which seems beautiful in pics I've seen here, but I'm a bit afraid of developing a nickel allergy! So I am trying to decide between 18k yg and rg- my jeweler said he will try to find out what color Richard Landi's rose gold is (I want something quite light/creamy in tone, as opposed to a deep coppery tone).

Here is the setting I like. http://www.clay-pot.com/RICHARD-LANDI-Diamond-Ring-with-Halo.html

I would love feedback on this before I put down my deposit! I wasn't able to find out much about Richard Landi on PS- anyone have experience with his designs? Does this one look like it will work well for my stone? Any comments would be much appreciated.
 
What a beautiful setting and either color gold will be beautiful with your other ring. I also have allergy to nickel. I think I heard somewhere rose gold might also be a problem. Make sure you find out before you choose.
 
Thanks, AprilBaby! I'm glad you like it. I will look into the nickel-rose gold question, too!
 
How about selling your RB and using the money to get an OEC/OMC instead?

I think the setting you picked looks very pretty. My setting is actually from Richard Landi (see avatar) and the workmanship is amazing, and I am very picky. The appraiser I went to was very impressed by the quality of their work as well. Good luck with your ring!
 
Thanks, AlexisZoe! I wish I could see close-up pics of your ring. It looks gorgeous!

I thought about selling the stone I have, but as it's been appraised at $5900 (replacement value, for the whole ring) and the OECs I've seen and liked seem to cost that much or more, I just think it's unlikely that I could get enough for the stone to make it affordable to do that... since no one would give me "replacement value" for the stone, right?
 
Oh! Forgot to ask another question. Would this setting, being rather "closed", make it difficult to clean?
 
I know Good Old Gold carries Richard Landi and it is a high quality brand! No, it will not be hard to clean especially if you get a small ultrasonic cleaner! (Or at least soak it a few times a week in jewelry cleaner!)

And I love the idea of having your children's names engraved on the Trinity ring!
 
Thanks, Diamondseeker! :)
 
sugarski,

If you really want a larger warmer stone, I think it might be a good idea to sell your current diamond, and use the money you are going to spend on the Landi setting on the diamond instead. You can occasionally get good deals on ebay for old stones as you can see from some of the posts here!

You could always post the diamond on the preloved section on pricescope here or some of the other forums and see how much that gets you. I believe Perry Chen and ID Jewelry can help you sell your diamond as well, or some of the other vendors here such as JBEG and Good old Gold can put it on consignment for you - never hurts to try asking around and see how much you can get for it!

The setting is not closed at all - it's a basket setting so makes it very easy to clean! I am sorry I don't have any pictures to post - my old computer with all the pics died, and the ring is in the vault now.

I just remembered JBEG (Jewels by Erica Grace) has a sale going on right now, so you might be able to find the OEC/OMC of your dreams in the price that you want. Good luck!
 
Hi Alexiszoe,

Thanks again for the help. You've offered lots of great ideas and I will consider them, for sure! One thing I think I should clarify is that the price of the Landi ring on the Clay Pot site is completely wrong. It says it costs $8k+ WITHOUT the center stone but that's incorrect. The setting in gold would actually run under $1800.

I have to be very careful with finances, since my eldest daughter will be going to college before I know it, so right now, as much as I may dream of an OEC, I think I may be best off putting the stone I have (which is really perfectly nice-looking, to me, as someone who lacks the eye and expertise so many of you guys have) in a setting I like and "only" being out $1800... kwim?
 
Hi sugarski,

of course. I am sure you will be happy with your diamond in the Landi piece - it's a lovely ring and adds real estate to your finger too :love: Do update with pics!
 
I will! :)

Can I ask some more questions, since you guys are great to talk to about this? I'd love honest feedback regarding how the ring will look with yg/rg prongs, since it's not an option for me to have a gold shank with plat prongs. The ring will obviously look quite different from the photo where it's all white metal. I THINK I will like the way the yellow or rose looks, with the design accentuated, especially since I don't have an exceptional center stone. Anyone think it will look... not good?

And will it look OK, design-wise, with the Trinity? I'm fine with a gap but just want to make sure there's not an obvious problem I'm not seeing with pairing the two rings.
 
PS- Alexiszoe, thanks for telling me it's a basket setting. I didn't know what that was!
 
Do you mean have the halo in another metal? Some people have done a rose gold halo, for example. But the prongs on the main stone need to be white so a color isn't reflected in the diamond. People with low color stones do sometimes do yellow gold or rose gold prongs to intensify the color of the diamond. But you don't want to do that with F color!
 
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