setting with pink diamonds--good value?

[kam]

We have found an engagement ring setting that has 3 small round natural pink diamonds on each side of the center stone (6 pink diamonds total for a total carat weight of .41). The 3 on each side are arranged to form a triangle on each side of the center stone. Then channel diamonds (white) flow from the pink diamonds part way down the sides of the band. The band is platinum. The pink stones are set in yellow gold prongs, and the center stone position has platinum prongs. There is also a small bezel set white diamond in front of and behind the center stone setting.

The pink diamonds sparkled like crazy when we viewed the setting both inside and outside the jewelry store, and the jeweler is very reputable.

Our questions are:

1. The price for the setting is $5500. Is this too much for this type of setting or is it a decent price? Have any of you seen a similar setting?

2. How much would the pink diamonds on the sides of the center stone impact the color of the center stone? Would we need to go higher in color to make the center stone appear more white, or could we actually go lower in color because the pink diamonds would make the center stone look whiter?

Thanks for any input you can offer!

 

[lacina]

Hi Kam,
There are many factors to consider when evaluating Natural Colored diamonds.
The mumber one is the color and its intensity and purity of the hue saturatiom color distribution etc.. Cut is also important and so is clarity but if the stone is eye clean color is more important than clarity. If the diamonds have a decent intense color and are this small they are quite rare but not as rare as you may think at .6 or .7ct the prices can be very resonable. I think the real challenge here is to match them for collor so they look pretty in the setting,... as far as the value goes,.. it honestly is very hard to say without seeing it. They may very well be 4X the price of natural white diamond or same price as the white diamond depending on the properties I have mentioned earlier. Just to to tell you that pink diamond if larger than 1ct is priced at least at $50 000 if the color is decent that is,.. . Wnen it comes to intense pure colors they are virtually priceless in larger sizes. So if you say your jeweler is very reputable, I would go by what he has to say about it.Just ask him if he is certain the diamonds are not color enhanced. He should be able to tell...
I personally think that price of the Platinum setting is high, however if you are happy with the worknanship go for it, or if you feel like you are extanding your budget. Go to a custom jewelry manufacturer and ask them for estimate to duplicate this setting. Depending where you are I think you can have it custom made for approx $3500. This way you are not restricted to the size of a centre stone and have it actually custom made to exact measurements of the stone. Yes I have seen sililar settings and they look very pretty with emerald or ascher cut diamonds it seems to show the color of pink better,.. But round Brilliant looks god with it and I would suggest as white as you can afford . This will gives you a great contrast!
Good luck shopping! I will try to post a picture of Pink diamond in my follow up post .Let me know if the pink is as pink as the attached pink if yes, your jeweler may be selling you the setting too cheap...

Best
George
GLE Gem Imports

 

[lacina]

Here it goes, If it does not show up click on the attachement
George
GLE Gem Imports

 

[kam]

The pink diamonds are quite a bit paler than the one you have posted, though they're not a very faint pink either. And all 6 of them match in color perfectly. I wish I had a picture of the setting to post!

How would one go about finding a very reputable jeweler to do custom work? I've always heard that it's better to avoid custom work if possible due to quality, trouble finding matching stones, etc., especially with rarer stones. I'm in Austin, TX. Does anyone recommend any reputable jewelers in the area to do custom work?