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Pics of my stone and mounting, and my diamond buying experiences

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rogue

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jul 15, 2006
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180
Decided on a stone! Thanks to all those following my saga and helping me decide! Specs:

RB
1.74
G VS2
7.83-7.89 X 4.70 mm
Depth: 59.8% (59.7% Megascope)
Table: 59% (59.1% Megascope)
Crown angle: 32.5
Crown height: 13.5%
Pavilion ange: 41.2 (41 Megascope)
Pavilion depth: 43.5%
Star length: 55%
Lower half: 80%
Girdle: Thin to Medium, faceted
Culet: None
Polish: Very Good
Symmetry: Excellent
GIA cut grade: Excellent
HCA score per GIA specs: 2.1
HCA score per Megascope specs: 1.1

The stone:

This was purchased from Diamond Source of Virginia. I highly recommend - working with Denny Reinke, his wife Anne and their staff was a pleasure. Denny is super knowledgeable and answered all my technical, detailed questions extremely thoroughly. They find stones within your parameters and send you a list with the main stats, and then you narrow down what you want more information on. They scan you the certs and you further narrow. Once you decide which stone you want to see the most, they order the stone from the supplier, inspect it, describe it to the customer and if it meets expectations, ship it out to the customer (with a loop) for a 2 business day inspection. If you decide to keep it, you pay; if not, you return it FedEx with their insurance carrier. They pay the shipping costs both ways so there is absolutely nothing to lose. I was hesitant using a diamond broker because I was concerned about markup and thought I could just search various inventories myself, but they found so many stones I didn't see anywhere. And of the 20+ stones they found for me, two were on Blue Nile, and their prices were only like $200 or $300 more than the Blue Nile price (I believe they have a price matching too, if you bring up to them that you found the same stone somewhere for less). I also saw another stone for sale on another virtual website, but that stone was actually $200 more than the Diamond Source price. It was hard to find stones within the size range I wanted, but they did a great job.

I sent the first stone they sent me back to them because there was a ring of death effect. Then when I told them how DOCD I was, we made sure the HCA numbers were good, and they even took Idealscope and H&A photos for me. For a number of reasons, they don't normally use the IS and HCA in their business and analysis of stones, but when I told them it was important to me, they were happy to do this for me.

The mounting:

The mounting was a custom semi-mount from Wedding Ring Originals on Lexington Ave in New York. Big fan of Mel, the owner. He is knowledgeable, if not a bit old-school (i.e. depth and table matter more than pavilion angle). But rings, rather than stones, are their speciality. I explained that I wanted a fairly common ring--princess channel set--but with slight tweaks. We talked endlessly about prongs and heads and shanks and baskets and height and flush fits...very knowledgeable. We ended up with 20 G VS princess stones set to about 8 o'clock and 4 o'clock down the shank and using a low (about 6 mm from my finger) basket style setting with prongs inserted into the shank rather than originating from a central point.

So, pictures!



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rogue

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jul 15, 2006
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180
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rogue

Shiny_Rock
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rogue

Shiny_Rock
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rogue

Shiny_Rock
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rogue

Shiny_Rock
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rogue

Shiny_Rock
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180
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DSCN1205 - side view.JPG
 

diamondseeker2006

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
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58,547
GORGEOUS!!!
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I hope a side view is coming, because I might want one, too! Haha! How many mm wide is that band? I like it! (And I have an appt. in a minute, so I might be awhile before getting back here)
 

diamondseeker2006

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
58,547
Yep, exactly how I''d want my head to look! It''s beautiful!
 

Dee*Jay

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Mar 26, 2006
Messages
15,134
What a gorgeous ring!
 

AsscherGirl

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jun 24, 2005
Messages
581
Oooooh, very pretty! I love the head - it looks perfect!

BTW - what is your ring size? It looks HUGE on your hand!

Congrats!
 

Kaleigh

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 18, 2004
Messages
29,571
Wow, that is a stunning ring. I love the setting too. YUMMO!!!
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SoonIHope

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Oct 11, 2005
Messages
2,152
Beauuuuutiful! And I LOVE that head!!!
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rogue

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jul 15, 2006
Messages
180
Thanks everyone! My ring size is a 4 (I normally wore 4.5 but Mel refused to make it bigger than 4 - "Sweetie, you're not a 4.5 - trust me, and if you're not comfortable with my sizing come back and I'll resize for free!"). We initially wanted to make the ring 2.5 mm wide, but the princess stones we wanted to use required a bigger channel, so it ended up about 2.75 mm. I love the head, I just hope we can make an eternity that sits flush with it!
 

sevens one

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 14, 2004
Messages
9,536
lovely ring
 

robbie3982

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 28, 2006
Messages
3,960
your ring is absolutely stunning! i love the channel set princesses on the sides!
 

bling*diva*

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 17, 2005
Messages
4,026
~~This ring is absolute perfection!! I love RBs
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and the princesses in the setting are gorgeous!! More pics!!
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whatmeworry

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
May 23, 2006
Messages
1,095
Rogue, thanks for sharing. That''s a sweet looking diamond and ring. Congrats.
 

FireGoddess

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 25, 2005
Messages
12,145
Just gorgeous. Love that uninterruped wall of diamonds in the shank, and the beautiful center stone!!!
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Mara

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
31,003
very pretty, i just love that beautiful head!!!!
 

FacetFire

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jun 26, 2006
Messages
1,879
Oh, it''s stunning!!! I LOVE that side view!
 

Sundial

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Mar 14, 2005
Messages
5,532
Gorgeous diamond and gorgeous setting!!! You did good.
 

Linda W

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Feb 15, 2006
Messages
10,630
Beautiful ring and setting. I also Love the head.

Linda
 

Tacori E-ring

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 15, 2005
Messages
20,041
Oh I love channel set PRs! It is a beautiful setting. I can''t wait to see the matching wedding band.
 

diamondlove

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Apr 18, 2006
Messages
409
Very pretty-- I really like that head as well. Enjoy that beauty!
 

strmrdr

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 1, 2003
Messages
23,295
yummy
kicken 60/60 stone and awesome setting.
 

Ellen

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 13, 2006
Messages
24,433
That ring is stunning!
 

msdarlinjoy

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Feb 12, 2004
Messages
1,269
Hi Rogue ~
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Congratulations!
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Beautiful new ring!
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I
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love
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channel set princess diamonds ... so yummy!

Thanks for sharing and of course, you can post more
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''s anytime!
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Have a wonderful day!
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rogue

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jul 15, 2006
Messages
180
Thanks everyone!
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And I just bought my Sharper Image cleaner today...can''t wait to use it...
 

gailrmv

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 8, 2005
Messages
3,136
That is an exceptional setting and diamond combo! I really like the mix of round and square stones. I''m surprised it isn''t done more often.
 
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