Some Lazare Kaplan goodies, aka 5-stone Before shots

[MakingTheGrade]

I'm about to embark on my first big reset project for my ering/wedding set. My DH originally proposed with a fairly generic white gold solitaire. It was then reset into a platinum van craeynest setting which I love to pieces, however, it's a little tight on me these days and since DH and I are hoping for a baby sometime in the near future, I'm not hopeful that I'll continue to be able to squeeze into it, haha.

So, after seeing so many gorgeous 5 stone ering/wedding band combos here, I decided I loved the idea of have a "two in one" with some extra blingy finger coverage.

When I first started the search for side stones, I was a little intimidated by the prices since I"m used to colored stones. So as usual I decided to look into the estate market, I live in philadelphia and there are plenty of estate dealers, and of course, there is always internet sleuthing! I managed to find 2 custom erings that held a combined 4 Lazare Kaplan ideal diamonds, yay!

I first heard of Lazare Kaplan awhile ago when I bought the diamond for my bezel pendant, and since then I've just adored them. In part because of the amazing performance and chunky arrows, but also because of the rich history of Lazare Kaplan the company and the man. They are often credited as the first to market ideal cut diamonds, and the first to patent laser inscribing their diamonds as well a long time supporter of conflict free diamonds.

Anyways, enough talk, more pics! Both rings are 18k with plat heads, one is a 3 stone and the other is a solitaire with matching sapphire and diamond bands. The 3-stone is a .52ct I color with .23ct H color sides. THe solitaire also happened to be a .52 I exactly to match! Talk about meant to be! All the LK stones are laser inscribed with numbers which LK apparently does with any stone about .18ct.

I wanted to post a thread with pics of these lovely rings before they all get cannibalized for the 5 stone reset! Haha, it'll be a setting cemetery! I"ll probably list the settings, or recycle them if I can find colored stones to fit.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Eek, after seeing the photos on screen I realized I should have cleaned them off better first!
I'm sorry for all the dust and lint, they are not actually inclusions, lol.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

..little embarrassed at not thinking about washing the diamonds first, lol chalk it up to excitement. But I already took the pics so might as well share.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

The other engagement ring. I actually really love the set. Beautifully fluid design that sits super low and comfy.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

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[MakingTheGrade]

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[MakingTheGrade]

The rings together, the 3 stone looks a little bigger because it's set higher, but they're the same size and ct weight.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

A little Lazare K family
The pendant is a .72 G

 

[MakingTheGrade]

And here are the rings with my current E ring.
The center is a .9ct F Gia Excellent cut grade

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Here's the way I currently wear my set

I"ll be wearing the emerald 7 stone as a RHR after the reset.

And here's a pic of the WF trellis I'm using as inspiration

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Thanks again for looking, and SO sorry I didn't wash the diamond rings first...oy. But I promise I will when the 5 stone reset is done!

This is my first fancy CAD reset, I'm going through a local jeweler who I've used before and really like, I'm nervous but also excited! I'm sure I"ll be starting lots of neurotic threads in Rocky Talk.

 

[Laila619]

Wow, great finds! The stones are all so sparkly!

Your 5 stone is going to be killer. I can't wait to see this all done!! Will you wear any sort of band, or just the 5 stone by itself?

 

[lovemybling]

Looks like you are going to have some great finger coverage. Cannot wait to see end result!!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Thanks!

I don't know if I'll wear a band with it.
I think I might bring my original wedding band, which is a mokume band of silver and palladium, back into rotation.

But I"ll wait to see what the finished 5 stone looks like. I hope it'll all fit on my finger! I'm a size 5 so it'll be tight. But HawaiinOrangeTree had a similar ring made on a sz 4.5 so I"m optimistic!

 

[MissGotRocks]

The stones and your pictures are fantastic! Ring should be stunning when finished!

 

[Rosebloom]

Oh MTG, it's going to be simply amazing!!! I am so excited to see this reset. What is your ETD?

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Oh MTG, it's going to be simply amazing!!! I am so excited to see this reset. What is your ETD?

I'm excited too! And nervous!
Silly me but what is ETD?

 

[Enerchi]

GORGEOUS stones you have found, MTG!! That is going to make an AWESOME 5 stone - and I do love Love LOVE that WF trellis setting!!! YUM!!!

How exciting!! And how long till you can wear this beauty??

(ETD - Estimated time of delivery... or ETA - Estimated time of arrival)

 

[MakingTheGrade]

GORGEOUS stones you have found, MTG!! That is going to make an AWESOME 5 stone - and I do love Love LOVE that WF trellis setting!!! YUM!!!

How exciting!! And how long till you can wear this beauty??

(ETD - Estimated time of delivery... or ETA - Estimated time of arrival)

Thanks! I hope it turns out well, fingers crossed! I've used this jeweler before with excellent results but this is my first CAD piece. But CAD should be less room for error right? No unexpected surprises? lol She said I can come by and try on the wax if I want even.

Well, I'm dropping off the stones tomorrow. She said she'd have a CAD ready in about a week, and then probably a week or two for production/finishing/setting.

 

[tyty333]

Oh my word...this ring is going to be amazing!
Beautifully cut stones!

 

[Enerchi]

^^^ weeeeee!!! that's exciting!!! And to try it on too to get a good sense of the design -that's perfect!!

I have a good feeling that you are going to love it!! Looks like others have always suggested setting them lower on the finger for comfort - and by the looks of things, those diamonds are going to give you incredible finger width coverage!!

Excited for you!

 

[justginger]

WHOA. Those are gorgeous stones! I am so impressed with your sleuthing skills - managing to find all of those (such GREAT matches!) second hand. You are a diamond whisperer.

 

[woofmama]

Wow- I can't believe you were able to find those diamonds! This ring is going to be amazing! Very excited for you and can't wait to see the SMTB thread

 

[SandyCheeks]

Awesome diamond sluething!!! I can't wait to see it, major finger coverage!

 

[Dandi]

You did an amazing job finding all those diamonds to match, they are perfect! Your 5 stone is going to be stunning!!!!!

 

[Niel]

i think you will be astounded at the blingtastic finger you will have by the time you are done! these are stunning and will make an even more stunning 5 stone. I hope you keep that nice 3 stone and turn it in to a lovely colored ring...

 

[Rosebloom]

Thanks for clarifying, Enerchi. I'm so excited it will be soon! I seriously love a graduated MRB five stone. Deeeeeee-licious.

 

[SB621]

Gorgeous!!! I love the 5 stone ring idea and I have to say the LK diamonds are stunning! I'm off to google it now and read about them!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

i think you will be astounded at the blingtastic finger you will have by the time you are done! these are stunning and will make an even more stunning 5 stone. I hope you keep that nice 3 stone and turn it in to a lovely colored ring...

Aw, thanks! Your ring is one of the lovely 5 stones that gave me the inspiration to go this route! I hope the ring turns out well! I think I"m just nervous because I've never done a CAD design and while I love my jeweler, I'm a little worried the finished product won't be perfect just because of my neurotic OCD tendencies, lol. There are no reasons for me to be concerned since she's done right by me on all the other multitude of projects I've done with here, I'm just being a little crazy since it's a big budget project for me. I actually thought about just paying the extra 1k and going with WF for the setting, but apparently they no longer set outside stones provided by clients

I'm actually a little worried the 5 stones won't fit entirely on my size 5 finger...lol, which is part of the reason I wanted to go CAD and will stop by and try on the wax before giving the go ahead. Yet another silver lining to doing this with a local jeweler. Philadelphia is a great place to live for shinies and sleuthing! If anyone ever comes to Philly, I'm happy to play tour guide!

Thank you guys for all the optimism and kind words, haha.

SB621: The LK history is pretty interesting. I looked into it when I bought my first one since I was curious why all the trade people and all the upscale stores seemed to know of them but I had been so unaware of them. I guess they don't market as strongly as they used to. But apparently they provide round cuts to stores like Tiffanys and master sets for color grading etc. Lazare Kaplan (the man) was cousin to Marcel Tolkowsky, heh. He also was chosen to cut the Jonker diamond which speaks to how skilled of a cutter he was. Anyways, it's a super interesting history.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Sort of a tangent, but I think the story of the Jonker diamond is sort of fun and interesting!

http://famousdiamonds.tripod.com/jonkerdiamond.html

And here's LK's role in all of it:
"When the Jonker reached New York Harry Winston received numerous requests throughout the United States to place it on exhibition, so he consented to its display at the Natural History Museum. But there was the more immediate and important problem of cutting the diamond. No diamond of comparable size or value had been cut in the United States. Mr. Winston's choice of cutter fell on Lazare Kaplan, who was descended from three generations of jewelers and had learned the craft of diamond cutting in Belgium. Mr. Kaplan had established a reputation as an outstanding cleaver and cutter, known especially for his insistence on obtaining the maximum fire and brilliance in a gem even if doing so resulted in a slightly greater loss of caratweight. In 1914 Mr. Kaplan transferred his business to the North American continent aand he was the pioneer in establishing the diamond cutting industry in Puerto Rico.

An additional reason for choosing Lazare Kaplan to cut the Jonker was the fact that, not long before, he had successfully cut its constant companion, the Pohl Diamond. The yield had been fifteen gems, all flawless except for one, which nonetheless sold for $50,000. The largest diamond, an emerald cut weighing 38.10 metric carats, has retained the name Pohl and was once owned by art collector Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, daughter of the found of the Chrysler Motor Corporation (now Daimler-Chrysler).

But the task of cutting the Jonker confronted Lazare Kaplan with a far greater challenge -- the biggest he had ever encountered. Only two diamonds comparable to this stone had previously been found -- the 3,106-carat Cullinan and the 995.2-carat Excelsior, both cut by the Asscher firm -- and of the two, only the former had been cleaved. The task of cutting the Jonker was not made easier by the fact it possessed a degree of frostiness on its surface (visible in the above photos of the rough), thereby rendering its cutting and polishing an even more hazardous operation. In addition, the insurers refused to cover the cutting of the diamond -- even tohugh they had been prepared to let it travel to New York by ordinary registered mail!

Lazare Kaplan studied the Jonker for months: he made many models of it, precisely reconstucting the crystallization of the diamond. At the time it was said that he lived, ate and breathed the stone. His minute examination of the Jonker paid off, for he noticed a small ledge on the stone -- a fact which opened his eyes to the mistake that those European who had studied it and made suggestions about its cutting had earlier made. It took strong self-assurance to follow his conviction but Mr. Kaplan realized that there lay only one way in which the diamond could be cleaved. He calmly marked the cleavage lines with Indian ink, a device which he originated but which some reguarded as mere affection on his part. Afterwords he stated that the Jonker was a 'freak of nature'; what resembled the cleavage plane was not in fact the cleavage at all. At one point he had been about to split the stone when he notice a microscopic bend in a slight surface crack. At the crucial moment all his calculations therefore went awry. Finally the day came when the first cleavage took place. It was April 27th, 1936 when a 35-carat section was split off the stone: this piece yielded the single marquise among the gems. Two more cleavings took place; the rest of the division was done by sawing. The figures, below, indicate the course of the cutter and polishing of the Jonker; it is of especial interest to note how close the final weights of the 13 gems were to earlier estimates that Lazare Kaplan had given to Harry Winston.

The largest diamond, which has retained the name Jonker, originally weighed 142.9 carats, cut with 66 facets. Later the proportions were changed, to impart to it a more oblong outline and greater brilliance. The stone was also flawed, apparently. It was thus reduced to a weight of 125.35 carats, cut with 58 facets. In the opinion of many who had inspected it, Jonker I is perhaps the most perfectly cut gem in existence. Whenever it was put on exhition in various parts of the United Statres it attracted even more attention than the rough stone had ever done."

The largest piece produced the Jonker I, a 142.90 ct D-color flawless diamond which was later re-cut to 125.35 carats. I wish I could see it but apparently it was sold to a private collector. Sigh.