Wedding Band Help Please!

[Val S.]

Hey all!

My fiance and I just picked out her wedding band. It is a 7 stone share-prong in a platinum band. The total carat weight is 1.09. I have a few questions, hopefully you can help.

1. Should I worry about the quality of the diamonds in the setting to the point that I should select them all seperately?

2. Should I see if I can get the total carat weight under 1.00? I know this affects single stone price, but does it affect multiple stone price when the carats are totalled?

3. Do I need to match the clarity of the diamonds to the engagement diamond?

The engagement ring I got her is VS2, I.

Any help would be most appreciated.

-Val

 

[Lanee]

Hi Val,

1) My understanding is you can select the quality of stones in the setting but you don't necessarily have to pick each one separately. You can say you want all I VS2 quality stones, you can even be as specific as to say you want them to be ideal or have H&A.

2) I don't think so you but you'll have to ask the experts.

3)This goes back to 1, and I would recommend it. You don't want you center stone to look yellow compared to your setting stones and vice versa.

 

[Val S.]

Super thanks Lanee!

I know they will be small stones, but should I ask for certs/papers on them at all? Or just go in there and tell them what I want and fork over the $$?

Thanks!

-Val

 

[Hest88]

I don't think you're going to get papers on stones that small, but do make sure you inspect each one.

 

[Val S.]

Thanks for all your help. More questions of course.

I spoke with the jewelers, and they told me that for a 7 stone ring of that weight, they would NOT be ideal cut stones. They are all S1 H stones, around .18 - .20 each.

Should I be concerned that they are not ideal cut, or at that size does it not matter all that much?

I guess the big question is, should I take the time and effort and go choose all 7 stones seperately, or should I just buy the "stock" rings they have for sale. The informed me with a platinum band it would be around $1500. What would you pro's recommend?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Mara]

I recommend calling up WhiteFlash and seeing what they would charge you for that same ring using their ACA stones. Part of this is just because the thought of a 1c 7 stone ring all made up of ACA stones sounds delightful, but also because you never know, it could be around the same price or a little more and worth the extra. They have ACA stones as small as .02c which are most certainly excellently cut!!!

I would pass on the 'not ideal cut' stones in the stock ring...because stones that are .15-.20c ARE visible stones, they should be cut with attention to detail. If you were talking .02 or .03 stones..it'd be different IMO as those are still so small the sparkle is great regardless.

You should definitely try to match color somewhat...don't get D colored stones in the wedding ring against your I. But you should be fine with an H or I stone pairing..clarity won't matter as much as long as the ering is eye clean, then make sure your wedding ring is too.

When we had our ering made, I was very specific on my requirements..I wanted G VS .03c stones (didn't matter that they were so small..I wanted VS!), the color and clarity matched my center stone. I wanted the best cut small stones they could find. The result was amazing. We had it appraised and all the small stones were G colored with mostly VS and a few SI1 stones. Yay! Custom and/or choosing and creating is alot of fun and doesn't have to be super expensive.

Good luck!

 

[fire&ice]

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On 5/6/2003 3:40:35 PM Val S. wrote:


I guess the big question is, should I take the time and effort and go choose all 7 stones seperately, or should I just buy the "stock" rings they have for sale. The informed me with a platinum band it would be around $1500. What would you pro's recommend?

Thanks for your help!

----------------

Is the one you are looking at $1500.00? Or is that the price for the custom ring? If not, how much is the one you are looking at.

In stones this small, I would be more concerned w/ the design of the band. You mentioned *she* picked out one. What did she like about it?

I have a seven stone anniversary band. Mine is a Gemlok. I love the quality - but more importantly the way the stones are set. A friend has a nice quality (for a ring & stones this small H/VS-SI stones are what's used). I don't see much difference visually. Although, the jeweler who set my stone & polished all my bands commented on the quality of the little stones. All three of mine are Gemlok.

All that said, you need to make sure the ring is of nice quality. Compare a few. You'll get a handle on what's good & what's not. If I recall, the key is to make sure the stones are actually faceted under RB standards. I wouldn't think that each stone must be ideal. But, if the price difference isn't that much - it would be fun to get your ideal scope & pick the melee's that look the best & make your own.

Also, as a general rule, I am not fond of wedding bands where the diamonds go all around the ring. I feel you must have an area that can be engraved.

 

[Val S.]

Hey Mara, Hi Fire&Ice!

Thanks for your responses!

The stock ring will run around $1500. That's for the 7 stone platinum band, a little over a carat in weight total. Stones are SI1, H. But...they will not be ideal cut, and I wouldn't pick them out myself.

I wouldn't mind looking for .15-.20c ideal stones, SI1, H/I.

The band was a nice platinum shared-prong, no brand name, just one of their generic bands. My fiance liked it for a few reasons; it set the stones at a nice height to compliment the engagement ring, it was nice and sparkly but didn't detract from the engagement ring, and the 7 stones looked nice on her finger (she has long fingers, she's 5'11")

Sounds like the fun thing would be to go buy the stones separately and have them set into the band. I'll have to look into cost and see if it's comparable.

ahh one more thing, what is Whiteflash? I'm new to this "world of jewels"

-Val

 

[Mara]

WhiteFlash.com sells stones..and the ACA line is a superideal lineup of excellently cut stones that offer a superior light return image when viewed with the IdealScope. I know they sell small stones which is why I suggested you check them out, and they are pretty highly reputed on the forum.

There are probably other cos as well but it just seems like a 7 stone ring with all small ACA stones would knock her socks off!!! We are considering them for our wedding ring which needs 25 .03c stones...but that's next year!

 

[Val S.]

Hi all!

I called Whiteflash, and the told me they could make the ring to match the one I was looking at. I simply need to get a picture of it so I can show it to them. I'm going to the jeweler today where I saw the ring my fiance likes to ask if I can take a picture of the band. Wish me luck.

I know that Whiteflash sells their ACA diamonds only, how will this look next to my fiances diamond, which is not ACA?

-Val

 

[Val S.]

*bump*

Does anyone know if ACA diamonds will look normal next to "normal" diamonds?

-Val

 

[Mara]

I'm not too sure, you should ask WhiteFlash what their thoughts are. I know that Lesley says she can see a difference even when using the melee/pave look with ACA vs regular, but I don't know if the average viewer could.

Also, if your stones are small, like .10 or .15 each, they will look different than the large center e-ring stone anyway so it's not really comparing apples to apples. If you have a regular solitaire e-ring and then a 7 stone band, the look will be so different that I think you'd be safe to have the stones look different as well.

WhiteFlash also sells non-ACA stones, but I would definitely go for those over another type of stone, esp for melee or smaller stone work.