Prong woes with my u prong eternity

[arken15]

Hi all,

I was obsessed with an asscher eternity for a while, but then my budget sensibilities took hold and I turned my focus to a 15 pointer RB eternity in a u prong setting. I pulled the trigger over half a year ago and am pleased with the compromise. So pleased in fact, that I decided to temp down the few things I immediately noticed about the ring when pulling it out of the package (I used a trusted PS online vendor and they were great). Now, these little things are starting to hurt my brain and I can't ignore them.

They are...

1. A few of the stones are wonkily set.

2. The ring is at least a quarter to a half of a size bigger than requested (I can have my local jeweler figure it out precisely, but it's significantly looser than my wedding band that is about half the thickness). I can wear it, but it make me nervous, especially entering winter.

3. The shared prongs are so far apart that it loses the scalloped look of the round diamonds and squares them off instead.

I figure that one option is to contact the vendor, and since they are reputable I think it's quite likely fix the sizing and stone setting issues at no cost. Another option would be to just ask my local jeweler to do it, but if it's going to cost more than $50 then I'd just deal with the hassle of mailing and insuring it to the vendor instead. Regarding sizing, could a few beads be put in? And, would the u prong setting be amenable to squeezing the shared prongs closer together even a little, or is this the closest they can be for security reasons? I've tried scoping out other 15 pointer EBs on PS to compare, but it's a little hard to tell.

Thanks for any insight -- pics below! (If they look dirty, that's because they are, I haven't cleaned the ring in a while -- the stones themselves are lovely!)







ETA one more shot showing the size issue.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

It is unfortunate that you didn't address your concerns the first 30 days you had the ring. I really don't think the vendor has an obligation to fix anything for free now, but you can certainly ask. I'd want the stones that are crooked reset for sure. I do not believe you can move those prongs in more, though. I think it looks like a u-prong setting normally does.

In regard to sizing, be glad it is a little large because someday if you happen to gain a few pounds, it might fit more tightly. I would have the local jeweler add sizing beads and then you can always have them removed later if needed.

 

[arken15]

Thanks for the reply! I agree they are under no obligation to fix anything for free given the length of time I waited (entirely my fault). I wouldn't have asked, but if they had offered I would have taken them up on it. I should probably make sure that any work a local jeweler does doesn't interfere with the upgrade policy though before I go that route!

Thanks as well on the uprong comments, that was my impression as well. Typically the settings where the shared prongs are closer together are the classic prong set rather than the u version.

 

[VRBeauty]

If I understand your concern correctly, you'd like the prongs to be closer to the center-line of the ring? I think that would require re-making the ring entirely, and between that revised design (which would put a bit more space between each stone) and the need for a smaller size, the jeweler would probably need to make the ring with one or more fewer stones.

 

[swingirl]

Thanks for the reply! I agree they are under no obligation to fix anything for free given the length of time I waited (entirely my fault). I wouldn't have asked, but if they had offered I would have taken them up on it. I should probably make sure that any work a local jeweler does doesn't interfere with the upgrade policy though before I go that route!

Thanks as well on the uprong comments, that was my impression as well. Typically the settings where the shared prongs are closer together are the classic prong set rather than the u version.

Which vender offers an upgrade policy on a u-prong band? Does that mean you could upgrade this band for one with larger stones?

 

[yssie]

Goodness

I'm honestly very surprised that a trusted PS vendor would send a ring like that out to a customer. The unevenly set stones, the open space between adjacent stones top-down, the way some Us are wider in profile than others (2 o'clock)... I don't think this is fix-able, I think it needs to be re-cast.

Pinching the prongs in to create a more scalloped look effectively pushes adjacent stones further apart, and they're already set too far apart. Here's my Uprong w/ 14pointers from WF for comparison - it also looks more "square" than "scalloped"; the shared prongs need to be of a certain heft to secure two stones each, and I'm assuming they simply couldn't pinch them further whilst still requiring that adjacent stone girdles meet without any gap.
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-loot-from-wf-uprong-w-15pt-acas-in-unplated-14kwg.189373/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-loot-from-wf-uprong-w-15pt-acas-in-unplated-14kwg.189373/[/URL]

Re. the sizing - since it's a full eternity I definitely echo DS' suggestion of sizing beads - or perhaps a horseshoe if it's more than a half-size-ish too big.

 

[CrazyBirdLady]

I can see why your not happy with the ring. The gap between the stones ruins the look and idea of an eternity for me. I can see some uneven set diamonds as well. I can have a good guess at which vendor it is because I had the same problem as you with them. So don't think your the first person to be unhappy. I've learnt that not all eternitys are set and made the same. You not only have to think about diamond quality but diamond setting quality as well. Which is probably something you shouldn't have to worry about. It would be handy to have private messaging so I could help you out a bit more. Good luck.

 

[arken15]

@ Swingirl, yes the upgrade policy exists, and it would mean that I could trade it in towards a band with larger stones in the future! It's a big reason why I went with this vendor. As CrazyBirdLady lamented, it's too bad there is no PM function because given that I'm complaining in this thread I'd rather not tarnish their reputation. I'd be happy to PM you on a different forum (diamondbistro or something?) if that helps.

@Yssie and VRBeauty, I was actually thinking about doing a total reset and going with a standard prong setting because those seem to be stable enough to wedge the prongs together a bit more. Also, Yssie, thank you for linking to your ring for a comparison, it's beautiful and looks huuuuge on your hand. I've also admired that 3 stone milgrain bezel you have!

@CrazyBirdLady, I'm so sorry to hear you've had a similar experience and hopefully it's been worked out .

I contacted the vendor and they were very nice. They would fix it for a reasonable amount, but the shipping back and forth would cost 4x that. The upgrade policy could be honored in the future if someone else worked on it as long as none of the stones were chipped, so I'm going to take my chances with my local jeweler. I'll also get a quote for an entire reset in a different setting. I'd use them again since many other PSers have had an A+++ experience with them and nobody can be perfect 100% of the time. It's really a lesson to me to make sure things are how I expect them upfront rather than waiting months and months.