Recommendation for a tension ring jeweler

[Fey]

Hm. My local jeweler who had expressed his willingness to make a tension ring for me changed his mind and decided he is not sufficiently competent for that. On the one hand I'm glad he realized this and was willing to admit it, on the other hand it would have been useful if he realized it sooner :-/

So, if I have a loose diamond in hand (this one) and I want to set it into, say, one of Gelin Abaci's tension rings, any recommendations as to through which jeweler to order the ring? I'm perfectly fine doing it all online, by the way.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Kenny is our tension setting expert. ..

 

[cookies]

I am getting a Steven Kretchmer tension ring through Pearlman's. I discovered both Kretchmer and Pearlman's here on PS.

So far my experience has been great! Bill and Julian at Pearlman's, and Josh at Kretchmer, are absolutely wonderful to work with. They answered lots and lots of my questions, and I've learned quite a bit along the way, including that tension rings can have built-in sizability!

Now I am just waiting for the stone to be certified (about 3-4 weeks wait), and then sent to Kretchmer to be mounted (another 3-4 weeks).

 

[Dancing Fire]

I am getting a Steven Kretchmer tension ring through Pearlman's. I discovered both Kretchmer and Pearlman's here on PS.

So far my experience has been great! Bill and Julian at Pearlman's, and Josh at Kretchmer, are absolutely wonderful to work with. They answered lots and lots of my questions, and I've learned quite a bit along the way, including that tension rings can have built-in sizability!

Now I am just waiting for the stone to be certified (about 3-4 weeks wait), and then sent to Kretchmer to be mounted (another 3-4 weeks).

What do you mean by that? please explain...

 

[OoohShiny]

From what I've been reading (I was looking for a tension setting originally) Steven Kretchmer (http://www.stevenkretchmer.com/) and Neissing (http://en.niessing.com/tension-ring) were the originators of 'proper' tension settings that use specific metals and heat treatments to secure a diamond with c. 12000lbs of pressure per square inch, but other newer providers don't actually do this sort of treatment so their rings are more of a risk.


That said, I have seen some lovely tension settings!


I think James Allen stock some tension settings.

I have seen Danhov Tension settings, which do look nice in real life
http://www.danhov.com/engagement/view-all/

Some other alternatives I found are:

http://www.creationthibaudeau.com/

http://www.ringdesigner.com/

Sholdt also do some great settings where you can see a lot of the diamond.


Good luck, there are some nice rings out there!

 

[cookies]

I am getting a Steven Kretchmer tension ring through Pearlman's. I discovered both Kretchmer and Pearlman's here on PS.

So far my experience has been great! Bill and Julian at Pearlman's, and Josh at Kretchmer, are absolutely wonderful to work with. They answered lots and lots of my questions, and I've learned quite a bit along the way, including that tension rings can have built-in sizability!

Now I am just waiting for the stone to be certified (about 3-4 weeks wait), and then sent to Kretchmer to be mounted (another 3-4 weeks).

What do you mean by that? please explain...

OK, let me give it a try...

In my case, I want to be able to size up in the future. Josh explained there are two different ways to achieve it. He also said it's very economical to build-in some sizability at the beginning.

The first method is to over-build the specification. Kretchmer can add approx. 0.3mm of metal to the underside of the ring (that is, the entire circle that touches the skin). Later on, to size up, Kretchmer can remove some or all of the extra 0.3mm metal from the underside, without affecting the integrity of the tension ring. This method allows the tension ring to be sized up by one-size, e.g. it could go from size 9 to size 9.5 or size 10. I chose this method because one-size up is sufficient for me.

The second method is to add a sleeve to the ring. I don't fully understand how it works, but it sounds like the sleeve is a separate thing from the tension ring, and one can remove the sleeve whenever. This method allows the ring to be sized up more than the first method. I didn't ask exactly how many sizes it can go up with this method.

It's also possible to size down, but I didn't ask Josh about the details because that's kind of irrelevant to my project and I didn't want to take up too much of his time (I had many other questions for him!). Sorry if I sound like a disappointment to you. I am sure Josh can explain everything in great detail if you call him! The customer service number on their website always works for me.

 

[Fey]

And speaking of Gelin Abaci tension rings, does anyone here have an opinion on palladium 500?

I am not a big fan of rhodium plating (which almost all white gold items have) because it does wear off.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Cookie, thanks for the explanation..

 

[craighnt]

And speaking of Gelin Abaci tension rings, does anyone here have an opinion on palladium 500?/quote]

I would be careful getting palladium. I was looking into it because it dose make sense on many levels if you want the look of platinum but not the ware you would get from white gold. One thing I found out is that in America at least, it's still so new that most jewelers dont sell it and therefore will under price it because of the low demand. So if you even had to sell it, could be very difficult or you may not get anything close to the true value of it like gold, or platinum.

That said, if you really like it and plan to keep it forever, I say go for it.

 

[Fey]

if you even had to sell it, could be very difficult or you may not get anything close to the true value of it like gold, or platinum.

"True value" is an iffy thing, precious metals have prices and these are quite volatile. AFAIK, when palladium jewelry first appeared it was more expensive than platinum. The global production of palladium is about the same as for platinum (~200+ tons/year).

In any case, I am not treating jewelry as investment and palladium 500 is an alloy with only 50% palladium content. I was more curious about whether it develops patina, how hypoallergic it is, does it react with household chemicals, and, in general, what are the *usage* considerations.

 

[Dancing Fire]

I am getting a Steven Kretchmer tension ring through Pearlman's. I discovered both Kretchmer and Pearlman's here on PS.

So far my experience has been great! Bill and Julian at Pearlman's, and Josh at Kretchmer, are absolutely wonderful to work with. They answered lots and lots of my questions, and I've learned quite a bit along the way, including that tension rings can have built-in sizability!

Now I am just waiting for the stone to be certified (about 3-4 weeks wait), and then sent to Kretchmer to be mounted (another 3-4 weeks).

Very nice! wish I can afford it...

 

[woofmama]

http://www.dimendscaasi.com/ carries Gelin Abacci and will set outside stones if you mention PriceScope. Chicago based retailer.
I went there to see the tension settings last spring and have that on my wish list for an alternate ering or rhr.