Prong issues- or am I going crazy?

[Cinnamon_Bark]

Hi everyone, after coming onto this forum so many times, I've finally decided to create a Pricescope profile! This is actually my first post as I need your help in letting me know if you see anything wrong with the prongs in the pictures attached. I'm working with a great vendor and I just need to know whether it's all in my head (or eyesight...) or it's an actual issue that you all see too. When the vendor sent me pictures of the finished project, I was so happy until I saw the frontal images that clearly illustrate the prongs which don't seem to be uniform in shape. I asked for claw prongs and some of the prongs are fuller/rounded while the others are slightly pointy. I can live with the slightly pointy which I'm guessing are what is deemed claw prongs, but at least make the rounded/fuller ones slightly pointy too so they all look identical. I asked for another frontal picture of the earrings just to make sure if it was a bad picture angle and I still saw the same issue in the additional photo. I asked my family for their opinion and they noticed the non-uniformity of the prongs even without my having to point them out. I will attach the images where I circle the different looking prongs in the next comment so everyone can objectively decide if the prongs have issues. The earrings were supposed to be shipped to me this past Friday but I asked that they not ship the earrings until I'm 100% satisfied with them.

Other information possibly needed:
Platinum setting
.70 F VS1 diamonds---diamonds are basically the same exact size (one is .706 and the other is .707)
Thank you in advance for your time and opinions!

 

[Cinnamon_Bark]

Below are the same images as above but I've circled the rounder/fuller prongs in red.

 

[Luce]

Welcome Cinnamon!
It does look like the prongs you circled are a little rounder than the others. It is not unreasonable to ask the vendor to touch them up for you.

 

[BlingDreams]

Yep, I see it too. Now granted, they're macro shots and in real life you probably won't be able to tell nearly as much, but as PS'ers we're bound to look at them with loupes and it'll always bug you

I'd ask them to not only make the round ones pointier but also make them all pointier (the slightly pointy ones could be ever more "claw-like").

Share them when they're done!

 

[LLJsmom]

Yes, the lack of symmetry would BUG me. And they aren't pointy enough for my taste. And if it bugs you now, it's not gonna get better. I would ask them to fix before shipping to you, to save them shipping cost and time.

 

[BlingDreams]

I'd send them an example of what you want. Personally, I think Erika Winters does the most divine prongs

 

[Cinnamon_Bark]

Thanks to everyone who have replied and/or voted so far. I'm very grateful for your opinions. It is and will definitely bother me if the prongs aren't all the same. I have asked the vendor to fix the prongs in question and they have stated "please keep in mind how blown up the images are. Anytime you look at jewelry in a magnified viewing, things are going to look more accentuated when in real life viewing. Our jewelers made the prongs as delicate as they can be, so any further adjustment may compromise the integrity of of the prongs." They also stated they "have re-inspected" the earrings and "found that the prongs are nice and uniform in finish." I wasn't satisfied with that response bc wouldn't the fact that the images are "blown-up" mean you also see any errors "blown up?"

I'm not asking for the prongs to be made smaller, just uniform so that they match the other slightly pointy prongs. Throughout my correspondences with the vendor I've requested that the finished prongs be UNIFORM so it was just so disappointing when this aspect wasn't fulfilled. All other details of the earrings are fine from what I can see from the pictures.

 

[whitewave]

The question is, how much will they bother you in person? You won’t see them and no one is going to have their face near your ears.

Did they send a to scale photo?


I don’t think all jewelers like claw prongs.

 

[Cinnamon_Bark]

The question is, how much will they bother you in person? You won’t see them and no one is going to have their face near your ears.

Did they send a to scale photo?


I don’t think all jewelers like claw prongs.

Hi Whitewave,

A to scale photo is one that's like from real life perspective? I was only sent pictures of the earrings up close from different angles so I will request for a farther picture tomorrow morning. That's a good idea!

I know the prongs will bother me a lot in person because it already bothered me a lot when I saw them in the photos. I'm paying for a semi-custom setting so my expectations for the prongs to be uniform should be normal. Even if I bought a stock setting, the prongs should all be shaped the same. One of the reasons I chose F colored diamonds and VS1 clarity was bc those specs would be "mind-clean" enough for me.

I also wonder why jewelers don't like claw prongs? Are they more difficult to accomplish?

 

[whitewave]

Hi Whitewave,

A to scale photo is one that's like from real life perspective? I was only sent pictures of the earrings up close from different angles so I will request for a farther picture tomorrow morning. That's a good idea!

I know the prongs will bother me a lot in person because it already bothered me a lot when I saw them in the photos. I'm paying for a semi-custom setting so my expectations for the prongs to be uniform should be normal. Even if I bought a stock setting, the prongs should all be shaped the same. One of the reasons I chose F colored diamonds and VS1 clarity was bc those specs would be "mind-clean" enough for me.

I get it, but yes, get them to send you a real look photo so you can judge from that. I normally prefer claws, but my studs have stock bulbous prongs and it doesn’t bother me, but that’s me. You have to get what you want.

 

[yssie]

I recommend against asking the prongs to be made pointier (substantially trimming them or changing their shape) for two reasons:

1. Those prongs are likely cast. Cast prongs need to be more metal-heavy to preserve strength - hand-forged prongs shaped from wire can be thinner and more delicate without sacrificing sturdiness.

2. These are earrings. Super pointy prongs are more likely to get caught on things, and hair is exactly the sort of finely-threaded material that prongs love to try to ingest!

I do agree that it looks like they could be more uniformly shaped, but I also agree that these closeup photos exaggerate what we see - and sometimes what we wind up caring about! Another pic from slightly further away is an excellent idea

 

[BlingDreams]

I recommend against asking the prongs to be made pointier (substantially trimming them or changing their shape) for two reasons:

1. Those prongs are likely cast. Cast prongs need to be more metal-heavy to preserve strength - hand-forged prongs shaped from wire can be thinner and more delicate without sacrificing sturdiness.

2. These are earrings. Super pointy prongs are more likely to get caught on things, and hair is exactly the sort of finely-threaded material that prongs love to try to ingest!

I do agree that it looks like they could be more uniformly shaped, but I also agree that these closeup photos exaggerate what we see - and sometimes what we wind up caring about! Another pic from slightly further away is an excellent idea

Good points... I hadn’t thought of it that way.

 

[sarahb]

To me personally, his workmanship looks sort of sloppy at best. Altho I have never fabricated nor set a thing in my entire life, I just don't like to see work where the consistency between one prong and the next is off to such a degree.

His position that you 'won't notice it' when viewed farther away is invalid since you are the client, and IMHO, is totally side stepping this issue. The issue is the prongs & the lack of uniformity. He non-verbally acknowledged it with his 'you won't notice it at a distance' comment.

If you want those prongs cleaned up, he should own it & get it done. I wouldn't accept any shipment until those settings meet your total satisfaction.

Now, I would preference all the above with the caveat that as long as what you want does not subject the finished setting to fail in any way, you have every right to get what you want implemented on the settings. I hope it all works out for you!

 

[Cinnamon_Bark]

I recommend against asking the prongs to be made pointier (substantially trimming them or changing their shape) for two reasons:

1. Those prongs are likely cast. Cast prongs need to be more metal-heavy to preserve strength - hand-forged prongs shaped from wire can be thinner and more delicate without sacrificing sturdiness.

2. These are earrings. Super pointy prongs are more likely to get caught on things, and hair is exactly the sort of finely-threaded material that prongs love to try to ingest!

I do agree that it looks like they could be more uniformly shaped, but I also agree that these closeup photos exaggerate what we see - and sometimes what we wind up caring about! Another pic from slightly further away is an excellent idea

Hi Yssie,

Thanks for those great points to consider. I'm fine with the way the slightly pointy prongs look, I just need them to ALL look that way. *sigh* I'll follow-up with the vendor tomorrow for a picture farther away and see how it looks. Ultimately, knowing myself, I won't be happy unless all the prongs look identical.

 

[Cinnamon_Bark]

To me personally, his workmanship looks sort of sloppy at best. Altho I have never fabricated nor set a thing in my entire life, I just don't like to see work where the consistency between one prong and the next is off to such a degree.

His position that you 'won't notice it' when viewed farther away is invalid since you are the client, and IMHO, is totally side stepping this issue. The issue is the prongs & the lack of uniformity. He non-verbally acknowledged it with his 'you won't notice it at a distance' comment.

If you want those prongs cleaned up, he should own it & get it done. I wouldn't accept any shipment until those settings meet your total satisfaction.

Now, I would preference all the above with the caveat that as long as what you want does not subject the finished setting to fail in any way, you have every right to get what you want implemented on the settings. I hope it all works out for you!

Thanks for your input Sarahb! I'm trying to stay positive and hope the vendor will be able to make the prongs look identical. Since the earring on the left side has the prongs which I'm fine with, having the prongs shaped the same way for the earring on the right should mean the center stone is still securely in place.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

Hi @Cinnamon_Bark,
I am sorry you are having some anxieties about the symmetry of the prongs on your new earrings. I want to assure you that we are taking your concerns very seriously.

I have inspected the earrings and find that in real life, there are no visual asymmetries, and the earrings look great and are secure. Having said that, I have asked production to make some minor tweaks to hopefully satisfy your concerns.

It is important for you to actually see the earrings in real life. Magnified photos of jewelry items can be very misleading for a couple of reasons. First and foremost is the fact that the highly reflective nature of the product produces exaggerated glare and shadow that can appear like asymmetries in the photos. Secondly, they are magnified well beyond the eye's ability to discern extremely minor imperfections that are inevitable in any piece of jewelry involving hand craftsmanship, even by the most skilled jewelers.

Since the original instructions were to make the prongs as small and delicate as possible, they are especially hard to see, allowing the diamonds to dominate visually. And for this reason too, there is not much we can due to further refine the prongs.

I have asked our photo department to make additional images that will approximate a more real life view to give you more perspective on the scale when the tweaks have been completed. Hopefully this will allay your concerns, at least enough to take delivery and inspect them for yourself.

Thank you for your patience while we work through the issue. We understand how important this is and we want to get the earrings just right for you.

 

[sarahb]

Let me say this: now that we know you're working with a stand up company like WF, you are in great hands! They will work to resolve your concerns, I'd have no worries!!