Time To Reset My Ering!

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etk123

etk123

Call me Kiki
O.G.
Nov 9, 2010
4,364
124
#1
So it's time.... and I need help!

Went to the jeweler on Friday to discuss the giant prongs with the ridge from my wedding band stones, and to address the newly crooked prong and slightly squeezed looking shoulder on my ring. After talking about my concerns, and having the benches look at it, he suggested I reset. He feels that the ring can not be repaired to what I want, so we need to start fresh. What a relief, to have a professional say that I am better off resetting! Now my husband doesn't think that I'm just being dramatic!

I looked at all the gorgeous designer settings, but I'm a solitaire girl. Plain solitaire. No etching or pave or surprise stones or mil grain....I asked about Vatche U113. He said my current setting is prettier, which kind of cracks me up because it's a mess. Then he showed me a no name knife edge. I took a few pics of it. It's pretty. I don't know... is the shank too thin? My hubby called to ask them to measure it with calipers, the answer he got was "about 2mm". It's kind of a trip to go to the store, so I'd like a better idea of what I really want before I go back.

This is where I need help. My stone is on the big side, 2.32, and I don't want the shank to look like dental floss. I think that knife edge makes it appear thinner than it actually is. But I don't have any real life comparison, so I need opinions! If I'm gonna go with a Tiffany repro, should I try to be close to the original? Or who cares? Ugh, I don't know! It' so hard because I really do love what I already have, but I have to get rid of these giant prongs, they're damaged by or damaging my wedding bands.

I haven't priced anything, but I'm sure the Vatche will be a lot more expensive than the no name that he keeps in stock. Is it worth a lot more money to get it a half mm or so wider? Is that a noticeable size difference?

Half of me says to take the stock setting, and get the matching knife edge plain band, and it will be beautiful. Other half says, uh uh, no way. Go for the Vatche. I don't know what to do...

Thanks in advance for advice and opinions, I know I'll get valuable responses here! And thanks for reading my loooong story!

Holy giant photos! The ring shown is for a 1.5, the stone sitting on top of the setting is a 2 ct cz.
 

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#2
Congrats on getting a new setting. I don't think it's important to have an exact replica of a Tiffany, most people aren't going to look that closely to know and even if they do, who cares. I think the most important thing is to get something you love!
 
#3
Uh. What? Hell no! Don't get some stock setting just because he has it and his (flawed) opinion tells him it's prettier. But I think a standard stock setting is not going to solve your problem. I don't think there was so much a defect as the head was just too low and integrated and your band was eating it alive. He should've known that would happen up front.

If you want a nice solitaire that Vatche is very pretty and as I understand it, has fooled many a Tiffany SA.... but regardless of what you choose you are going to have to wear a thin plain spacer between that and your wider diamond band or you're going to be right back where you started. Those diamonds are too exposed in that setting and set just at the right spot in relation to the prongs in your ering to cut into the prongs of just about anything you get unless you get a cathedral setting with the head set on a bridge above the band where the stones on that diamond band cannot hit the prongs.

Is your regular jeweler already a Vatche dealer? Because they don't work with just any jeweler--and honestly, if they're not regularly versed in dealing with Vatche, it's not worth the headache. Take it from someone who wasted almost a year dealing with that nonsense and a jeweler who was new to working with them. If you want their setting, get it from someone very used to dealing with them.
 
#4
phillj12 said:
Congrats on getting a new setting. I don't think it's important to have an exact replica of a Tiffany, most people aren't going to look that closely to know and even if they do, who cares. I think the most important thing is to get something you love!
Click to expand...

Thanks! I just have to find something I love! ;)
 
#6
ame said:
Uh. What? Hell no! Don't get some stock setting just because he has it and his (flawed) opinion tells him it's prettier. But I think a standard stock setting is not going to solve your problem. I don't think there was so much a defect as the head was just too low and integrated and your band was eating it alive. He should've known that would happen up front.
Ame his first recommendation, after I brought up Vatche, was the Royal Crown. He even printed me a picture to take home, to see how swoopy the beautiful prongs are! My current setting isn't going to work with any of my bands.

If you want a nice solitaire that Vatche is very pretty and as I understand it, has fooled many a Tiffany SA.... but regardless of what you choose you are going to have to wear a thin plain spacer between that and your wider diamond band or you're going to be right back where you started. Those diamonds are too exposed in that setting and set just at the right spot in relation to the prongs in your ering to cut into the prongs of just about anything you get unless you get a cathedral setting with the head set on a bridge above the band where the stones on that diamond band cannot hit the prongs.
I bought the Tiffany channel set to wear with my ering, but the big prong is going to mess up the platinum on that too. I'm not going to wear the problem causing wedding ring with my ering anymore. Those diamonds are going to chew up whatever they can. I'd rather wear the channel set, it's better balanced with my stone. I can't picture a bridge, can you show me what you mean?

Is your regular jeweler already a Vatche dealer? Because they don't work with just any jeweler--and honestly, if they're not regularly versed in dealing with Vatche, it's not worth the headache. Take it from someone who wasted almost a year dealing with that nonsense and a jeweler who was new to working with them. If you want their setting, get it from someone very used to dealing with them.
Click to expand...
I'm not exactly sure.... he has every other designer that I've heard of. When I asked about Vatche he referenced that he used to sell a lot of Vatche solitaires, but not as much anymore. He didn't have any in the store. My impression is that they stopped carrying Vatche but that he still had access to them. That causes me some hesitation.
 
#9
My ring is the Royal Crown, and it works good with a channel set, though I still wear a spacer with mine. But you could NOT wear your shared prongs without a spacer, either of them, MAYBE a metro style micropave. But the wiring would get abused pretty quickly. When I had the Flyer that looked like the Metro, I had to wear a spacer even with that. When I first got the RC, I had a really open shared prong and that was immediately a no go. You could do a Channel Set and maybe the Metro with the U113 if you were to go with that. Channel set would be better though simply bec the donut would rub against that metro a great deal, and in that case do a number on the metro.

Example of a bridge, on a Vatche specifically.

This is the Serenity #1522
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And the 1508
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See how those heads are ON the bar of metal there vs in it? ABOVE the ring? That's a "bridge" and they aren't always used in cathedral settings but its most common, and that keeps the prongs out of the way, which would keep them from being eaten up. You could wear damn near any of your bands with that as long as they were lower than the head. Im sure Vatche could consider a 6 prong option. Maybe. They aren't usually amenable to too many design changes...I wanted my stone set way higher, like shown on the site, and they WOULD NOT do it. I debated having my ring remade AGAIN, and this time giong with the U113 bec maybe it would go better if I went with a different style this time and went through someone else and not jewelerdude...but I keep talking myself back out of it.

If he has a relationship with them, or did in the past they might be able to work with them again.

Another idea is the H.Levi Royal Charm
http://hlevi.com/s710.html

Though that also has a donut.
 

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#12
Royal Crown for reference (mine, 1.15 stone), you can see how much lower mine is compared to the image they provide. But whatever.

The sizing beads they put in for me. Which I appreciate.
 

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#13
Ame, I love your Royal Crown, I knew exactly what it was when he brought it up. The swoopy prongs are amazing. No way would I let anything touch them! Is yours modified at all? How wide is yours?

I really like that style with the cathedral and the bridge, I've never really considered 4 prong. Baskets are really pretty.
 
#14
I didn't see any 6 prong options with a bridge in their selection. I looked twice to make sure. That 2nd one looks just like the Cartier 1895.

The only modification they would do to mine was the band width. The shank is 2.2 on mine. They put my sizing beads in as well.
 
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