WF Custom Ring From Start to Finish

[geo-dale]

Hello. My name is Dale and I am a Geologist and Engineer by trade and know a fair amount about rocks! Recently I have come to realize that I want make my girlfriend my wife. After much research I have decided to trust the many positive reviews I have read about Whiteflash (WF) and called Bob Hoskins to help me choose a stone and design a ring.

Since this process is stressful for me, as I am sure it is for others as well, I thought I would document the process and let you know the type of experience that I have with them...hopefully a very positive one!

First of all I was in the market for a ~1.00 ct square radiant. My gf loves this cut and it was important that I get a nice one. However this stone is rather scarce so my options were rather limited. Cut was my first priority and a close second was that I wanted the stone to be eye clean... I was also on a budget, like so many of us need to be.

Bob sent me several different GIA certifications to choose from that matched my criteria and I narrowed it to two. He called the wholesaler and had them compare the two stone side-by-side and sent Bob the one that performed better.

WF then sent be a backlit image and 40X image of the diamond so that any flaws would be clearly visible. This was very helpful to me and eased some anxiety of buying online.

I will post pictures below and I ask that you post your honest opinions of the look of the radiant diamond.

Next step is that I am having them make me a custom ring in palladium (something they are just starting to do so I am a little nervous of the final product, but for now I am trusting in WF and Bob to do a great job based on the reviews I have read here).

I expect the CAD drawings in about a week, followed by the wax, once the CAD is approved. I will post all those pictures as I receive them. I hope you all provide me some honest feedback along this journey.

Thanks in advance.

-Dale

 

[geo-dale]

Diamond Specs:

 

[geo-dale]

Light Return Image:

 

[geo-dale]

40X Image of Diamond:

 

[geo-dale]

Any comments on the diamond quality, clarity, over all look, etc. would be very much appreciated!

Thanks!

-Dale

P.S...CAD drawings to follow soon...

 

[Nadeaux]

I''m no pro but I think it looks like a great stone.

 

[geo-dale]

Thanks... I sure hope she feels the same way.

 

[jen2M]

I am excited to hear your process! Good luck with everything!

 

[geo-dale]

Thanks. I know I wished there were more topics like this...never can get enough reassurance... so I thought I would add one more and share my experience and hopefully get some feedback too.

 

[Sparkalicious]

Geo-dale - Welcome to PS!

Unfortunately, I don''t know much about radiants .. .I just wanted to pop in and comment that that stone looks gorgeous and I look forward to following your progress.

Given that you are putting so much into this process, I doubt that your future fiancee will be anything less than thrilled with the final product. Kudos to you!

WF is great to deal with so I believe that you should have every confidence that they are going to take care of your properly and ensure your satisfaction.

 

[Kaleigh]

Geo-Dale,
Looks to me to ba a fabulous radiant. WF is a vendor that I have worked with before so your are in very good hands. I love the amount of time you have put into this, your FF ( future Fiancee) is a lucky gal. Looking forward to seeing the setting, love the whole process. You''ve done a great job, so kudos to you!!!

 

[cutes814]

hey dale, wecolme to PS!

thanks for sharing your experience with us. we love to travel the road together with our fellow PSers when it comes to searching and building a ring!

i am no expert with square radiants, but the stone looks beautiful.

share the cads with us as soon as you get them!

what kind of setting were you thinking about?

 

[geo-dale]

Thank you for the welcome...

To answer your question...She has always wanted a rather simple, classic solitaire ring but she prefers her rings a little on the chunkier side. Furthermore, she also told me once that she did not want diamonds on the sides. However I wanted to give her something that was well....a little more than just a simple solitaire. So after a lot of looking I got some inspiration from a Ratani Basket and prongs and a gallery design from Judith Conway. Other than a little additional tweaking, such as slightly widening the band to 3.5mm to give it a slightly "chunkier" feel and adding a slight taper just prior to the diamond to accentuate the stone, that is the basic setting.

In other words, if you were to look straight down on the ring it would look like a classic solitaire; but look at it from an angle and you will see more. It willl have 12 tiny diamonds in the gallery (6 facing toward the wrist and 6 toward the fingernails when wearing) and 3 tiny diamonds on both the front and back crossbar to add some (I hope) additional beauty and visual interest when looking at the ring from an angle other than vertical.

Once the pictures are ready, I will post them and they will do a lot better job of explaning than I just tried to do. I just hope it turns out like I envision...

and what she wants!

 

[cutes814]

oh i love diamonds on the gallery! i have 12 one pointers on the basket of my ring and the rest of the ring is a plain solitaire. so i will definitely be a fan!

 

[iheartscience]

It looks gorgeous to me! I also have a custom WF engagement ring, also with a radiant center stone! I was beyond pleased with the quality of the setting and I know you will be, too! I hope you post photos of the ring (including handshots!) once your girlfriend becomes your fiancee!

 

[kcoursolle]

Wow, gorgeous stone! Well-cut radiants are hard to find, but you managed to pick out a really great one!

I like the idea of your setting too, it sounds gorgeous. Have no fear of custom designing something with WF. They are really good at what they do and will make a very beautiful ring. I happen to love the wedding band they custom made for me.

Please come back with final pictures of the stone and ring when you have it, it''s going to be really beautiful!

 

[geo-dale]

I absolutely will post the CAD''s once they are in...and then the wax...and finally the ring.

Thanks for the comments thus far.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 2/29/2008 11:35:14 AM
Author: geo-dale
I absolutely will post the CAD''s once they are in...and then the wax...and finally the ring.

Thanks for the comments thus far.

Great, can''t wait to see them.

 

[anne_h]

I''m not a radiant fan, but that stone *is* really pretty!

Might be just me, but I would set it east-west.

Anne

 

[strmrdr]

aset image?

 

[pixley]

hi geo-dale,
I''m a cushion fanatic, but WOW, when I saw that photo, your radiant blew me away. That''s a lovely looking stone. Best of luck and have fun! The setting sounds totally gorgeous.

 

[marcy]

Welcome Geo Dale. It looks like you picked a great stone.

 

[geo-dale]

CAD’s ARE IN!!! I just received my CAD drawings from WF and they were created very timely - only 4 days.

Now before I show the CAD images, let me say that it did not turn out as I had expected. I basically asked them to use the shank from a Judith Conway design and a basket from a Ritani design and merge the two. Their result was less elegant and the proportions were off a bit.

I do realize that the CAD is a rough, blocky, heavier rendition of the final ring, but that said it was still not quite right. Therefore, I have laid out several minor alterations to the drawings that I would like to have made in a PowerPoint presentation and emailed it back to them. I incorporated photos (again) of both rings that inspired me and pointed out precisely what I wanted to see reflected in my custom ring.

Vera from WF responded to me very quickly and thanked me for detailing my thoughts precisely and without hesitation told me she would be sending me a revised rendition within a few days and told me she felt she knew exactly what I was asking for. I hope the next set of drawings is closer to the ring I am envisioning.

Wish me luck and thanks for all your support!

 

[geo-dale]

CAD Drawings - FIRST ATTEMPT

 

[metro]

Geo-dale, welcome!

Your diamond looks lovely! Though I don''t know a thing about radiants, I know WF is excellent and I''d trust them to steer you in the right direction!

When you described your setting - it was just as the WF CAD shot. Can you post pics of your inspiration? Are you going to set the diamond in an east/west direction? The jeweler that is working on my new upgrade has a radiant set that way and it''s really striking!

Thanks for sharing your experience. I look forward to following along in the process!

 

[BlueJeans]

Oh I love that stone! So pretty!

 

[geo-dale]

When you say east-west, do you mean that the since the diamond has a ratio of 1.05 to set the slightly longer side of the diamond from left to right as opposed to inline with the finger?

 

[Angel7]

Geo i love the setting! I''m a sucker for basket/gallery detail! Looks great and so does the stone!
Congrats and best of luck with the proposal. Please be sure to come back and post some pics once you get the ring and once you get those handshots!

 

[kcoursolle]

Awesome cads, I can''t wait to see the finished product!!! I thin I would probably set it the tall way since there is such a small l/w ratio.

 

[metro]

Date: 3/4/2008 2:46:55 PM
Author: geo-dale
When you say east-west, do you mean that the since the diamond has a ratio of 1.05 to set the slightly longer side of the diamond from left to right as opposed to inline with the finger?

Yep! Here''s some examples...