Your new ring is amazing! Such a cool way to make the baguettes the focus! Would you mind sharing modeling pics, please? I'd love to see how it looks on the hand.Here are the pictures I promised and then got sidetracked!
Grandmother's engagement ring, damaged from diamond removal.
Her baguettes (the center diamond is in my mother's engagement ring).
And the new ring, made with her old gold from the setting and her diamonds.
Aging Engagment Ring Questions
- Thread starter BigPurseSue
- Start date
Bit of an update. I went to a local jewelry store with a good reputation and looked through their Stuller catalog for a new setting that's similar to my current failing one. I found several that I liked. Today they called me to tell me that most of the settings I liked have been discontinued and they were unable to order them. I will wait a while to see if any sample settings come in.
I found a ring setting I love on Blue Nile and called to ask whether I can order just the setting. I was told there are only a few ring settings on Blue Nile they will sell without a diamond and only occasionally. And when they do sell them diamond-less they don't include the prongs. You must buy those separately from your jeweler and those can run up to $175 plus the setting fee. Plus the setting doesn't come with the BN lifetime guarantee. The skillful BN rep almost sold me a new diamond."Diamonds today are cut so much better than they were 25 years ago. They look so much better!"
Haha That's salesmanship at Blue Nile! Might as well toss all of my grandmother's "old" "badly cut" diamonds.
That's too bad about Stuller settings. I'm sure you could find something similar from another designer. Keep keeping us posted!
Thank you so much, Asscher, for the Stuller link! I went through the solitaire settings on the site and printed out copies of a couple I like. Hopefully one day this week I'll be able to swing past the store and see if they can order any of them. The site was educational to me too. I didn't realize that the jewelers often order the crown separately or that the setting often comes in different gold colors and shank widths. Again, thank you for the link!
Hi Sue, you might want to print out the item number too so that it's easier for your jeweler to order stock. Post photos of your reset!
Thanks, Asscher! That I did. I went back to the store today with my print-outs and it turns out that the setting that they did get from Stuller was my favorite from their catalog and the web site. Loved the setting. However, even though it's one of Stuller's pricier settings, it's hollow on the back of the ring and down the shanks. I really don't like the idea of having a partly hollow engagement ring. So they're going to ask their goldsmith whether the hollows can be filled in with gold. Gee, this project is getting pricey. I'm having second thoughts and wondering whether I should hang it up and return to jewelry store #1 to get the cheap $200 setting.
A friend told me that her mom lost her diamond from an old worn setting so I've stopped wearing my ring.
If you've to top up for gold filling on a new setting, you might as well just get the sample setting. At least you know you really like that one. What did the jeweler order for you that is hollow? Please post a picture and I will see if I can find something similar but not hollow.
This is the setting that's hollow:
http://www.stuller.com/products/12491/163899/?groupId=6124&fromProductDetails=True
It's $600 for 14K not including the gold filling in the hollows on the back and shanks.
There was a similar setting on ArtCarved's web site. But I have no idea what their quality is like these days, and the only stores around here that carry ArtCarved are a couple mall chain jewelry stores.
Thanks, Asscher, for all your help and advice!!
What is the shank mm? Before you sent the link, I was wondering if the shank is too thick hence it's hollow. Filled thick shank is rather heavy. But your selection doesn't appear to have a thick shank. I've no idea why they hollow it.
Adwar is another big metal findings company. The closest I can find is the first but not sure if it's in stock. The second is a far second.
http://www.adwar.com/products/styles/665L/view
http://www.adwar.com/products/styles/18620L/view
Stuller and Adwar are huge so I assume your jeweler should have accounts with them. I have no idea who your jeweler works with so can't search further. I know of some jeweler working with other metal findings company. Even if I were to show my rep a Stuller photo, my rep can show it to their metal findings partner and come up with it as metal findings company take one shank and fit it to a fixable head. Ask your jeweler if they can come up with something you want even if it's not from Stuller.
Did you go to a chain store? If so, go to a family store. Those are more enthusiastic for your sale. Please make sure they have sound return/exchange policies. A side note: jewelry store will not take responsibility for your diamond when setting. It's a common practice as they don't want to incur a few thousand dollars loss when they're only selling a setting.
Thank you for the Adwar links, Asscher! The first is very close to what I'm looking for.
I couldn't find the mm measurement of the width of the Stuller setting. It's wider than my current ring which is 2 mm, but thinner than my wedding band of 4 mm. But the setting is high and that may be one reason why it's hollow. Stuller might have also been trying to lower the price point of the setting.
I got a final quote, and it would run nearly 1K with sales tax. No. I don't like it that much.
The two jewelry stores that I've gone to are both family run businesses with a single location. At both stores the sales folk have been enthusiastic about helping me even though this is obviously not a high profit sale for them. At this point I'm thinking of going with the low-cost setting from the sample box, or just giving it a rest for a while. Seems strange but I feel kinda burnt out at looking at solitaire settings in catalogs and on the web and dashing back and forth to stores to look at just one setting at a time.
Thank you so very much for your help and advice!
Got an update! Found a new setting for my engagement ring that I loved. Very similar to my original setting but more substantial. It's a cathedral setting with six white-gold prongs. And here's a photo! I really love it and wish I would have done this years ago. Thanks guys for all the great help and advice! 
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Looks beautiful!! enjoyGot an update! Found a new setting for my engagement ring that I loved. Very similar to my original setting but more substantial. It's a cathedral setting with six white-gold prongs. And here's a photo! I really love it and wish I would have done this years ago. Thanks guys for all the great help and advice!
Got an update! Found a new setting for my engagement ring that I loved. Very similar to my original setting but more substantial. It's a cathedral setting with six white-gold prongs. And here's a photo! I really love it and wish I would have done this years ago. Thanks guys for all the great help and advice!
Beautiful! Enjoy!