Recreating this antique ring - thoughts?

[Niel]

Gonna be tight depending on your color preferences.

700 for two 25 pointers in H.
500 for two 15 pointers in H.
--------
1300
800 for 14kt custom setting.
2100 just for the sidestones and the setting.
So that leaves 1900 for the center and that's AT 4000 budget.

70 point H eyeclean is going to be right at 2k or slightly over.

Thank you so much for your help Gypsy, this is so illuminating and helps me feel much more confident in my decisions.

I think I will go down to 10 and 20 pointers - looking at the original inspiration ring, the sidestones are pretty small, so I think I will still like it and hopefully that will save me a little there.

I'm okay with I color stones. They seem like a good value to me. I do want to set this in yellow gold.

Yes using smaller stones will save you money, and Is will save you money.

 

[Gypsy]

I is a WIDE catagory of color. You can get a LOT of variation. I HIGHLY recommend using a vendor that will vet the stones for you himself for tint and giving him a while (up to a few months) to find you the right stones.

I personally am using IDJ for that reason. Because if I have to go for I for my budget I know Yekuteil understands that I will want the I's well matched for color and tint.

So I would recommend you get quotes from DK and IDJ because they are going to be the two vendors who will come to the most reasonable cost for the setting. Tell them you want PS quality very well cut stones.

 

[Gypsy]

Just a thought.

You would have to get more information from the vendor as the listing is dreadfully vague. But, I thought I'd post this as the cut of the stones caught my eye and the setting is quite nice and is yellow gold like you want.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221829635474?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

So what you would need:
Measurements of each stone and approximate carat weights. Color and clarity estimates on each stone and whether they are eyeclean. And additional UNDOCTORED images.

What you could offer. Well the stones are uncerted. If they estimate out at J Si1 then you could offer 2200 and it would be a good deal. You would just have to size it.


And it would bring you way under budget. And you could save up for a nice custom setting with a couple of stones additional stones for the sides later (Adam at OWD could probably find a couple of great matches) if you still want that five stone down the line.

 

[champagnepear]

Just a thought.

You would have to get more information from the vendor as the listing is dreadfully vague. But, I thought I'd post this as the cut of the stones caught my eye and the setting is quite nice and is yellow gold like you want.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221829635474?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

So what you would need:
Measurements of each stone and approximate carat weights. Color and clarity estimates on each stone and whether they are eyeclean. And additional UNDOCTORED images.

What you could offer. Well the stones are uncerted. If they estimate out at J Si1 then you could offer 2200 and it would be a good deal. You would just have to size it.


And it would bring you way under budget. And you could save up for a nice custom setting with a couple of stones additional stones for the sides later (Adam at OWD could probably find a couple of great matches) if you still want that five stone down the line.

Thanks Gypsy. I agree, the faceting looks really lovely. I'm pretty nervous about making this purchase through eBay vs. a vendor I can trust to help me pick out stones, but I went ahead and contacted them. We'll see what they say!

 

[Gypsy]

Yeah, emails back and forth do not commit you to anything at all.

Just post whatever they provide here, or if they just update the listing with the information, let me know and I'll take a look.

You are just exploring options. No worries. Worse thing that can happen is to decide it's a bad option and thank them for their time.

 

[champagnepear]

Yeah, emails back and forth do not commit you to anything at all.

Just post whatever they provide here, or if they just update the listing with the information, let me know and I'll take a look.

You are just exploring options. No worries. Worse thing that can happen is to decide it's a bad option and thank them for their time.

This is what I received back:

"1. The center stone measures at approximately 5.9mm. The two sides stones are approximately 3.5mm.
2. The center stone is SI1 in clarity and J in color; the side stones are SI1-2 and H-I in color. The center stone is a very typical Old European Cut diamond. Most of the diamonds that were cut before the 1920's (when they started cutting the Round Brilliant, which is what is normally cut in today's age) tend to have a little bit more body color to them, resulting in the J color. But the center stone faces up extremely bright and white and all three stones are completely eye-clean.
3. I am attaching two pictures, both in the natural light and one up close."

 

[champagnepear]

My thoughts:

I find it hard to judge the cut/quality of the stones based on the pictures, but I'd be comfortable deferring to PS members on that.

I don't love the setting, though. It looks really thin/worn at the bottom, and I don't love the profile or how prominent the prongs are on the center stone. I would definitely want to go ahead and re-set it, in which case I might as well go ahead and make it a five stone. The smaller stones are 3.5mm, which is right in-between the sizes I thought I'd use for sidetones. So, I'd have to evaluate it in person and decide if I want to go larger or smaller for the second set of sidetones.

 

[Niel]

If not excited about it not worth the hassle. Pass. We can find you something nice, even if it's a modern cut. Frankly, I don't think at the size you're looking at will make the most drastic difference anyway. Plus, and old cut will make things harder for you. It'll be harder to find matching pairs, then you have to match those pairs to each other, then your center stone, then all in the color you want, and the mm size you want (which may mean your paying for more ctw as discussed above)

Plus the setting your after has vintage elements but I do not think requires an antique cut. Some are deco settings you look at and they look odd with modern cuts, that won't be the case here

 

[Gypsy]

It looks MUCH better in the doctored images than in the new pictures. And this is why we request undoctored images.

I agree with Niel it's a pass for me. Don't get me wrong, if it were 1300 I'd say its worth the risk, but at that price point, no.