Almost ready to make a 9-OEC sprinkle DBTY...

[evergreen]

I've slowly been putting together stones for a 9-stone OEC sprinkle DBTY (justification: either my big Christmas jewelry purchase, coming rather late this year, or 9 stone = 9 months of pregnancy with our first baby, due in November, but not contingent on actually gestating the full 9 months, as much as I hope that will be the case ).

Here they are, kind of a range of colors (all are uncerted, sold to me as G/H through L/M range -- many of them from our own dandt; thanks dandt! ) but I can't tell the difference in such small stones & they'll be set in rose gold anyway. Diameters range from 3.5mm to 4.4mm, it's about 1.5cttw so far.



You'll notice there are only 7 stones here. I was thinking of adding either one "focal" stone of about 5mm plus another in the 3-3.5mm range, or a couple of wee little single cuts (2, 2.5mm or so) to provide visual contrast. Right now I think the group is a little too close in size and needs some punctuation!

This is the kind of scatter I'm going for, ish. They will be closer together than this looks, since it'll be 9 stones on a single-strand 16" (+2" extender) necklace. (This Tiffany necklace is 1.30cttw of sapphires, 36" doubled over for the picture.)



So, advice, opinions? Anybody have a scatter/sprinkle DBTY they want to share a photo of, for inspiration? Should I go with the single cuts or the "focal" stone? (Or maybe a focal stone + one single cut? Is the broader flash of a single cut going to look weird among these little OECs?) I'm planning to have it made at Joe Escobar -- would it be wiser to have JE source the single cuts, or buy them myself (e.g. from AfricaGems)? Is a 5mm diamond, bezeled, getting too big & blingy for everyday wear? For reference, my e-ring is a bezeled 7.3mm OEC (though not wearing lately, too tight ) and I wear my 1.7cttw OEC 5-stone as a RHR every day. Heeeelp.

 

[tyty333]

No advice...just wanted to say I love the idea of the scatter necklace! Please post pictures after you have it done. I think it will
be lovely!

 

[evergreen]

Thanks, tyty! I'm super excited about it.

I was trying to visualize it... I cut out teeny tiny circles of white paper to stand in for diamonds I don't have yet:


That's a half-carat dbty, so I think 0.5ct is the biggest I want to go. The mock-up has 11 stones, I think it looks a little crowded though (adds 1 big stone and 3 small ones to what I already have).


Here's a mock-up with 8 stones (will want 9 for this), grouped into S/M/L/XL.

So I think I'll go the larger route (XL!) and try and find a 0.5ct/5mm OEC, plus a little 3-3.5mm one. Anybody have any leads? Trying to keep it budget-friendly since I am neither color- nor clarity-sensitive. I've had my eye on a GIA K faint brown - do you think that would stand out from the others (G/H-L/M, uncerted)? All will be bezeled in RG.

 

[LibraryLady79]

I love your stones. I am also wanting to create a bracelet using oec's. You mentioned dandt helped you do you have suggestions for where I may be able to purchase some. I am looking for .10ct to .15ct for a 5 stone Dbty bracelet. Thanks.

 

[missy]

I love that you are making a 9 OEC DBTY and I like the idea of a central larger OEC with the sprinkles of the smaller OECs going up from there. I definitely recommend you focusing them on the part of the necklace that will be visible and not spacing them evenly all around i.e. at the back where you won't see them when wearing the necklace. With the heavier OEC at the bottom in the center hopefully the necklace won't rotate too much at all. I think the GIA K with faint brown would look terrific in rose gold.

I think it will be a beautiful and romantic necklace and cannot wait for you to be enjoying it and good luck and congrats on your upcoming human addition to the family!

ETA: Just saw this is an old thread from June...any updates?

 

[evergreen]

Thanks, Missy! Yes, actually, it's all done (was finished in September), but... I'm not totally in love with it. I should've put the largest stone right in the middle, so it would hang in a predictable way (as you suggest!) and then built from there, but as it is the spacing kind of makes me think a diamond, like, fell off or something. There's too much blank space right in the front and it looks unbalanced. My mistake.

And it wouldn't be a big deal (I don't think) to re-order the stones but there's a second problem: it's really too showy for my life! I think I should've stuck to 0.25 and under. Soooo... I haven't decided whether to invest in redoing the order of the stones, versus taking out the largest stones and making them their own separate single DBTYs, e.g. to give to my mom & sister, versus wearing it for rare special occasions and ultimately trying to sell it or trade it in since, uh, I wooooould like to get a 2-3ct warm OEC someday soon...

LibraryLady, I bought the stones pre-loved from dandt when she listed them on www.loupetroop.com ; www.diamondbistro.com is another source for pre-loved stones. I also got a lot of stones on eBay but it's kind of a minefield if you don't know exactly what you're looking for & have a high tolerance for risk!

 

[distracts]

Aww, post a picture anyway!!

Here's what I think about things being too showy for your life - pfffft! No one except you and those very close to you knows that they're real diamonds instead of a fake DBTY you bought at Target or Forever 21! Wear it with tshirt and jeans, wear it with pajamas - wear it any time! And if you think this is too showy - are you really going to be happy with a 2-3 ct diamond?

It shouldn't be expensive at all to have the 5mm stone taken out or moved though. I'd do that first.

 

[Lookinagain]

Yes, please post a photo of it. I'd love to see it. I have been thinking of a sprinkle kind of DBTY necklace so I'd love to see how yours turned out. A neck shot would be very helpful as well.

 

[FightGravity]

Aww, post a picture anyway!!

Here's what I think about things being too showy for your life - pfffft! No one except you and those very close to you knows that they're real diamonds instead of a fake DBTY you bought at Target or Forever 21! Wear it with tshirt and jeans, wear it with pajamas - wear it any time! And if you think this is too showy - are you really going to be happy with a 2-3 ct diamond?

It shouldn't be expensive at all to have the 5mm stone taken out or moved though. I'd do that first.

Another vote for taking out the 5mm stone and replacing with a little one. If you want something to do with the one you remove, 5mm is a great size for a solo pendant, which you could then layer with the dbty too. I wear a 5.2ish mm transitional cut in a bezel pendant daily, and I am definitely not fancy.

 

[poshmommy]

Please post a picture! I would love to see it!

 

[evergreen]

Haha, thanks all. I feel like extravagant necklaces aren't as fun as extravagant rings, distracts -- maybe it's because I can stare at the ring all the time and it soothes any concerns I might have.

Here are the photos -- sorry they're not the glamour shots I usually would put up. DH and I are sick with colds and 7-week-old baby hasn't really given us much of a break...



This is how it hangs with the clasp right in the back:



And if I reposition it so one of the 2 largest stones is in the back:


or



Looking at it here... it's prettier than I remember. But I always feel like it's wonky and unbalanced when I'm wearing it. I do think it looks better with one of the largest stones right in the middle. What would PS do?

 

[distracts]

I would first change it so one of the largest stones is in the middle. I'd also move that little stone in the front farther back. Since they're already in bezels, it'll just be your jeweler removing the chain from them and rejiggering it, maybe some new chain needed, so it shouldn't be expensive. I know at my jeweler I wouldn't pay more than $100 for something like that if no new chain was needed.

Sorry to hear you are sick - get well soon!

 

[Lookinagain]

I would first change it so one of the largest stones is in the middle. I'd also move that little stone in the front farther back.

I agree. I think the order of the stones need to be adjusted and definitely the biggest stone needs to be in the middle, at the front. And then don't put the tiniest stones next to it. Sprinkle them, but in a more graduated way.

 

[the_mother_thing]

I LOVE the concept, but my OCD would need them in graduated order with biggest in the middle/front and tapering down as it goes toward the back/clasp. I would definitely try reworking it!

 

[ac117]

I LOVE the concept, but my OCD would need them in graduated order with biggest in the middle/front and tapering down as it goes toward the back/clasp. I would definitely try reworking it!

Very pretty but I'm with JoCoJenn on this one since I'm little crazy in the symmetry department

 

[FightGravity]

I LOVE the concept, but my OCD would need them in graduated order with biggest in the middle/front and tapering down as it goes toward the back/clasp. I would definitely try reworking it!

Another option is alternating big and small sizes, if you have similar numbers of each.

I also think it might benefit from a longer chain, so there's more space between stones.

And I still vote for taking out the biggest one and putting it in a solitaire pendant!

 

[the_mother_thing]

What'd you end up doing with the necklace, Evergreen? I hope you decided to rework & keep it. It's so pretty!

 

[evergreen]

Ha, @JoCoJenn, I'm aggressively waffling. I think I'll rework it slightly, but then I get wracked with guilt (including new-necklace guilt), then I think I'll rework it into 3 necklaces as a complete overhaul, then I think I should just save it and try to trade it in for something... I have no idea. Then I feel bad because it's all lonely and unappreciated and think I'll rework it slightly, but then...

Also, the jeweler where I'd have it done is far away, and I didn't like the chain options when I had it made there in the first place, so I have to figure out a new chain, so I'll probably never get around to it and should just save it and try to trade it in for something, but it's all lonely and appreciated...

This is, like, a whole new level of jewelry crazy for me. I'm usually pretty good about knowing what I want!