Please look at this CAD - this is reset #2 and I want to get it right this time

[Cecelovesjewels]

Hi Everyone,

I reset my diamond over a year ago and I tried to talk myself into loving it but gaps in the halo as well as what looked like unevenness in the alignment of the stones just continued to drive me nuts. I decided to reset a second time and went with a different vendor (DK this time). I have changed my user and deleted threads on the first ring for privacy reasons (long story I don't wish to go into) but decided to post pics anyway because it's just too important that I get it correct this time around. So some of you might recognize the ring (idk because I only had like 2 threads before). So I have a yellow diamond that it is radiant, and this was the inspiration of what I wanted:





And this is how the ring turned out:





The parts I liked were how large the halo stones were, and the contrast between yellow/white. But I couldn't get past the gapping, and the fact that they look uneven somehow (oddly when I take a measurement tool is DOES show a straight line; but to my eye it looks crooked!). Also the gold bezel is barely there and I wanted that to be more prominent. I decided to go to DK and he said that part of the problem is that the prongs used are totally different. Anyway I wanted to be able to remake the ring still using my halo stones, so he made this CAD. So far I really like the way that it looks; there is one change I am thinking of (you will see that below). But I still want eyes on it to let me know what the PS community thinks. Here is the CAD:




The change I am thinking of is making the sides more "swoopy" or "tapered" as my original ring was. Oddly I don't have a side view of that ring, but I do have the mold that the first vendor did for me (which was in silver) and DK's mold, side by side so you can see what I mean:



The mold looks super bulky but my understanding is that CADS can look bulkier than the finished product. Correct me if I am wrong about that. Another photo of mold:



Anyway thoughts much appreciated. I do NOT want to mess this up again.

 

[molecule]

I remember your first post of the ring you received, and I remember the post when you were asking if it is worth it to spend the money fixing the ring. Bluntly, I think that by trying to reuse the melee you have now, you're sticking a square peg in a round hole. I have never seen a large melee halo around a non-round/ovular center stone that looked good.

The gaping will just be filled in with metal. Is that ok with you?

 

[lovedogs]

I remember your first post of the ring you received, and I remember the post when you were asking if it is worth it to spend the money fixing the ring. Bluntly, I think that by trying to reuse the melee you have now, you're sticking a square peg in a round hole. I have never seen a large melee halo around a non-round/ovular center stone that looked good.

The gaping will just be filled in with metal. Is that ok with you?

I share this concern about the melee size.

 

[bludiva]

i think you'd need the bezel to be hefty and in more of a cushion shape to get the look you want. i'm sure it's possible, it would just take a lot of metal as molecule mentioned and you'd have to be okay with that look.

 

[Cecelovesjewels]

I remember your first post of the ring you received, and I remember the post when you were asking if it is worth it to spend the money fixing the ring. Bluntly, I think that by trying to reuse the melee you have now, you're sticking a square peg in a round hole. I have never seen a large melee halo around a non-round/ovular center stone that looked good.

The gaping will just be filled in with metal. Is that ok with you?

The whole reason I was attracted to the inspo piece was that it was a halo with larger melee and not pavé. The prongs in the insp (I have since learned) are called fishtails and that isn't the type of prong that was used in the first style. So I was hoping that by using the proper prongs, it would address the problem and that was different from "filling" it with metal. It looks like I might need to rethink everything

 

[Rfisher]

Can you draw on your photo of your current ring with an arrow or a circle and specifically mark point to,what area of ‘gapping’ you do not like? and repost it?

And do you happen to have a cad from your first vendor? Hopefully with grid measurement. Can you post that too?

Did DKJ state you can get a closer look to your inspiration (negating the chief complaint points of current ring) with their cad design? Did they give you any insight that you might need smaller mm melee?
I’m just thinking if they don’t specifically know all the cards in play going on here- it’s harder for them to realize your vision.

 

[Cecelovesjewels]

Can you draw on your photo of your current ring with an arrow or a circle and specifically mark point to,what area of ‘gapping’ you do not like? and repost it?

And do you happen to have a cad from your first vendor? Hopefully with grid measurement. Can you post that too?

Did DKJ state you can get a closer look to your inspiration with their cad design? Did they give you any insight that you might need smaller mm melee?

So I drew red arrows where it's like there are holes around the center stone; I didn't point to each one but to most of them. And the beading on the original is very subtle; in fact it shows more in the photo than irl. I don't think that I have the original CAD; I will try to look but it didn't have measurements because it was one of those CADS where it almost looks like a cartoon rendition of the product, if you know what I am saying. And upon closer inspection of those cads, once I did get my ring, I could see the dark spots/gaps but I didn't notice in the original cad at first. It was my first custom piece ever.

 

[Cecelovesjewels]

@Rfisher I just saw your added question about DK. He just said that the prongs in the original finished ring were totally different from the prongs in the inspo and that was a big reason for gaps. At one point during the CAD work he said if the stones were smaller he could get it "tighter" but he didn't say anything like "you should scrap this because there's no way I can do it". But I have read that he's not the type of vendor to do that sort of thing.

Edit @Rfisher again as I see it's more of a detailed question regarding DK that I saw before (don't know if that was edited after the fact). I told DK the whole story and also gave him the inspo pictures (the same ones that I posted here).

 

[yssie]

I remember your first post of the ring you received, and I remember the post when you were asking if it is worth it to spend the money fixing the ring. Bluntly, I think that by trying to reuse the melee you have now, you're sticking a square peg in a round hole. I have never seen a large melee halo around a non-round/ovular center stone that looked good.

The gaping will just be filled in with metal. Is that ok with you?

Ditto.

I will add that yes, the wax is bulkier than the product will be, but this WILL be a “chunky” and visually hefty ring. You won’t look at it and think “delicate” or “dainty”. Encasing those large rounds with sufficient metal to mimic the pave style you want translates into a lot of metal in practice, just no way around that.

My strong recommendation is to drop melee size significantly. Four or five rounds will still create the non-micropave look you’re attracted to, but without the need for gargantuan amounts of metal around them.

 

[molecule]

Four or five rounds will still create the non-micropave look you’re attracted to

Between smaller melee (4-5 around each side) and the fishtail style pave around the metal, I believe you can get the look you're interested in.

 

[AprilBaby]

The original the prongs look like X’s. I like that. Yours looks like invisible prongs. Also your bezel is square. The inspiration is curved. Fix that. I think your prongs look heavy on the sides.

 

[Cecelovesjewels]

The original the prongs look like X’s. I like that. Yours looks like invisible prongs. Also your bezel is square. The inspiration is curved. Fix that. I think your prongs look heavy on the sides.

Are are you looking at the CAD? Because the prongs in the cad seem to match the inspo. My first ring did have invisible prongs. Also, DK's bezel does seem to curve around the edges...

This is the side view of the inspo ring (I didn't like the gallery so that was changed). Agree that the side view of the cad the metal looks thicker.

 

[Cecelovesjewels]

Ditto.

I will add that yes, the wax is bulkier than the product will be, but this WILL be a “chunky” and visually hefty ring. You won’t look at it and think “delicate” or “dainty”. Encasing those large rounds with sufficient metal to mimic the pave style you want translates into a lot of metal in practice, just no way around that.

My strong recommendation is to drop melee size significantly. Four or five rounds will still create the non-micropave look you’re attracted to, but without the need for gargantuan amounts of metal around them.

So this is the crappiest photo ever, but I went to visit the inspo piece in person way back when, and the photo is terrible but basically the stone was about the same size as mine (my stone is 1.2 ct and this was more square in shape and about 1ct) and there weren't that many stones around. I'm posting it even though it's an awful photo so I am sorry about that. In person they didn't have yellow stones just white. But anyway I hear what everyone is saying and I'm just needing to think on it some more I guess. Part of me says "f-it" and just do a solitaire or something.

 

[Tourmaline]

The inspiration pieces had considerably smaller melee than yours, and rounded contours. Your melee is enormous, and your stone isn’t rounded like the cushions in the inspiration pieces. Do you want the outer edge to be straight, or softer and curved like the inspiration pieces. I don’t think the new ring, if made to this CAD, woth these large melee, will be significantly different from the first iteration, and the bulk may be overwhelming.

I would advise you to use the large melee in another project, and totally revamp the setting to one with smaller melee.

 

[rockysalamander]

I'm so sorry you did not get what you want.

I have an idea for you to consider. I can't find a perfect example, so stick with me. Part of what is tough is that you have rectangular stone and you want a cushion halo. Your melee are too big to make that transition and using just the metal in the bezel/bar would be visibly uneven. So, you need a way to better make that shape transition. This setting shows the challenges well and you can see the gaps between the straight side of the stone and the bar, then the airline in the halo. The strong color contrast highlights that gapping.



So, could you add a row of yellow melee to increase the perimeter size and those yellow melee can graduate in size to make the cushion shape? In the example below, the radiant keeps its cut-corner look, but the yellow melee make the curves. Then, DK may need to insert a few small white melee to keep the outer halo looking seamless.

This will make the whole thing bigger and still may not work. But, you might ask DK if he thinks that will help, assuming you have the budget for the extra stones for it and compare that to buying smaller white melee. You can use your lovely stones for a rocking diamond band and pair of earrings.

 

[kb1gra]

So I've been staring at this for awhile, including the original ring, and I agree that your melee is one, maybe two sizes too large. The large piece of metal required to fill that gap you don't like is definitely significantly bigger than the pic you've posted of the inspo ring for the same size center as yours.

Also, I think that yellow gold bezel is too thick and is contributing to the overall "chunky" effect. Reducing the melee size also reduces the amount of space this bezel needs to fill in order to make the sides long enough for the 3 stones you've got.

 

[Tryna]

I've been staring at non-round stones to make a 3 stone ring a lot recently. Take this with BIG grain of salt because I am pretty new at this, but I think the shapes are fighting. Your stone is not rounded on the corners. I think this MIGHT (?) be ok if it was not a yellow stone, but to my eye, the color difference is causing too sharp a transition when you look from the stone to the melee.

You mentioned you might be open to going in a totally different direction...here is a ring by Victor Canera with a stone similar in size to yours.

https://www.victorcanera.com/product/2495-694-185/radiant-and-trapezoid-trilogy

 

[Morenita21]

The melee is too big. You need to use smaller melee.

 

[molecule]

So this is the crappiest photo ever, but I went to visit the inspo piece in person way back when, and the photo is terrible but basically the stone was about the same size as mine (my stone is 1.2 ct and this was more square in shape and about 1ct) and there weren't that many stones around. I'm posting it even though it's an awful photo so I am sorry about that. In person they didn't have yellow stones just white. But anyway I hear what everyone is saying and I'm just needing to think on it some more I guess. Part of me says "f-it" and just do a solitaire or something.

I see what you mean by it looking good in this picture, but when those proportions are done in yours, they look a bit off. I can't make out the picture well enough to draw lines to show where the stone and melee are not quite the right proportions.

 

[kb1gra]

I see what you mean by it looking good in this picture, but when those proportions are done in yours, they look a bit off. I can't make out the picture well enough to draw lines to show where the stone and melee are not quite the right proportions.

So, it's subtle, but in jewelry 1/4mm makes a big difference - the melee in the original piece, when placed side by side with each other, the total length of them is just slightly larger than the side of the stone itself.

looking at the same stones on the OP's ring, when placed side by side they're probably almost 1/2mm larger than the stone itself, which is making the corners "deeper" than the stone they're supposed to match.

DK has attempted to smooth this out by cutting the corner of the bezel, which I think is the correct thing to do, but it would be smoother still if the melee were about 1/2mm, collectively, smaller than it currently is, which would also tighten the halo to the center.

 

[AprilBaby]

Your CAD needs the corners rounded a bit more and the prongs inside the bezel, not on the bezel.

 

[Cecelovesjewels]

Your CAD needs the corners rounded a bit more and the prongs inside the bezel, not on the bezel.

Hmmm, regarding the prongs/bezel; I wanted it with both because I like the look but I though that in those instances the prongs are what hold the stone in, and the bezel is just for show. Based on the CAD, do you think it's the bezel that is actually securing the stone? I will ask DK of course but just wondering based on your observation.

 

[Cecelovesjewels]

I really appreciate everyone's insights. I am feeling a bit at a loss, because I actually liked the CAD (with the exception of wanting the tapered lines I mentioned) before asking for feedback. I didn't hate the ring before sending it to be redone; I just was unhappy with the spacing. Again just need to have a think on it. It sounds like I have the wrong shaped stone for what I was looking for in a design.

 

[Mreader]

I am friends with OP and introduced her to PS. I have seen this ring in person. I just wanted to mention that the shots of the ring are super duper magnified so the issues are quite exaggerated. Yes they are there, and she notices them and that is what is important. But when you're looking at it from a regular perspective it's a really pretty piece. Again she wants the issues fixed and I don't blame that, but just want to point out that everyone is looking at the ring at extreme magnification.

 

[Buttercookies]

Hi Cece. I remember your ring. I actually love the large chunky stone you are using for the melee. Your inspiration ring has a larger stone with a smaller melee and your ring has a relatively smaller center stone with larger melee. It is not bad but it is a different look. DK can make the gap disappear. I think it will turn out phenonmenal with a chunky halo but it will be different from your original. Either way, I think you are in good hand with DK.

 

[kb1gra]

Hmmm, regarding the prongs/bezel; I wanted it with both because I like the look but I though that in those instances the prongs are what hold the stone in, and the bezel is just for show. Based on the CAD, do you think it's the bezel that is actually securing the stone? I will ask DK of course but just wondering based on your observation.

I think the way DK has this is right. replacing the bead at the corner with the prong cuts the corner and gives it more of the cushion shape you're trying to achieve. I think this is one of the things that is wrong with the first ring, actually.

 

[kb1gra]

I really appreciate everyone's insights. I am feeling a bit at a loss, because I actually liked the CAD (with the exception of wanting the tapered lines I mentioned) before asking for feedback. I didn't hate the ring before sending it to be redone; I just was unhappy with the spacing. Again just need to have a think on it. It sounds like I have the wrong shaped stone for what I was looking for in a design.

For what it's worth, I think the wax of the ring you posted is much better than what you have.

I was simply commenting on what you stated you wanted from the piece. But I think the wax is quite attractive as done, with the caveats stated that deviate it from the inspiration piece.

 

[msop04]

The gapping is due to the size of the stones. You'll have to use smaller sized melee to ensure the gapping is minimal.

 

[PastryGirl]

I just wanted to say that I can see what you mean about it looking uneven. I'm glad you're going for the reset and hope it comes out amazing and better than you could envision.

I love the bezel and overall inspo! But I do also agree the melee is too big in the original.

 

[junebug17]

I think the DK ring is much closer to your inspiration than your first setting...your first setting is very pretty but is quite different from the inspo. Idk, the prongs might be a little prominent but I think the cads look good! As others have said, the stones in the inspo are smaller so it's not going to look exact but I think it will be a similar look. DK does beautiful work and I think it's going to turn out well. I am not an expert, these are just my thoughts. I really hope you end up with a ring that you love!