Uneven prongs

[Serena7]

Hi everyone.

My fiance got my engagement ring from brilliant earth and we are having issues with getting the setting/prongs symmetrical.

I am not in the US so it took us more than a month to send it back, have them work on it and send it back.

It looks similar to before, possibly slightly worse or just the same. Hard to tell because obviously prongs are set in by hand and won't all be the same shape. But either way, the spacing drives me nuts and causes me anxiety as I have symmetry OCD. I don't mean I'm "ocd about it", I mean I'm diagnosed with that so this is causing me intense stress.

I have read old posts of people having similar issues and everyone says nope! It should be completely aligned. But mine's pear and not round. They were all round. But BE told us that it's due to the cut of my diamond not being perfect and that is causing the issue and that it cannot be anymore aligned. They did re set it though, as the prongs are now a bit shorter like balls whereas they were a bit more like lines that stuck out further before. They also straightened some prong stems. But I still do not like the way it looks and feel very upset to look at it. It always had larger prongs at top and bottom, I assume that's for security but the alignment of the smaller prongs on the sides is what drives me most crazy.

My fiance learned loads about diamonds and this diamond alone is 7k even though it's just under a carat. He chose one with high quality with all that colour clarity etc stuff. The cut was listed as Very Good on BE I think, so not considered perfect but that would have added thousands more and he read lots of info over 6+ months to make his choice.

I love the way it's so dainty and a unique shape. My crappy photos dont show how it sparkles at all and it's got fluff stuck in it. In real life, it looks amazing. But I still hate the prongs. BE blames it on my diamond. Is that true? Sorry its sideways but I have no space on my phone to edit it. Should we send it back yet again and demand it to be reset in a whole new setting instead of just having that setting messed with, or take it somewhere here? I'm VERY anxious about it looking worse, having bulkier prongs or anything else being altered...

Thanks!

P.S. He also asked them to send a couple of quick photos and they assured him that they could and that someone could call him to clarify things but neither happened, they just did a bit to it and send it back. My fiance stressed the issue of asymmetry though. Also they forgot to send the promotional ear rings and GIA report which took months. We are over them and it's made our engagement stressful

 

[junebug17]

Hi @Serena7, I was able to rotate it for you.

I'm so sorry you're unhappy with your ring. It looks like that prong on the upper left is a bit off kilter and a little bigger than the others. If that could be fixed I think it would make a difference. But I'm not sure what recourse you have, it sounds like Brilliant Earth is saying it's the best they can do. I don't have much advice, maybe take it to a local jeweler and see what they can do? All of this said, the pic you posted is very blown up and maybe this isn't that obvious in person. It's a beautiful diamond!

 

[Lvoeshinythings]

I can see the difference of prong placement at about 1 o’clock and 5 o’clock (the pic is set sideways), those are not aligned. Is that what you mean?

How does it look at a normal distance and not zoomed in so close?

I understand your frustration. I had many prongs that we’re not done to my liking. And one reputable vendor even said it was my diamond. It wasn’t, because I had it reset many times and the prongs we always able to line up. My experience is on a ideal cut diamond though.

 

[Serena7]

Hi @Serena7, I was able to rotate it for you.

I'm so sorry you're unhappy with your ring. It looks like that prong on the upper left is a bit off kilter and a little bigger than the others. If that could be fixed I think it would make a difference. But I'm not sure what recourse you have, it sounds like Brilliant Earth is saying it's the best they can do. I don't have much advice, maybe take it to a local jeweler and see what they can do? All of this said, the pic you posted is very blown up and maybe this isn't that obvious in person. It's a beautiful diamond!

Thanks. It's definitely not very obvious from a normal distance to other people but I really hate misaligned things (or chipped/broken things.. I have bad issues with these things ). It wasn't larger before, but it is after they altered it. Does not look as large in real life, the flash is throwing light. I could get photos where it all looks less noticeable. But I just want it fixed..

 

[whitewave]

I would give up with brilliant earth and either live with it or get a new setting and sell the old one.

Tell the new jeweler you would like more refined prongs and not bulbous ones. (Blue Nile does bulbous also)

fancy cuts don’t have cut grades by the way. So very good is how they judged it.

 

[whitewave]

Your diamond looks gorgeous by the way.

 

[Serena7]

I can see the difference of prong placement at about 1 o’clock and 5 o’clock (the pic is set sideways), those are not aligned. Is that what you mean?

How does it look at a normal distance and not zoomed in so close?

I understand your frustration. I had many prongs that we’re not done to my liking. And one reputable vendor even said it was my diamond. It wasn’t, because I had it reset many times and the prongs we always able to line up. My experience is on a ideal cut diamond though.

Yeah, the two upper prongs under the top center prong are what drive me crazy. The 2 on each side under those, with bottom center prong in between bother me a bit, but mostly the ones you mentioned. I'm not sure if they should both be where the higher or lower prong is. Maybe the higher one? All I know is I want them aligned..

 

[whitewave]

I would say look around online at set pears and see what you like and show that to a local jeweler.

Look at

Diamonds by Lauren
Victor canera
Leon Mege
CVB Inspired Design
Erica Winters
Matal Hannah


They all have IG. These are places that have high quality settings. I’m not saying buy from them (Leon, lord no lol). It’s for inspiration.

David at Diamonds by Lauren could probably help you if you wanted to send it to NYC.

 

[Serena7]

I would give up with brilliant earth and either live with it or get a new setting and sell the old one.

Tell the new jeweler you would like more refined prongs and not bulbous ones. (Blue Nile does bulbous also)

fancy cuts don’t have cut grades by the way. So very good is how they judged it.

By refined do you mean more like sharper lines? Because it had prongs that were more like square lines that stuck out further from the ring, and they are more small and rounded now after they fiddled with it and re set it back in the same setting. Well, a little bit. I do like almost invisible prongs though so them looking smaller now is probably ok with me.. maybe they look more bulbous because it's zoomed in. They are really small. He returned a James allen ring because the prongs were HUGE and round and the ring looked like a little turtle.

They said we can send it back again, it's just time factor and the anxiety of waiting so long to just be upset again or get other issues, that's the concern.

Here's how they first sent it (left) and after (right). I took 20 pics to get it looking how I wanted in the left pic and just snapped the one on the right now at nearly 2am so not ideal lighting haha. Excuse my dry hands, am a healthcare worker

 

[whitewave]

Claw prongs (which I actually have come to dislike because they are too pointy)


Wink did these for my ring I just upgraded. They are more secure and less pointy than a claw but still more refined and not bulbous.

 

[whitewave]

By refined do you mean more like sharper lines? Because it had prongs that were more like square lines that stuck out further from the ring, and they are more rounded now after they fiddled with it and re set it back in the same setting.

They said we can send it back again, it's just time factor and the anxiety of waiting so long to just be upset again or get other issues, that's the concern

Seriously, I’d give up on them. They can’t do it. A 3rd time likely won’t work and if things get shut down again because of Covid, your ring will be stuck overseas.

 

[Serena7]

Claw prongs (which I actually have come to dislike because they are too pointy)


Wink did these for my ring I just upgraded. They are more secure and less pointy than a claw but still more refined and not bulbous.

Oh I see what you mean. They look more modern and neater than round ones. Very beautiful diamond! Mine shines some colours like that but I can never get it in a photo

I like prongs to be microscopic for some reason, probably because mine is pear and less prong = less warped shape of the pear

 

[Lvoeshinythings]

Yeah, the two upper prongs under the top center prong are what drive me crazy. The 2 on each side under those, with bottom center prong in between bother me a bit, but mostly the ones you mentioned. I'm not sure if they should both be where the higher or lower prong is. Maybe the higher one? All I know is I want them aligned..

It would drive me mad, too. At this point, it seems like you’re not able to enjoy your ring because of it. If it were me, I’d do what @whitewave suggests and find another vendor with better craftsmanship that I could deal with on a 1-1 basis. I would also return the setting to blue nile because they can’t get it right for you.

 

[Serena7]

Seriously, I’d give up on them. They can’t do it. A 3rd time likely won’t work and if things get shut down again because of Covid, your ring will be stuck overseas.

It's just hard because I'm very particular about the setting and they make that setting in bulk so they could try and put it in a whole new one which could fix it. Whereas a jeweler here will be messing around with the same setting that's already been messed with. I can't handle the stress of a whole new made setting as I'm so particular and we don't want to spend lots more money

 

[Serena7]

I would give up with brilliant earth and either live with it or get a new setting and sell the old one.

Tell the new jeweler you would like more refined prongs and not bulbous ones. (Blue Nile does bulbous also)

fancy cuts don’t have cut grades by the way. So very good is how they judged it.

Yeah, my fiance was saying it's just a brilliant earth rating. He said his priorities for the cut involved avoiding bow tie effects and ensuring correct ratio and.. girdles and all kinds of stuff that I have no idea about!

 

[Gemly]

I’m so sorry you’re having to deal with this! I can easily see the asymmetry and that would drive me nuts too! Was this your first order with BE? I know on your first order they allow return or exchange...it seems like because there has been an issue from the start you might be a candidate for return/refund. I’d fight it with BE first on the grounds that you would have returned for refund the first time had they sent it to you but that they acted as if they could improve the final product...then quickly resent it to you without giving you the option to cancel. If they aren’t receptive to this than get your credit card company involved.

I’d also definitely bring it to a local jeweler. They might be able to easy fix it for a small fee, and they’ll be able to tell you if what BE is telling you about the stone is legit.

 

[Serena7]

I’m so sorry you’re having to deal with this! I can easily see the asymmetry and that would drive me nuts too! Was this your first order with BE? I know on your first order they allow return or exchange...it seems like because there has been an issue from the start you might be a candidate for return/refund. I’d fight it with BE first on the grounds that you would have returned for refund the first time had they sent it to you but that they acted as if they could improve the final product...then quickly resent it to you without giving you the option to cancel. If they aren’t receptive to this than get your credit card company involved.

I’d also definitely bring it to a local jeweler. They might be able to easy fix it for a small fee, and they’ll be able to tell you if what BE is telling you about the stone is legit.

Thanks. My fiance and I both have OCD so it would be unreasonable to try to choose another diamond and whole new setting. He already bought a James Allen diamond and setting and it took a month to return that. Then spent months choosing from brilliant earth. Also our dollar value has gone down due to covid so we cannot buy from USA again. A ring of poorer quality diamond here costs $15,000 which is completely unreasonable to us and just carries more perfectionist anxiety.

Brilliant Earth said if we are still not happy then there's an option to send it back again. They only fiddled with it and did not put it in a new setting/head or anything (but same stock design)

I guess we will get in contact with them and speak to local jewellers. At this point I wish I just had a cheap band or something without all this drama and anxiety.

 

[whitewave]

The diamond is great. Keep the diamond.

Can you have someone local to you unset the diamond and you can send the setting back and get credit for it? Then you can get Durham Rose or someone in the UK (did you say you are in UK) do the setting.

 

[Serena7]

The diamond is great. Keep the diamond.

Can you have someone local to you unset the diamond and you can send the setting back and get credit for it? Then you can get Durham Rose or someone in the UK (did you say you are in UK) do the setting.

I'm in Australia. The stress it would cause me (having OCD) to choose another and hope it looks good with a pear, or design one would honestly affect my mental health very seriously at this point. Not a normal person lol. This is like anxiety of having a nose job and awaiting the reveal or getting revision surgeries for me, no joke. Well not that bad but in that league. OCD is irrational. I am happy with this setting except for the asymmetry of the prongs. I'm hoping putting it in a whole new but same setting (it's the petite comfort fit from BE) could fix it. They haven't done that yet since it costs them more money. But there's the stress of sending it and covid issues. But it was super hard finding settings on sites like james allen, blue nile etc and he chose the only one I liked when I saw all the options after I had it. I considered trying a different setting from them because a) may help symmetry and b) a wedding band can't fit flush with this setting. But thin bands, low profile stone and tiny prongs are essential to me and this setting is what we like. I realized I don't want a wedding band on that finger as I don't want the pear to look off centre and I find multiple rings uncomfortable so I'm actually going to get a fancy pave band for my right hand. I mean I could get those curved/cut out bands but I don't like them. And I'm not a blingy /ring stacking type

Sorry, very much a ringzilla at the moment and making giving advice difficult lol... OCD sucks. One thing to be unsatisfied and take steps to change it, another thing to be having severe stress. First world problems huh..

 

[Gemly]

Thanks. My fiance and I both have OCD so it would be unreasonable to try to choose another diamond and whole new setting. He already bought a James Allen diamond and setting and it took a month to return that. Then spent months choosing from brilliant earth. Also our dollar value has gone down due to covid so we cannot buy from USA again. A ring of poorer quality diamond here costs $15,000 which is completely unreasonable to us and just carries more perfectionist anxiety.

Brilliant Earth said if we are still not happy then there's an option to send it back again. They only fiddled with it and did not put it in a new setting/head or anything (but same stock design)

I guess we will get in contact with them and speak to local jewellers. At this point I wish I just had a cheap band or something without all this drama and anxiety.

I think that’s a really good plan. Go to a local jeweler first, as soon as possible, and have them evaluate it. (Might take a day or two depending on when their expert is in store). Get their opinion/recommendations in writing so that you can use that to ensure you have a good argument to support your concerns to BE. Let us know what the local jeweler says!

 

[whitewave]

Are you near Melbourne? Garry Holloway of Pricescope itself owns Holloway Jewelry in Melbourne! He could likely help with the prongs.

 

[Moonie]

I'm so sorry to hear that you don't like your ring! As a prong obsessed person myself, I understand scrutinizing the detail. Is it possible to check out a few local retailers, find out the price, and see if BE can give you a refund for the setting? That way you won't have to waste money. I don't think fixing the prongs with a better jeweler should be THAT expensive and if you can save money from the BE setting then it shouldn't be too different price-wise. I personally think delicate claw prongs would look lovely so they hug the diamond but won't overwhelm them.

 

[Serena7]

I'm so sorry to hear that you don't like your ring! As a prong obsessed person myself, I understand scrutinizing the detail. Is it possible to check out a few local retailers, find out the price, and see if BE can give you a refund for the setting? That way you won't have to waste money. I don't think fixing the prongs with a better jeweler should be THAT expensive and if you can save money from the BE setting then it shouldn't be too different price-wise. I personally think delicate claw prongs would look lovely so they hug the diamond but won't overwhelm them.

Thanks, I'll ask some places what they think. My prongs look weird in the close up photo, but they're actually really small if you look at the picture where the ring isn't as close up. I like something to look fairly classic, not sure if Im a fan of eagle claw types. I like the prongs to just be tiny and not wrap over the diamond much, or poke out from it much I guess.

It would just be super stressful for us to start over again with the setting, I think. Kind of a total last resort thing to us because of our OCD issues. It could come out looking better probably, but I'm so fussy about every aspect like how the pear is positioned in relation to the band and how the basket looks from the sides and everything.

I'll see what BE say about sending it back and putting in a new setting, because some websites say if the actual setting was made slightly different then that will make it difficult to align it. Who knows, BE just said it's my diamond so it won't be "perfect" but we didn't expect it to come back the same but just smaller slightly different shaped prongs. I don't mind the prongs now. The top and bottom have to be bulkier for protection and security I imagine, but still considered pretty small if you see it on my hand. The side ones look tiny, which I like. Just the asymmetry is unacceptable to me. It all looks worse in that zoomed in picture and the flash is throwing light on certain prongs and exaggerating things, but one is lower and bigger, just not as bigger as that pic. The bottom prongs surrounding the bottom centre prong are not evenly spaced either

 

[Serena7]

Are you near Melbourne? Garry Holloway of Pricescope itself owns Holloway Jewelry in Melbourne! He could likely help with the prongs.

Yes I'm about an hour from the city

 

[whitewave]

Yes I'm about an hour from the city

Home

Holloway Diamonds are producers of exceptional engagement rings and custom-made diamond jewellery on-site at both Brighton and Canterbury showrooms.

www.hollowaydiamonds.com.au

 

[GliderPoss]

@Serena7 Melbourne has plenty of great jewellers - pop into a few decent trusted ones and have the conversation and about redoing the prongs, emphasising perfect symmetry is important to you. The prongs cannot be too small, else the diamond will not be secure (unless you want to try bezel?). No need to send back to USA. particularly as the mail system internationally is horrendous right now...

 

[CalliopeCladdagh]

I can definitely see the asymmetry and it would bother the heck out of me too.

If I were you, I would not trust Brilliant Earth to get it right again. Because of the long distance issues, I would return the setting, keep the diamond, and get a new setting made locally. Send Brilliant Earth a picture where you draw lines across the image to show how wonky the prongs are, like this, but more accurate than my very quick attempt:


And tell them that you need to return the setting because it's unacceptable.

A good local jeweller should be able to make you a setting virtually identical to your current one and set your original diamond in it. It will probably cost you a bit more, but I think it would be worth it for your peace of mind.

Good luck!

 

[Ally T]

I would be totally annoyed if my claws were that asymmetrical. It would REALLY bother me & you are not being unreasonable at all.

Can you post a picture of the side profile? If the setting has a peg head (head that is soldered into the shank) then any jeweller worth their salt could remove the head & fit you a better one without too much expense. They could also raise it up for you so that your future wedding band will sit flush. Some people love the gap, some hate it. For me, I'm not a fan & had my rings made to sit flush.

Pears & fancy shapes are notoriously difficult to set, but this is a really badly set pear.

Good luck!

 

[ls430FL]

I know I am a little late but I just wanted to add that I actually bent one of my prongs so two prong then became asymmetrical across from one another (when looking from the top down at the stone like the photo you posted my upper left and upper right prongs were misaligned) I also have a pear shape 2.56 ct. ER. I took it to my local jeweler and he straightened it and measured the distance between each prong to make sure that it was exactly perfect. He showed me the measurements. Fancy shapes may be difficult to set but measuring the distance between each two side prongs and adjusting accordingly will quickly fix the problem. Took less than five minutes and no charge. No need to send it back and forth.

 

[elizat]

I would be totally annoyed if my claws were that asymmetrical. It would REALLY bother me & you are not being unreasonable at all.

Can you post a picture of the side profile? If the setting has a peg head (head that is soldered into the shank) then any jeweller worth their salt could remove the head & fit you a better one without too much expense. They could also raise it up for you so that your future wedding band will sit flush. Some people love the gap, some hate it. For me, I'm not a fan & had my rings made to sit flush.

Pears & fancy shapes are notoriously difficult to set, but this is a really badly set pear.

Good luck!

Yes. This stone is really poorly set and I am not what I would call a perfectionist.