Pilot holes/Azures behind channel set carré diamonds?

[Iridium]

Hello,

I'm designing a ring that will have carré diamonds (similar to baguettes but square instead of rectangular), in a channel setting.

I'd prefer for the ring to be solid gold/platinum, with no pilot holes/azures behind the stones, as I'd like it to have a comfort fit inside the band.

I've been told by the designer that pilot holes/azures are necessary in order to be able to clean behind the stones:

If I do it with no pilot holes/azures, and dirt gets under any of the diamonds, I'll have to dismount/break the ring in order to be able to clean under the diamonds.

However, since I have bigger knuckles than fingers, ideally I'd want a solid band with a comfort fit that I can easily slide over my fingers. Also, the added weight of more gold/platinum would be a nice bonus.

Carré diamonds are square, so in a proper channel setting, there shouldn't be any space between them. It's not like brilliants, that since are round, will have space between one and the next one.

What is your recommendation? Thank you!

 

[MamaBear]

Take the recommendation of your jeweler and do the azures. It really will help with cleaning. Could you size up slightly to ensure it is easier to take off and on?

 

[Iridium]

Take the recommendation of your jeweler and do the azures. It really will help with cleaning. Could you size up slightly to ensure it is easier to take off and on?

Thank you so much for your answer!

I can't size up because it will have a 2 ct main stone, and if I size up I'll spin endlessly. I could size up only if the interior was solid gold and I could put sizing bumps.

 

[lovedogs]

Do the azures.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

I would do them, having a ring that’s hard to clean is annoying and you want your diamonds to be really clean for optimum light performance.

 

[oncrutchesrightnow]

Azures!

 

[Rfisher]

think I’ve seen a very rounded comfort fit with azure eternity.
That’s what I’d do.

Edited to add
Tiffany’s lucida eternities are rounded inside /comfort fit aren’t they?

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

Echo!
Do the azures, but ask if the rails can be just slightly widened/comfort fit underneath and that will slide like a comfort fit- you might be able to design bump rails to do this for stability?

 

[MMtwo]

Making it without a way to clean and maintain the sparkle would be throwing your money away. Step cuts need to be very clean.

 

[lala646]

You are human. There will be dirt. You won't love dirty carre cuts!

 

[Lookinagain]

Agree you need the azures. My knuckles are bigger than my fingers too. I have a carre cut band and have sizing beads on the inside along the side edges of metal (between the stones). They work fine. I don't think you really need a solid back.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Do the azures. My band is channel set rounds from Tiffany and it has them. Does not impact the comfort of the band at all. I understand your thinking but it is not true. Heed the advice of the jeweler and those of us who have these types of bands!

 

[Iridium]

think I’ve seen a very rounded comfort fit with azure eternity.
That’s what I’d do.

Edited to add
Tiffany’s lucida eternities are rounded inside /comfort fit aren’t they?

Thank you so much for your answer! Those Tiffany Lucida eternities are discontinued, aren't they?

I've searched for pictures of the inside. What exactly is it that makes them fit like a comfort band? Is it alternating the azures up and down?

Echo!
Do the azures, but ask if the rails can be just slightly widened/comfort fit underneath and that will slide like a comfort fit- you might be able to design bump rails to do this for stability?

Thank you so much for your comment. Do you have any photos of what you mean? I'm having trouble picturing what I need to ask for, if I had a picture hopefully I could show it to the designer so she knows what I'd like her to draw.

 

[MissGotRocks]

The azures are sized to give you full access to the pavilions of the diamonds. You always want to be able to clean the table as well as the pavilions of any diamond. My ring with azures slips on and off like butter - I never notice them being there at all. Have you tried on a ring with azures?

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

I can't seem to find any that are exactly what I mean but it's a softening and slight widening of the inside/bottom 'rail' sort of like this picture shows on a prong set(imagine it as a channel) of the rolling to the inside of the metal. Or, adding bar pieces of metal to a ring that are then edge smoothed for more slip over the knuckle.
I'm sorry that this is more unclear than I intended!

 

[Rfisher]

Thank you so much for your answer! Those Tiffany Lucida eternities are discontinued, aren't they?

I've searched for pictures of the inside. What exactly is it that makes them fit like a comfort band? Is it alternating the azures up and down?

They are discontinued -
The ones that I’ve seen (bucket item!!) are pretty well rounded off on the inside - like this picture from Langs shows.
I can’t answer if they are all like that - and no knowledge about the placement alternating either.

 

[Victor Canera]

Hi, you've gotten some good advice so far.
The thinking for us in the shop is that we'll do ajour openings after a certain width on the ring so that it's not weakened too much. This kind of depends on the types of diamonds used but I would say that ajour openings are a good option at about 2-1/4mm and greater width.
Good luck!

 

[Iridium]

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Hi, you've gotten some good advice so far.
The thinking for us in the shop is that we'll do ajour openings after a certain width on the ring so that it's not weakened too much. This kind of depends on the types of diamonds used but I would say that ajour openings are a good option at about 2-1/4mm and greater width.
Good luck!

Thank you so much for your answer. Would it be possible for you to post a picture? I've seen ajour openings in things like pendants but I don't think I've ever seen them in rings.

 

[Victor Canera]

Thank you so much for your answer. Would it be possible for you to post a picture? I've seen ajour openings in things like pendants but I don't think I've ever seen them in rings.

I'm really sorry, I missed your message.
Here are some photos of the way we handle this issue.
We've actually done ajour with bands as thin as 2.1mm as in the band below. This was a 2.1mm piece and we made the ajour circular as it retains a little bit more metal in the band than square openings.



And here's a photo of a piece we've done in the past at 2.3mm. Here, there's more metal width and we went ahead and did the ajour in square openings.