Little stone, we will find you a perfect home
September 27, 2010 8:45 AM Subscribe
Asking for my bff: She and her boy are about to get engaged. Her mother has offered her a diamond that belonged to her grandmother. She really wants to use it, but it is a 1/4 carat round stone and she is having a lot of difficulty finding settings that will work with it. She knows it is a petite stone, and wants to find the best setting to show it off. She hates the plain four prong solitaire look.
She came to me because I am always looking at jewelry online but I am stumped. All of the settings I find that are nice don't seem to fit the stone, it is too small. Will a real live in person jewelry store be able to work with her on this one? Will they simply say 'sorry that stone is too small to work with'?
The settings she said she likes are: half bezel and solitaires with a micro pave band (similar to the Tiffany's Novo setting). She wants the band as thin as possible to show off the stone and keep with it's petite spirit.
Will she be able to find settings like this for a stone that size? Is she better off going to an actual jeweler than hunting for a mounting online? Will she have any options? Sites, pictures, advice, and things to be aware of appreciated!
She came to me because I am always looking at jewelry online but I am stumped. All of the settings I find that are nice don't seem to fit the stone, it is too small. Will a real live in person jewelry store be able to work with her on this one? Will they simply say 'sorry that stone is too small to work with'?
The settings she said she likes are: half bezel and solitaires with a micro pave band (similar to the Tiffany's Novo setting). She wants the band as thin as possible to show off the stone and keep with it's petite spirit.
Will she be able to find settings like this for a stone that size? Is she better off going to an actual jeweler than hunting for a mounting online? Will she have any options? Sites, pictures, advice, and things to be aware of appreciated!
My ring has my boyfriend's grandmother's small-ish round diamond, tension-set in palladium. It was custom-made from a design like this (but in palladium because my fiance is stupid allergic to pretty much everything else). You might check out some of the titanium rings sites for design ideas, as they're more likely to have unique settings. Ultimately though, I think it will be worth it to just take some of those ideas to a real jeweler. Custom-made rings are really not that expensive, and to have a ring that's exactly what she wants, it will probably be worth it.
posted by specialagentwebb at 9:05 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by specialagentwebb at 9:05 AM on September 27, 2010
I also recommend a tension setting and there are a huge number of ways to do that. With a smaller diamond you really want to expose it to as much light as possible.
posted by like_neon at 9:12 AM on September 27, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by like_neon at 9:12 AM on September 27, 2010 [1 favorite]
I know very, very little about jewelry, but I did recently have my husband's grandmother's diamond put into a custom setting for my engagement ring a little while ago. That's the sum of my jewelry-related experience, so, YMMV. For that situation, I found a custom jeweler on etsy who was willing to work with me to create a really beautiful setting that shows off the stone without overwhelming it, and I don't think I would have been nearly as happy with an off-the-shelf setting from somewhere. There's no harm for your friend to shop around to a few different jewelers, in person or online, to see if she finds someone with a style she likes who might be able to make something pretty and suitable for the stone.
posted by booknerd at 9:14 AM on September 27, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by booknerd at 9:14 AM on September 27, 2010 [4 favorites]
Talk with a jeweler who can custom make pieces. He can examine the stone and sketch out ideas for settings and incorporate personally meaningful themes into the final piece as well.
posted by boo_radley at 9:16 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by boo_radley at 9:16 AM on September 27, 2010
Response by poster: Booknerd that ring is fabulous!!!!! How on earth did you conceive of that setting?!?!
posted by MayNicholas at 9:19 AM on September 27, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by MayNicholas at 9:19 AM on September 27, 2010 [1 favorite]
Thanks, but I can't take all the credit! I was looking for a rose, since I have some matching tattoos and it's my middle name and was my great grandmother's name. The jeweler I found had some similarly styled rose rings, and I just asked them to tweak their designs a bit to suit our stone and my style and to match my tats.
posted by booknerd at 9:28 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by booknerd at 9:28 AM on September 27, 2010
Response by poster: We have been sitting here looking at settings on etsy. She really likes the Heart of water lotus setting. They are located in Thailand. Is that sketchy to order a custom piece from so far away? Would she have to send them her grandmother's stone? Have any of you done that?
posted by MayNicholas at 9:43 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by MayNicholas at 9:43 AM on September 27, 2010
Ask around for a local artisan. I bet your friends can send you/her down the right path.
Also: 1/4 carat ain't that small.
posted by sadiehawkinstein at 10:28 AM on September 27, 2010
Also: 1/4 carat ain't that small.
posted by sadiehawkinstein at 10:28 AM on September 27, 2010
It can be sketchy, but that seller seems to have a lot of good feedback and reviews, so if it were me, I'd probably be willing to risk it for a setting I really loved. You could always get a local, moderately unethical jeweler to do a copycat design, but i think it'd better to support an independent artisan. Certainly no harm in contacting the seller to see if they'd be willing to do a custom setting for your friend's stone, and if they have any experience receiving and working with other people's stones.
For my ring, I had to send the stone to the jeweler in Michigan, since I was in San Diego. It was a little nerve-wracking, but my nerves were soothed by really fast response times from the jeweler for email, being able to call her or have her call me, and seeing other positive reviews. The one thing that might scare me off would be the post in Thailand, but you can always use a reliable international delivery service like DHL and get the insurance to ship it.
posted by booknerd at 10:35 AM on September 27, 2010
For my ring, I had to send the stone to the jeweler in Michigan, since I was in San Diego. It was a little nerve-wracking, but my nerves were soothed by really fast response times from the jeweler for email, being able to call her or have her call me, and seeing other positive reviews. The one thing that might scare me off would be the post in Thailand, but you can always use a reliable international delivery service like DHL and get the insurance to ship it.
posted by booknerd at 10:35 AM on September 27, 2010
Response by poster: She contacted them so we'll see what they say. I'll post an update when they contact her. Thank you for the advice!
And no, 1/4 carat is not that small, but she was feeling pretty worried because neither one of us has been able to find anything online that would seem to work for a diamond that size other than the old fashioned 4-6 prong look. I consider myself to be a pretty good researcher when it comes to this sort of thing, but even I was having no luck. Most of the jewelers in our area are either chain types like Kays or over the top frufru type stores which is why she was looking online.
posted by MayNicholas at 10:47 AM on September 27, 2010
And no, 1/4 carat is not that small, but she was feeling pretty worried because neither one of us has been able to find anything online that would seem to work for a diamond that size other than the old fashioned 4-6 prong look. I consider myself to be a pretty good researcher when it comes to this sort of thing, but even I was having no luck. Most of the jewelers in our area are either chain types like Kays or over the top frufru type stores which is why she was looking online.
posted by MayNicholas at 10:47 AM on September 27, 2010
If you look at BlueNile, you can see their diamonds in various settings. They have a 1/4 carat round diamond that would work for your purposes. I don't think I can link to those trials, but play around with it yourself.
posted by barnone at 11:06 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by barnone at 11:06 AM on September 27, 2010
I had a really nice engagement ring custom designed at Green Lake Jewelry Works in Seattle. They have many designers on staff, which helps if you've got a general idea about what sort of design you want--in my experience, jewelry designers tend to work in variations on a similar theme, so it's best to find someone whose body of work includes several pieces in the same rough ballpark as what you're looking for.
We did the design consultation in person, but nowadays they've got a huge body of work online and good tools that you can use to get the ring you want long distance.
Sadly, my Green Lake engagement ring is now in at the bottom of a brown lake in Indiana, and I can't find any good pictures of it. It was a ruby in a half-bezel mount with lots of swirling open work, not unlike this one, only a bit less complex and with no side stones. (In fact, I would be you dimes to dollars that the guy who designed my ring also designed this one).
posted by drlith at 11:16 AM on September 27, 2010
We did the design consultation in person, but nowadays they've got a huge body of work online and good tools that you can use to get the ring you want long distance.
Sadly, my Green Lake engagement ring is now in at the bottom of a brown lake in Indiana, and I can't find any good pictures of it. It was a ruby in a half-bezel mount with lots of swirling open work, not unlike this one, only a bit less complex and with no side stones. (In fact, I would be you dimes to dollars that the guy who designed my ring also designed this one).
posted by drlith at 11:16 AM on September 27, 2010
I really don't recommend sending your diamond out to Thailand. If they can send your friend the setting so she can have a local jeweler set it then that's a different story.
Really all she should have to do is take the pictures of what she wants down to a custom jeweler and ask them if they can make her something similar. Most larger cities have at least a few custom jewelers, so it really shouldn't be a problem finding somebody to do the work. It's finding the inspiration that's hard.
posted by TooFewShoes at 2:26 PM on September 27, 2010
Really all she should have to do is take the pictures of what she wants down to a custom jeweler and ask them if they can make her something similar. Most larger cities have at least a few custom jewelers, so it really shouldn't be a problem finding somebody to do the work. It's finding the inspiration that's hard.
posted by TooFewShoes at 2:26 PM on September 27, 2010
Response by poster: Apparently the design is trade marked. Would a local jeweler be willing to do it anyway? She said when she looked at their feedback she saw some open mounts they had done, so we are guessing she won't have to send the stone. They haven't responded yet.
posted by MayNicholas at 5:34 PM on September 28, 2010
posted by MayNicholas at 5:34 PM on September 28, 2010
Response by poster: Just a follow up... she ordered the setting and is going to have it set here in town. The designer seems really nice and answered all the questions my BFF & her FH had. Now she waits.
posted by MayNicholas at 12:50 PM on October 13, 2010
posted by MayNicholas at 12:50 PM on October 13, 2010
Response by poster: Her ring was finished today any she is over the moon. She sent me the link and it looks so pretty. She said her experience has been nothing but positive- so there you go!
posted by MayNicholas at 11:33 AM on November 1, 2010
posted by MayNicholas at 11:33 AM on November 1, 2010
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posted by kpht at 8:59 AM on September 27, 2010