Pics of 7 stone oval band, and quick review.

[elle_chris]

A month ago I ordered a 7 stone band made, up of .15ct oval diamonds in 14kt white gold (they claim they don't use nickel in their gold so I chanced it.) I asked them to set it east to west. Stones are supposed to be E-F/VVS-VS.
It was on sale from Ouros. With shipping it came out to 480 USD. Since the price was so low, I thought this would be a good time to step into the lab diamond jewelry world.

Got my band today.
Initial thoughts- The diamonds are very pretty, bright, no dark inclusions that I can see. The band looks lovely worn on it's own, with other bands, or with my e-ring.

However, I went to clean the ring and immediately a prong snagged on the tiny brush. None of my other bands have every done this. Also, the diamonds are not uniform in size. Some are fatter, others a little longer. Instead of matching the ovals, they were trying to hit the right carat weight of .15ct each for 1.05tcw. I don't know if this is just how it's done in the lab world, or if it's just this vendor.

The good thing is they have booth on 47th in the diamond district, so next time I'm in the city I'm gonna stop off and have them fix the prongs.

Quality work is important to me when it comes to jewelry. In the last 20 years I've only trusted the vendors on PS, and two local jewelers. Buying from India was a huge leap for me. If the price was above 500 I'd be complaining about the quality (loose prongs, unmatched ovals). As it stands, I think it's a very pretty band and can't complain considering what I paid.

I'll definitely buy another lab piece, but next time I'll try a different vendor.

 

[Jax172]

Ouros is what I would call a budget vendor. Their pieces are generally inexpensive and not top quality. I only use them for less important things. Fun little sparkle fixes,

It’s a pretty band and I think a decent value for the price you paid.

 

[elle_chris]

Ouros is what I would call a budget vendor. Their pieces are generally inexpensive and not top quality. I only use them for less important things. Fun little sparkle fixes,

It’s a pretty band and I think a decent value for the price you paid.

Who would you consider a quality lab vendor? Not for loose stones, but for fun pieces?

 

[Jax172]

Who would you consider a quality lab vendor? Not for loose stones, but for fun pieces?

I have had great experiences with Adiamor,
and I’ll buy loose stones from Loose Grown Diamonds and send them to Daniel M on Etsy to make the settings. Ouros is not bad by any means but you do have to be on top of them to make sure you get what you want. Like saying up front that you expect the ovals to match size, want the prongs done a certain way, etc because returns not as easy to do as as US vendors. SzekiStudio has made me a couple settings too that were very well done for th price.

 

[elle_chris]

@Jax172 thanks for the recommendations.

I told Ouros about the prong issue. They told to just get it fixed at a local jeweler and they'll reimburse me the cost.
Wasn't expecting that. They jut got an extra star for their customer service.
Nicely done Ouros!