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objective opinons needed :-)

Mrs.W 514

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Baa just lost the whole post I typed, round two!

I don't want to bore you with details but in a nutshell here is my dilemma:
My husband (then boyfriend) put a lot of effort into designing a ring that I would love and set it with his grandmothers stone. The ring really is beautiful and it does incorporate all the elements I asked for (he wanted some ideas so I gave him a list, for the record if you are picky this might not be the best idea 8) ) Anyway filigree, miligrain, sapphire halo (he chose yogo sapphires that I never knew I love more than the deeper blue variety). Ok so I love what the ring represents, the heirloom stone, and my husbands effort and love but I don't LOVE the ring itself. What I originally wanted was a delicate cushion sapphire halo with miligrain and filigree accents.

Right now resetting my ring isn't an option and I don't want to get rid of the setting because of the attached sentiment, so I guess my question is what small changes can I make to my ring to make me love it more? I see a lot of metal and I think the overall look is a bit chunky. Also the diamond was far brighter before it was set, is this because of the bezel?

IMG_1821 - Copy.JPG

IMG_1820 - Copy.JPG

Kallenbach©1164.jpg
 

Mrs.W 514

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another close up. The outer rim of metal is quite wide isn't it? Could it be shaved down to reduce bulkyness?
Sorry its so blurry I can post better pictures when my husband comes home with our dslr camera

bb close up.jpg
 

Mrs.W 514

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nobody? do I need to explain in more detail? Should I have posted in SMTB?
 

slg47

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future mrs. I think it is a very pretty design but I see what you mean about excess metal. I think it could be executed in a sleeker way but I am not sure what you could do without resetting (which is why I did not reply originally)...hopefully someone who knows more about settings will chime in.

it is a very pretty ring though :) and I love the sentiment in it
 

CharmyPoo

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I also see what you mean but I think the only solution is to reset. It is probably best to contact a jeweler to see what they can do.
 

tuffyluvr

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Very strange--i posted but it disappeared! I have noticed that occasionally here. Anyways, I said that I recall another PSer recently posting on her bezel pedant and how it lost brilliance after it was bezeled. She took it to a jeweler who used a burr to thin out some of the metal anf it brightened it up a lot. Anyone remember that?

Anyways, I see what you're saying about it being bulky. It's a very pretty design, but I think it could be made more beatiful with a few subtle tweaks--thinning out the metal a bit.

Those sapphires are fantastic!!!! :love:
 

tyty333

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Have you considered milgrainging the bezels? That would help to break up all the metal and might give it a more
delicate look. Thats what I would try.
 

Efe

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tyty333|1317130304|3026777 said:
Have you considered milgrainging the bezels? That would help to break up all the metal and might give it a more
delicate look. Thats what I would try.

I think this is an excellent idea.
 

Circe

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tuffyluvr|1317104009|3026659 said:
Very strange--i posted but it disappeared! I have noticed that occasionally here. Anyways, I said that I recall another PSer recently posting on her bezel pedant and how it lost brilliance after it was bezeled. She took it to a jeweler who used a burr to thin out some of the metal anf it brightened it up a lot. Anyone remember that?

Anyways, I see what you're saying about it being bulky. It's a very pretty design, but I think it could be made more beatiful with a few subtle tweaks--thinning out the metal a bit.

Those sapphires are fantastic!!!! :love:

Heh, that was me - heya! In my case, the problem was that while the setting was great from the front, there was way too much metal at the back, and the resulting gunk build-up was affecting the light return. A good bezel should not affect light return: if it does, it implies, a) way too much metal up top, b) interference in back, as with mine, c) that it's one of the rare stones that needs the light from the pavilion, usually a stone with a v. high crown, or, d) some combination of all of the above.

Sooo ... my suggestion would be to tackle each possibility in turn. I think TyTy's suggestion of thinning out the bezel and milgraining the results in genius: additionally, it looks to me like the halo is channel-set? There, if the jeweler *can* do it (I am not sure if this is possible- would bet you'd need somebody with a laser), I'd suggest maybe asking him or her if they could actually add a little metal between each stone to either make them look beadset, or to give them little box settings. It's an interesting technical challenge ... I suspect it might be easier to remove the outer channel altogether, take out the stones, recut the metal, bead-set at a slight angle, file the bezel down at the same angle, and milgrain it. You'd wind up with something more retro 50's looking, I think, sort of like the old dome rings that were v. popular in that period.

And, last suggestion ... I think I might want to go with a different jeweler for this, somebody who specializes in jewelry of the period you're interested in, and somebody who's experienced in retrofitting/restoring old settings. It's finicky work!
 

motownmama

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milgrain would be great on your ring!
 

Lula

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I was hoping that you'd post some more photos, close-ups of the ring from the side, front, and bottom. It's hard for me to give any opinions from your photos -- sorry. So if you can post clearer photos, and photos of your ring from several angles, that would be helpful.

I do think tyty's suggestion of adding milgrain is a great idea, and would make a big difference in the look of your ring. It would give it a more antique look. I used to own a sapphire halo, and one issue with gemstone halos is that the stones in the halo are often larger (to show off the color) than diamond halos. This really changes the proportions of the ring. But your sapphires are a beautiful color, so I think making some minor changes to your ring will make a big difference.

You may want to consider -- and you'll need a good jeweler for this -- removing the diamond from the bezel, adding milgrain and prongs to the bezel, so the diamond sits slightly above the bezel. I do think bezels change the look of a stone -- even a well-cut stone -- in subtle ways that people either love or hate. Here is a photo of my former ring showing a diamond prong set in a halo:
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...nk-of-my-purple-sapphire-halo-setting.128291/
 

Mrs.W 514

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tuffylover-thank you this is kinda what I was thinking i just didn't know if it was possible, if you remember who this was I would love to see what they were able to do

tyty333- that is a great idea I hadn"t thought of that, do happen to know of any rings that have milgraining on the bezel?

Circe- you are right it is channel set and i don't particularly like channel set so I am curious about your idea but i am a little confused by what you mean when you say "I suspect it might be easier to remove the outer channel altogether, take out the stones, recut the metal, bead-set at a slight angle, file the bezel down at the same angle, and milgrain it."

Lulu-I have thougth of adding prongs to my ring and I really love your amethyst ring. I will add more pictures tomorrow or Friday when my husband comes home with our DSLR, I know the pictures are sub par but they are all I have now.

Thank you everybody!
 

Mrs.W 514

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here are some more pictures!

DSC03051_1.JPG

DSC03052_1.JPG

DSC03053_1.JPG

DSC03054_1.JPG
 

mjertl

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wow, I really like the shots from the side and bottom - those angles look fairly delicate and intricate. The bezel around your diamond and around the halo seem to be the parts making it look "bulky, but the sides are quite beautiful (in my opinion)
 

Circe

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Future Mrs. Williamson!!|1317244445|3028180 said:
tuffylover-thank you this is kinda what I was thinking i just didn't know if it was possible, if you remember who this was I would love to see what they were able to do

tyty333- that is a great idea I hadn"t thought of that, do happen to know of any rings that have milgraining on the bezel?

Circe- you are right it is channel set and i don't particularly like channel set so I am curious about your idea but i am a little confused by what you mean when you say "I suspect it might be easier to remove the outer channel altogether, take out the stones, recut the metal, bead-set at a slight angle, file the bezel down at the same angle, and milgrain it."

Lulu-I have thougth of adding prongs to my ring and I really love your amethyst ring. I will add more pictures tomorrow or Friday when my husband comes home with our DSLR, I know the pictures are sub par but they are all I have now.

Thank you everybody!

Aw, you have a Jewish star in your under-gallery! What a charming, meaningful touch!

What I meant by the bolded was that it would be a challenge requiring a laser-welder with a steady hand to try to add in beads while the stones were set, and you might end up with a different but still bulky look ... so it might be easier to :

- have your jeweler saw or file the outer channel away

- remove all the stones from the halo

- file the surface smooth or possibly at, say, a 45 degree angle away from your center stone for a look that led the eye to your center stone instead of drawing it out to the halo

- similarly, file down the bezel around your stone proper, which is a little thick now - if you file it down at a 45 degree angle and milgrain what remains, it will look more delicate

- and, finally, bead-set the sapphires back into the halo arrangement for a more traditionally vintage look, possibly with milgrain around the outer edge for definition.

Does that make more sense?
 

Mrs.W 514

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Thank you that does make more sense Circe. I really like the idea of filing down the "inner" bezel at 45 degrees and miligraining whats left. Also bead setting the sapphires is a great idea. Right now, and its hard to see in the photos thy are channel set with uneven spaces between them and you can see unpolished metal between the sapphires. Bead setting might be a great way to get rid of that unfinished look and I am going to have the "outer" channel set rim filed down and miligrained to make it a little more delicate and even up the metal. It is hard to tell in the pictures but parts of that rim are significantly thicker than others. The Star of David was put in by the jeweler and while we are not Jewish I do think it is lovely

mjertl- I agree with you I love the gallery of my ring but the top view is what bothers me most. I would have liked the shank a bit thinner as it is 4mm and a bit heavy for my taste but I guess a bigger shank allows for larger diamonds on the shoulders so I think ill be ok :naughty:


Also any advice on cleaning the wheat engraving on the shank of my ring? It seems like all the soaking, scrubbing and steam cleaning just wont get the dirt of those little lines. I have even tried scraping it out with a needle, I know that's bad :oops:, any suggestions?
 

Circe

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Future Mrs. Williamson!!|1317330882|3029030 said:
Thank you that does make more sense Circe. I really like the idea of filing down the "inner" bezel at 45 degrees and miligraining whats left. Also bead setting the sapphires is a great idea. Right now, and its hard to see in the photos thy are channel set with uneven spaces between them and you can see unpolished metal between the sapphires. Bead setting might be a great way to get rid of that unfinished look and I am going to have the "outer" channel set rim filed down and miligrained to make it a little more delicate and even up the metal. It is hard to tell in the pictures but parts of that rim are significantly thicker than others. The Star of David was put in by the jeweler and while we are not Jewish I do think it is lovely

mjertl- I agree with you I love the gallery of my ring but the top view is what bothers me most. I would have liked the shank a bit thinner as it is 4mm and a bit heavy for my taste but I guess a bigger shank allows for larger diamonds on the shoulders so I think ill be ok :naughty:


Also any advice on cleaning the wheat engraving on the shank of my ring? It seems like all the soaking, scrubbing and steam cleaning just wont get the dirt of those little lines. I have even tried scraping it out with a needle, I know that's bad :oops:, any suggestions?

If I had to guess, I'd bet that was a deliberate choice on the part of the jeweler's, and the ring was first given a patina, and then the bits that weren't recessed were given a high polish. So to get rid of it, you'd probably have to have the jeweler repolish or possibly even replate it ....
 

Asscherhalo_lover

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Effe|1317130594|3026782 said:
tyty333|1317130304|3026777 said:
Have you considered milgrainging the bezels? That would help to break up all the metal and might give it a more
delicate look. Thats what I would try.

I think this is an excellent idea.

agreed!

my ring has milgrain on the outer bezel only...

onlyasscherfingershotps.gif
 

mrs taylor

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It's so beautiful! But I see what you mean. I guess for me the issue is that the sides, undergallery and shank all look vintage-y, where as the top is rather modern looking. It sort of looks as though you took the top off of a modern ring and attached it to an older looking shank. Both are lovely, but they don't so much "go" together. Perhaps that's what you're reacting to?

I think millgraining would totally fix that, as would bead setting the stones. Both steps would bring the "vintage" feel to the bezel.

But honestly, I had to stare a long while to come up with that. When I first looked at it without TRYING to pick it apart per your request all I saw was a lovely ring!
 

Karl_K

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There is some under table leakage and a bit elsewhere that is making the stone dark in a bezel it would be brighter in an open setting.
There isn't much of anything that will help other than a reset.
Keeping it very clean will help a little.
A steam cleaner to hit the pavilion would be nice.
 

Mrs.W 514

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So I am reviving my own thread because I have new issues. I brought my ring into the jeweler who made it to have some things repaired: at the points of the star on the underside of the basket there were small cracks developing, there was a large dent on the side (not my fault has been there since I got the ring), and I wanted to talk to him about reducing the size of the bezel and adding miligrain. After the jeweler listened to what I had to say he got the owner of the store to come talk to me.

I'm not sure why he did this but the owner of the store basically said that I was overacting and "you should stop worrying about the small things and focus on the larger issues in life" :angryfire: Well as you can imagine I was shocked and proceeded to ask why that was sound advice coming from a man who has committed himself to a life time of tiny things (ie jewelry) furthermore who is he to tell me that my 5,000 dollar ring was a "small thing" and I was overreacting by asking to have these obvious imperfections/structural problems fixed? He also tried to tell me my ring was compleatly hand forged but thanks to PS I was able to show him exactly what the tell tail casting marks look like and where he could find them on my ring. Thank You PS!! That was the only satisfying part of that conversation, Jacka$$!

Anyway I asked to talk the the bench person again and explained what I wanted fixed, I dropped the miligrain idea because I just wanted to leave. Anyway 2 days later I get my ring back, the dent in the shank is still there and the cracks at the star points are gone.....and covered with globs of metal! :angryfire: Fast forward two weeks and the dam* cracks have reappeared and the whole thing looks worse than before!

I want a new setting that is not going to crack and is not riddled with examples of shoddy craftsmanship. I will not go the custom route with them again and I am thinking I will get a stock Gabriel setting and call it a day!

Do you think I am being crazy or over reacting (my husband does!)? Should I expect to get a new setting? What should I do? :confused:
 

MissGotRocks

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No, I don't think you're crazy. You had reservations about the ring from the start and after trying to fix some problems with it, it now looks worse to you. The jeweler was way out of line to address your issues in that way. He might as well have said "I don't know how to fix what you're complaining about so just go away!"

If you plan to use the sapphires again, I doubt a stock setting would work. In all honesty, the size of the sapphires for a halo in relation to the center stone are too big IMO. I'd either have them recut, set the halo at a different angle, or save them for a channel set band to go with your new ering. I say all of this without really knowing what type of reset you are interested in but I say whatever it is, go for it. Life is too short to be aggravated by a ring that doesn't please you. I understand the sentimentality but you really can't 'fix' this ring and you will still have your original diamond to work with.

Best of luck to you and let us know what you decide to do!
 

distracts

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I definitely do not think you are being crazy! If your ring is cracking and they won't fix it, you need to have a new one! I don't know how big the cracks are or if they could spread, but you certainly would not want to lose your diamond, or your beautiful sapphires.

This is not the first thread I've seen where a jeweler has chastised a customer for "worrying about the small things." I am pretty sure that a) an expensive ring is not a small thing, and b) broken things are not small things, when they are things that should not break. I find it incredible that some jewelers (of all people!) don't get that. I mean, maybe they can't fix the problems, but the least they could do is be honest and tell you they can't fix them. Sigh. It made me mad just to read about.

I hope that you'll be able to get your stones reset into a ring that you both are over the moon about and is made by someone who understands that sometimes, the tiny things are extremely important.
 
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