What's the best way to go about reworking this ring?

[Filigreelover]

I've been looking for an antique filigree solitaire within my budget for years. I've finally found the right ring/stone... Separately.

This is the ring:



It's 14k gold. The detailing on the sides is everything I've been looking for.

However, I'm not in love with the white gold illusion strip or the diamond chip and that's the area I'd like to rework/cover with my center stone of choice. The stone I'd like to use is round, faceted and roughly a carat but I'm fine with looking for something smaller if need be. I don't want to cover up the details that sold me on the setting with too big a stone!

My main question is, would setting a stone in this ring be similar to the process of turning a plain band into a solitaire or more/less complicated?

Also, the ring is a 6.75 and will need to be resized to a 4.75. Is that enough gold to be recycled for the prongs to set the new stone?

What's the most affordable way to go about this?

Thank you in advance!

 

[VRBeauty]

What you're suggesting is very do-able. The best way to go about it - and to get cost estimates - is to take it to some local jewelers you trust and get their input.

Most likely they would want to cut out the center portion and place a head sized for your new stone in there, and then they would have to re-size the ring. Perhaps some others will chime in here, but I'm guessing that the safest way to ensure that the detailing in the original ring isn't lost would be to use a laser to weld the new head in place. The jeweler might also want to use a laser to make the cuts and to re-size the ring. That would be a total of six cuts and welds. I've had laser work cost from $20 to $40 PER cut and PER weld, plus the cost of the new head. You might also want to take it to a jeweler who would be able to refresh some of the detail work on the original ring. As to the size of your new stone, I think the sky's the limit, but you do want to keep it somewhat proportional to the shank. Good luck!


(PS - think I'd prefer to bezel the stone in that setting, but I'll admit that I'm kind of partial to bezels!)

 

[djazzyflo]

The ring can be easily converted to hold a 1.00 ct diamond as the previous poster said- the white strip can be removed and a head cut into it. The trickiest part will be to get a head- namely a basket that will match the look and feel of the period of the ring. I would avoid 4 or 6 prong tiffany heads at all costs...they are too high and a dead giveaway of a piece that was modified or is a reproduction.

Sizing will not be an issue because it will be taken from the back and the design looks like it is only half way around.

Last but not least, you will NOT use the left over metal to fashion the prongs. You'll likely want to do white gold prongs anyway!

Good luck!

 

[chatbandit]

so pretty! I vote bezel too. you might want to look at non white gold for the setting. I have seen vintage rings like this with apricot or yellow gold additions that blend nicely or look distinct, but in a really lovely way that accents vs interrupts (which the white gold does for my eye now)

 

[Michael_E]

However, I'm not in love with the white gold illusion strip or the diamond chip and that's the area I'd like to rework/cover with my center stone of choice. The stone I'd like to use is round, faceted and roughly a carat but I'm fine with looking for something smaller if need be. I don't want to cover up the details that sold me on the setting with too big a stone!

My main question is, would setting a stone in this ring be similar to the process of turning a plain band into a solitaire or more/less complicated?

This would be slightly more complicated in that the center of this band would need to be removed and the ends of this band fitted to a new head.

Also, the ring is a 6.75 and will need to be resized to a 4.75. Is that enough gold to be recycled for the prongs to set the new stone?

This is easy, but the amount of material left from a resizing is too small to use for anything other than scrap. Additionally it may have been re-sized at some time in the past and so have remnants of solder in the area that would be removed. Solder MUST always be kept out of a new cast as it can mess it up badly. I wouldn't bother to make a new head for this anyway, since that would be much more expensive than using a commercial head with the right vintage feel.

What's the most affordable way to go about this?

The most affordable way to do this is to have your jeweler use a commercially available head in the metal you want to use. In order to keep the vintage feel I would suggest using a "fishtail" head which comes as a sort of rounded box with three beads/prongs per corner. You can get these in various sizes and they would solder right in where the white gold band is located now. Maybe $200- $300 depending on your jeweler and you're all set. If you really want to go custom, you would probably be looking at twice that price, but can then have filigree, a matching pattern or whatever suits you.

 

[Filigreelover]

Thank you kindly for the responses! Are there any recommended jewellers for projects like this? I'm in an area with primarily big chains.

Even the online jewellers quotes I'm getting are in the $500 range

The most affordable way to do this is to have your jeweler use a commercially available head in the metal you want to use. In order to keep the vintage feel I would suggest using a "fishtail" head which comes as a sort of rounded box with three beads/prongs per corner. You can get these in various sizes and they would solder right in where the white gold band is located now. Maybe $200- $300 depending on your jeweler and you're all set. If you really want to go custom, you would probably be looking at twice that price, but can then have filigree, a matching pattern or whatever suits you.

I really love the fishtail setting. That style seems to match up to the 1940s dating of this ring, too. But I'm having trouble finding sellers with ready fishtail prong heads. I've tried Stuller, eBay and etsy so far. Would you recommend any sources for commercially available heads in that style?

 

[Michael_E]

Pick any one of the online folks recommended here to do this and they can find the fishtail heads premade at:
http://www.ottofrei.com/Store/Round-4-Prong-Settings/Round-Fish-Tail-4-Prong-Cast.html
http://www.newyorkfindings.com/Yellow Findings Catalog/Page85.jpg

Just a word to the wise, NY Findings is the WORST catalog on the 'net to find anything in. On the other hand they have almost everything in the world, so they sort of balance out their inconvenience. For instance, they have an entire catalog devoted to tennis bracelets, (just the metalwork part). Where else can you find that?

 

[Filigreelover]

Pick any one of the online folks recommended here to do this and they can find the fishtail heads premade at:
http://www.ottofrei.com/Store/Round-4-Prong-Settings/Round-Fish-Tail-4-Prong-Cast.html
http://www.newyorkfindings.com/Yellow Findings Catalog/Page85.jpg

Just a word to the wise, NY Findings is the WORST catalog on the 'net to find anything in. On the other hand they have almost everything in the world, so they sort of balance out their inconvenience. For instance, they have an entire catalog devoted to tennis bracelets, (just the metalwork part). Where else can you find that?

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction, Michael E

The NY Findings catalog really is huge.