Ritani Solitaire....Perfect Match?

[Mara]

I was in BBB today at the mall trying on some rings for fun...I tried on a 2.2c and a big honking 3c, both in the same Ritani solitaire setting, with no diamonds anywhere on the ring. It had the head that starts flat from the band then flares out so that a wedding band (any wedding band) can sit flush with it. My band fit flush with it as did my cheapie WG eBay 2mm ring. The ring itself was maybe about 2.3mm or 2.5mm max. I was looking online to see if I could find the ring but can't seem to find it!!

The gal did mention that the whole flush fit thing was so that other rings fit well with it, designed that way, and I read something online about the Ritani Perfect Match which is that any e-ring will sit flush with a w-ring. But all the settings I found for Perfect Match were the Ritani micro-pave.

What I absolutely LOVED about this ring was the head, from the side view it had a little scalloped look to it, it was not your typical V shaped 4 prong head. It flared out and really cupped and showcased the stone. The ring was stunning and I forgot to ask how much it was and what it was named if you can believe it. I was too busy wiping up the drool from trying on the 3c which by the way looked FABULOUS on me.

So if anyone has info on this particular solitaire, no diamond, scalloped 4 prong head Ritani or pictures (I'd love for you guys to see the side view on this ring!!)...please post !! I looked at Ritani's site as well as 3-4 other retailers who sell them online and did not see it!

 

[cpster]

There is a super tiny image on this page. http://www.ritani.com/ritani_news.htm

Is this it? Too tiny to tell probably.

 

[Mara]

CP I did see that image but yes it's too small for me to really tell much unfortunately. Can't believe I didn't ask the gal what it was CALLED. der!

They also have a butterfly sculptured head but that's not the one...I was able to disqualify it from the images on Ritani. Ritani does have some solitaire's posted on their site that COULD have been it, but they didnt have side views for those, so frustrating!!!

 

[Kaleigh]

Oh it sounds gorgeous. Especially the head of the ring. I hope someone can find a pic of it. I need to see this!!!

 

[Patty]

Date: 2/19/2006 10:02:03 PM
Author: kaleigh
Oh it sounds gorgeous. Especially the head of the ring. I hope someone can find a pic of it. I need to see this!!!

Me too! I want to see this, especially the head! I''m VERY picky about the heads of rings, lol.

Mara, when I took my diamond in to be set, I forgot ALL the questions that I wanted to ask them. Something about being in a jewelry store makes my head go blubbery.

 

[lizz]

Mara, I know exactly what you''re talking about. Is this it? It''s really hard to tell what the side view looks like, but I saw it on Solomon Brothers'' site.

 

[Mara]

Liz it looks kind of like that, but that is the one with the surprise diamonds in it (I saw the description of it on another site!) so it''s not the one that I tried on...I wish they had side views!!

 

[hlmr]

Hey Mara:

I love your new avatar''s diamond earrings!!! They look to be a couple carats a piece!

Heather

 

[Mara]

Haha thanks Heather, aren't those rockin'? They were new last week for Yahoo~ and of course I was ALL OVER IT!!!!! If I can't have them in real life (yet), my avatar is going to be sporting them. Funny thing is that all my friends now have them on theirs too, everyone wants the diamond earrings!

Here is a ritani solitaire I found a picture of....the setting I tried on is CLOSE to this one, but it doesn't appear this is a flush fitting setting. The one I tried on had that same thing that the MB setting did where it starts in the band flat and then flows outwards above the companion ring so that they sit flush. That's part of the silhouette I have found I really seem to love.

So it's very close to this ring, this picture was posted in 2003 on another forum, but the head looks very similar, so I am thinking that maybe Ritani modified this setting into a more delicate flush fitting one for their Perfect Match program?

Imagine this ring but with the prongs and entire head seeming more delicate, almost hand-made looking (example, the WF martini studs vs the WF handmade martini studs, more delicate looking). The slight scallop visible here is more pronounced on the thinner more delicate one. It's got the flush head where it starts in the shank and flares out over the 2nd ring, and I don't recall it having a cathedral shoulder but it may have. I don't think so though. Also I think it had a tiny knife edge. Also the prong tips were tiny and more well-formed than on this Ritani. Lastly, I think that the shank was a tiny bit thinner...the 3c one was probably was about 2.5-2.7mm wide, but interestingly enough the slightly thicker shank made the stone look bigger from top down when you looked at it. I really thought that the 3c I tried on was a 4c at first!

In short it was beautiful!! I was looking online and saw that a bunch of the other Ritani solitaires with no diamonds are about $1500, not bad at all for a setting like this IMO. If I ever went solitaire, I think this one just jumped to the top of the 'must have' list. The fact that it sat flush with both my w-ring and the 2mm WG ring was such a positive! Oh and I'm sure the big honkin' spready 3c stone helped!

Anyway so far this is the closest I have found!!! I emailed Ritani asking for a picture but who knows if they will send me one or not.

 

[mrssalvo]

Mara might buy a designer setting

.

Seriously, I love Ritani and the whole flush fit thing. The ring you are describing sounds gorgeous, especially with a big ol stone, and is such a plus that it would work with your wedding band and plain band. I hope Ritani will send you a picture. Any chance BB&B would let you go with with your camera?

 

[Caribou]

I like Ritani too...my ring was designed after Ritani''s endless love (w/o the halo).

Good choice Mara.

 

[Mara]

Haha, but only an AFFORDABLE designer ring MrsS...I''m not entirely unreasonable!!

Not sure about BBB with the camera, but hopefully Ritani can send me a picture since literally I spent an hour last nite pouring over authorized retailers websites and they seemed to have every other Ritani but this one! Even BBB''s site didn''t have this one listed.

The interesting thing was that they had a whole display case of JUST this setting with various sized stones, and there were definitely a bunch of them. Not just one or two. A few in the 1c range, 2c range and then 2 in the 3c range. So I thought it was a BBB setting, like maybe their branded solitaire, but she said it was a Ritani!

It was amazing how much larger also the stones looked in a solitaire setting...I am so bored with my own setting and all the small diamonds, hard to believe I know but I am just craving the simplicity of a solitaire with a blingy eternity band. I drool almost weekly at PJ''s set and some of the other gals on here with larger stones and that blinding eternity ring. Gosh the grass is always greener right? Got diamonds, wish you didn''t. And vice versa!!

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 2/20/2006 1:31:53 PM
Author: Mara

That is the exact problem I am having right now. Hubby told me to put together an upgrade folder with my top choices. There are several I love but I worry I''m going change my mind or become tired of it, as I''m know to do

.

Did BB&B say if the solitaire are new? Maybe that''s why you''re having a hard time locating a picture

they just don''t have them in stock and up on their sites yet?

 

[Patty]

Mara, the one you posted is gorgeous!

I can't tell, though...In the horizontal bar of the basket, is that a reflection or does the bar "dip" upwards a bit?

 

[mrssalvo]

Patty,
i think it might actually dip..
here''s a picture of a 3-stone version..

 

[Mara]

I know Mrs S...having to make a decision on ONE style for the next 5-10 years or forever is just a horrible thing to make a jewelry lover do!!

Cruel.

Kayla, it's a little scallop/dip upwards, that's part of what I loved about it!! The prongs dip upwards and make two small U's...in the version I tried on it was so delicate and thin...really beautiful and it was definitely visible that it was a scallop when you saw it in person.

Mrs. S I thought maybe it was new....she really didn't say too much about it...I literally was So breathless with goggling over the large stones that the setting didn't even really register as ultimately fabulous til I left the store.

ETA .... part of what gets me about so many rings these days is that the focus is almost always on the SHANK of the ring or the body. The head is typically neglected and is one of those 4 prong V's or something like that. I always wonder, gosh they spend so much time making the shank of the ring decorative or doing this or what to the sides, filigree etc and the heads are just slapped on there and half the time don't even look integrated into the ring. So these settings that I find here and there which really pay the most attention to the HEAD are my favorites because to me that's what showcases the diamond....it should get more focus and attention or at least equal to the shank and the body of the ring. Imagine something like the micropave settings but with this beautiful hand-looking scalloped head? Droolworthy!!!

 

[Patty]

Ah, okay, thanks mrssalvo and Mara. I love the whole setting! And yes, Mara, I think that more emphasis needs to be put on the head. That''s why I love the Solstice or buttercup style head...because it "cradles" the diamond. Also, the person wearing the ring sees the side view more than the top-down view so the side view needs to be purty.

 

[mrssalvo]

I totally agree with about the heads of rings being neglected. I loved the memoire eternity settings but the head it just a standard 4 prong peg. The beautiful attention and detail in the prongs and puzzle flush setting and a plain ol'' 4 prong head

 

[Odilia]

Wow, so much of what you are saying really hits home. I would love to see the ring you are talking about, Mara, not that I am looking at solitaires, but I SO agree about the design of the head making a difference.

{{{{{{...having to make a decision on ONE style for the next 5-10 years or forever is just a horrible thing to make a jewelry lover do!! Cruel.}}}}}

That was (and still is to a large extent) my problem!!!!
{{{{{.... part of what gets me about so many rings these days is that the focus is almost always on the SHANK of the ring or the body. The head is typically neglected and is one of those 4 prong V''s or something like that. I always wonder, gosh they spend so much time making the shank of the ring decorative or doing this or what to the sides, filigree etc and the heads are just slapped on there and half the time don''t even look integrated into the ring.}}}}}}

You just described my original e-ring setting (at least the fact that the head was just slapped on etc.. - NO harmony of design, AND my pet peeve about rings these days as well. Alas, I didn''t realize it until we had bought the ring and I had it on my finger!)

{{{{So these settings that I find here and there which really pay the most attention to the HEAD are my favorites because to me that''s what showcases the diamond....it should get more focus and attention or at least equal to the shank and the body of the ring. Imagine something like the micropave settings but with this beautiful hand-looking scalloped head? Droolworthy!!! }}}}}

That''s what I like about Pricescope. When I was engaged, and got a far more blingy e-ring than anyone else in my family, everyone thought I was crazy when I wound up not liking it, and I thought I was just being too picky. But that lack of harmony, where the head was just hardware - Mara you described it so perfectly: head just slapped on there and doesn''t even look integrated into the ring - that drives me crazy. I called it "prongs that spring out of nowhere." (I also have to be careful, because if I were to tell many of my friends about this criticism of my first ring, I''d sort of be criticizing their own rings...) And it''s one of the things I like about a lot of the antique rings; they used to make the whole ring a work of art, not just the shank. Also, I had such a hard time finding rings that would sit flush, and then of course after I get married,

Ritani starts the ''perfect match'' thing. I think I heard somewhere that the head of/ designer for Ritani (maybe that''s his name?) had a bride complain to him about rings not sitting flush, so he decided to do that Perfect Match thing. In fact, my understanding was that any (new) Ritani ring will sit flush to any other, although that might not be correct.

Anyway, Mara I couldn''t agree more with your comments!!!

 

[Mara]

Totally Kayla..I spend WAY more time looking at the side view of my ring than anyone else (aka think hand on the steering wheel!) and I definitely don''t love my standard 4 prong head the way it is now, the solstice is one of the prettier ones, but I would absolutely love more design on the head.

When I upgrade this spring, I want to get a new head for the ring that showcases the side view more, but I don''t know if it is something as simple as the 6 prong buttercup or something more detailed, unfortunately my ring is already made so I am a bit limited in what I can do to sit on my ''peg'' for my ring, but I will do the best I can to make sure that the side view is purty!!

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 2/20/2006 2:50:00 PM
Author: Mara
Totally Kayla..

hehe mara, patty changed her avatar and it "looks" like kayla

 

[Patty]

Date: 2/20/2006 3:02:50 PM
Author: mrssalvo

Date: 2/20/2006 2:50:00 PM
Author: Mara
Totally Kayla..

hehe mara, patty changed her avatar and it ''looks'' like kayla

Yeah, I don''t recognize myself these days!

 

[Mara]

DAMN I gotta stop staring at just the avatar to respond...

That is an amazing avatar picture Patty, I adore Kayla''s!

 

[Patty]

Thanks Mara!

Sometimes on one of my other message boards people will steal each other''s avatars as a joke. It''s totally confusing b/c like you, I just go by the avatar picture when I read threads. I''ll be reading and think, "He said THAT?!" LOL.

 

[AndyRosse]

Date: 2/20/2006 3:57:15 PM
Author: Patty
Thanks Mara!

Sometimes on one of my other message boards people will steal each other''s avatars as a joke. It''s totally confusing b/c like you, I just go by the avatar picture when I read threads. I''ll be reading and think, ''He said THAT?!'' LOL.

Patty, don''t give anyone the idea

 

[ilovesparkles]

Is it this one perhaps? I found bezel set rings where the scallops were more pronounced too.

 

[feathers]

Ritani Perfect Match...with princess though.

 

[Mara]

hmm nope it's not like that...it's most like the one i posted from the side with the scallop....but just alot more 'delicate' and curvy.

old fashioned girl...yep i totally agree i adore antique rings because of how the detail in the ring is carried through to the head. i just don't get why the head is so neglected! how hard is it to put a tiny bit of design in it rather than the basic 4 prong V or basket??? it's not as though it's that much more expensive to have something like that be an option for a standard.

i do see a bit of a trend moving slowly towards more head designs which i love! literally when i see rings on here the second thing i want to see is the side shot because i want to see thathead! hopefully over time more designers and those who have custom will pay more attention to the head as well so we can see true works of art that are integrated!

 

[valeria101]

Not sure what these are (Ritani? Vatche?), but the solitaires fit the description pretty well.

 

[Mara]

Nope Val..those don''t have the scallop of the prongs coming down...the one that I posted is still the closest but the ''delicateness'' of the ones you posted is more similar to the one I saw.