setting my greenish cushion sapphire (part 2)

[sonyachancs]

Thanks Niel for reminding me I'm a nincompoop and forgot to update you guys on my ER!! so after my three-stone vs halo question on my last thread (https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/setting-help-for-a-green-grey-sapphire.193132/), it became an easy answer when my FF said he didn't really like a three-stone as an ER.

... sometimes I forget he has opinions. so I sent it off to the jeweler for a split shank halo (decision made easier because she found me single-cut stones) in unplated yg (she doesn't know what composition, and I think I'm the first person to request both the single cuts and unplatedness) with the following inspiration shots:

I know on of them is melbournegirl's and a ritani, but I forget who the rest belong to, sorry!

 

[sonyachancs]

but.. this is what came back. I don't know how it looks IRL, and my jeweler only sent me camera-phone shots, but I definitely need to make some changes

1. the basket area is a bit unclear, but looks all wrong (looks like there's a basket, which I don't want)
2. the split is too long - I wanted the split to taper quickly into a single shank
3. and does it look too yellow to you?!

I'm going to see it thursday night, but I wish they had just copied what I had shown, instead of adapting it to something I don't really want! and, they don't seem to have drawings or CADs for me to see so I think something might have gotten lost in translation from me telling her - to her telling her craftsman. massive sigh.

 

[Niel]

Will it be a plain shank or have diamonds in the shank??

Oh sorry I posted at the same time as you.

The color you'll have to see in real life as cameras can play tricks on your eyes with metal. especially if they aren't used to taking photos of it.



Your right, the split shank doesn't come out fast enough. Also, the shank looks thick

 

[sonyachancs]

at first I wanted a plain shank, but the jeweler managed to convince the FF that it might be nicer with diamonds on... I'm still pretty undecided.

if I have a diamonded shank, I will wear a spacer band with a blinging WB or just have a plain WB; if I have it plain I will wear it direct with a blinging WB.

what do you think? I know the plain shank halo look has its fans on PS!

 

[chrono]

1. Yes, she/he added a U support underneath the halo.
2. The split should be closer to the halo, not further down the shank. It is too wide.
3. The yellow-ness could be due to the lighting and/or camera.

 

[sonyachancs]

at first I wanted a plain shank, but the jeweler managed to convince the FF that it might be nicer with diamonds on... I'm still pretty undecided.

if I have a diamonded shank, I will wear a spacer band with a blinging WB or just have a plain WB; if I have it plain I will wear it direct with a blinging WB.

what do you think? I know the plain shank halo look has its fans on PS!

 

[sonyachancs]

1. Yes, she/he added a U support underneath the halo.
2. The split should be closer to the halo, not further down the shank. It is too wide.
3. The yellow-ness could be due to the lighting and/or camera.

sigh - that's the first thing I told her, that the split needs to be brought nearer the halo (she assures me it can be fixed!). is there any need for a U support? I'm just wondering if they put that in as a structural thing, or because they were used to doing it (all their rings have baskets).

 

[chrono]

That question is best answered by the jeweller. I wonder if she/he feels that that extra support is needed because the split is very wide (far down the shank).

 

[JewelFreak]

If they bring the split up farther, they should be able to get rid of the U part, which is not particularly graceful, doesn't add anything elegant to the design. Too bad they can't do CADs, would've saved them time & presumably money, and you a headache. Hope it turns out to your total satisfaction! Looking forward to final pics, but please keep us updated on what you think when you see it.

--- Laurie

 

[pregcurious]

Did they make you a custom ring, or did they buy a stock ring that was "close enough" and just use it without any alterations?

I had a terrible experience of doing semi-custom job with no CADs. From now on, I either do CADs, or stock ring.

 

[FrekeChild]

Wait, you want white or yellow gold? That looks like yellow to me.

Ugh. I hate when they don't get anything right. Good luck trying to explain it to them!

 

[GliderPoss]

Hmmmmm honestly that looks like a cheap stock ring!!! Absolutely nothing like the inspiration you have provided them...

Your design is lovely and I think once done correctly will be scrumptious.

 

[sonyachancs]

BIG SIGH + anxiety as I am seeing the jeweler tonight.

it's supposed to be custom-made, which is really why we went there. we also have a deposit of 500 down now, so I think we are pretty much stuck at the moment. it annoys me because the lady assured me she understood what I wanted - and I'm a budding PSer, right, so I made sure to bring loads of photos after reading all your threads about custom jobs. I would be well pissed if it were a stock setting (not that there's anything wrong, but then the money isn't justified).

thank you all for being so kind and understanding - the FF is completely like when I try and explain..

Wait, you want white or yellow gold? That looks like yellow to me.

Ugh. I hate when they don't get anything right. Good luck trying to explain it to them!

FrekeChild, I'm going for unplated wg, so hopefully it really is unflattering light as Niel says, or it'll be far too yellow for me

wish me luck! let you know after I speak to her tonight, and hopefully have some shots of it on my finger at least.

 

[Niel]

Hmmmmm honestly that looks like a cheap stock ring!!! Absolutely nothing like the inspiration you have provided them...

Your design is lovely and I think once done correctly will be scrumptious.

I agree this looks a lot like a LOGR ring. Im sorry sweetie. I hate to say it but id argue wanted my 500 back... this doesnt look like what you asked at all and youve got pics and i assume emails to back that up?

 

[chrono]

Sonya,
You have seen other work from this jeweller, right? And you found that you like what you see, hence you trust that she will be able to pull off your vision, right? If yes, I'd go through the design again with her and give her another chance. If no, I'd see if I can get my deposit back and seek another jeweller whose work is similar to what you want.

 

[minousbijoux]

I hate when it becomes an anxiety-generating endeavor. Whatever you decide, good luck to you and I'm sorry that its becoming tough.

 

[sonyachancs]

ok, no photos but an update!

1. unplated wg!
yes, it was the lighting. and it wasn't properly buffed up yet - there is a clear distinction from the colour of the band to an actual yg band. so YAY!

2. the split shank
yes it was rather old-fashionedly wide. she says they extended it further because they pushed my halo up (pushed up to accomodate WB-flush-ness) - why the two are related I'm still not sure, but she says she does know what I'm looking for when I said I wanted the split to end quicker.. I am going to hope it's a case of them taking creative license (maybe some people like suggestions, but I most certainly know what I want and hopefully convinced her of that).

3. the chunkiness

was the most unattractive part of the ring. it feels pretty solid - the depth(?) of the shank was too much and while it looks slightly less chunky IRL than in the photos, it's still way too chunky. hopefully this gets fixed.

4. the u-prong

was added because they raised my halo and thought there was too much of an open basket underneath (should have just asked me!) so the u-prong helped fill it up. I've said a definite no-no to it.


so.. it's going to be another 10-15 workdays before I get to see my ring again, and hopefully it'll be closer to what I want! I felt slightly happier after seeing it yesterday - it's handmade as far as I can tell (some 'defects' here and there), and I have proper finger coverage (forgot my camera so I'll wait till the next session before I show you guys).

and thanks for all the support! the FF can't empathise.

 

[pregcurious]

My husband didn't get why I wanted my ring a certain way until I made an analogy. If I bought him a pair of shoes that he hated to look at, and asked him to wear it everyday of the week and not be "picky", it's the same thing. It's reasonable for him to ask me to return them because he has to wear them. It's silly for me to say he's being too "picky", sensitive, etc. They're his shoes and he has to wear them.

 

[chrono]

So does this mean that with the split now being smaller, your halo does not need to be pushed up and that the U support can be removed? I don't know if you noticed this or prefer this, but I like my halo to be slightly angled so that I see diamonds from the top and diamonds from the side.
www.engagementringsdirect.com/kelly-micro-pave-split-shank-halo-diamond-engagement-ring-bpid-135-19.html

 

[minousbijoux]

So does this mean that with the split now being smaller, your halo does not need to be pushed up and that the U support can be removed? I don't know if you noticed this or prefer this, but I like my halo to be slightly angled so that I see diamonds from the top and diamonds from the side.
www.engagementringsdirect.com/kelly-micro-pave-split-shank-halo-diamond-engagement-ring-bpid-135-19.html

Nice illustration, Chrono (and beautiful ring).

 

[sonyachancs]

So does this mean that with the split now being smaller, your halo does not need to be pushed up and that the U support can be removed? I don't know if you noticed this or prefer this, but I like my halo to be slightly angled so that I see diamonds from the top and diamonds from the side.
www.engagementringsdirect.com/kelly-micro-pave-split-shank-halo-diamond-engagement-ring-bpid-135-19.html

I most certainly hope so - wrt the U support and the small split.

I was debating this angled halo - but I 1. wasn't sue if they would be good with something like that and 2. rather fancy the look of a flat table (I like perpendicular things!)

I am just dying not seeing the ring again. it's not really what I wanted, but it was so nice to see my green stone again (before passing it to the jeweler I was taking it out to play all the time), and now I feel a sort of withdrawal. and also just emailed the jeweler another photo. I hope I'm not being too annoying (because if this ring works out the way I want, I think she's still my best bet for setting the 5-stone chryso (which I won the bid for and am praying will arrive SOON!)

 

[minousbijoux]

I hope it works out really well and is soon back in your hands exactly as you wanted it. Sending dust.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Hope you love it next time around!
Custom work can be intimidating, I recently finished my first CAD project, there was a lot of emailing back and forth and even though my jeweler is super nice and receptive to feedback, I still felt awkward and anxious.

 

[sonyachancs]

thank you ladies, all of you have been such a support! I have new photos - and I'm going to see it on wednesday, so I'd appreciate any comments! those aren't my fingers, btw, these are photos sent by my jeweler ahead of my appointment!

it's much closer to my dream ring now - the split shank has been fixed, the u-prong removed (that blob underneath is some sort of sticky tack holding my sapphire in place) and really - at this point I think I'm going to be quibbling more than anything. I still think the ring looks a little bulky (is that just me?) and I'm starting to think i might prefer a curved band (instead of the angular one it is now - am I saying it correctly?).

what do you think? I'm really loving the finger coverage, and while I think the split could still be a bit smaller, I'm reserving judgement on that until I get it on my finger wednesday.






p.s. the split shank - at first I thought I would want the split to end in a single row of pave, but my jeweler said they tried it and it looked "strange". I'm not diametrically opposed to this, and the double row is starting to grow on me..

 

[chrono]

It looks much better now. I have both a split with double row of melees going down the band and also a split that joins back into a single band. They are just different looks. It looks very yellow for unplated white gold so I'm hoping it's just the lighting / picture.

 

[FrekeChild]

It looks much better now. I have both a split with double row of melees going down the band and also a split that joins back into a single band. They are just different looks. It looks very yellow for unplated white gold so I'm hoping it's just the lighting / picture.

Ditto to the bolded. My raw unplated wg setting looked more gray I thought? It looks very yellow.

I prefer a split that joins back into a single band too. Did you send them pictures of this look?

Have you seen other custom pieces from this jeweler?

 

[FrekeChild]

It looks much better now. I have both a split with double row of melees going down the band and also a split that joins back into a single band. They are just different looks. It looks very yellow for unplated white gold so I'm hoping it's just the lighting / picture.

Ditto to the bolded. My raw unplated wg setting looked more gray I thought? It looks very yellow.

I prefer a split that joins back into a single band too. Did you send them pictures of this look?

Have you seen other custom pieces from this jeweler?

 

[minousbijoux]

It looks much better now. I have both a split with double row of melees going down the band and also a split that joins back into a single band. They are just different looks. It looks very yellow for unplated white gold so I'm hoping it's just the lighting / picture.

Ditto to the bolded. My raw unplated wg setting looked more gray I thought? It looks very yellow.

I prefer a split that joins back into a single band too. Did you send them pictures of this look?

Have you seen other custom pieces from this jeweler?

By this do you mean that where it comes together, the melee becomes one single row, or disappears altogether? Sonya, I like it much better too. Even the size of the split shank looks good to me (if you were to make one more round of corrections, I would say that the distance between the split start and the meeting the basket is good, but I would make the ends slightly less outwardly swoopy, as it seems a bit too curvy outy if that makes sense?). Also, what did you mean by a "curved band (instead of the angular one it is now)"?

I understand what you mean by bulky, but I think its more because its a substantial ring. I would imagine that it might be hard for them to mitigate without starting all over and I'm not sure its wise given the heft of your stone and because, without meaning to sound judgmental at all, this is probably the type of product that they create and you knew that going in, correct?

All this aside, you are so close! You must be starting to get excited!

 

[sonyachancs]

Chrono, are there photos of both your rings and handshots? I agree that it's a very different look - I never considered having a two-row split shank before, but then again before this ring - I hadn't really wanted a split shank either.

Frekechild - it is a rather grey-yellow (if I remember correctly). when I put it up next to a yg band, the colour difference is very apparent, but it looks less creamy and.. I can't describe it. I'll try and get a photo of it next to a yg when I visit the ring tomorrow! re the split shank - on top of the above - I was also wondering if a double row (and therefore a substantial look) might help 'anchor' my ER next to the (3.5mm each) five-stone band I have planned.. I think I'm going to have to try it on and see.

minousbijoux, thank you! I was just wondering if the ring was so thick because of the size of my stone, as well as the size of the pave stones(which is what the jeweler said the last time I viewed the ring and told her to make it more delicate - which I guess they did if you compare it to the previous mold). I guess I don't really mind a substantial ring so much as a disproportionate one, and for that I'll have to whack it on the finger to see how it fits.

using this website as reference (http://www.serendipitydiamonds.co.uk/page/60) I meant curved band as in the D-shape profile or the Medium Weight Court profile, vs the Flat profile the ring currently has. which do you think would look better?

 

[chrono]

Please refresh my memory as to the mm measurement of your sapphire and the mm of the melees your jeweller is using.

In the picture of the blue ring, the stone measures 10 x 8 mm and the each melee measures 1.1 mm to 1.5 mm.
For the orange ring, the stone measures 10 mm and each melee measures 1.5 mm

The orange ring doesn't have a true single row going down the shank so you'll have to imagine it. The split is large so I felt it wasn't necessary. For the blue ring, the split is very small, hence I went with the two row option.