dancingqueen

So I’m not crazy to think my silver cast looked so different! And the new ring is definitely a sparkle bomb. It shows off the color of the yellow stone so much more.

OK. Well I’ve heard the term fishtails before but I have seen them used in antique settings where they were quite large and almost made around stone look square-ish. Live and learn. Again being my first foray into custom there is a learning curve. One thing that was quite different for me is that the silver cast looked smaller and more square than when the diamonds were set in it. It’s actually growing on me. I have to get used to a more cocktail ring appearance than what my previous ring looked like. I’m attaching photos of the cast. And for kicks, the old ring.

This was very informative Davide. The measurements of my stone is 6.16 x 5.73 and it looks far more rectangular in its new setting than old one. I think the Christopher design would have required slightly smaller stones and perhaps four on the longer sides. This was my first foray into custom. Your info helps me be more "mind clean" about it.

Thank you for your reply. Yes I did swap the last two pics - whoops! And yes where you mark in red is the gaps to which I am referring. The photo from the store (I wish it were not blurry) had a stone with sharp edges like mine with larger melee and it was tight. But the "fishtail prongs" (good to know the name of them) might be the reason. It's the same company. The center from the stone from that store was of similar size (mine is 1.2) and the melee totaled just over 1 ctw (my melee is 1.10). I realize these comparisons aren't perfect as mm size can vary even if the ctw is the same. The ring from the store also had a bezel that was super hard to see (and yes the photo is blurry). The yellow stone stock photo is over 2 ct I think. As far as the unevenness I have drawn arrows. The stone on the top right almost looks bigger than the others. The center stone on that top row almost looks more pushed out and the top left pushed in. I'm nitpicking I suppose.

I created this acct to ask this specific question, since I noticed that the responses to most peoples’ questions are from those who are in the trade. I wanted to reset my fancy yellow in a halo setting with larger stones. My previous setting was pave and I wasn’t crazy for it; also I just love the larger stone halos which are few and far between. My inspiration was Christopher Designs, but I couldn’t afford that exact setting or I would have just done that. I’m showing two pictures of this – one is of the setting that was in the store and has a square stone (and mine is radiant) and the other is my vision for the yellow stone since it has the faux bezel even though the stone is cushion. I got with a designer whose inventory had halos that looked very similar to this with shared prongs. Got cads and cast and got the ring the a few days ago. The upside is that the melee diamonds are WHITE and fabulous and that the center stone looks so much yellower than it did in its previous home. BUT there are some things that are really bothering me. One is my fault, because I approved the cads etc. Basically it isn’t the squared off look from the store pic, but instead more of a floral look because of the scalloped outline of the stones. I realize that the prongs aren’t the same and that those ‘v’ prongs on the Christopher help to square off the look. But the other bigger issue is that the halo has gaps. It is REALLY noticeable in pictures more so than in person but I can see it in real life too. When I use my loupe I can see the holes. I did not notice the gaps in the cads and they took my stone measurements from GIA report etc. Also, the stones look uneven on one of the rows. It almost looks as if the halo were for a rounder stone and my very rectangular stone is in there. I really don’t know what to do and I haven’t contacted the vendor yet (I hope they aren’t lurking on forums and I have paranoia about that) but I have questions: 1. Is there a simple way to “close the gaps” or would it have to be a start over situation? 2. Are my melee stones too big to close such gaps? 3. Let’s say the bench doesn’t have the skillset to fix this. If I brought it to another bench, would they be able to reuse my melee and would that cut down on any potential costs, or would it also be a starting from scratch situation where the labor to remove etc would offset just buying new stones? (I realize that might not be an easily answerable question and that this is worst case scenario but oh well). I am not an assertive person so the idea of going back and complaining makes me cringe. But I find that I am trying to will myself to love the new setting, and I’m just having problems doing so. Pics in order: first three are my ring, then the inspiration Christopher with yellow diamond, then Christopher at the store (square shape).