she wants PINK.....

[stepmars]

I''m getting a ring made for my wife. It will be platinum and have a tension set round diamond (approx 1.7 ct). On both sides of the diamond there will be a punch set round cut pink stone (approx 5-6 mm diameter). Sadly, the budget does not extent to a couple of 1 ct pink diamonds for these shoulder stones.

I''m interested in suggestions from forum members as to what I could use. I''ve looked at: sapphire, tourmaline, spinel, rhodolite, etc. I''m now in sensory overload - too many choices for an unexperienced consumer like me. I want to spend approx USD 2000 for these two stones but this is variable up or down. They must be any shade of pink and preferably exhibit enough fire to not be totally overwhelmed by the centre diamond.

One last question... Is hardness an issue for punch set stones? (I read elsewhere on this forum about tanzanite being too soft for tension setting)

 

[valeria101]

... 'punch set' ? What is it?

I would look for a stone that would not get abraded much easier than the center. And in that size, saphires or spinel would not break the bank at all. Both species come in very hot pinks (really unmatched). Just ask Mogoc

As for 'fire' - no pink stone of decent hardness is going to match the diamond, but a deeper cut on sapphire will come as close as possible. Also, deeper color pinks would always hold their own against a colorless stone by the intensity of color alone. Softer tones (sometimes sold as unrealistic 'pink diamond substitute') might get some confusion.

It would help to try some pinks for good measure and get a feel of what shade works for you...

 

[valeria101]

Sapphires... pink into red

this must be a taugh choice!

 

[stepmars]

thanks.

"punch set" - Maybe it's a term perculiar to Australia? A couple of jewellers here in Sydney used it to refer to setting stones flush into a drilled hole in the ring band (ie not channel or tension set, no claws/prongs, no bezel)

 

[valeria101]

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On 4/7/2004 1:18:35 AM stepmars wrote:



'punch set' - Maybe it's a term perculiar to Australia?

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Sounds like ! It would be 'gipsy' or 'flush set' more often. Anything goes, basically, for this receipe. My favorite alongside bezels, btw

 

[mogok]

Hello,

Yes pink spinels can make very nice side stones for a diamond ring as spinel is as diamond a single refractive stone that can get very nice brilliancy and which is more sharp than sapphire.
Whatever I love pink sapphire as much as pink spinel. Pink tourmaline is also very nice.
For the price you are asking you can try to get the best pink stone I know: Hot pink Namya spinels. The only problems is that these pretty gemstones are really incredibly rare in the finest quality. But even with that they are still much cheaper than a common diamond...

Here is what they can look like.