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Too picky about prongs ?

N

NICHLO

Rough_Rock
Joined
Feb 28, 2014
Messages
56
So I had them shaved down last week and I'm still online looking at the vatche u113 and thinking the prongs on that setting are smaller. Am I being crazy ? I paid almost same for this setting as the vatche--my jeweler does not carry that line and so made me a Tiffany replica. I'm just not loving the prongs. Is it me ? I guess I should go look at some settings and compare, but o don't know what I could do. I want to love this setting and I just am not 100 percent there. Sometimes I look at it and I think I'm being too picky. Then , I look at pics and think, no--my prongs don't look like that. Attaching pics. Let me know what you think please :wall:
Ps dh thinks I'm nuts at this point.

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_37136.jpg
 
Maybe it's the small photos of the rings, but I honestly don't see the prongs as being much different between the photos. I think the larger diamond on the first photo may give the illusion that the prongs are smaller, but the prongs look to be the same size to my non-expert eyes.

I know the feeling though. I just bought an engagement ring for my gf and it arrived recently. It looked beautiful and I thought it was perfect. Then I started photographing it and in photos, I noticed the 4 prongs did not form a perfect square but a very slight trapezoid. Now I can't un-see the uneven prongs when I look at the ring in person. I asked my sister about it and she said was I being neurotic. So I think I should just let it go unless someone else points it out.
 
OP - with those photos, I don't really see a difference in prongs either... do you have better photos and/or profile (side view) photos?
 
Thanks! I'm attaching another photo that looks a little different but as you have pointed out, there probably is little to no difference. Maybe it's just I'm used to four prongs.

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I don't think it's the difference of settings and associated prongs, but rather the ability of the different benches to create delicate prongs. The most important thing is that your diamond is secure for now. Maybe if you get a chance to visit a PS vendor, they can work on your prongs.
 
Should I just stick with them for now and figure something out at a later date ? I probably should go find a store to compare the vatche. I've never seen it in person. Maybe this is all my imagination. :errrr:
 
I think the difference between what you have and what you prefer is that your current setting has more prong jutting out beyond the stone, and less prong (or claw) wrapping over on top of the stone. I'm borrowing 2 photos from your earlier thread:
_37112.jpg vs. 2014-07-17_14.jpg

I think Brian Gavin's people could rework the prongs into claws. I had a diamond recut by Brian and reinstalled in the same mounting. It has a Stuller Octet head. The Octet has 8 thick blocky prongs grouped in pairs. It's always shown squared off and chunky. Brian Gavin's bench reworked my prongs into more graceful ones.

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There is no question that your prongs are thicker, and bump out further from the girdle of the diamond, than other 6 prong settings you have pictured. That's not necessarily good or bad, it's just how you feel about them. Nine out of ten people, if you said, tell me the difference between these two rings, would not pick out the subtleties of the prongs. The problem is, once you have started to question the prongs this previously subtle thing becomes a big thing.

What if you said to yourself, I'm not doing anything right now. I'm just going to wait a few weeks/months, enjoy my gorgeous new stone, and see if the prong issue just goes away. Give yourself permission to change them if you are still unhappy after the time has passed. You may find that you are perfectly happy with the ring by then and won't need to change anything.
 
Thanks! I think I will I as suggested. Wait it out. If I'm still unhappy in a couple of months, I'll figure something out. I just don't want to spend a bunch more money so I was wondering if I should make jeweler take back setting now. In two months, that won't be able to happen anymore. I'm all over the place :silenced:
 
If this solitaire setting was a temp setting, and you're not happy with the prongs, send it to a vatche vendor, like WF or IDJ and have them reset the diamond in the vatche setting you love, with the prong style you love.

The problem is that once you SEE the prongs in macro, you can't UN-SEE the image in your mind's eye.
 
I do think a good bench could shave the backs of these prongs to make them not stick out so far. No, they did not originally start out like the Vatche but I do think they could still be minimized. Does your jeweler carry Vatche? If so, I'd ask to return this setting and put the money towards the Vatche setting. I would tell him that I was still not satisfied - maybe carry a picture of some of the rings that you like to show him what you are trying to achieve with the prongs.
 
Unfortunately, this is supposed to be a Tiffany repro and was promised to look exactly the same. So, I paid what I would have paid for the vatche I did bring it back last week and they worked on it. I notice a little difference but it still is not what I had anticipated and as of now, the prongs are bothering me. I know , real world problems. :snore:
Anyhow, thanks for all of the responses.
 
No, they don't Carry Vatche or I would have gone with that. They are very proud of this design and I feel like a jerk for complaining as they are great people and I know this would not bother most. Anyhow, lesson learned. I should not purchase things that I haven't seen. I don't really think it could be brought back. My husband says it can if I'm unhappy and he would be happy to do it. I'm not sure if we should go that route as I don't want to upset anyone. I'm probably being silly but it does bother me.
 
You are the paying customer. Those prongs are not like Tiffany's so the promise of a Tiffany repro was not met. It really isn't a matter of making the jeweler unhappy - it is a matter of making you happy. It also is not a major job to shave those prongs down a bit more. If your husband going with you makes you feel a bit more comfortable, by all means go together. Just don't walk away unhappy - there really is no reputable jeweler that wants their customer feeling like that.
 
Agree with MissGotRocks about a good bench...

Why don't you reach out to BGD or WF or IDJ or CVB, etc. and find out how much it would be to have their bench finesse your prongs.
 
Thanks missgotrocks and pinto bean. So you do agree that it doesn't look like a tiffany setting? The closest tiffany store is one hour away and I just don't have time to go and compare anytime soon. I was just shocked when I got the ring as my first thought was....prongs! And I never thought that when I tried on same size at Tiffany before.
I would hate to send to cvb or anywhere else when I could have just sent the diamond to them in the first place and got the setting I wanted. I don't know how to go about this. They were very nice about shaving them down last week, but I still don't think it looks right. Maybe I'm crazy, but if you girls are agreeing with me, I don't feel so nuts....what would you do? I'm a libra....don't like things unbalanced and also, I ave a hard time making up my mind. :o
 
You have a gorgeous ring and you should feel nothing less than thrilled each and every time you look down on it!! Non-PS vendors just don't know how detailed we are but that shouldn't stop you from getting what you want! I do see a difference in the prongs and I don't think there's anything wrong with asking them to be shaved down. If you ask politely and show them a picture of a Tiffany ring and point out how their prongs don't stick out that far past the girdle, they should be happy to accommodate you! ;))
 
I agree that it looks like your prongs "jut out" more than DS' - that could be that DS' prong-seats are cut deeper into the prong than yours, or perhaps the exteriors could be shaved slightly?

It also looks to me like one of your prongs is closer to one than the other? Though I know that photos can lie about things like this! If that's actually the case and not just an artifact of photo angle perhaps if you have the prongs addressed your vendor can also budge that one over a bit.

porongs.png
 
I think there is still a big difference between your prongs and mine. Mine do not appear to protrude out from the stone like yours do. It's not your imagination. Do not wait to do something about it. Take that picture of my ring again and say yours doesn't look like that and you either need to return the setting and get what you wanted elsewhere, or else they need to redo the head on your ring if they think they can do it right. If you don't deal with it now, you'll be stuck. Most PS vendors are not going to take a ring bought elsewhere and work on it for someone when they didn't sell the stone or setting.

Post some pics of the profile of the head of your ring and let us see what that looks like.
 
I agree with DS.
 
Can you post a photo of what it looks like after they worked on it?

Unless the diamond was set super deeply into the prongs, they should be able to file it down nicely. I asked a local dealer to do that to my fiancé's Vatche "Tiffany" setting, and it made a big difference to my eyes. I also asked them to make the prongs more claw-like so they were less boxy.

If your jeweler is not willing to work on it more, then before changing settings completely, I'd find another local jeweler with a good reputation and get a second opinion/see if they'll work on it. That's definitely cheaper than throwing down another 1.5-2K.
 
Here are some profile pics. DS, do you have profile pics anywhere so I can show those too !? I have to do something about this because it's all I see and I don't want to be unhappy with my beautiful upgrade.

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It actually looks like the prongs are fine from the profile view. I think the picture of mine with the sapphire and diamond band is a good one to take them to show how unobtrusive the prongs should be (print it and leave it with them). I think they should be able to shave them down more. But tell them if they can't do it, you will have to return the ring because it is not what you wanted.
 
So they are shaved again. This time on the outside. I think it is better. They said they could take more off but I want to wear it a few days to see if needed. What do you all think ?

_37170.jpg

_37171.jpg
 
NICHLO|1463082080|4030859 said:
So they are shaved again. This time on the outside. I think it is better. They said they could take more off but I want to wear it a few days to see if needed. What do you all think ?
Click to expand...

This is MUCH better! ...but I'd have them take off just a tiny bit more. :))

Edit: NOPE, I think I'd leave as is... the macro was getting to me, but the IRL photo looks great! :bigsmile:
 
I think they look good now. At first I didn't notice the difference, but after looking at the first pics a bit I did! I can see how it would bother you. These look way better.
 
Much better but if they are willing, I'd shave them down a bit more. Take off the 'corner' near where the prong lays on the diamond.
 
If it is platinum you can shave a little more, if you really want it (I wouldn't). If it is not platinum, they are great now.
 
I think they look soooooo much better! I am betting that at normal viewing distance, they look pretty small now. I think only you can tell if it is enough or not. But it is night and day from the first pictures you showed us! :appl:

(I am sorry I missed where you asked me for a profile shot. I don't think I had one in my picture files, but I think it was the top view that showed more about the prong problem.)
 
Glad your vendor worked it out. Looks great.
 
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