Anyone have/seen this ‘swoopy’ Stuller soli in person?

[the_mother_thing]

Thinking about this as a possible temp setting for my new ACA. Would love to know - from those who have seen or owned it, how it is? Mainly curious if it is/would be durable enough for daily wear (it looks like it would be in the pictures, and the shoulders don’t appear any thinner than my CvB Abby). It doesn’t appear to change when you increase the stone size either.

I saw @Txborn79 had this as a planned very-short-term temp, but haven’t seen her post much lately. I think she had a custom setting made pretty quickly for her diamond. But I recall she’d noted that her SA advised her to ‘wear with care’ or something to that effect because it was dainty, and she didn’t elaborate on how it actually felt/wore/etc. So hoping either she sees this or someone else has seen/owned this setting to comment on it. My preference would be 18K unplated WG; I really like it!

https://www.stuller.com/products/bu...dationSource=SearchRedirect#/mounting-options

 

[marymm]

In case you haven't already found it, PSer iluvshinythings has that exact Stuller ring - looks graceful yet safe-to-wear-daily - here's her SMTB thread: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/the-one-to-rule-them-all-3-07-oec-with-sbf.244600/

 

[the_mother_thing]

@marymm (Hugs) You are awesome! I had not seen her post, so thank you so much for linking it!

I love that it allows you to see so much of the diamond from EVERY angle while still providing protection for the diamond.

 

[the_mother_thing]

Tagging @iluvshinythings and @Irishsparkles as well since they appear to have/had this setting in hopes they see the tags and comment on how it wears.

 

[the_mother_thing]

Bump ... anyone else have thoughts on this setting? I think it appears a smidge ‘bulky’ in the Stuller pics I posted, but the ones @Txborn79 @iluvshinythings posted of it set show a sleeker finish without the ‘bulky’ look. And I really adore the semi-swoopy look, while balancing all-around protection with the ability to see the diamond from every angle.

I am not firmly decided yet on the long-term three stone design. That said, I do not want the ACA to be sitting in the safe for months on end either, as part of the idea with the temp setting is to acclimate to the size bump from my ES, get to know the diamond’s personality and ‘life’ throughout the day, etc. while I sort out the long-term setting.

I’m hoping to ship it back to WF tomorrow or Thursday latest, along with a decision on the temp soli setting. So far, this one is my front-runner from a ‘looks’ perspective as well as cost, as I’ll be preserving more of my budget for the 3-stone. So, I’m hopeful others will chime in with any thoughts or concerns from a design/quality perspective.

 

[sledge]

No actual experience with the setting, but had a few thoughts for whatever those are worth:

1. Prongs in the stock photos look like stubby vs the nice claws on @iluvshinythings setting. Definitely prefer the claws.

2. Wondering if some of the sizing, etc you see is the difference of a 3ct+ stone vs 2ct+ stone?

3. Did you notice the wedding bands had the curve to match the swoopy head design? This seems to be a love/hate thing depending on the wearer.

4. FWIW, the stock photos look more swoopy which I think looks great. However, these photos although not as bulky look great too. Just a little different is all.

 

[sledge]

Been a few days since I've been on here, but sounds like you decided to keep the larger ACA? Did it blow you away vs your current ES? Guess I need to go read the updates.

 

[the_mother_thing]

Thank you @sledge for sharing your thoughts!

Yes, I’ve decided to keep the ACA; it really has blown me away, so there’s no way I can not make it ‘mine’.

I like this setting because it seems like a slightly less ‘ornate’ take on Vatche’s royal crown, and doesn’t have the north & south ‘prong protrusion’ from those sides, which I’m personally not a big fan of in the straight-on view. I especially appreciate your pointing out & sharing your thoughts regarding the prongs, and agree. The claws seem to amp up the ‘sexiness’ of it to my eyes, and give it a slightly more ‘custom’, finished look vs just ‘pretty’, if that makes sense. I also do not want it set up super high; rather, just a ‘happy medium’ considering the diamond depth. And no, I won’t be doing the curved band with it; I don’t personally care for them, and have no problem rocking the gap if needed. I noticed that the bottom of the shank is a little wider though; so I don’t expect it to sit too awkwardly with my existing WB.

FWIW, I forgot to mention that I’d likely just go with 14K WG (unplated, if possible) for this. Not sure if anyone has thoughts/feedback with regard to the various WG alloys Stuller offers.

 

[Gussie]

I love this setting! I would get wf to thin to claw prongs and wear a thin eternity with it. ❤❤❤

 

[MollyMalone]

When I reduce the Stuller pics showing a 8.2 mm stone down to real life size, they don't strike me as depicting a kinda bulky ring. Keep in mind those are CAD images ( illustrations change if you enter a center stone diameter that, e.g, is half the size of the ACA), so I'd feel comfortable relying on PPSers' real life photos. I think it will be lovely

P.S. Have you asked Whiteflash if they have any pics on file; it's possible a previous customer of theirs ordered the same mounting.

ETA: Stuller offers that mounting in their 14K X1 gold, a somewhat "whiter" 14K WG that Stuller doesn't rhodium-plate as a matter of course. I'm tagging @cflutist 'cause I seem to remember one of her rings is in the X1 WG & she has posted photos of it.

 

[the_mother_thing]

Thank you @Gussie & @MollyMalone for chiming in! Great points/ideas, as always! I need to make a more concerted effort to think about these details; it’s hard because I just want to get the ACA back to WF, get it set, and get it on my finger to enjoy. LOL

I definitely want claws, though I think I’d like them a smidge more ‘present’ than in the pic @sledge posted. And I do have my OEC eternity band, so I will definitely give that a test-drive when I have it back. On the metal color, I actually prefer the ‘whellow’ look vs. a stark white color, and most of my rings are 18K unplated WG; I just don’t know what Stuller’s UP 14K WG looks (probably need to sift through some of @yssie ‘s pics on that as I recall she has a lot of samples from various vendors). And great idea to ask WF if they’ve done this setting before for another client; I’ll email my SA to ask. She already obtained pricing information on it for me, but I didn’t think to ask that.

Thank you all so much ... keep it coming!

Notes to self: find examples of preferred claw prongs, ask WF if they’ve done this setting before, look up Stuller’s WG pics ..

 

[Wewechew]

I don’t think Stuller plated my 14k white gold setting that my .8ct was in briefly. You can see the difference between the band and setting in this pic. It was a pretty color (and this coming from a platinum girl)

 

[the_mother_thing]

Ohhh @Wewechew Might you have a thread and/or any more pics of that beauty?

 

[Wewechew]

@the_mother_thing I actually do: https://www.pricescope.com/communit...monds-81ct-j-vs2-in-stuller-solitaire.244140/

 

[BMI]

@the_mother_thing
Thought you might find this instagram link helpful. There are twelve videos of this setting with unmentionables of several shapes and sizes in it.
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/sol404/?hl=en

I may or may not have been considering this setting for a stone I own for over a year now!

 

[the_mother_thing]

@Wewechew Thank you; such a gorgeous ring & diamond! I won’t lie; I cracked up a little bit at the beginning when you noted “this is my starter super-ideal to upgrade over the years...” Girl, you got HOOOOOOKED! LOL

@BMI OMG you have no idea how helpful that link is! To be able to see ‘actual’ (IRL) examples moving around with like-sized stones really helps to give some perspective to how it will look as well as note some additional finish items for how I’d like it. Thank you so much for sharing that!

 

[distracts]

Not sure if anyone has thoughts/feedback with regard to the various WG alloys Stuller offers.

The only one I have is X1 and it's pretty white without the plating, so if you're looking for an "off-white" rather than white, get regular.

 

[cflutist]

When I reduce the Stuller pics showing a 8.2 mm stone down to real life size, they don't strike me as depicting a kinda bulky ring. Keep in mind those are CAD images ( illustrations change if you enter a center stone diameter that, e.g, is half the size of the ACA), so I'd feel comfortable relying on PPSers' real life photos. I think it will be lovely

P.S. Have you asked Whiteflash if they have any pics on file; it's possible a previous customer of theirs ordered the same mounting.

ETA: Stuller offers that mounting in their 14K X1 gold, a somewhat "whiter" 14K WG that Stuller doesn't rhodium-plate as a matter of course. I'm tagging @cflutist 'cause I seem to remember one of her rings is in the X1 WG & she has posted photos of it.

From left to right:
Platinum
X1 white gold
18k white gold



From top down
X1
18k White Gold
Platinum



Melissa tells me that there are palladium/white gold mixes available too.

 

[the_mother_thing]

Thank you so much @distracts & @cflutist

Cflutist: Your rings are beautiful! Is your X1 WG 14 or 18K?

I thought I saw somewhere, some time ago, a picture from Stuller of their various metal allows all lined up and identified to show the comparison of metal colors, but I’m not finding it in my searching. Granted, there will always be some variation between a picture and IRL, but it’s so hard to compare the various colors from one picture/light setting/environment/camera/etc. to another.

 

[the_mother_thing]

I think I found an example of the prong type I’d like - not too thin & ‘talon-like’ but not a bulky tab/dot either. I’ll ask WF if this is do-able with the Stuller setting; not sure since they aren’t casting it themselves.



When doing a six-prong setting, how are they typically oriented in relation to the arrows? I don’t think I have any 6-prong settings on any of my diamonds to see ... my CvB Abby is 8 and most others are either bezels of some sort.

 

[sledge]

Melissa tells me that there are palladium/white gold mixes available too.

My wife's setting was a DK custom, but I elected to use their palladium/WG alloy mix.

So far I really like it. Gave her the "shiny" she likes and thus far no color changes. It's my understanding it's not plated and stays white naturally. For me, this was a big deal as I don't care for yellow gold and didn't want to replate. In the past I had a class ring that was WG and turned yellow on me rather fast. Drove me nuts. Granted, it depends on the wearers chemical composure.

Unfortunately, the way I understand metals is that while base components may be the same from vendor A to vendor B, you can have slight variation in the "filler" alloys that can yield slightly different colors, etc.

So DK palladium/WG may be a little different than Stuellers version.

 

[Wewechew]

@Wewechew Thank you; such a gorgeous ring & diamond! I won’t lie; I cracked up a little bit at the beginning when you noted “this is my starter super-ideal to upgrade over the years...” Girl, you got HOOOOOOKED! LOL

In my defense, I still have the .8ct . I mean, yes, I did trade it in when I got my 1.27ct K, but I quickly bought it back for a RHR because I loved it so much

 

[the_mother_thing]

Giving the metal color more thought, and considering this will be a temporary setting, I’ll probably just go with something ‘standard’ like the X1 vs. worrying too much now about finding the ‘perfect whellow color’. It’s so easy to go down the rabbit hole and over-complicate things when I need to keep in mind ‘it’s just a temp setting’. I sincerely appreciate everyone’s input here, as well as the pictures!

I made some ‘preference’ notes on pictures in terms of overall finish (non-bulky look), the prongs & setting height to pass along to WF. Not sure if there is anything else I need to consider at this point that I should pass along.

 

[distracts]

My wife's setting was a DK custom, but I elected to use their palladium/WG alloy mix.

So far I really like it. Gave her the "shiny" she likes and thus far no color changes. It's my understanding it's not plated and stays white naturally. For me, this was a big deal as I don't care for yellow gold and didn't want to replate. In the past I had a class ring that was WG and turned yellow on me rather fast. Drove me nuts. Granted, it depends on the wearers chemical composure.

Unfortunately, the way I understand metals is that while base components may be the same from vendor A to vendor B, you can have slight variation in the "filler" alloys that can yield slightly different colors, etc.

So DK palladium/WG may be a little different than Stuellers version.

Stuller X1 is NOT nickel-free. It meets EU nickel release requirements but if you are allergic to nickel (as I am) you may still react (as I do). DK’s WG is nickel-free and I have no problems with it. So they’re definitely different.

Mother thing, the X1 isn’t their standard white gold. If you just get basic white gold, it will have the whellow look.

 

[sledge]

Giving the metal color more thought, and considering this will be a temporary setting, I’ll probably just go with something ‘standard’ like the X1 vs. worrying too much now about finding the ‘perfect whellow color’. It’s so easy to go down the rabbit hole and over-complicate things when I need to keep in mind ‘it’s just a temp setting’. I sincerely appreciate everyone’s input here, as well as the pictures!

I made some ‘preference’ notes on pictures in terms of overall finish (non-bulky look), the prongs & setting height to pass along to WF. Not sure if there is anything else I need to consider at this point that I should pass along.

Haha, let me know how that works out for you. I believe you are like me in some ways and very determined, even in areas of life that may be temporary or less critical. I've not found a way to just "turn it off". Depending on the scenarios it's a positive and negative, at least for me.

I do wish you peace and sanity through the rest of your process. I started reading back over your other thread regarding the ACA. I'm very happy for you, and so glad this stone not only met but exceeded your expectations. It's easy to see why you are excited and going through the detail you are on a "temp setting".

God speed, my friend.

 

[the_mother_thing]

Thank you @sledge I am excited & eager to move things forward ... just hard right now finding a chunk of time to sit & focus on it all (lots going on).

I appreciate the info regarding nickel @distracts I don’t have a nickel allergy so not worried about it right now. But definitely good to know/be aware!

 

[Txborn79]

@the_mother_thing sorry for the late reply I personally thought the setting was fine, just think they were being overly cautious telling me to be very careful with it. I wouldn’t have a problem putting my diamond back in it if I wanted to change up the look for a while.

 

[the_mother_thing]

@the_mother_thing sorry for the late reply I personally thought the setting was fine, just think they were being overly cautious telling me to be very careful with it. I wouldn’t have a problem putting my diamond back in it if I wanted to change up the look for a while.

Thank you so much! That is very reassuring to hear that it isn’t overly ‘delicate’. And by all means, if you happen to have additional pictures still of your diamond in that setting, you won’t offend me in the least by posting them in this thread!

I just talked to my SA at WF, and will be putting all my details in an email to her tonight to get the ball rolling on this setting. Thanks again so much for everyone’s feedback, thoughts, etc.!

 

[the_mother_thing]

The ACA as well as my Sholdt/ES ring are en route back to WF. Thank GOD I took a TON of videos of both to give me some eye candy to enjoy while I do my level best to patiently wait for the temp ring to be made & shipped to WF, the ACA to be set, and shipped back to me ... probably be a couple weeks.

 

[Wewechew]

@the_mother_thing at least you have your OEC to wear! My ring has been gone two weeks now, and it feels like forever