Setting Shopping

[diamondseeker2006]

Today I went to a nearby city to look at settings. One store had a huge inventory of designer settings and was an ideal place to look. I had taken the eternity ring I had bought from Signed Pieces with me to see if anything matched it. I found a couple of Scott Kay''s that looked good, but it was really too much on my finger, I thought. They had some magnificent rings, though.

So after I left there, I had to stop back in Tiffany''s to see if that ring would go with my eternity band. It was a good thing I did, because I didn''t like them together. I told the salesperson that I was upgrading my diamond for our anniversary (true) and wanted to try on around a 1.5 ct. So she opens the case and pulls out a G 1.62! My new diamond is 1.63!!! So I was able to try on a ring that would look almost exactly like mine will! (And I really loved the size, yay!) So after I determined that I just need to return the SP band, I tried on a 7 stone shared prong wedding band (8 point stones) and thought to myself...this is beautiful, classic, and will never go out of style. And it just suits me. So at the moment, I am leaning toward the SuperbCert Tiffany. However, SP does not have a ring with the setting or weight of the band I love at Tiffany, so that means having one made or paying double the value and buying one at Tiffany. The Tiffany band felt so good and looked so perfect, it would almost be worth the price ($3650.) not to have to deal with having one made.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Here''s the side view of the Tiffany diamond band that I like so much:

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I am so glad you are making some decisions! You should get a quote from KP for the band. I thought their price was pretty good for my wedding band (if I can ever actually own it of course!)

 

[mrssalvo]

Yay DS. sounds like you had a good and productive day. Have you thought of the Memoire bands? Missgotrocks has a five stone and is thrilled with the quality and workmanship and their rings are all handmade, the stones are all calbrated to have the same diameters and the prongs are all even. you might want to check into pricing. They are expensive too but might be less than the tiffany?? But the sideview of the tiffany bands are so yummy...

I don't think you can go wrong with a classic solitaire and it will really showcase your stone beautifully.

 

[Ellen]

ds, glad to hear things went so well! That set is lovely...


p.s. Yer prolly gonna get it for saying, "but it was really too much on my finger, I thought".

 

[Sundial]

Yummy DS! I love the look of that seven stone band with the classic solitaire! Great choice. Is it really so bad to buy from Tiffany''s if they have exactly what you want???

 

[Kaleigh]

YAY DS!!! You are making real progress. I think the choice you made is awesome, timeless and elegant. Good for you!!!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Thanks, Tacori, mrssalvo, Ellen, Sundial, and Kaleigh! I''ve always said that Tiffany would be my default setting, and I think it''s just because it suits me the best. I really don''t want expensive settings that I might grow tired of later. We see that on here from time to time, and I just want these rings to last ''til the end!!!

mrssalvo, I haven''t been able to see any Memoire bands yet. I feel like I''d need to try one on with the e-ring to be sure. The Tiffany 7 stone band sits very low to the finger, which is necessary next to a low set solitaire. But you are right that Memoire would be an excellent quality band and I''d certainly not rule that out. I think dbgaap also has a diamond and ruby one.

Sundial, you know, it''s not so bad to pay double for a wedding/anniversary ring. Their 1.62ct. diamond set was $28,000 (plus tax) and my diamond alone will be $14,000 plus $1300 for the setting, so I am waaay ahead of the game as far as that goes! The other thing I am thinking is that if I buy the Tiffany band, then they''d likely polish and check both rings for me when I went in even though the solitaire is not theirs. Right now I am not happy with my local jewelers, so I need to buy something from a really fine jeweler in order to get maintenance on my rings.

 

[gailrmv]

That''s a great looking set. Too bad that the Tiff solitaire is not right with the eternity band you already bought- what was off about it? But if the Tiffany 7 stone band is in your budget it is certainly very pretty and sort of a way to have the best of both worlds vendor wise. Sounds like you are really excited about it!!
If you are interested in a wider solitaire I have the vatche x prong and it really suits me. I don''t have an eternity band right now but have tried on a bunch and almost all of them look good with it.
good luck!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Gail, I really went to this jeweler because they carried Vatche and some others I wanted to see. They didn''t have but a few, but I was impressed with the quality. They were very well polished like the Tiffany was..very, very smooth like I expect the Mark Morrell settings are. My eternity band has engraving and milgrain on the edges, so it was just a different style. Plus it was pretty thick to wear with a diamond set low. I do think the Vatche rings would be beautiful with shared prong bands. But at that point I was still trying to match my channel set eternity band, so I didn''t try on the Vatche''s with shared prong bands. It was only after I went to Tiffany''s that I thought I just needed to go back to a polished solitaire and a shared prong band. Unfortunately this jeweler is an hour away, so I can''t just run over there frequently.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 7/25/2006 9:21:10 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring
I am so glad you are making some decisions! You should get a quote from KP for the band. I thought their price was pretty good for my wedding band (if I can ever actually own it of course!)

Sorry to have forgotten to reply to this, Tacori! I think they sort of specialize in the engraved, milgrain rings like yours and my SIL''s ring (which has a halo). I''m just afraid of custom ordering because I need the height to work with the e-ring, etc.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Date: 7/25/2006 11:28:09 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006

Date: 7/25/2006 9:21:10 PM

Author: Tacori E-ring

I am so glad you are making some decisions! You should get a quote from KP for the band. I thought their price was pretty good for my wedding band (if I can ever actually own it of course!)

Sorry to have forgotten to reply to this, Tacori! I think they sort of specialize in the engraved, milgrain rings like yours and my SIL''s ring (which has a halo). I''m just afraid of custom ordering because I need the height to work with the e-ring, etc.

Howard made it sound like they can do and will do anything. I woldn''t worry about matching the height. They have memoire bands as well. I have seen some stunning work from Quest on here so that is another option!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 7/26/2006 11:33:40 AM
Author: Tacori E-ring

Date: 7/25/2006 11:28:09 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006

Date: 7/25/2006 9:21:10 PM

Author: Tacori E-ring

I am so glad you are making some decisions! You should get a quote from KP for the band. I thought their price was pretty good for my wedding band (if I can ever actually own it of course!)

Sorry to have forgotten to reply to this, Tacori! I think they sort of specialize in the engraved, milgrain rings like yours and my SIL's ring (which has a halo). I'm just afraid of custom ordering because I need the height to work with the e-ring, etc.

Howard made it sound like they can do and will do anything. I woldn't worry about matching the height. They have memoire bands as well. I have seen some stunning work from Quest on here so that is another option!

Hmmm..I didn't know they carry Memoire. I wish I had had time to go there yesterday. But maybe I need to get the diamond set and then go there to try on bands. By height I mean that I don't want the diamond band to be hitting the prongs of the solitaire and covering up half of the diamond. Some bands set the diamonds higher up than others and you have to have a really low set one to go with the Tiffany repro setting. I need to call Excel and see how long it will take to set my diamond. I'd like to finish this project while I'm out of school for the summer!

 

[Sundial]

I think you are wise to get your diamond in a setting and then go see what really works best with it. And if it turns out to be Tiffany''s or some other brand name ring, as you pointed out, you saved a bundle on the diamond so you can splurge on a designer band if you choose!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I have this slight feeling that maybe I am taking the easy way out by just going with the SC Tiffany setting. I saw so many yesterday that it made my head spin. It was just too much to choose from. Here''s the list of designers they carry and you''ll see the dilemma.

http://www.diamondsdirectsouthpark.com/designers.html

Then when searching for threads on the SC Tiffany on here, I read someone say that they felt their stone was set too low and it made it look smaller. I''m not sure that would be a problem on a 1.63, but it does worry me a little.

One bit of VERY good news! David at Signed Pieces/Facets has been extremely nice. He is willing to take back my eternity ring since I couldn''t find a setting to go with it! They actually make a shared prong ring with baskets like theTiffany, but it had larger stones than I wanted. So I asked him about that and he said they could make me a 7 stone band with whatever size stones I wanted! Not only that, he said the current price for a platinum 7 stone band (8 points each) would be around $1350.!!! That is compared to $3650. at Tiffany!!!

As much as I''d like to have a real Tiffany band, I''ll be hard pressed to not get SP to make me one.

 

[Mara]

ds you have made some great progress!!! kudos for getting out there...it's fun to try stuff on...i love it!

how close are the bands on the superbcert tiffany to the real tiffany? the knife edge part? im asking because i remember in the pictures of demelza's that it just didn't look quite right with her SP eternity band.

i think carebear has the superbcert setting too and is pairing it with an eternity band right? what do her pictures look like?

i LOVE the classic solitaire with the eternity band kinda thing but i would just want to be sure that whatever you got would look right together...because the tiffany band and tiffany solitaire are meant to go together whereas when you piecemeal a solitaire from one place and a band from another it could be more iffy.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Mara, that can be true, because I sure couldn't find a ring to wear with that milgrain channel band either. The thing is, I have tried on the real Tiffany and have never seen a SC Tiffany repro, so I can say if there are differences that would be a problem. But I just realized one thing. I am trying something that Demelza did not try with hers. She was trying those eternity bands with tiny 3 point diamonds, and I didn't think they looked substantial enough with the diamond solitaire. What I tried on yesterday had 8 point stones, and it was really proportional to the diamond.

You know, I did try on a Scott Kay yesterday that was drop dead gorgeous (and it should be at $7000 retail). It would be tempting to just buy a matched set and forget this trying to match up two different rings!!!

ETA: But if I really wanted to spend $7000 more, I think I'd be upgrading my center stone instead!!!

 

[mrssalvo]

DS, I''ve never seen the SC tiffany repro in person so I can''t comment on that but Mara did bring up a good point about making sure the repro will work with the band you are wanting. Also, which scott kay did you see?

 

[Gypsy]

Oooooooooooooooooh. Man. I don't know if you are taking the easy way out. It's a classic timeless look. But well... DS I've seen some of the really cool intricate and amazing settings you've been looking at... so well.. I think you should send back the band. But I would keep looking at settings. Not that the Tiffany style isn't beautiful, because it is... but well... you know it's there. Just... give it a while longer cause there are so many lovely choices out there. Which Scott Kay?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Let me see if I can find it. Pictures won''t do it justice, though. It had nice size side diamonds and gorgeous engraving, milgrain, and some pave on the band. It had at least a 1.5 center stone (cz) and it was just excellent.

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 7/26/2006 10:57:24 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
Let me see if I can find it. Pictures won't do it justice, though. It had nice size side diamonds and gorgeous engraving, milgrain, and some pave on the band. It had at least a 1.5 center stone (cz) and it was just excellent.

ooo, i'd love to see it. Peebles has a Scott Kay 3-stone that is so gorgeous. maybe pearlman's has it on their site? I didn't know SK had $7000 settings either

. If you can find it, make sure you get a quote from Bill..


ok and DS you are too funny. first thinking the 1.6 will be too big and now falling for a 3 stone

looks like you've been officially bitten by the PS bug or the OCD disorder (whatever Rod always posts)

 

[diamondseeker2006]

This might be it

 

[diamondseeker2006]

side view

 

[mrssalvo]

like this but in plat or WG? did it have pave on the top of the shank?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

.

 

[mrssalvo]

DS, I'd call bill for a quote..the 19K version is on his site for $3600, so there is no way a plat. version is going to be 7K. the most expensive SK setting pearlmans has is 6K and it's 3 sided pave with 2 sidestones.

link to 19K ring

ETA: or was the 7K price from you local jeweler for both rings?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 7/26/2006 11:10:37 PM
Author: mrssalvo
like this but in plat or WG? did it have pave on the top of the shank?

Is that also a signature crown setting? It may be similar but I think theone I posted is a little bigger or something.

 

[mrssalvo]

just found the plat. version: link.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 7/26/2006 11:15:44 PM
Author: mrssalvo
DS, I''d call bill for a quote..the 19K version is on his site for $3600, so there is no way a plat. version is going to be 7K. the most expensive SK setting pearlmans has is 6K and it''s 3 sided pave with 2 sidestones.

link to 19K ring

ETA: or was the 7K price from you local jeweler for both rings?

No, the price was for one ring, except they will have a 20% off sale this Friday and sat. I think the side diamonds were pretty big. I don''t want 3 sided pave, so the one I like should be less.

BUT, I am still a little torn in that I like the simple solitaire look, too. (I know you understand the dilemma, mrssalvo!)

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 7/26/2006 11:21:10 PM
Author: mrssalvo
just found the plat. version: link.

This isn''t the same one, I don''t think. See the part that holds the two side diamonds? It''s more curved on this one and it''s more spread out straight on the one I posted. The style numbers are very different, too.