Will a bezeled stone look less bright?

[melz]

Almost threadjacked Lynn B''s with this one but decided that would be wrong ...

Was having dinner with my future MIL tonight and discussing how I wanted to change my diamond engagement ring setting to a bezel. She was adament that a bezeled stone would not shine as brightly, based on her own and a friend''s experience. I explained that a well cut stone reflects light from the top and so a bezel would not affect it (thanks pricescope). She pointed out that there would be less light coming IN with a bezel.

I think I would have heard by now if my MIL''s concern was a valid one, but it''s been sticking in my head so I thought I''d ask here .... any thoughts?

 

[MissGotRocks]

I think you won the round! You can understand why folks think that but you are right on the money!

 

[wenwen1111]

I think it''s more psychological as you don''t tend to see much of the diamond from the side in a bezel setting. But in a usual solitare prong setting, you get more perspective views of the diamond making you think that you''re seeing more of the light.

 

[neatfreak]

I think my stone often looks brighter with a bunch of shiny metal reflecting it!

 

[Phoenix]

A bezelled stone will *definitely* look less bright. I had a pair of earrings bezelled and then reset into prong-set and there''s def a difference in brightness. The trade-off though is that the bezelled look quite a bit bigger.

 

[kenny]

Yes.
A bezel must cover some of the diamond, which blocks some of the light. Opps, there's that reasoning thing again.

How much?
Just a little.
Does it matter?
Your call.

You could always do the math.
Ask your jeweler how far the bezel will extend into the top of the diamond.
Calculate the surface area of two circles.
The larger circle is the whole diamond.
The smaller one is the exposed part within the bezel. (Don't forget to double the number the jeweler gave you.)
Subtract the small one from the large one.
Divide this difference by the larger number and multiply by 100.
This gives you the difference in percentage.

If the bezel covers, say 4% of the surface area the diamond will be 4% less bright looking at the top.
This only addresses the top view.
What about the side view?

People vary, I would never cover up much of my diamond but everyone must strike their own balance of protection vs. seeing more of their stone.

I have a tension set Solasfera round diamond.
The Idealscope pic of it is solid blood red, which means it has excellent light return back up through the crown.
But when I drive and my hand is on the steering wheel in the sun I see TONS of colored flashes coming out the SIDE.
Bling from the side is just as groovy as bling out the top.

Life is not a photography session where we only look down on the top of a stone.
In real life light can enter from all angles and we see the diamond from all angles.

Blocking the view of the side of your diamond will reduce the bling you see when looking at the side.
Probably 80% of the time I look at my diamond I see a side view.
After enjoying a tension setting for a few years it would break my heart to lose the view of so much of what I paid for.

Still, if you prefer a bezel setting, go for it.
I would think they have to be the safest settings if you are hard on your rings this may be best.
But you can't have it both ways.
The more covered up a diamond is the less light can get in and out at all angles.

 

[HVVS]

Date: 10/3/2009 11:00:56 PM
Author:melanie987123
..a bezeled stone would not shine as brightly, based on her own and a friend''s experience. I explained that a well cut stone reflects light from the top and so a bezel would not affect it (thanks pricescope). She pointed out that there would be less light coming IN with a bezel.

I think I would have heard by now if my MIL''s concern was a valid one, but it''s been sticking in my head so I thought I''d ask here .... any thoughts?

It''s a very valid concern with diamonds that have light leakage. There are lots of older cut diamonds that are better performers in prongs. Letting light through the pavilion helps many of those stones considerably.

 

[D&T]

I've had the same diamond both in bezel then in prongs. It doesn't look less bright in bezels, however I do notice that I get fire even at the slightest edge of the diamond in my prong setting, so having a bezel does cover up the edges all around which *may* cause you to think it less bright because of the edges not getting hit with light and edge not sparkling so to speak - hope that makes sense. Overall on a good performing well cut diamond - the stone to me looks bright either way. Yes on poorer cut stones you would need all the help you can get from an open pronged settings.

 

[melz]

Thanks everyone this has been helpful. D&T that makes sense, thanks for the perspective.

 

[Lynn B]

Melanie,
You could''ve threadjacked, I wouldn''t have cared!

But giving the question its own thread has been interesting and probably got you more replies, so that''s good.
Of course, I was very interested in your question, too... and now I''ve got some new things to think about.
So hmmmm... maybe your future MIL was paaaaaaaaaaartially right... but probably not to the extent (or for the reasons) that she thinks!!!