Tennis Bracelets

[jadeleaves]

Deb, I''ve posted a pic in the diamond bracelet thread here.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 10/31/2005 3:27:00 AM
Author: JadeLeaves
Deb, I''ve posted a pic in the diamond bracelet thread here.

JadeLeaves,

It is lovely, very simple and elegant. Classic. Thank you for posting it.

Deb

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 10/30/2005 8:10:41 PM
Author: valeria101



That''s funny... where the name comes from. I''ve always wondered why would anyone prefer to play tennis with a line bracelet on.



Dear Wink, I am totally surprised that anyone on the planet could ignore that there are lots of kinds of line bracelets anyway. Unless those guys had picked the original from the tennis court in ''87.

In my beginning days as a jeweler I was fascinated with the line bracelets, but succeeded in selling only a very few, usually less than one a year. Then suddenly with the name change I started selling several per year, some of them into the tens of thousands of dollars

Always amazing what a name and a little good marketing can do to the saleability of a product!

Wink

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 10/30/2005 8:49:32 PM
Author: websailor
Wink,

you could have made one of these:

Funny you should say that. We actually did make a bracelet with dangling tennis rackets for a tennis tournament once, they were given out as gifts to the top few players and sold as souvenirs. Long time ago though and I don''t have any pictures...

Wink

 

[AGBF]

Wink sent me the platinum bracelet pictured in the photo from the Tradeshop website, but from the side, and even looking down, the bracelet seemed heavy with platinum. I wanted the effect of just diamonds showing (the way it looked in the PICTURE of the Tradeshop bracelet!!!). I would like a bracelet of diamonds that appear held together by a strand of silk or thread, as cultured pearsls might be. I want to see diamonds, not metal.

I am looking for photos! The bracelet below is offered by Union Diamonds. The settings are half bezels. I need to see what the bracelet looks like from the side and what one set stone looks like close up to see if it is too much metal for me!

Deb

 

[Kaleigh]

Deb,
The one that Wink made for cflutist although in YG and you want WG, or platinum, is one of the prettiest I''ve seen. The bezel set one that you posted even if half bezel set will show a lot more metal than I think you want. There is no way that I know of to show less metal in a silk cord like fashion. Just can''t be done. I would go for a 3 prong setting, thus showing more of the diamond and less metal. I think cflutist''s is done that way if I remember correctly. Bezels are heavy IMHO, even if they are half. The three prong will be much more delicate, and pretty. HTH

 

[AGBF]

This is the bracelet Wink sent me. He thinks it is the same one pictured in the photograph from the Tradeshop's website (photo is shown earlier in this thread). The lip of the bezels looks wide to me. Do you think this looks like the photograph of the bracelet shown by the Tradeshop? Doesn't that photo make the lips of the bezels look smaller? If so, why?

Deborah

 

[AGBF]

This is another shot of the same bracelet.

 

[AGBF]

A third shot. I am trying to get you to be able to see where the bracelet looks heavy.

 

[AGBF]

Last shot. (My hand is on the left side!)

 

[Kaleigh]

The earlier photo shows a half bezel. What you just posted is a full bezel. Meaning there will be a full circle of metal around the diamonds. It''s a heavy look. At this point you want less metal right, so go with the 3 prong, setting. It''s delicate, secure and elegant. All you will see is sparkle, really.

 

[Mara]

deb here is a picture from the wf website on their 3 prong...if this helps. it seems like you''d see the most metal from a 3 prong kind of like you do with the earring martinis.

i do not like that full bezel setting for bracelet, it does look heavy to me.

 

[Mara]

and here is a half bezel shot from wf as well.

the prettiest diamond bracelet i have ever seen is my girlfriend''s bracelet which has very small melee prong set (i think 4 prongs each or maybe shared?) which are VERY tiny and unobstrusive and the bracelet''s depth is not very large either so it sits close to the arm. it''s like a small glittering line of diamonds, you really see no metal, it''s stunning and i want one just like it if i get a bracelet!

 

[AGBF]

Date: 11/13/2005 12:23:29 AM
Author: kaleigh
The earlier photo shows a half bezel. What you just posted is a full bezel. Meaning there will be a full circle of metal around the diamonds. It''s a heavy look. At this point you want less metal right, so go with the 3 prong, setting. It''s delicate, secure and elegant. All you will see is sparkle, really.

Thanks for the help, Lisa. My problem is that for so many years I loved the bracelet pictured on the website of the Tradeshop. (It, also, is a full bezel. It is on the first page of this thread.) Because I wanted the look in that picture, I assumed I wanted that bracelet. I understand your point about getting a bracelet with prongs (specifically three prongs), but I keep wondering if there are not bezels that cover even less of a stone than prongs (as the Tradeshop photo seems to).

Usually I do not like bezels, but every once in a while I see something done with one that I like.

I guess my question, now, is: is it possible to make a bracelet with a very minimal bezel. Must they all be as large as the one shown in the bracelet Wink sent me?

Sorry if I seem dense. I am just fixated!

Deb

 

[AGBF]

Date: 11/13/2005 12:29:56 AM
Author: Mara
and here is a half bezel shot from wf as well.

the prettiest diamond bracelet i have ever seen is my girlfriend''s bracelet which has very small melee prong set (i think 4 prongs each or maybe shared?) which are VERY tiny and unobstrusive and the bracelet''s depth is not very large either so it sits close to the arm. it''s like a small glittering line of diamonds, you really see no metal, it''s stunning and i want one just like it if i get a bracelet!

Ummm...Mara? Could you get her to allow you to photograph that? I really must see it!!! Is there a photo of it anywhere?

Deb

 

[Mara]

Date: 11/13/2005 12:33:32 AM
Author: AGBF

Date: 11/13/2005 12:29:56 AM
Author: Mara
and here is a half bezel shot from wf as well.

the prettiest diamond bracelet i have ever seen is my girlfriend's bracelet which has very small melee prong set (i think 4 prongs each or maybe shared?) which are VERY tiny and unobstrusive and the bracelet's depth is not very large either so it sits close to the arm. it's like a small glittering line of diamonds, you really see no metal, it's stunning and i want one just like it if i get a bracelet!

Ummm...Mara? Could you get her to allow you to photograph that? I really must see it!!! Is there a photo of it anywhere?

Deb

Haha doubt it. She rolls her eyes at mention of the forum...me trying to get a picture of her arm would probably draw a slap or two.

It's like no setting I have really ever seen before becuase of how little metal there seems to be and how much blingy sparkle but she got it from our jeweler in Aptos so I know where to go when I am ready.

She has had it for I think 2 years now.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 11/13/2005 1:03:38 AM
Author: Mara
Haha doubt it. She rolls her eyes at mention of the forum...me trying to get a picture of her arm would probably draw a slap or two.

It''s like no setting I have really ever seen before becuase of how little metal there seems to be and how much blingy sparkle but she got it from our jeweler in Aptos so I know where to go when I am ready.

She has had it for I think 2 years now.

Mara,

I NEED this information. I NEED it. This is a tennis bracelet emergency! I must have the name of that jeweler in Aptos and a picture of that bracelet. Don''t you have a camera cellphone or something? This is SERIOUS!!!

PS-What size, color, and clarity are her stones? How big do you think stones have to be to look good set the way hers are (i.e. set the way I MUST see!!)?

Deb

 

[Mara]

Sorry Deb I don't have any other information on the bracelet other than it's a very small sparkly line of diamonds.

I don't even know what the setting is exactly.

I PM'd you the details on the Aptos jewelers, and what to ask...hope it helps!

 

[AGBF]

Date: 11/13/2005 1:24:50 AM
Author: Mara
I PM''d you the details on the Aptos jewelers, and what to ask...hope it helps!

Sisterhood is powerful, indeed, Mara. Thank you. If you ever need anything (a crockpot recipe, a child), just let me know.

Deb

 

[AGBF]

Date: 11/13/2005 12:29:56 AM
Author: Mara
the prettiest diamond bracelet i have ever seen is my girlfriend''s bracelet which has very small melee prong set (i think 4 prongs each or maybe shared?) which are VERY tiny and unobstrusive and the bracelet''s depth is not very large either so it sits close to the arm. it''s like a small glittering line of diamonds, you really see no metal

I would love to hear from jewelers (or any consumer who has such a bracelet herself) about how this was probably made. Does anyone have a photograph of a bracelet that sounds like this one? Mara''s friend and her jeweler surely cannot have a complete monopoly on this jewelry design! Once someone has correctly described a piece, others are likely to come forth with specimens of it! How would any of you knowledgeable about jewelry design describe a setting that looked like this? How do you think it might have been constructed?


Deborah

 

[valeria101]

Date: 11/13/2005 11:08:44 AM
Author: AGBF

Does anyone have a photograph of a bracelet that sounds like this one?

Maybe... how about the one on THIS thread?

 

[AGBF]

I would like to try to bring discussion of how to set stones in a tennis bracelet out of another thread where the discussion wandered and back here! This ring, a Memoire setting was posted (by Ana) in the other thread. I like this idea but want even less metal (prong bumps) between stones.

Deborah

 

[AGBF]

Date: 11/14/2005 10:09:18 AM
Author: AGBF
I like this idea but want even less metal (prong bumps) between stones.

Could this bracelet be done with the metal between stones lower down, the way it is between widely set stones in a fashion bracelet? Do those two big bumps between the stones have to be there? Be so high? Could the area between stones be low and flat? I will post a picture of a fashion bracelet from the Union Diamonds website to show you what I mean.

Deborah

 

[AGBF]

I do not see how these stones are set, but I don't think it is the way I want stones set. (I like the Memoire look above). Nonetheless, in this photo one sees that stones can be separated with what appears to be low, flat metal (as opposed to bumpy prongs that stick up between stones and ruin the continuity of the flow). Could a bracelet be made with the Memoire "look" but minus the "bumps"? Could it be made with low, flat metal between stones (assuming any such metal is needed at all to hold the diamonds in place) but with metal bars about 1/10 or 1/50 as long as the ones in this photo? IS metal needed, as bumps or flat lines, between stones? Could a Memoire look be done without those bumps and without substituting any other metal at all for them?

Deborah

 

[AGBF]

Date: 11/14/2005 10:30:42 AM
Author: valeria101
Btw. the ''bump'' prongs on that ring can''t be that big - the stones are tiny relative to what you have in mind!

You mean, I am afraid, that the "bumps" would have to be far bigger between bigger stones?

Deb

 

[valeria101]

Date: 11/14/2005 10:45:04 AM
Author: AGBF


You mean, I am afraid, that the ''bumps'' would have to be far bigger between bigger stones?

Deb

No...

But I do not understand your latest post... something has to hond the girdle - so there must be some bit of metal overlapping there.

Also, the bracelet is flexible, so ther cannot be shared prongs - the stones move individually. Unless you would not mind a bangle, of course.

There could be a ''knife edge'' bar between the stones if this is what you mean. I don''t have an example of bracelet and the idea is rather vintage - unlikely in ready-to-wer current designs. Here''s a deadly necklace done like that: LINK.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 11/14/2005 10:30:42 AM
Author: valeria101
'Guess the point about prongs (pun intended) is that they can be small enough to 'dissapear' from view except for very intent close up staring at them. And this is easier if the prongs are short - as it is the case for the line bracelet that brought this thread up again, and perhaps also holds for the bracelet Mara has described saying that she could not see the prongs look like on her colleague's hand.

Ana,

Is a "line" bracelet one like the "fashion bracelet" from Union Diamonds that I posted? One with an underlying line of metal that doesn't stick up?

Deb

 

[AGBF]

Date: 11/14/2005 10:53:42 AM
Author: valeria101
But I do not understand your latest post...

Great. We are communicating wonderfully. Because I understand only about 25% of what you say in any of yours . You are too far ahead of me, Ana. I cannot follow your (fast) thinking about design!

Deb

 

[valeria101]

Date: 11/14/2005 10:58:20 AM
Author: AGBF

Ana,

Is a ''line'' bracelet one like the ''fashion bracelet'' from Union Diamonds that I posted? One with an underlying line of metal that doesn''t stick up?

Deb

Er... no. To me that means any sort of bracelet that lines up one row of stones one way or another.

I am sorry for the babbling... Perhaps pictures would be better but I don''t seem to find good ones and if I start making them up, that will end up in some sort of custom work that may clash with what the jeweler concerned (or any one) can do.

 

[Mara]

Deb, this may sound entirely too simple...

But what about asking Wink what can be created? He is your vendor of choice on this project right? Why not call him and say Wink this is what I want. What do you suggest? He is an expert and has made many bracelets I am sure in his time.

And by the way call the other jeweler too. He DOES work on Sundays so you could have called yesterday and had way more information than you do now.

Please call....I''m sure once you actually TALK to someone about this it will go a long way in answering many of your questions.