Please Help With a Three Stone Ring

[robertsonjohn]

I desperately need help with a three stone engagement ring I am trying to build.

My girlfriend wants an emerald cut, three stone emerald cut ring w/ a carat weight of 1 for the center stone and a carat weight of around .25-.5 each for the side stones.

I have had no luck finding an existing ring that matches my price range ($6K), and have been trying to build it myself. Using Pricescope, I can find stones that match the necessary price range, but I don''t know how much variance is acceptable on the sidestones (obviously you want them as close as possible, but it''s impossible to find stones with the exact same dimensions) and I am fearful about purchasing stones separate from one another with knowing how they look together.

Am I okay buying three stones separately and then taking them to a jeweler to have the setting done, or is there more I need to know? Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[valeria101]

Buying stones separately in not a bad idea, especially if you drop a Q first with your jeweler to make sure. I guess the more usual approach is to let the jeweler get the matched side-stones, but this is not compulsory. I would match the color and clarity of the three stones and get sides within a 0.1mm variance in all measures (wXL, table, depth if possible). The sides would not be huge below 0.5ct, but, as a rule, the look of ECs can vary quite bit with details of the cut, so it is best to see them. Buying a pre-matched pair is not something I wuold rely on sight-not-seen. Yet another trich is the LXw ratio: if the center has a very different one than the sides, you better know how that would look. This is another thing to match for what most would imagine a nice EC, 3stone should look like. Scarry? It should not be such and ordeal to get a pre-made ring or arange with the seller of your diamonds to help, I hope.

Since thereis no hint about what color and clarity grades you are after, I can't really refrain from noting this: regardless of color, get them clear (VS... dear I say SI1?) since you are likely to pick up every little speck in an EC is you (or the end user) are so inclined, especially if you don't get to see the stones before buy. If you do get to choose them at sight, maybe SI...Hope this helps

After all, I have not seen this type of setting with emerald cuts too often (which either means I wasn't looking or that you have a great new idea)... but here is the exception WWW

 

[robertsonjohn]

Hi,

Thanks for the help. I have another question if anyone is inclined to help. I have found a merchant that thinks they can help, but they have said that most clients choose to get a GIA certified center stone, but not get certified side stones. They said that it would be considerably more expensive to get the side stones certified and it would take considerably longer to find them as it is extremely difficult to find near matches among certified side stones.

Does anyone have any experience with this and have they found it to be true? I only have about $1000 budgeted for the sidestones, so I don't know how important it is for stones of this size and price.

Thanks again for any help!

 

[valeria101]

True: small stones do not get certs because of cost and hussle. I do not know the precise time frame for certification, but most jewelers would say 'a couple of weeks'. It is all about how the respective bureaucracy works. Cost? a couple of hundreds, I think. It may sound strange that something worth 1K gets so little attention, but this is not a lareg sum for a diamond, so, with this term of reference, it is reasonable. Conclusion? you can have the sides certified, but finding them already certified is mission impossible. The way to go is to make sure you have a choice of sides from you jeweler to approve before seing them in mounting (say, take a look with the three stones face down on a very white (some are whiter, as a resume paper vendor will provide different whites) sheet of paper for color, and a good look with proportions in mind at the stones aligned face up. The paper sounds silly? Well, both the face down position and the whiter background will emphasize color differences wayyyy better than the stones will show in the ring. After that, the sides will get an approximative grade (standard statement will say 'color X-Y' adjacent grades recognizing the fact that the grader saw things set where they will no longer show small shade variations properly, as I mentioned above for the paper exercise) while the ring is being appraised anyway, and this really is the standard way to go.

 

[fuffi]

You're not going to find certed .25 ct stones. I would just find a very trusted jeweler who can hand pick the side stones according to your criteria. Then you'd need to see all three stones together to decide if they work or if he/she needs to keep looking.

 

[valeria101]

----------------
On 11/6/2003 8:30:53 AM fuffi wrote:

You're not going to find certed .25 ct stones.----------------

Hm... that is what I thought. However, I did underestimate the drive of web sellers to reasure costomers by certifying EVERYTHING that moves! Actually, there are some certified 0.2-0.5 ECs at Whiteflash (maybe others, following the same rationale), but no potential pair rightnow. However, maybe these guys would provide a certified pair if they don't save on small stone certs for a living anyway?

 

[fuffi]

Thanks for the correction Valeria- I have always been told diamonds of that size are almost never certed. I just did a pricescope search and found lots of GIA graded EC's in the 1/4 ct range at Blue Nile !