We went ring shopping:D! And now I have setting questions...

[Halo]

So my BF asked me if I'd like to go ring shopping yesterday, and naturally I was very excited and said yes

So we went to Spence Diamonds, a Canadian store, which he had sneakily visited a few months ago. I was so in love with halo settings before we went in and I wanted one just like the one in my avatar photo (Ritani Bella Vita) but as it turned out what suited me was similar to the Tiffany Novo. I'm a little sad that the halo styles didn't suit me, but happy that we found something that did. We've decided on a 4-prong round brilliant of at least 1 carat with a pave band

So all of this ring shopping sparked some questions:

1) What shape of diamond looks the largest for its carat: Round brilliant, princess or cushion?

2) We're going to get a pave band instead of channel or bead. Is it true that pave bands lose stones really easily. How do Whiteflash's pave bands hold up? We're going to get our ring designed by them.

3) I'm relatively accident prone, so I wonder if it's better to get a 6-prong setting rather than a 4-prong? I don't really love 6-prong settings as I find that the prongs are a lot more noticeable than 4-prong styles, but my BF is worried that I'll lose the center stone one day if I have a 4-prong setting. Would a 4-prong setting with thicker prongs make it safer or not much?

4) We are trying to find the perfect design for the head of the ring...or is it called the basket? I'm not too sure. What I mean is when you look at the ring from the side, that's the part of the ring that I mean. We don't want anything too high. I'd love to see photos of various designs if anyone has any that may work.

Thanks so much, sorry for all of the questions!

 

[Halo]

And in case any fellow Canadians are curious, I wasn't impressed with Spence, be it their outdated and small selection (they claim to have thousands of designs, but the store we went to had about 400 or so) or their customer service.

However I am very excited to work with WF and have heard so many great experiences from other PSers

!

 

[lovingmylife]

i love whiteflash! their diamonds are excellent as well as their custom design works. i am attaching my CAD from whiteflash just so you can see what they can do for you (although mine is rather simple!).

 

[bee]

OMG...that ring is beautiful!!! The head on that is to die for!!!

 

[CharmyPoo]

I know how you feel. I was pretty set on a halo but they really overwhelm my hands. My boyfriend also hates them so it is out of the question.

Try browsing Pearlmans site - they have a huge selection.

 

[Halo]

Date: 11/11/2008 7:09:37 PM
Author: CharmyPoo
I know how you feel. I was pretty set on a halo but they really overwhelm my hands. My boyfriend also hates them so it is out of the question.


Try browsing Pearlmans site - they have a huge selection.

My BF also dislikes halos, but I loved them so much so I wanted to see how they looked on me. Turns out they''re too "flashy" for my style. I''m much more classically modern, if that makes any sense. So we found something that is much more in line with that and as my BF said "That ring is completely you!", which is how I think a ring should be. Plus he loves it so I know it is the one

Now we just have to make a few tweaks to it and it will be perfect.

I''ll check Pearlmans, thanks.

 

[Halo]

Bump.

Any other help/suggestions?

 

[jerichosmom]

Date: 11/11/2008 3:20:34 PM
Author:Halo
So my BF asked me if I''d like to go ring shopping yesterday, and naturally I was very excited and said yes

So we went to Spence Diamonds, a Canadian store, which he had sneakily visited a few months ago. I was so in love with halo settings before we went in and I wanted one just like the one in my avatar photo (Ritani Bella Vita) but as it turned out what suited me was similar to the Tiffany Novo. I''m a little sad that the halo styles didn''t suit me, but happy that we found something that did. We''ve decided on a 4-prong round brilliant of at least 1 carat with a pave band

I used to work at Spence over 10 years ago in Vancouver. The last time I was there the settings were still very dated. I remember from my orientation that they target the average consumer with little to no knowledge of diamonds. During their "demo" they will automatically point to the GHIJ colours when they ask you what you''d prefer...hint, hint.

A round brilliant will look the largest as fancies tend to look 1 carat smaller. Example....a 2 ct cushion will face up similar to a 1 carat round...sort of. It''s not exactly that and there''s a table with dimensions somewhere on this forum but you get the drift. I was in the market for a 2-3 carat cushion and once I had them shipped to me, I was really disappointed in their size as I compared them to my 1.7 rounds and my rounds really stood out.

In regards to pave, you can do a search about paves losing their stones (there are many) and yes, it does happen occassionally. If you are really accident prone like you said, a 6 prong will be more secure I think. A good jeweler can make a 6 prong ring less "prongy" by shaving down them down I think. I''ve seen some very delicate prongs and some really thick prongs here. I wish I could help you with your basket question but since I haven''t found my stone/ring yet I have nothing to post.

Good luck with your search. Are you in Vancouver? If so there are 2 jewelers that I could suggest. Let me know.


So all of this ring shopping sparked some questions:

1) What shape of diamond looks the largest for its carat: Round brilliant, princess or cushion?

2) We''re going to get a pave band instead of channel or bead. Is it true that pave bands lose stones really easily. How do Whiteflash''s pave bands hold up? We''re going to get our ring designed by them.

3) I''m relatively accident prone, so I wonder if it''s better to get a 6-prong setting rather than a 4-prong? I don''t really love 6-prong settings as I find that the prongs are a lot more noticeable than 4-prong styles, but my BF is worried that I''ll lose the center stone one day if I have a 4-prong setting. Would a 4-prong setting with thicker prongs make it safer or not much?

4) We are trying to find the perfect design for the head of the ring...or is it called the basket? I''m not too sure. What I mean is when you look at the ring from the side, that''s the part of the ring that I mean. We don''t want anything too high. I''d love to see photos of various designs if anyone has any that may work.

Thanks so much, sorry for all of the questions!

 

[Halo]

Date: 11/14/2008 1:15:23 AM
Author: jerichosmom

Date: 11/11/2008 3:20:34 PM

Author:Halo

So my BF asked me if I'd like to go ring shopping yesterday, and naturally I was very excited and said yes

So we went to Spence Diamonds, a Canadian store, which he had sneakily visited a few months ago. I was so in love with halo settings before we went in and I wanted one just like the one in my avatar photo (Ritani Bella Vita) but as it turned out what suited me was similar to the Tiffany Novo. I'm a little sad that the halo styles didn't suit me, but happy that we found something that did. We've decided on a 4-prong round brilliant of at least 1 carat with a pave band

I used to work at Spence over 10 years ago in Vancouver. The last time I was there the settings were still very dated. I remember from my orientation that they target the average consumer with little to no knowledge of diamonds. During their 'demo' they will automatically point to the GHIJ colours when they ask you what you'd prefer...hint, hint.


A round brilliant will look the largest as fancies tend to look 1 carat smaller. Example....a 2 ct cushion will face up similar to a 1 carat round...sort of. It's not exactly that and there's a table with dimensions somewhere on this forum but you get the drift. I was in the market for a 2-3 carat cushion and once I had them shipped to me, I was really disappointed in their size as I compared them to my 1.7 rounds and my rounds really stood out.



In regards to pave, you can do a search about paves losing their stones (there are many) and yes, it does happen occassionally. If you are really accident prone like you said, a 6 prong will be more secure I think. A good jeweler can make a 6 prong ring less 'prongy' by shaving down them down I think. I've seen some very delicate prongs and some really thick prongs here. I wish I could help you with your basket question but since I haven't found my stone/ring yet I have nothing to post.


Good luck with your search. Are you in Vancouver? If so there are 2 jewelers that I could suggest. Let me know.




So all of this ring shopping sparked some questions:


1) What shape of diamond looks the largest for its carat: Round brilliant, princess or cushion?


2) We're going to get a pave band instead of channel or bead. Is it true that pave bands lose stones really easily. How do Whiteflash's pave bands hold up? We're going to get our ring designed by them.


3) I'm relatively accident prone, so I wonder if it's better to get a 6-prong setting rather than a 4-prong? I don't really love 6-prong settings as I find that the prongs are a lot more noticeable than 4-prong styles, but my BF is worried that I'll lose the center stone one day if I have a 4-prong setting. Would a 4-prong setting with thicker prongs make it safer or not much?


4) We are trying to find the perfect design for the head of the ring...or is it called the basket? I'm not too sure. What I mean is when you look at the ring from the side, that's the part of the ring that I mean. We don't want anything too high. I'd love to see photos of various designs if anyone has any that may work.


Thanks so much, sorry for all of the questions!

Thank you so much, that was so helpful! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that Spence's styles are outdated. My FF's family isn't well off and as he told me when we were at Spence, all of the e-rings he's ever seen in his life were tiny (like .1 carats) and of the typical style we saw at Spence.

Yes, I definitely like delicate prongs, almost so that they blend in to the stone so you notice the stone and not "Wow, look at those prongs". I'm thinking that 6-prongs may be the way to go.

Actually I am in Vancouver. After reading about B&M and "maul" jewellers, I've become a little bit weary of shopping at such places. But my FF and I wanted to go shopping together to see what we liked on me in person and he doesn't seem to comfortable with the idea of buying online (I'm thinking of WF). So if you can recommend any stores in Vancouver I'd really appreciate it! Thank you

!

 

[jerichosmom]

Many of my friends have bought their rings from Montecristo Jewelers. They have a shop on Victoria Drive & 41st & at Oakridge Mall. 5 yrs ago when i was helping my cousin with an e-ring, we went there and they showed us only top-notch stones. There wasn''t a dud in the lot. However, because they have lots of employees & rent to pay, their prices were a little higher than others. 2 of my friends have rings from there and the stones are GORGEOUS! Unbelievble sparkle from accross the room. So much so that you can''t even see the size of the diamond because all you see is light return (it was only a .3 - .4 ct). They also carry different/designer stones like the crisscut(?) typhoon and russion cuts. Very informative and you can tell that they know their business. They hand make all of their settings so it''s more expensive. One thing I hated though is that their boutiques are dark w/ only boutique lighting so almost everything will look good. You need to be able to see the stones in different scenarios.

The other person/company that comes up a lot is Colin at Diamonds Direct. His office is in Canada Place and he''s considered a diamond broker. He likes to advertise that he caters to the local celebs and tends to name drop like crazy...."Bertuzzi''s wife just bought a pair of 4ct earrings from me....so & so was just in getting a ring...blah, blah, blah). If you can get over his attitude (you''ll either love him or hate him) he has a phenomenal selection of stones, good & bad. I don''t know if he still offers this but his price also included a simple setting. My brother bought his e-ring from Colin along with 3 of my co-workers. His name is always mentioned in the gossip column in the Vancouver Sun. His office is all windows so you can see the stones in natural light which makes a big difference. His website hasn''t been updated thought but I''m sure he''s still in business as he''s the main supplier of well-cut stones in Vancouver.

I''d stay away from Spence except to play with their settings. They don''t carry excellent cut stones and if they do have one to show you at another location, you''ll need to give them a deposit and they will ship it to the store. There is a boutique on Granville called MJ Jewelers (it''s near the American Apparel) and they have some very pretty, modern settings. Out of all of the B&Ms i went to this was my favorite. I don''t know about their stone prices though.

I live in LA now but will be in Vancouver on Tuesday for 2 weeks. If you want someone to go stone shopping with, I''ll be more than happy to tag along! I just wish that I ordred the Idealscope & Assetscope a few weeks ago as that would help greatly.