Oh No! I have to pick the perfect diamond AND ring?!

[Lugus]

Took me over 4 months to narrow down my diamond search (almost done!), and now I have to find the perfect ring for a large stone (1.7-1.8 ct).

My girl has small, delicate fingers and definately wants a ring that is thin. I also know I want it in platinum.

Beyond that, I have NO IDEA which ring to go with. She likes antique type rings, but I''ve not found one I liked yet so I''m not sure I''d go with one of those. She also likes the ones with small diamonds on the sides (not a 3 stone) or around the band. Where did you get your ring? Or can you suggest some links to good ring venders?

thanks for any suggestions

 

[ccuheartnurse]

Hi Lugas,
Sorry to say this but you have your work cut out for you in regards to settings.

There are a TON. I must have found all of them out there. haha My bf got to the point where he was tuning me out when I said I found "THE" setting. It wasnt till I told him I found the one, & we were going to go see it so he could order it. haha Thankfully he loved it on my hand & so thats the one he bought. Of course, he was trying to make me promise I wouldnt look at any more rings.

I had seriously considered the Royal Crown with diamonds, but thought the Scott Kay ring I chose was more refined. But then, thats my opinion & you will get a lot of those. Unfortunately, they mean squat cause its your girlfriends opinion you need to pay attention to. You will need to become creative to find out what she really wants. I cant upload my pic, I got an error message again. If you go to scottkay.com, go to wedding sets, then find style #877RDM/PP, the plat. ring with .29pts of prong set diamonds set in the bars. It really is quite delicate & my 1.55 will pop in that one! I like that it tapers to the centre, hope it will visually make my stone look larger.

Oh, I did post a pic of that ring on another thread but cant find it at this time. The pic from the Scott Kay site looks very nice.

Judy

 

[Mara]

I know exactly what you are talking about. Originally we were looking at antique style rings because I loved the workmanship around the band. Here are some suggestions.

www.faycullen.com
She sells antique replicas (and some antique's I think) of old style rings. She also sells mountings separately from the stones. But not only that, take a look at her site and if you see something you like in the way of the setting, you can always try to have it replicated by a jeweler (probably minus any handwork).

www.tacori.com
They have antique replicas here, Tacori is very popular because their rings look like the old stuff, but in fact are new. Personally they are a little busy for my taste, most of them anyway, but there are a few that are truly stunning. If you like the old filigree look and the baby diamonds on the sides (bead set or pave set into the band), then check these guys out.

Last but not least, try visiting any antique jewelers in your local area. In Carmel there is one that we were looking at, they sell old stuff and replicas AND they also create their own replica settings that look amazingly like the real thing. Their settings are no expensive either compared to half of the stuff out there. We were looking at an old stone put into a replica setting, the setting was gorgeous, small bead set diamonds on the sides (baby so you can hardly see them), the band was just under 2mm (pretty thin), platinum and the head was the old fashioned basket type head with baby diamonds and filigree in a very subtle pattern around it. I loved it! The stone wasn't really what we wanted, but then they told us they sold the setting separately. Over time we found something else we liked, but I loved that setting as well. I would estimate it was around $1200 for the setting if not less. Anyway the jeweler in Carmel is Fortuane Jewelers..they have a website but it doesnt have anything interesting. They also have little 'catalog' (one or two pagers) with color pictures of some of their popular rings. One of the settings I liked was on these. If you are interested, maybe give them a ring, tell them where you are, see if they can send you anything they have that might show their ring styles/settings. I have to say that I adore this store, every time I go in there I find about 20 rings I liked. I too was into the very thin platinum old style band with a big rock seated right into it. Stunning.

Oh also one more..visit http://antiqueengagementrings.com/

as they have settings only and one that I thought was pretty as well, it was a replica of a 1920's setting. Cheap too..it was only about $700 for a platinum mounting with split prongs, and about .25ctw of baby diamonds on the side. They were responsive to email as well. I was considering doing one of these for the time being because they were pretty cheap, and then figured I could always switch it out later if I wanted a change.

Anyway hope that points you somewhat in the right direction. Also look online for 'antique engagement rings' on Google, and you will find many hits, some places sell settings only.

For non-antique...I have tons of links to websites at work that I will post tomorrow. There is whiteflash.com which has tons of styles of rings, and also I think engagementring.com is a website that has some.

The setting is tough..as there are so many, but it sounds like you have an idea of what your girl likes. You are in luck since there are so many antique replica settings out there, and some look almost as good as the original, if not made stronger!

Good luck!

 

[Lugus]

Leave it to the ladies to help a guy find the perfect ring for his sweety. Thanks!

Mara, can't wait to see the other links you have.

 

[ccuheartnurse]

Take a look at Verragio.com (more modern though) or Varna.com (for more of a vintage feel). Varna is an expensive company, but not sure if they beat out Taccori or not. Worth a try to check them out.

Judy

 

[barry]

Consider Vatche.

Elegant, clean lines, and they'll never go out of style.

Barry
www.superbcert.com

 

[PoopEater]

I feel your pain. Most settings I look at are so ugly that they make me want to cry. Maybe I'm too picky, but the only styles I have liked are Verragio and Vatche. Some of the Scott Kay are nice, too.

 

[Mara]

Okay here are a bunch that I had bookmarked from my jewelry travels online. Some are settings only, some are ring and setting, almost anything you see can be replicated by a designer as well, sometimes for cheaper than a 'branded' setting (e.g. like Tacori).

www.platinum-diamond.com
www.the-way-we-were.com
www.antiquejewelryonline.com
www.badiamond.com
www.boutiquediamonds.com
www.diana.com (gorgeous settings!)
www.diamond-rings.cc (I think they are the same as what whiteflash carries)
www.platinumrings.com
www.joeescobar.com (This is a local jeweler here in CA but they have alot of pictures of their branded settings which include Michael B, Scott Kay etc so you can get an idea of what other styles look like..then call a local jeweler near you who carries that brand)

there are also a few more that I can't seem to find. I will post more as I find them. But really I just searched endlessly on google for things like 'platinum engagement ring' or 'antique engagement ring' or 'antique platinum' etc etc.

 

[Mara]

I am posting a few pix that I found in my travels as well that I liked.

This is a Tacori setting..don't recall the name or style #..I just saved it. I liked the delicate look of the sides and the thin band..though obviously your diamond would be bigger than this stone!

 

[Mara]

This is an old style with a huge monster of a rock in the middle, I think this was something like a 5 carat stone. I liked the deeper set style with the pave on the sides and the split-prongs holding the diamond. (e.g. 4 prongs split turns into 8 baby prongs..antique style).

 

[Mara]

And this is the style that started it ALL. This was the first ring I saw online that I fell in love with and wanted! Over time after searching, we decided on something a little different, but I still adore this setting. The stone seems displayed to perfection by the small prongs, the band is super thin in the old style, about 1mm and it has the beautiful filigree diamond basket head. This was on faycullen.com's site but was sold a long time ago. I haven't seen anything like it since except in that Carmel antique jewelry store that had somewhat similar pieces.