does bezel setting make your diamond look bigger?

[mjlover1977]

Erica - you always have the best rings

 

[Happikoala]

Wow! Erica your ring is STUNNING! and yes, i really do like the fact that there won't be anything to snag and the extra security sounds awful good to me...i'm quite clumsy.

did you find the vintage setting too restricting for the light? did you find the diamond look less sparkly in that setting? i love vintage setting so i probably won't have too much room for light other than from top if I do bezel style. the rock is pretty big for my finger (1.69 carat for size 4.5-5 ring) so looking a teeeeeny bit smaller with bezel setting doesn't bother me too much as long as it doesn't make it look much smaller than its size.

so after all these helpful comments (thank you everyone!! ), i guess the next important question is if the bezel setting would make my diamond much less sparkly...(fyi if this would help, our diamond's got hearts & arrows, triple EX, GIA certified, and we got it appraised separately by patrick in LA and he said it was so well cut it'd be equivalent to AGS 0)

thank you~~!!

 

[Happikoala]

It also depends on the color of the diamond. If you're talking about a fancy yellow colored diamond a yellow gold bezel setting will make it look larger. A white metal bezel setting will make a white diamond look larger. A bezel-set diamond will return somewhat less light than a prong-set diamond but if it's cut well enough you probably won't be in want of fire and brilliance.

Also, a bezel setting in platinum will make a white diamond look smaller than the same diameter diamond set in white gold or silver because less platinum is needed to adequately secure the diamond, although it will still look larger than if it were set in prongs.

uh-oh so our diamond is H color and we'd get it set in platinum... but i'm not sure if I really follow why platinum would make a diamond look smaller while a white gold or silver wouldn't? pleeeeeeeease help me understand! thank you!!

 

[ame]

White gold/silver/platinum would have the same effect. And an H is not yellow, it's quite white.

 

[black jade]

This is my opinion. People have really different opinions on this subject I find.

I think a stone set in a bezel looks bigger--from a distance.

And for me it has to be quite a distance. When you get at all close, it just looks like a stone set in a bezel. And I personally don't like bezels much. I've seen one or two exceptions (where the bezel was milgrained or something like that) but usually this looks totally uninteresting to me. I also feel that the diamond being closed in cuts off a lot of the light and reduces sparkle. When I see a diamond in a bezel, I tend to think that the wearer was straining to make it look bigger ( a feeling I also have with most--not all,but most--halo settings) and/or the diamond has some kind of flaw that they are trying to hide by covering up so much of the stone. Or else is really yellow in a bad way (some lower colored diamonds look good to me, but a lot of them don't)which you can see mainly from the sides, so they are covering up the sides.

I dislike bezels in rings and in pendants more than in earrings, I don't know why.

All of this is of course very subjective.

But in general, I like high-set stones, even though this look is not all that practical and seems to be going out of style. The exception is, I love filigree style antique rings, and I also love the little illusion style '40'srings. In both these styles, the workmanship isoften so lovely that the last thing I think about is the size of the diamond. They don't have that 'stamped out of a machine' look that modern bezels tend to have to me.

When a bezel looks crafted and handmade (like some Gurhan rings, though I feel he is very over-priced), I often like that look. But usually with colored stones, rather than diamonds.

P.S. I agree that its not reasonable to say that a well-cut H is 'not white'. I think its generally agreed that a stone is white enough to set in platinum or WG down to I (GIA or AGS I, anyway) and I have seen J's set in white metal that lookd just fine.

 

[Contessa]

This is my opinion. People have really different opinions on this subject I find.

I think a stone set in a bezel looks bigger--from a distance.

And for me it has to be quite a distance. When you get at all close, it just looks like a stone set in a bezel. And I personally don't like bezels much. I've seen one or two exceptions (where the bezel was milgrained or something like that) but usually this looks totally uninteresting to me. I also feel that the diamond being closed in cuts off a lot of the light and reduces sparkle. When I see a diamond in a bezel, I tend to think that the wearer was straining to make it look bigger ( a feeling I also have with most--not all,but most--halo settings) and/or the diamond has some kind of flaw that they are trying to hide by covering up so much of the stone. Or else is really yellow in a bad way (some lower colored diamonds look good to me, but a lot of them don't)which you can see mainly from the sides, so they are covering up the sides.

I dislike bezels in rings and in pendants more than in earrings, I don't know why.

All of this is of course very subjective.

But in general, I like high-set stones, even though this look is not all that practical and seems to be going out of style. The exception is, I love filigree style antique rings, and I also love the little illusion style '40'srings. In both these styles, the workmanship isoften so lovely that the last thing I think about is the size of the diamond. They don't have that 'stamped out of a machine' look that modern bezels tend to have to me.

When a bezel looks crafted and handmade (like some Gurhan rings, though I feel he is very over-priced), I often like that look. But usually with colored stones, rather than diamonds.

P.S. I agree that its not reasonable to say that a well-cut H is 'not white'. I think its generally agreed that a stone is white enough to set in platinum or WG down to I (GIA or AGS I, anyway) and I have seen J's set in white metal that lookd just fine.

It's ironic you should mention the enhancement a bezel or halo give a diamond, as I was speaking with my jeweller last week and he told me that the halo original's purpose (from one of the very first halo-set diamonds), was to enhance the brilliance of the centre diamond that wasn't ideally cut.

And like yourself, I prefer high-set diamonds. As unpractical as they may be, I LOVE them!

 

[Happikoala]

did i say that our diamond was yellow? ^^ hehe i think there was some misunderstanding of what i said. so tiffanysilver said platinum bezel would make a white diamond look smaller but not white gold, so that's what i was hoping to get clarification on... she did mention yellow stones with YG bezel though!

oh and i am still curious to know if i might see less sparkle in bezel setting!!

Ame: thanks as always~! SO glad to hear that platinum has same effect as WG or silver....i mean, that's what i would've assumed since they're all "white" metals, but I dont' know...i'm not as savvy as many of you here!

blackjade: yeah I agree the bezel stone looks bigger from a distance but not really close-up. plus, i always thought 'why would anyone hide a good % of the diamond's diameter, it's gonna look smaller...' i mean, since bezel setting grabs hold onto the girdle of the diamond, it reduces the visible diameter of a diamond right? (the actual diamond diameter...not what it 'seems') I started this thread b/c I heard that the bezel setting actually makes your diamond look bigger and I couldn't believe it at first

i also do love high set diamonds..and i'd get it at a heartbeat if it wasn't so impractical...at least at this point in my life =\ I will definitely get a high set ring one day as my RHR for special occasions!! but my e-ring i really want it to be comfortable (as is gorgeous) so i can justify wearing it at all time! and bezel setting (if i get it, it'd be super super thin kind) is the most smooooooth obviously, since there's no prongs.

but then again, who knows, I might end up with a high prong setting ring OR a bezel set, i'm not sure!

 

[ame]

I have only had one low setting before, and it lasted a day. I never hit so much stuff off my ring as when it was low. Since then they've all been pretty high and I don't usually have a problem.

 

[HauteMama]

I don't want to speak for anyone else, but I think what the previous poster meant was that a platinum bezel would be smaller than white gold because platinum is stronger and it takes less to securely hold the stone. Therefore, the enlarging effect of the platinum bezel wouldn't be as great as the enlarging effect of a WG bezel simply because it would be thinner/smaller.

 

[Happikoala]

Hautemama: OOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooh I get it! hAHAHA yeah I guess I really didn't understand this enlarging effect of a bazel set. yeah I wouldn't want my bezel to be really really thin ...as if it's not even there!

and ame: you hit more things with low set? really?? mmmm I DO LOVE HIGH SET RINGS............................ hahahaha..

oh boy i'm never gonna settle with a final design, am i?

 

[Contessa]

I don't want to speak for anyone else, but I think what the previous poster meant was that a platinum bezel would be smaller than white gold because platinum is stronger and it takes less to securely hold the stone. Therefore, the enlarging effect of the platinum bezel wouldn't be as great as the enlarging effect of a WG bezel simply because it would be thinner/smaller.

That's how I understood it.

 

[tiffanysilver]

Thank you clarifying on my behalf HauteMama. Speak for me all you want!

That is exactly what I meant. Platinum bezel settings tend to look less obtrusive than white gold or (the rare) silver bezel setting. I also wasn't sure whether your stone was fancy colored pink (where a rose gold setting might be ideal), yellow (yellow gold), or most likely white. H is very white you are definitely lucky to have such a high quality stone! Congrats!

If maximum light return is your main concern you may not want a bezel setting. I personally find bezel settings to be a beautiful aesthetic choice and not just an illusion to mask flaws in a subpar diamond. Certainly people use the masking qualities to their advantage and I think that's alright too.

Using high, delicate setting to highlight a quality gem makes perfect sense to me. So does protecting it with a bezel.

 

[Happikoala]

tiffany, thank you!!! i honestly CANT WAIT for that stone to be ON MY FINGER! >_< *getting impatient...*

but i'm soooooooo torn between the two options you mentioned! the stone is beeeeautiful so 4 prongs would dazzle the light out of it! but....seeing that i'm clumsy and will have to go in and out of gloves for work, protecting it with a bezel until i'm ready to set it on a high-prong setting sounds good too..... but then all of my other friends have prong set and though they say it's not the most comfortable setting, they LOVE it and says it doesnt bother them tooo much.

i feel like i'm making problems just so i can think about it and pick all of your brains!! and daydream...and not work ....i need my bf to come back and put an end to all these searching! (he's away at a business trip...)

yet, THIS IS SO MUCH FUN! hahaha...

 

[ame]

and ame: you hit more things with low set? really?? mmmm I DO LOVE HIGH SET RINGS............................ hahahaha..

CONSTANTLY hit it when low set. But when it's higher I am more conscious of it so I hit it less. Though this desk is a bear so I have a feeling I am going to do a a lot of whacking regardless of height.

 

[ceya]

Mine is round over 5ct and set in 4 prongs. I got compliments from people that it looks so big and sparkling as fire.