Thoughts on quality of melee, custom e-ring and stock band?

[autumnlala]

I am looking to have a marquise set e-w in a custom setting (hopefully similar to Jazmine''s! but I''m leaving the ultimate decision up to DBF with some strong guidelines).

We will likely be using Whiteflash as their prices are much better than what I''ve found locally, especially considering they use much higher quality melee for the stones in the shank than others I have seen.

However, their band price seems really steep considering I just want a simple, ~3 mm band with diamonds halfway around on only the top of the shank (~.35 total ct wt). A stock band from a reputable local jeweler with these same specs costs about HALF of what WF has quoted me. I know this is because most of their cost is the labor involved in making the band and setting the stones. So I''m thinking of just buying a stock band to go with the custom e-ring.

My center stone is ~1.2 ct, F-G, VS2 (no appraisal outside the current setting so this is a best guess until we get it appraised before setting it).

Two questions for you experts:
1) How important is it to have high quality stones in the melee? I don''t want it to take away from the high quality of the center stone I have, but can you see the difference in what I will be using? It will be ~.03 ct stones that are F-G/ VS2 versus H/ SI? One local jeweler I talked to said that this is important, but they normally use G-H color and SI3-I1 clarity, and he thought anything above F-G SI1 would be overkill.

I know cut is also very important with the melee and I''m not sure how to comparison shop for that.

2) Will you be able to tell the difference between the higher quality melee on my e-ring next to the band if I go with the lower quality stock band?

Thanks in advance!

 

[neatfreak]

I think higher quality cuts of melee certainly look different. So yes, I think you would notice that your band with ACA melee would be a lot livelier than one with crappier quality stones.

I do think you can go down a bit on color and clarity with melee as long as the clarity isn''t so low that it is full of clouds and carbon specks. But unfortunately when you go to many jewelery stores that is exactly what they have. So examine them side by side if you can, and also ask for a loupe to see if you can see stuff in the melee.

For me, it''s worth the extra bucks for high quality melee because they just sparkle like crazy!

 

[Lorelei]

I too would also prefer high cut quality in melee.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I think it depends on what you can afford. I have a 1/3 5 stone band from a B&M (I have it had it for 6 years) and it sparkles like crazy. I know they are not ideal cut but to me it is still a pretty ring and I get a lot of compliments on it. If money were never a problem of course I would always get top quality but sometimes "budget" rings can be beautiful too.