Setting help would be loved and appreciated!

[WishfulThinking]

Hello, I''m new to the forum, though I''ve been lurking for a few months now. You all seem to have such good taste in lovely rings and settings, so I thought I''d ask a few questions and perhaps some of you will be willing to help me out! I apologize for what may be a fairly wordy post.

I''m more in the "lady in possibly long waiting" category. A fine place for me to be right now, considering the circumstances. My boyfriend and I are still in college and plan to get engaged when we are able to afford a fairly substantial "impracitcal", so to speak, purchase like an engagement ring without going into debt of any sort, which is important to us both. Finding a sort of tentative budget for the purchase will help us make the decision about when to become engaged. Based on income, savings, etc we think $3,000 would be a practical budget, and have found lovely diamonds from SuperbCert Excel (which comes highly reccommended from many people, from what we can tell) that fit our general ideas in terms of stone size/color/clarity/cut even beyond our expectations and are very affordable.

Our main questions right now are about settings. If the budget we anticipate is accurate we would have something like $500 (give or take) for a ring setting. We have been told that this is very possible with the setting styles I like, but none I have seen are *quite* the perfect setting. Many of them are very close, and I could easily design my own custom ring, but our budget doesn''t leave room for a project like that right now, nor do we think it''s necessary. It''s possibly just a matter of where to look!
This is where perhaps the knowledgeable members of Pricescope could assist me.

Could anyone help us locate settings in my taste from online jewelry sources with a good reputation?
Also- is it possible to add milgrain edges to a setting that already exists? I know it would be a custom job, but we are wondering if it could be done without doing a whole new casting of the ring etc. And about how much such an endeavor would cost, if anyone could help there as well.


Here are some general ideas on preferences and styles (I''d love to post pictures as well, but I''d hate to break any copywrite laws...so I''ll link to a few things):

*The center stone would be a princess cut around .7 carats if that''s helpful. =]

A band with sidestones. A few small diamonds on each side of a larger stone. Not a three stone ring, the diamonds would be very small.
Thin band- I have very small hands and I was thinking something like 2mm
Perhaps a band that tapers inward around the center stone (thinner around the stone) to create a visual boost for the stone size (hehe...)
Milgrain edging- sort of an antiquey look
Engraving on the band- something more delicate and soft. Or swirly as shown in one of the links.

Links: (hopefully they work)

http://www.exceldiamonds.com/boutique/Custom-Designed-Diamond-Engagement-Rings-5/-47.html
Without a price quote- It''s PERFECT except I think probably out of our pricerange, and the two side diamonds are larger than what would be in the budget, and not necessary for this ring.
The engraving around the band is exactly what I''m looking for.

http://www.knoxjewelers.biz/index.htm?crn=201&rn=710&action=show_detail
Perfect pricerange, but no milgraining. =[ The engraving is not my favourite, but it''s alright.

http://www.knoxjewelers.biz/index.htm?crn=201&rn=609&action=show_detail
The tapered band and milgrain are lovely! Perhaps I am rediculously picky, but still not my favourite engraving. Also not in the pricerange, and we''d prefer something without diamonds along the edges of the band for both practical and price reasons.

http://www.knoxjewelers.biz/index.htm?crn=201&rn=645&action=show_detail
I love everything about this ring besides the pricerange and the profile of the setting.


Hopefully all these requirements aren''t too specific to ever find something I like!

I''m definitely willing to compromise, and I could quite possibly fall in love with a setting that is not exactly what I''m mentally picturing.
Thanks in advance for your help!

(if you can manage to get though the incredibly long post- apologies again.)

 

[E B]

ETA: Oops, you did see it! I'll keep looking.

 

[E B]

It looks as though several of Knox''s settings are *almost* what you want and within your price range. I''d suggest contacting them and telling them that you love ______ about this ring and _______ about this ring, and see if they can combine (or change something) for within your budget. It''s worth a shot!

 

[WishfulThinking]

Thanks for taking the time to help out!

I am considering inquring about price for slight modifications on the Knox settings- especially since I can see myself taking a few tiny details and adding them to one of the lovely settings they already do carry.
The problem I see with Knox is that as far as I can understand they do custom work from wax cast molds and the labour costs for a project like that are far out of our pricerange. If they were to add engraving of any sort I believe that also would be done by hand which is pretty expensive.

Even though the details would be small, they''re estimated (from others who have had customs done at Knox) to be way out of $500 +/- range total. =[
It''s been sworn to me that such settings exist, but I''m starting to think they might not.

It''s too bad that Excel custom setting is probably way too much.
I think I''m in love! However, I''m trying to stay practical, and I''m sure eventually something affordable will pop out at me as amazing and I''ll fall in love with it as well.

Thanks again, EBree. <3