Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Budget

[Cupcake_Panda]

Hello Everyone! Y'all are so helpful and knowledgeable and you've created such a wonderful forum environment here --- I hope I can ask for some advice

I am a graduate student, and the Betrothed is just starting his career, so we're pretty much on a PB&J every day kind of budget. I knew from the first that I did not want diamond. I love my engagement ring, which includes a small heart shaped ruby and a gradient of pink sapphire. Based on forum policies I cannot say much more than that about it, but suffice it to say that it was not more than $500. If I can post a picture of it, I would like to because the band is very narrow and I have really short, fat fingers, so I want a more substantial band for my wedding ring. (I wear a size 9 3/4!)

After reading through some of the other threads, I realize I *may* have gone about this process backward by absolutely falling head-over-heels in love with a setting first. The Betrothed bought my engagement ring by himself on the understanding that we would replace it with something nicer we picked together. Before either of us knew anything about nice jewelry and gems, we fell in LOVE with this Jeet Palavwara ring on Gemvara. It has a 1.19 ct 7mm x 7mm round pink tourmaline in the center, then London blue topaz and emerald. I know some other PSers have had issues with Gemvara, and have even criticized this ring, but I literally have dreams about the setting and the design. I am obsessed.





I originally fell in love with a pink sapphire as the center stone, but sapphire is WAY out of our budget. Tourmaline, however, is not, and Gemvara said they would let us pick which tourmaline. I know many PS'ers warn people away from tourmaline for everyday wear because of its hardness, but I wear a prong(!) set opal RHR daily, and in two years, it has not be scratched or broken. After reading through threads here, I think ideally I would like a spinel for the center stone, but Gemvara does not offer spinels.

So my questions for y'all:
- If my opal ring is fine, do you think the tourmaline ring would be as well? I am right handed, so I would think that would offer additional protection for the tourmaline.
- Do you think I could get a similar custom ring done with some modifications and a spinel for $4,000?
- Is that even an okay thing to do? I do not want, for lack of a better term, to plagiarize Palavwara's design.
- If the answers to the last two are yes, I have looked through the recommended vendor list, but I would appreciate more than I can say if some of you could narrow that down. I'm not sure I know enough to compare aesthetics to determine who could and would do this work!

Thank you so much in advance for any advice and help!!!

 

[Aerix]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

I love all the colors in the ring! I agree that a spinel would be a better candidate for a center stone. The design and colors reminded me a bit of some of the stuff in Yvonne Raley's Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/yvonneraley

A few members on the forum have bought from her and posted positive feedback about their experiences. I'm not sure if she works with palladium, but you could send her a message and see. I believe she also has someone who makes CAD designs for her, so maybe they can come up with a design inspired by the one you like from Gemvara.

I highly suggest you check out her shop and send her a message. Good luck!

 

[FrekeChild]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

You can also consider David Klass.

Also, it's not likely that that ring would actually be all of those colors all of the time - pink tourmalines often go brownish under certain lighting. Also, those are CAD images, so they look more perfect than the ring will look in real life.

The vast majority of the cost of this setting will be setting all of those tiny stones. There is a very good chance that you will lose some or that they will break/wear over time, emerald and topaz aren't exactly known for their hardiness. And because tiny little stones require tiny little prongs, and tiny little prongs don't have a lot of strength....it is the same for diamonds AND any other pave set stones.

Spinel isn't going to be the best bet either - to achieve the level of pink you're seeing in that stone, you're probably going to need to look for a hot pink Mahenge spinel - I can think of one for sale right now (unless it has sold) and that's at GemFix and it's around $1500. Most pink spinels are light pink or lavender pink - they don't typically come in a bubblegum pink.

http://www.gemfix.com/spinel.html

There is a small pink sapphire that is probably within your price range (for the whole piece) here:

It's $595 I think
http://www.gemfix.com/sapphire_pink.html

I would NOT recommend using a tourmaline in an every day ring. Even diamond rings need to be worn with care. I would also think hard about your lifestyle, and how difficult it's going to be to maintain such a ring (I don't know what you're in grad school for - my husband is a professor, and he beat his plain white gold wedding band in the first year - when he was a grad student - so much that I replaced the original with a cheap silver one). You will have to pay to replace stones, and that will be an ongoing cost for as long as you wear the ring.

If it were me, I would probably go for a spinel or a sapphire, and tweak the setting so that it wouldn't be as difficult to maintain over time. Or I'd get that ring and wear it for special occasions only.

ETA: That setting is REALLY high. I'd bet that it's at least 8-9mm off the finger - which is REALLY HIGH. If I were to make that into an engagement ring, I'd make some tweaks for sure!

 

[treasurehunter]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

spinel in red colours are more or less the same prices now as fancy sapphire

 

[distracts]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

There is an Etsy vendor who has ring designs very similar to that. I can't remember the name of the shop. Someone I know has one as her e-ring and it is stunning in real life.

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Xiriah --- Thank you! I love bright colors and wearing them all together My hair is currently violet with "wild orchid" (pinkish purple) tips. I do like what I see in Yvonne Raley's etsy shop! Thank you for the recommendation.

FrekeChild --- Thank you for the insight about color, hardness, gems, and cost! I was definitely going to see about flattening the ring because it is SO tall. If it is flattened, I don't see why there would need to be gems on the underside of the petals, so hopefully that would save money on the front end and in replacement. In my current engagement ring the row of sapphires are pave set I think? I'm sorry I don't know the terminology very well But they're all in a row with a bezel around all the outside edges. Around the sides of the band would it be more secure (and cost efficient) to do one alternating row set in a bezel like my engagement ring rather than two with the individual baby prongs? I'm glad you shared about your husband. I'm a history student and teaching, so that is good to know. I was thinking the worst it would be exposed to on the job was nineteenth century dusty paper And I do like the stones you linked!

treasurehunter and FrekeChild --- That's good to know about color. I do love the bubblegum pink, but I am certainly open to other colors, especially since I potentially have more choices by going completely custom. In going through the vendors from the stickied list, I keep being drawn toward more raspberry pink than bubblegum. I picked a few for color purposes only. I do seem to have a soft spot for Tanzania!

http://www.ajsgem.com/gemstones/spinel/spinel-1.37-carats.html
http://www.ajsgem.com/gemstones/spinel/spinel-1.51-carats.html-1
http://www.ajsgem.com/gemstones/spinel/spinel-1.17-carats.html
http://www.ajsgem.com/sapphire/pink-sapphire/pink-sapphire-0.76-carats.html-0
http://www.ajsgem.com/sapphire/pink-sapphire/pink-sapphire-0.57-carats.html-0 (I am intrigued by the red splotches in that stone)

distracts --- I will definitely look more into etsy to see if I can find the vendor. Thank you for the heads up!

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

distracts --- I think I found it! I don't know how I did not come across this before, but apparently Jeet Palavwara, the original designer, works with an etsy shop.

Of course it is still a CAD drawing, but I'm glad to know it does look great IRL.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/186807778/lotus-engagement-ring-with-sapphire-and?ref=listing-shop-header-4

ETA: Unfortunately, they ship from Vienna. I'm not sure how I feel about shipping a separate center stone that far...

 

[FrekeChild]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Why do you want Palladium?

I don't think there is any need to ship to Vienna when you have have something similar made here with less stress and less shipping time. I think that would be advisable anyway, since you do want to modify the original setting.

Pave is setting very small stones with very small prongs. The only thing holding the stones on are those prongs. Bezel setting has the entire stone surrounded and cupped by metal, holding it to the ring. This provides more protection, BUT comes with some caveats - setting stones with bezels requires a lot of care, and even with that care, some stones can't withstand it. I would not recommend setting emeralds in bezels. Emeralds are hard to set in general. Also, emeralds are not suitable for every day wear either.

If you want to flatten it, I would sort of spread the petals out more, which would accomplish two things, giving you more finger coverage and the flattening. That would be more like a real lotus anyway.

Here is a question: What would you NOT want to change?

Here are a couple stones I consider to be more raspberry colored, and are less elongated than most of their counterparts:

http://www.ajsgem.com/gemstones/spinel/spinel-1.53-carats.html

http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?-1716235481

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Hi FrekeChild,

Thank you again for taking the time to help me. I LOVE the second spinel you linked!!!!

As for the metals: I don't like the look of yellow gold on my skin, which leaves white gold, rose gold, platinum, and palladium. I haven't really liked the look of the rose gold on my skin I have been able to see in person, although I have seen some magnificent pieces on this forum. I know (or at least I think I know from talking to jewelers) that white gold is plated, and that over time it would need to be replated as it wore down, with which I'd rather not deal. Platinum appears to be out of my price range, leaving palladium. Since palladium is lighter than platinum, I figure that's also a positive since the head of the ring seems to be pretty hefty.

I like the idea of flattening the petals for sure. That was what I was imagining --- I'm glad I was on track with someone who knows about what they're talking!

I would like the overal look and feel to stay the same. I know the pictures are CADs, but I like that the design and the metal is polished and clean, rather than being super textured. I want a flower-shaped head, but I don't like the rings I've seen that have relatively equally sized petal stones around a center one. It reminds me of a piece of costume jewelry that my grandmother wears that I absolutely love, but it does not say engagement/wedding ring to me. I like the bigger center stone and the style and offset placement of the petals edged in little gems. I also generally like the colors - pink, green, and blue. I like the gems down the upper sides of the shank, and if there is some way to keep them that isn't just asking for them to be lost or damaged immediately, I want to keep them.

ETA: The little sapphires on my engagement ring are in a bezel. Thank you for clarifying those terms for me. I thought pave referred to having several smaller stones set close together in a row.

ETA 2: Apologies for this being off topic, but the shoe in your avatar is beautiful

 

[FrekeChild]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Just a quick note because I only have a second, but the blue spinel, the blue sapphire bezel band and the plain band are all 14kt white gold, and all unplated. I actually like the look, but some people don't.

 

[royalstarrynight]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Cupcake Panda,

My concern is that you desire a lot of melee and detail work on a modest budget. Sometimes they can result in something that you don't really envision. I've learned the hard way that pave isn't really all that easy and sometimes going the budget route can really ruin the look you were striving for.

I'd recommend simplifying the design so that less detailed work is necessary. Flattening out the petals will help a lot as will reducing the number of melee and keeping their placement simple.

Would you be open to reducing the 2nd layer of petals?

Unfortunately, gem prices have spiked and custom setting prices aren't cheap either. :/

Another vote here for unplated white gold! It's low maintenance but white enough.

 

[pregcurious]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Along the lines of simplifying the ring to make it easier on your budget, and also decrease the chance of having melee fall out, have you considered making the shank in plain metal? I would do a 2.2 mm plain shank, not tapered.

 

[FrekeChild]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

One reason you're going to find Palladium is not popular around here is that a limited number of jewelers work with it. In my old city, my regular jeweler had never used or played with it before. And I wasn't in a small city.

Toddler is crying, but here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/124477...to=ZZ&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery

https://www.etsy.com/listing/161430...n=100&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery

https://www.etsy.com/listing/187308...n=100&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery

https://www.etsy.com/listing/159890...age=2&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery

 

[chrono]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

I totally understand the pain of being a student who loves and enjoys bling but is hampered by a tight budget. I was once in your shoes and my hobby had to wait until my first professional job before I could actually afford something that was heirloom quality (something nice and durable that can be passed down).

There are a few things that make this a very difficult project for you; lots of pave is expensive regardless of the type of melee used because the bulk of the cost is in the labour, not the stones itself, so even if you do not use diamond melees, it is still an expensive setting. Secondly, there is well made pave and poorly made pave and oftentimes, the price reflects this. A setting with well made pave will last and a poorly made pave setting will have the melees falling out frequently. Going custom is going to further drive up the cost and I'm concerned that a custom setting may eat up at least $3K of your budget right off the bat.

The picture you shared is most likely photoshopped to look fabulous. Pink tourmaline has the tendency to brown out or become a muddy orangish colour indoors. Spinel and sapphire hold their pink colouration better. Given that the setting is quite high, I am concerned how well the tourmaline will hold up as an everyday wear ring. Even MZ and Pandora who are extremely careful with their garnet e-rings say they've seen quite a bit of wear and tear in the short few months of wearing their rings. I would also stay away from palladium because the weight feels like costume jewellery (almost no weight) and it shows patina very quickly, becoming a super dark gray.

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Thank you everyone for sharing your knowledge! You're all very wonderful to take the time to help a stranger on the internet Chrono thank you for the sympathy --- professional students, unite! *internet hug* And bless you FrekeChild for helping me when you have a toddler!!!

I am starting to develop a different look for the ring in my head taking into account all of your points. I tried my hand at drawing something, but suffice it to say, there's a good reason I'm a historian and not an artist!

If I can get a stone as nice as the second one FrekeChild listed (http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?-1716235481), then I am totally okay with sacrificing some/most of the pave. Especially given what several of you have said about melee falling out and cheap pave being, well, cheap.

At this point I'm thinking I should start talking to a jeweler, but hopefully y'all won't mind my running my ideas here first? Flatten the flower quite a bit, and get rid of the pave on the shank. Use a spinel as the center stone, and do pave around the top most layer of petals only, but keep the second layer of petals for the aesthetic.

I also am reconsidering metals now with the input I have received here. I don't mean to start that debate again, as I have read through the several topics on here and myriad elsewhere. (I'm sure you're tired of explaining the pros and cons, and y'all have been so helpful I don't want to try anyone's patience!) For me, personally, I like the cool white of platinum and palladium way more than the warm white of unplated white gold when I see them side by side. As my name might suggest my hobby profession is baking cupcakes, so while I LOVE butter, that's not really like what I want the metal on my ring to look. I always wince a little when I read people describing unplated white gold as buttery. But they don't look buttery at all in FrekeChild's photos. A hypothetical question about plating white gold: since I am going to have this ring custom-designed by someone likely far away, would I have to send it off to that jeweler to have it replated, or would a local chain store do that for me? Do you foresee issues with that down the road?

 

[chrono]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Your idea of lowering the flower bud and removing the pave on the shank will go a long way in making the ring more wearable and durable. There are other white gold options that are white and may not need replating. Any local jewellery store (preferably one that has an in-house bench), will be more than happy to replate your ring for you.

This link might be useful to see picture comparisons.
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/re-plating-white-gold-ring.146203/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/re-plating-white-gold-ring.146203/[/URL]

 

[royalstarrynight]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

It's totally ok to not want unplated white gold and to run ideas through this forum! Everyone has their own preferences and difference alloy mixes coming from different jewelers/casters may look slightly different. We also love living vicariously through the design phase.

Are you planning on having your jeweler source the spinel? The spinel that you chose has a slight bowtie. We can definitely help you find a decent pink spinel!

Any decent local store could have a ring replated with rhodium.

Some jewelers will refuse to work with palladium because it is more brittle than platinum, which may be challenging in the future for resizing or switching out the stone in the future.

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Chrono - thank you for the link. Those comparison images are great.

Thanks royalstarrynight! I am willing to source the spinel either way... of course I have been loving paging through all of the shinies on my own I did notice the bowtie, but the size (in mm) is almost and the color is exactly spot on. Perhaps because of the bowtie, but the price is also pretty good for my budget as well.

 

[Indylady]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Any jeweler can do a rhodium plating; its also unlikely to be expensive. I love your design!

 

[FrekeChild]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Any jeweler can do a rhodium plating; its also unlikely to be expensive. I love your design!

Agree mostly with this, but it's a continual cost, and depending on your body chemistry, the ring would need to be replated anywhere from every 6 months to every three years. I just got a pair of studs replated, and a ring plated (it was yellow gold) and those each cost about $60. So, that is not an insignificant cost to be taking on regularly. But any reputable store should be able to do it.

Also, platinum tends to take on a gray patina after some time. I don't mind this at all, but some people do. I prefer platinum because of the heft.

I don't know that adding these pics does a lot, but I figure it can't hurt the conversation:

All white metal stack, top to bottom:
Platinum
Palladium
Platinum
Unplated 14kt white gold
Platinum

Other stack:
18kt yellow gold
14kt unplated white gold
14kt unplated white gold
Platinum
Platinum
14kt unplated white gold (not even close to being in focus)


I liked the color of the bowtied stone enough that I thought it was worth posting. Also, it doesn't seem as bad as a lot of the bowtied stones out there.

(Also, as a sidenote, I'm a former pastry chef. )

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

So many happy shiny rings! I always love pictures --- thank you for sharing, FrekeChild. That makes comparisons much easier. And huzzah for being a pastry chef! That's wonderful

Thanks to the wonderfulness that is summer break, I spent the day going through every stone vendor on the stickied post and sketching out different ring designs. (Do not tell my advisor --- I am supposed to be doing research!)

I am very terrible at sketching, but I have an idea. Looking at the ring from the top, the center will be a round or almost round (can we call this roval? ) spinel. The petal layers will be reversed from the original design so that the top layer of petals closest to the center spinel will be rotated 45 degrees from the band. These will have four or six pave set emeralds like in the original design. The bottom layer of petals will be really different. The top and bottom petals, perpendicular to the band, will just be metal, maybe hammered? (I don't know if that will be too busy?) The left and right petals instead of being metal are proportionally sized pear shaped blue topaz as side stones. I know its durability for daily wear is still up for debate, but being on the sides and on a lower level should help protect them. The shank will just be metal, no pave at all. There is less detail work, fewer small stones while avoiding my grandmother's costume jewelry flower look, and I still get my three colors.

Is that design completely wonky? I welcome any and all feedback

As to center stones..... I was hoping I could get some votes on the ones I singled out. I know most of these are roval or outright oval, but round seems rare (?), and I'm having a hard time figuring out if 2mm will ruin the aesthetic of a flower or not. Also, let me know if you think the prices for any of the stones will eat up too much of the overall design budget. I contacted a jeweler today, so I'm waiting to hear back from them.

Here are the spinels:

http://www.diamondbistro.com/category/199/Natural-%28mined%29/listings/38576/102ct-Mahenge-Pink-Spinel.html
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PREMIUM-CUT-1-01ct-MEHENGE-SPINEL-TANZANIA-WATCH-VIDEO-/371014336290?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item56622d7f22
http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?-1716235481 (ty FrekeChild. The bowtie doesn't bother me too much --- is that bad?)
http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?-1224428142
http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?1214026099
http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?1727034737
http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?729069362
http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?-204530516
https://www.primagemsusa.com/content/raspberry-spinel-3
https://www.primagemsusa.com/content/spinel-21
http://www.gemfix.com/spinel.html#thumb (number 266. I like so many of these, but most are either very oval or way beyond my financial reach.)

 

[velouriaL]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

I LOVE the idea of a colorful, happy, unique engagement ring. It's so cool that you're thinking outside the box! <3 <3

My thoughts:

1. I think you should go with white gold or platinum. Palladium is harder to work with and will be a pain in the long run, especially if you get pave that will definitely need to be repaired. I have a bunch of white gold jewelry that I've never once had replated and never noticed it change or felt or the need to get it replated. I just don't really think this is that big a deal.

2. I would ONLY put diamonds, spinels, sapphires, or chrysoberyls/alexandrites in the ring. Nothing else will really work for everyday. You're just setting yourself up for annoyance at best and heartbreak at worst.

3. I am now very leery of buying gems having relatively inexperienced setters set them. Colored gems are much trickier than diamonds to set, and even reputable jewelers run the risk of damaging them. If I were in your shoes, I would DEFINITELY try to have the jeweler making the ring source the stone. That way, they are responsible for damage.

4. In order to get more for your money, something that can be an heirloom and won't be high maintenance, I would WAY simplify the design. Even your newest idea sounds too complicated to me. You're thinking that you don't want to get whitegold replated: you're a very low maintenance jewelry girl. Embrace that.

All that said, if I were in your shoes, I would work with either Cecile Raley or Julia B on etsy. Both can probably source a nice, precision cut spinel for you. I would do white gold. I would then have one of these rings made, with only slight tweaks if any, but with pave in yellow diamond and sapphire in a complementary color:

1. https://www.etsy.com/listing/188878922/custom-design-iris-ring
2. https://www.etsy.com/listing/167167208/cornflower-blue-ceylon-sapphire-in
3. https://www.etsy.com/listing/170024896/rose-cut-moissanite-and-rubies-in-rose
4. https://www.etsy.com/listing/164084586/sale-18k-french-gold-oval-daisy-ring
5. https://www.etsy.com/listing/191609671/sale-victorian-inspired-scalloped-ring

I know none of these are much like your original, but just imagine them in a color combination that you like! I think #1 is probably the closest? Someone had this ring made recently, and it looks great! do a search. Perhaps you can ask her to make the "petals" more angular?

This is one is way less complicated than your original, but, to me, it packs the same powerful punch! And is totally durable, easier to maintain, everything you want. You could definitely go bigger with the center stone. I bet Yvonne Raley could serious hook you up with some VERY cool and punch-packing color combination of hearty stones that will look good in white gold:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/190338430/sale-five-stone-hexagon-ring-in-14-k

 

[pregcurious]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

[quote="FrekeChild|
http://www.gemfix.com/sapphire_pink.html
[/quote]

I love the pink sapphires on the Gemfix page. If you buy a round sapphire, and put it in a stock setting (not custom), you save _a lot_ of money on the setting. That may enable you to get some pave, or even a larger center stone. Let's see if we can find a flower setting for you...

 

[pregcurious]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Oh my goodness!!! I found a similar lotus setting at Green Lake For $3006. Green Lake makes very high quality jewelry, and this setting is stunning. It's already made for a 5.5 mm stone. I bet that the 5.7 mm stone that Freke referred to would fit in this baby! The setting is even in stock! This would be way above anything you could buy at Gemvara:

http://www.greenlakejewelry.com/gallery/gallery_detail.aspx?ImgID=85043

I love this setting so much that I save it in my inspiration folder.

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

velouriaL,

Thank you for taking the time to put down your thoughts! I think I have changed my mind about white gold. The issue was never time or care for maintenance, but continued cost. I am now trying to decide between plated and unplated white gold, but I think FrekeChild's images have convinced me that unplated white gold is "white" enough, especially since I won't be wearing the ring right next to a yellow gold or platinum or palladium ring. Also, being able to get white gold serviced far more easily than platinum is certainly a critical factor.

I also appreciate your insight about sourcing the stone --- I was not really aware of those issues.

I also appreciate your linking so many of those other designs. They are so beautiful!!! I think my favorite one is the Yvonne Raley Victorian-inspired design. But none are quite right for me and my giant fingers. My mother and grandmother say I inherited my great-grandfather's "farmworker" hands - short, fat, and strong. My fingers are so wide that I really want a design that will take up some finger real estate. The lotus design with the petals takes up a lot of length and width. The non shank gemmed part of my engagement ring (it doesn't have a head - it's all a flat design) is about 15 mm across and 10 mm tall and it is easily lost on my finger. I love it to bits and wouldn't change it for the world because the Betrothed picked it out by himself and put thought into the meaning behind the stones, but I would love to have a wedding ring that stands out more and doesn't make my fingers look even bigger. In comparison, Raley's design is about 13 mm across and 8-9mm tall.

I am beginning to think my family has the luckiest women ever! My aunt's engagement ring is a big emerald that she has been wearing every day for over 20 years with no problem and my sister has been wearing a huge (or huge for me, anyway) aquamarine ring for 10 years without so much as a scratch. My grandmother has a large opal ring and a large aquamarine ring, both of which she wears every day, and has for as long as my mother (in her 50s) can remember. I'm the jewelry baby of the family --- I only have the opal ring I've worn daily for a few years, even while working in a manufacturing facility, with no problems whatsoever. I hope that I have not now jinxed us!

pregcurious,

I, too, love many of those sapphires I have been looking around for flower styled settings off and on for a while, but y'all have been able find so many more things than I have. I am looking forward to hearing back from the jeweler to see. Before I posted, I expected to hear from everyone that a custom ring was impossible with my budget, so I'm still prepared to compromise away from the "dream" piece.

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

pregcurious,


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's beautiful!

 

[FrekeChild]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Preg, that is freaking amazing. Seriously.

I am guessing that if you looked at your family's stones under magnification, you'd see a very different picture of those stones. My mother was given an opal cabochon ring by her mother in law, and from a distance it looks perfect. She wore it in spurts, so not every day, but for chunks at a time, and as a pinky ring. When you get close to it though, it's pretty badly abraded, and you can actually feel the damage with your fingertip.

 

[pregcurious]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Cupcake panda, I'm so glad you like it. You can search for reviews of Green Lake here. My sense is that you will have a positive experience, but hopefully others will chime in. Green Lake also does custom work; if you look at the bottom left of the page with the setting, there are prices for custom settings of the same design, but in different metals.

Thanks, Freke.

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

pregcurious,

I sent an inquiry to Green Lake using their design your own ring page to ask about the center stone. So exciting! Thank you again for finding that one!


Everyone,

I honestly can't thank you enough for all of your generous advice, photographs, and searching skills I wish I could bake you all cupcakes as a thank you!!!

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

I have heard back from Green Lake and am working with Krista right now. She suggested using blue diamonds on the shank leaves, and in the mock up design, they look like dew drops, which is positively magical!

I am *so* excited that I'm dancing around the apartment

If you want me to keep updating, I'm totally willing, but I don't want to take up people's time/space unnecessarily.