Problem with my e-ring - any suggestions?

[swissmiss]

I am delighted to be engaged, but have some problems with the e-ring and am seeking advice on how to proceed. I apologize in advance for the length

My DF wanted to surprise me, and essentially forwarded my ideas, which were in an email, to the vendor (who is not local). The vendor sent CADs to my DF, who OK'd them without having much of an idea of what he was looking at. He assumed that the picture represented what I wanted. I did not see the ring until the proposal.

I asked for a number of things in my email, including:
"- rose gold claw prongs (rosest gold available [...])
- 1/2 eternity
- if possible, rose gold inside the halo (so long as it's not visible)"

The issues:
- The ring is not a 1/2 eternity. In my opinion, it's a 3/4 eternity.
- The jeweler interpreted "rose gold inside the halo" as a "rose gold cup". I was looking for a lining of rose gold (inspired by this thread: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/another-rose-gold-oec-combo.177896/). A rose gold cup is not invisible, so it did not occur to me to specify "no rose gold cup."
- The rose gold cup is not very rosey and makes my pink sapphire very peachy and morganite-ish. I love morganite, but it's not the look I was going for. (Note that in the pictures, the stone is reflecting other colors)
- the prongs are crooked. The bases of the prongs going into the halo are not uniform.
- Please look at the pictures and tell me whether the head is symmetrical. Every time I look at the ring, I feel that the upper right and lower left hand corners are sloped differently than the others. I don't know if I was able to capture it in the pictures due to difficulties photographing "straight on".

My DF called the jeweler and inquired mainly about the rose gold cup issue because it is the most annoying to me.
(1) He asked whether the gold cup could be removed (answer from jeweler: no. This was not too much of a surprise)
(2) He asked whether the bottom of the gold cup could be "cut", so that all that would be left would be a "lining" inside the halo. (answer from jeweler: no, because it would affect the structural integrity of the ring and there would be nothing holding the prongs. The second part of the answer kind of mystified me, considering that the prong bases are visible going "on" the halo)
(3) My SO said that I wanted a "lining" of rose gold inside the halo, not a cup, and the jeweler responded that it wasn't really possible and there was no such thing. He insisted that a "lining" was a cup.
(4) The vendor suggested we go with different alloy for the cup, which might yield a rosier gold (even though the email specified the rosest gold possible).
(5) My SO asked what could be done. The jeweler said that we would have to get the setting completely redone at our cost - the diamonds could be re-used so the setting would not be as expensive, but it certainly would not be cheap (around $1,000).

My FH feels that he was not at all guided through the process and is not liking the idea of paying twice for the ring. The vendor is probably feeling annoyed with us.

I have a number of questions for you:
(1) Can you see the crookedness of the ring? The ring is cast, not hand-forged. What level of symmetry can one expect?
(2) How big of a deal is it to get a 3/4 eternity versus 1/2 eternity?
(3) Any thoughts on the rose gold cup situation?
(4) How would you proceed with this matter and what would you expect?

Thank you in advance.

 

[chrono]

I am sorry for your e-ring setting troubles. Unfortunately, once the CAD is approved, it essentially means that you agree to accept the design as is.

1. 1/2 eternity vs 3/4 eternity
The jeweller has to remake the setting. He cannot just remove the melees and fill up the holes or reshank the setting.

2. Rose gold cup
I cannot make out the details of the cup in the pictures. Unfortunately, because your description was vague, I would have also interpreted it as a rose gold cup. In looking at the thread you linked, I still don't understand what you mean by "rose gold inside the halo". The metal used for the halo IS rose gold. I have not heard of a rose gold lining either.

3. Rose-y rose gold
There are several rose gold alloys, some pinker and some more coppery. 18k rose gold is a softer pink. When selecting a vendor, it is best to see which alloy they usually use.

4. Crooked prongs.
Is the stone precision cut? The bench may not have a choice but to make the best of it. Unless precision cut, a stone could have an uneven girdle or the location of the facet(s) may make it a challenge. I cannot make out enough details to tell but the stone looks symmetrical to me.

Due to the way the setting is currently designed, the prong could be just built onto the top of the halo, which may not be strong enough to hold the stone down for everyday wear. Again, I cannot tell for sure in your pictures. It could be that the jeweller has built in most of the support to come from the cup.

 

[tyty333]

A lining in rose gold makes no sense to me either. Were you talking about a bezel around the stone in rose gold?

I can not tell from your photos whether the prongs are crooked or nresiz
1/2 vs 3/4 pave isn't that big of a deal to me. 1/2 vs the whole thing paved would be a big deal because it would be almost
Impossible to resize.

I'm sorry you are not happy with it. I wish you/ your boyfriend had found us before you had it made. We could of helped
With making sure you had the right terms for parts of the setting as well as making sure you had a jeweler who could do
Difficult pave work.

 

[qwedsy]

I either don't know what you were after with the rose gold lining, though if I were the goldsmith I probably would have asked some additional questions to be sure I understood your wishes correctly. There was just too much things not specified enough Though the 1/2 eternity should have been 1/2 eternity and not 3/4, I think there's no room for interpretation!
The claws do lok wonky to me and the halo also seems to make a curve on one of the pictures. I would think just adjusting the claws could make a big difference to the look.

I do get the excitement factor of surprise element but then you also have to accept that the outcome can be VERY different from the original vision. To some it might be romantic and the only way to do it - and to neurotic obsessive people like me it would be devastating. I hope you can come friends with the beautiful ring you have and lean more towards the romantic view that your FH designed the ring.

 

[yennyfire]

I'm not sure that you have much recourse here, especially since your DF approved the CAD. I'd live with it for a while and if it drives you crazy, you could always replace it later and use that setting for another stone or try to sell the setting solo....

I'm so sorry that you're not thrilled with your erring...I can only imagine what a let down all of this has been. I hope that you come to love the ring, even if it's only for what it represents and not for the flaws you perceive it to have.

 

[swissmiss]

Thank you all for your feedback. The surprise factor was not my choice, but it was very important to my DF.

The 3/4 eternity bothers me because the ring is too large. My ring size is 4.25. The local jeweler's mandrel indicated the ring is 4 5/8 and the ring slides off my finger with very little resistance. Granted, there are variations in sizing with mandrels, so the vendor's mandrel may indicate that the ring is 4.25. Whatever the case may be, the ring will have to be sized down and I'm concerned that the diamonds will potentially have more contact with the things I am handling.

I completely understand that the CADs were approved. I do not place blame on anyone except my vague description. Thank you for letting me know that the whole "lining" concept is not standard. I think a colored bezel would have been much better phrasing. I found the idea in this post from the thread linked above (bold added for emphasis):

Thank you all for your very generous comments! (and Laila, thanks for making me feel like I'm not alone in my "ring nuttiness" as my fiance calls it )

Natasha, I know, right? TOO much good inspiration to be had from the JBEG gals. Basically, I liked the petal look of the Gabbie halo (but with the prongs inside instead of outside), adding on the milgrain from the Bella, and I also wanted it to have more of a cushion shape than a round. I also went with larger stones (1.5mm). What are you thinking of doing?? (One additional note for you, my jeweler put a white gold "lining" inside the halo, and I'm wondering how much that along with the white gold prongs and basket are affecting the color...)

As for the stone's performance, I noticed a big difference once the girdle was up and in the light--much, much better. I have read several threads discussing that particular issue with OECs, and it was certainly true with my stone.

Here are more pictures for you

 

[marymm]

I am thinking perhaps OP meant she wanted the inner basket plated with rose gold...

I also agree with those posters who pointed out because the CADs were approved by her BF they have little recourse with the jeweler - however, depending on the actual CAD images presented to your BF, it is possible they did not adequately convey the placement of the diamond melee on the shank... if that is the case, and the initial email/agreed design did specify a half-eternity, you may have an actionable issue which would require the jeweler to remake the ring at his cost - and perhaps the other issues could be addressed at the same time but paid by you.

It is often difficult enough to go custom, but to do so through an intermediary (BF or another) really compounds the opportunity for confusion and dissatisfaction.

OP - I really hope this is resolved so that you are happy with your ring.

 

[swissmiss]

Thank you so much for your insight.

2. Rose gold cup
I cannot make out the details of the cup in the pictures. Unfortunately, because your description was vague, I would have also interpreted it as a rose gold cup. In looking at the thread you linked, I still don't understand what you mean by "rose gold inside the halo". The metal used for the halo IS rose gold. I have not heard of a rose gold lining either.

The ring is platinum, the prongs are rose gold, as is the cup. The metal holding the diamonds in the halo is platinum.

3. Rose-y rose gold
There are several rose gold alloys, some pinker and some more coppery. 18k rose gold is a softer pink. When selecting a vendor, it is best to see which alloy they usually use.

I requested 14K, but the vendor is not certain whether 18K or 14K was used.

4. Crooked prongs.
Is the stone precision cut? The bench may not have a choice but to make the best of it. Unless precision cut, a stone could have an uneven girdle or the location of the facet(s) may make it a challenge. I cannot make out enough details to tell but the stone looks symmetrical to me.

The stone is very symmetrical and is precision-cut.

Due to the way the setting is currently designed, the prong could be just built onto the top of the halo, which may not be strong enough to hold the stone down for everyday wear. Again, I cannot tell for sure in your pictures. It could be that the jeweller has built in most of the support to come from the cup.

That's an excellent point. I will try to take better pictures of the cup.

 

[swissmiss]

I am thinking perhaps OP meant she wanted the inner basket plated with rose gold...
.

YES!!! That's exactly it!!! Darn my limited vocabulary.

 

[chrono]

I think I understand what you mean now. You want a rose gold halo setting but want the inner portion of that halo to be a different metal, sort of like this. I have not seen this done for halos but for bezels, in particular, gypsy set bezels. Again, I am sorry you aren't happy with your e-ring.

 

[chrono]

From your latest description, it sounds like the cup and prongs are a single piece, the halo and shank are another piece, then they are soldered/joined together. If that is the case, removal of the cup also means there is nothing else to support the stone adequately.

I find that 14K rose gold tends to look more coppery.

I took a look at your older posts and saw that your stone is very well cut. With that being the case, there is absolutely no reason for the wonky prong work, which is noticeable.

ETA
Glad that Marymm figured out what you meant and wanted.

 

[swissmiss]

From your latest description, it sounds like the cup and prongs are a single piece, the halo and shank are another piece, then they are soldered/joined together. If that is the case, removal of the cup also means there is nothing else to support the stone adequately.

I find that 14K rose gold tends to look more coppery.

I took a look at your older posts and saw that your stone is very well cut. With that being the case, there is absolutely no reason for the wonky prong work, which is noticeable.

ETA
Glad that Marymm figured out what you meant and wanted.

Thank you so much for your help. I thought I was going crazy looking at those prongs!

Here is another image

 

[qwedsy]

"I requested 14K, but the vendor is not certain whether 18K or 14K was used."

Whaaat? I would definitely demand that information - just in case you end up appraising it / having it insured / along the line upgrading and possibly selling the ring.. Heck, I would like to know just because I would like to know! Funny that they don't consider that an important piece of information for the customer?

 

[LoversKites]

"I requested 14K, but the vendor is not certain whether 18K or 14K was used."

Whaaat? I would definitely demand that information - just in case you end up appraising it / having it insured / along the line upgrading and possibly selling the ring.. Heck, I would like to know just because I would like to know! Funny that they don't consider that an important piece of information for the customer?

Yeah, I agree, that's a detail I would definitely want to know.

 

[swissmiss]

When my DH called and asked what type of rose gold was used, the vendor said that it might be 18K, but he would have to go check - perhaps he has to ask the bench? I pulled up my email and here is exactly what I wrote: "rosest gold available - it may be 14K". So, I did not specifically ask for 14K, but left if open for the rosiest alloy. But still... I think the vendor should know! The description/vendor "appraisal" sheet made no mention of any rose gold anywhere in the ring.

 

[TC1987]

... The 3/4 eternity bothers me because the ring is too large. My ring size is 4.25. The local jeweler's mandrel indicated the ring is 4 5/8 and the ring slides off my finger with very little resistance. Granted, there are variations in sizing with mandrels, so the vendor's mandrel may indicate that the ring is 4.25. Whatever the case may be, the ring will have to be sized down and I'm concerned that the diamonds will potentially have more contact with the things I am handling. ...

Well then, can you get them on a technicality, that the ring is not the size ordered? I always thought that the ring sizes correspond to defined circumference measurements and inner diameter measurements. And one USA size 4 mandrel ought to be the same as another USA mandrel, because size 4 ( to use that for example) means fits circumference 46.50 mm, inside diameter 14.86mm
http://loveringreviews.com/ring-sizer/ring-size-conversion-chart/
http://www.krjewellers.com.au/information.html
^ I found those two charts that are consistent with each other. Is there a generally accepted definition of a size 4.25 among jewelers, if not an actual industry standard or specification?