Opinions on my HOW setting

[yorkgirl]

Sally made two gorgeous rings for me, so it was a no brainer for her to make me a 14k rose gold setting for a supernova oval pink tourmaline. I sent her my inspiration photo and she sent me a sketch and final photos of the setting, but wanted your opinions on:
- the fishtail prongs - should the middle bead be larger than the two flanking beads? I usually see this so it gives a squared off look.
- the navette shapes are slightly hollowed and edged in milgrain, which I wanted. I feel like there should be more of a pinch where the navette meets the shank. Sally said it would be knife edge from that point on - does it look that way to you?
- not sure I like the centre line of milgrain on the shank. I thought it would be edging each side of the shank, am I being too picky?



Inspiration


My setting

 

[chrono]

Do you have a profile photograph of the inspiration fishtail prong ring?

 

[minousbijoux]

My feeling is you do one or the other on the milgrain or knife edge...they seem to clash together and "cheapen" the look for me at least.

It will be beautiful when its completed!

 

[yorkgirl]

Does this help Chrono?

 

[Coco914]

Personally, I like your ring better than the "inspiration" piece.

 

[CirrusClouds]

I do think a larger center bead on the fishtails would accentuate the stone.

 

[chrono]

Typically, the center bead/prong is the largest with the two side ones smaller to square it off. However, from the look of the inspiration picture, the prongs are the same size as they go up the stone. Perhaps it is up to the bench setting the stone to size the prongs appropriately?

I think that pinch makes it look different from other rings and I like it. I think Sally can add a more obvious pinch as I am not seeing it at all. It is knife edge though.

I think going with milgrain on the each side of the shank will be too busy for the ring, which has fabulous clean lines. If you don't like it on the knife edge, I would remove the milgrain element completely.

 

[FrekeChild]

I see and agree with all of the problems you stated. The setting falls a bit flat for me.

 

[yorkgirl]

Great advice Chrono. thanks everyone!

 

[yorkgirl]

They created a pinch and I love it! Can't wait to see it in person with my oval pink tourmaline in it. Sally said to create the fishtail look, the setter would close the two outermost prongs onto the stone, whereas the middle prong would close down onto itself (not the gematone) to create the look of four squared off corners. Like my inspiration photo.

 

[chrono]

One minor tweak can change the look of the setting. Looks great!

 

[JewelFreak]

That's going to be so nice with your stone. Very well done!

 

[VirginiaZee]

Very pretty! I can't wait to see the finished piece!

 

[yorkgirl]

I still need to set it but it's soooooo pretty.

 

[T L]

Lovely!!

 

[mochiko42]

I still need to set it but it's soooooo pretty.

Gorgeous! Looks like a rose with petals/leaves on the side. The color of the stone is perfect for rose gold, too.

 

[chrono]

Will the bench press in the prongs to make it look like a square setting? It looks very oval-ish or cushion-y right now (yes, I know it's not set yet).

 

[deskjockey]

Just beautiful!

 

[yorkgirl]

Will the bench press in the prongs to make it look like a square setting? It looks very oval-ish or cushion-y right now (yes, I know it's not set yet).

Yes I'll ask him to set it so the middle prongs fold down on themselves, like Sally had suggested. I'll post new pics when it's set! I must say I am really loving the oval-ness of it though, but I did want fishtail prongs so I want them to look like fishtails.

 

[yorkgirl]

So my ring is set and it is beyond gorgeous! The setter didn't do what I asked to make the prongs more fishtail like...instead of bending the middle prong onto itself he just bent all of the prongs over the stone. Do you think i should send it to Sally to redo or does it look fine as is? I like the oval shape of the stone.

HOW's rings are soooo perfectly executed!!

 

[pregcurious]

I like the setting, but the prongs are unexpected.

I think it's completely a person choice. I prefer the original fishtail look. When I buy a cushion, I want it to stay looking like a cushion. I think you could ask the setter to redo it instead of sending it back? What are your feelings about the setter?

 

[enbcfsobe]

I love the setting and the inspiration, and your stone looks lovely in it. I sense that you wanted to see the fishtail profile, and I agree with pregcurious that a disucssion with the setter would be the first step. if you're going to send it back to sally it may make sense to send the whole thing (stone included) and let her bench fix it (not sure if that affects tax, etc or what the insurance situation is for your particular stone). my concern would be that the jeweler already may have removed some metal from the middle prong that may make it tricky to properly redo in the profile you want. that's part of what i'd ask about -- if he was going to have to substantially rebuild the prongs I'd just skip a redo with him and go back to Sally.

 

[yorkgirl]

I like the setting, but the prongs are unexpected.

I think it's completely a person choice. I prefer the original fishtail look. When I buy a cushion, I want it to stay looking like a cushion. I think you could ask the setter to redo it instead of sending it back? What are your feelings about the setter?

I don't know a good setter...I had a feeling he wouldn't understand how to do it. I would probably send it back to Sally.

It's actually an oval, not a cushion.

 

[pregcurious]

I guess I have a think for cushions and want to see them. I would make the oval look like a cushion with fishtail prongs.

I don't know of any good setters either. It's kind of the bane of my CS hobby. If I did, I would order settings from Sally, and Etsy vendors, and have them set with a local setter. I am going to have to figure this out soon.

Chrono, you live 3 hours near me. Do you know of any good setters in MD? Yorkgirl, where are you located?

 

[chrono]

It's different; my preference is to stay with the original fishtail prongs so I hope that Sally can fix it to your satisfaction.