What to do, for a men, of a small diamond

[cyberpiv]

Hello every one,

for testing purpose, I have bought a small 0.42 diamond "crafted by Infinity"

My first diamond, and what a wonderfull one.

But now, I hesitate between 2 "mount" :

1. in a pendant, more precisely on a custom made "triskel" like this one ( http://www.souvenirs-of-france.com/...el-pendant-3.cfm#brittany-triskel-pendant-3_G ) or this one ( http://www.comptoir-du-bijou.com/images/Image/Pendentif-triskel-breton-avec-zirconium-1840006.jpg )
2. In a tension ring like ones in https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/mens-bling-eyecandy-folder.116617/page-11

The problem with tension ring is that I fear of loosing the stone, and I don't know where to have one made, as I'm in France.

What do you think it will be the best to bring that diamond the place it merits ?

Thanks for reading, and sorry for my bad English

 

[JDDN]

Ask the moderators to move your thread to Rocky Talky which is where advice is given. SMTB is for showing pieces.

Good luck!

 

[luv2sparkle]

I would go for a pendant. It is a great size for the neck and the extra sparkle from your fabulously cut stone will stand out.

 

[Bron357]

Id prefer a ring so that I could continually admire my little sparkly. Pendants are nice but it’s other people who see it (unless you’re standing in front of a mirror). A tension mount can be secure but it depends on whether you intend to wear it everyday vs occasionally and what you do with your hands ie risk of banging the ring against something. So if you’re a mechanic - no!

 

[OoohShiny]

Your English is excellent - far better than my francais!

+1 for a ring - either of the tension setting rings in that thread you linked to would look great IMHO

@kenny and @Dancing Fire have both got Tension Setting rings and have had no issues.

I believe Kenny would recommend Boone Rings - they are pretty good value IMO.

DF's ring is from Gelin Abaci and is more expensive - I can't get that site to load but they are stocked by several retailers, I believe, easily found with a search engine site.


You may also want to check out Niessing, although they are considerably more expensive...

Likewise Steven Kretchmer!


Alternatively you could consider a 'faux tension setting', such as this one posted by @acebruin:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/fancy-yellowish-brown-octavia-in-cvb-solitaire.235908/

 

[tyty333]

I would do a ring so you could look at that beautiful stone. There are some tension looking settings that actually have baskets so they are supported
(and not true tensions though they look like it from the top). I've only seen them in ladies though.
Edit...that faux tension setting that OohShiny posted above is exactly what I'm talking about!

You could do a bezel setting...nice and safe.
https://www.stuller.com/products/bu...mmendationSource=SiteSearch#/mounting-options
https://www.stuller.com/products/bu...mmendationSource=SiteSearch#/mounting-options

How much are you looking to spend on the setting...a mens setting in gold could easily be $1200-$1500+ USD.

 

[cyberpiv]

Hello every one.

After hesitation, and ask to my jeweller, I go for a ring, pseudo tension, as I still fear loosing the diamond.
White 18k gold with a small inline of rose gold. Oval one.
As I have thin fingers (size 55 in France, don't know the conversion), 5mm max large, Will slowly decrease after the diamond.
Price is correct for a custom made (500 €).
Will receive it by the end of January, hope it will not be too girly (in that case, a gift for my girlfriend ?)

 

[OoohShiny]

The ring will look excellent

Do not worry about it looking 'girly' - there are lots of different styles of men's rings, have a look at this thread
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/mens-bling-eyecandy-folder.116617/

Please post pictures when it arrives!

 

[MarionC]

I am happy to hear of a man buying a diamond to wear in France!
I never see people wearing diamond rings in my small SW village, so, sadly, I do not wear diamonds there.
Looking forward to seeing your diamond in its setting. Many photos, please.

 

[OoohShiny]

I am happy to hear of a man buying a diamond to wear in France!
I never see people wearing diamond rings in my small SW village, so, sadly, I do not wear diamonds there.
Looking forward to seeing your diamond in its setting. Many photos, please.

Are you living in France, Jimmianne??

Or am I reading it wrong and you are referring to SW of the USA??

 

[dk168]

I would opt for a ring bezel set in a plain band; or an ID-style bracelet, with the diamond sunken bezel set in the middle.

This way, I can see it all the time.

DK

 

[MarionC]

OooShiny, I’m only able to be in France about 4 months out of the year for now.
Thanks to cyberpiv for increasing the number of well cut diamonds there

 

[cyberpiv]

I have forgotten, here is the link of the diamond :

https://www.hpdiamonds.com/en-us/diamonddetail/HPD8856

Was quite hard to have it sent to France, between my bank beeing reluctant to wire the money, and FedEx asking for a local "broker" for duty and taxes…

 

[MarionC]

I have forgotten, here is the link of the diamond :

https://www.hpdiamonds.com/en-us/diamonddetail/HPD8856

Was quite hard to have it sent to France, between my bank beeing reluctant to wire the money, and FedEx asking for a local "broker" for duty and taxes…

That is beautiful!
If this is a test and you are plannIng to buy another diamond sometime, there may be some other options that make things easier.
Happy for you to have a CBI stone and look forward to your saying what you think.

 

[cyberpiv]

The original goal was to check if I can see differences beetween a super ideal, a GIA ex ex ex with good proportions (HCA), and a last one with bad proportions, same size/color, before buying "the one"

So I began with a small SuperIdeal, costing less than 1000€. I found the CBI above, from HPDiamond.

When I received it, I was completely amazed by sparks and fires this diamond show. I even wonder if it's real diamond or a crystal of a kind...

I had seen other set diamonds before, but not loose ones. So in order to see if differences was due to the setting, I decided to have it set.

I have received the ring last week end, and the diamond still shine like a star (although it appears dark when under strong lights/sun)

I will post pictures as soon as possible, as I have just reiceved "macro « bonnettes »" but not going home till friday

Now the question is will I go on and buy the others two (already selected, on my Blue Nile's wish list), as my girl friend said she would love having a heart shaped diamond (and I don't know if there is such a think as "ideal cut" heart shaped diamond, or proportions to look for)

For my curiosity, I would say Yes ^^

I will see

 

[OoohShiny]

Congratulations!

We will look forward to your pictures

Well-cut diamonds do appear dark under strong lights or the sun, do not worry.


There are no set standards for Heart-shaped diamonds, as far as I know. @Rockdiamond cannot comment on individual stones (because he is a Trade member of the forum) but he might be able to advise on good things to look for

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Hi @cyberpiv , you are my hero.
Wiring from and Shipping to France is such a huge PITA that I have stopped trying. Between the multiple confirmation steps from my bank and the FedEx broker... sooo annoying!!!
I was wondering if CBI could probably ship out of Antwerp. That would be really convenient for us Europeans.

 

[OoohShiny]

Hi @cyberpiv , you are my hero.
Wiring from and Shipping to France is such a huge PITA that I have stopped trying. Between the multiple confirmation steps from my bank and the FedEx broker... sooo annoying!!!
I was wondering if CBI could probably ship out of Antwerp. That would be really convenient for us Europeans.

That sounds like a question that @Paul-Antwerp or @John Pollard might be able to answer


The CBI website does list the vendors that sell CBI stones, though - check it out: http://craftedbyinfinity.com/web/locations-europe/

In theory (at least) you should be able to purchase online from any of those vendors without any real hassles - as they're all within the EU, I would hope that there are no problems with payment or shipping.


That said, if you're only in France, it's really not that far to visit Belgium for a nice weekend trip

As long as you rang your bank or credit card provider before you left for the trip, you should be able to purchase in-person with a lot less hassle!

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Yes, I know that link. And from what I understood, Fortrez seems to be the only dealer with a website.. and it doesn't seem as easy to navigate as the U.S. sites.

I think my DH and Kids wouldn't be too keen on a trip to see diamonds...and I can only imagine the "meet the cutter" event between my 5 kids ages 1-10 and lots of tiny loose stones

 

[cyberpiv]

Yes, and you can use http://www.diamondhouse.be instead of Fortrez, as it is the same dealer.

For the broker, Jamie (many thanks to her), from HPDiamonds, have found a way to send diamonds to France through UPS, and have UPS act as a broker.

The "full cost" of this diamond was composed of :

• 800 € of diamond
• 20€ of tax to my bank for "Non SEPA" wire (and 2 weeks, 3 calls - they consider this sale as a scam because the address on the account was not the same as the one on the internet site…)
• 20€ of change tax to my bank
• 170€ of duty and taxes
• 20€ for UPS as a broker

The very same diamond was at 960€ on Fortrez.

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Thanks for breaking down the cost, @cyberpiv .
Last time I paid 35€ to my bank for the wire and had to drop my wire order at the branch in person in order to avoid the scamming alerts... they still called me twice.. and for amounts over 12500€ you need to fill out ANOTHER form...
So good to know that diamondhouse is a good alternative

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Yes, I know that link. And from what I understood, Fortrez seems to be the only dealer with a website.. and it doesn't seem as easy to navigate as the U.S. sites.

I think my DH and Kids wouldn't be too keen on a trip to see diamonds...and I can only imagine the "meet the cutter" event between my 5 kids ages 1-10 and lots of tiny loose stones

You know, your comment about the kids at the 'Meet-The-Cutter-event' made me chuckle. For sure, if nearby, I would bring my 2 kids, and the totality would have a field-day. I remember giving a class about diamonds last year in my son's class (8 and 9 year olds). The idea was that I hoped to keep their attention for 45 minutes. It turned out to become 2 hours, with all of them participating and having fun, and many parents commenting to me the next days that my diamond-class was going to cost them heavily.

Anyway, you have received good advice. CBI itself does not sell to the public. We are not organized to do that but it would also have tax-consequences, making our operation less efficient. But we do work with CBI-retailers in Europe, even in our own city. As a rule, we do not prefer one retailer over the other, that is entirely the choice of the consumer.

But we cannot ignore that a European retailer is a far more efficient choice for a European consumer. That avoids import tax, exchange-cost of Euro into USD and international wire-expenses.

Still, most importantly, enjoy the diamond.

Live long,

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Thanks for chiming in @Paul-Antwerp !
Makes sense.
What a cool presentation for those kids!
But my DH is VERY relieved that our four girls were not in that class of yours. Otherwise he'd already be planning a mortgage on our house ...can't resist them one bit!

 

[cyberpiv]

Here we are, finaly managed to have a sunny morning when I am at home.

Not easy to take pictures

Sorry, no flowers yet in the garden



Should have asked for a palladium white gold, I fear the rhodium will not last very long

 

[OoohShiny]

Congratulations! It looks great - I hope you love it!

Could you post pictures of it on your hand? That is always helpful for others looking at ring options

 

[Niel]

Love

 

[cyberpiv]

Congratulations! It looks great - I hope you love it!

Could you post pictures of it on your hand? That is always helpful for others looking at ring options

Of course, here we are :



Size is 55.5 (7.5 or O 1/2)

Quite heavy indeed (around 8.6g)

 

[Dancing Fire]

Here we are, finaly managed to have a sunny morning when I am at home.

Not easy to take pictures

Sorry, no flowers yet in the garden



Should have asked for a palladium white gold, I fear the rhodium will not last very long

Congrats, beautiful ring!..

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Félicitations, très très réussi.

 

[partgypsy]

Awesome I love it. If you get bored of it send it my way!