Custom Diamond Eternity Band is Eating my Solitaire Prongs!

[LLJsmom]

Based on your pic the girdle of the diamonds are hitting your ering shank.

See pics of my 5 stone below. THe metal extends a little further than the diamond’s girdle. (These are 30 pointers. ). So the diamonds don’t bump into neighboring rings. It’s not super pretty for the side. It’s metal. But it’s built like a tank and will last forever.

 

[SandyinAnaheim]

Well, quite simply, this is a manufacturer defect/design flaw. WhiteFlash is a very reputable company. They should stand behind their product and resolve the issue for you at no charge. I suggest you contact the rep you worked with and explain the situation nicely, and see what they say. I had a similar situation happen to me, but a LOT worse. I had multiple diamonds, including my ER, chipped, and HPD remade them all for me at no cost. I wrote about it recently, about half way down the page: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/help-needed-deciding-between-wf-and-cbi.239329/page-4

Even though I don't need a spacer now, I wear one for security's sake. I picked up a hair-thin high color diamond pave band on Etsy and you can barely see it, it's less than a mm wide. I love having it because I rest easy now. Between it and the reconstruction of my rings, nothing will ever happen to those stones again unless I do something to them.

 

[CharlotteYork]

This is so helpful, thank you so much!! I just ordered one of these measuring tools from Amazon... I was able to pull measurements from an old email, but I'm not sure how helpful they are for comparison...

The widest section (base) is 4.80mm, the top of the shank is 3.20, middle is 3 & the bottom is 2.0mm. the height is 2.70mm at the top, 1.70 middle and 1.50mm at the bottom

My measuring tool should be here in a few days! Here is a picture of our two rings together.


My ring (left); Tiffany ring (right)

 

[ac117]

I disagree that this is a design flaw because, quite frankly, you didn't buy a Tiffany ring like Miki Moto's ring. You bought WF's version of a Tiffany inspired ring - similar to the Vatche U113 and other versions, they are similar but not the same. I believe part of your problem is the fact that the eternity is too large for your finger, the ring is spinning, and the diamonds are causing the damage bc they are like saws. It was your choice to buy the eternity band larger so I'm not sure WF is completely at fault here. The reason vespergirl had hers remade (besides the crooked prongs) was bc it was 1/4 size too big and therefore sat too high off her finger. I understand and sympathize that you wanted a replica of her remade ring, that you also reiterated your concern and I'm hopeful WF will work with you since they are an amazing company and want their customers to be happy but you did choose your ring size.

I also think most people walk around not knowing/caring that their eternity rings are eating into their prongs.

 

[CharlotteYork]

Based on your pic the girdle of the diamonds are hitting your ering shank.

See pics of my 5 stone below. THe metal extends a little further than the diamond’s girdle. (These are 30 pointers. ). So the diamonds don’t bump into neighboring rings. It’s not super pretty for the side. It’s metal. But it’s built like a tank and will last forever.

This is a brilliant idea!! Thank you! If it's not too much trouble, I would love to see more pictures of what the ring looks like when stacked.

 

[CharlotteYork]

I disagree that this is a design flaw because, quite frankly, you didn't buy a Tiffany ring like Miki Moto's ring. You bought WF's version of a Tiffany inspired ring - similar to the Vatche U113 and other versions, they are similar but not the same. I believe part of your problem is the fact that the eternity is too large for your finger, the ring is spinning, and the diamonds are causing the damage bc they are like saws. It was your choice to buy the eternity band larger so I'm not sure WF is completely at fault here. The reason vespergirl had hers remade (besides the crooked prongs) was bc it was 1/4 size too big and therefore sat too high off her finger. I understand and sympathize that you wanted a replica of her remade ring, that you also reiterated your concern and I'm hopeful WF will work with you since they are an amazing company and want their customers to be happy but you did choose your ring size.

I also think most people walk around not knowing/caring that their eternity rings are eating into their prongs.

I do think that the ring size is part of the problem, but I am not convinced it is the entire problem because I have to pull the eternity band down so tightly over my finger with a Snuggie that it cannot be removed in order to have it sit under the head of the solitaire. Here is the CAD image I received... I had a complete panic attack when I saw this, which I expressed in email saying "The way it looks right now, I would never wear it for fear of it damaging my solitaire." This was followed up by a one-hour conversation with the jewelry designer because I was so concerned. I was told that CAD "appear a little sharp in the edges and bulkier than the finished product" and that the eternity band would not touch my prongs. I guess it is my fault for believing that, because the CAD rendering is pretty much exactly what I got.

And regarding the ring size... There was actually a comedy of errors with this. I had ordered the eternity band in a 5.5 and the solitaire in a 5, but the instructions that were given to the designer erroneously had both rings as 5.5. So he designed these rings not knowing they were supposed to be different sizes, and perhaps that is part of the the problem as well. If he had known the eternity band was going to be bigger, I would imagine that he would have explained to me about the rubbing. Any seasoned jewelry designer should know this and when your client is completely paranoid about rings damaging each other, this would be crucial to point out.

I'm not sure what Tiffany's has to do with ordering custom rings designed to fit perfectly together? Tiffany's was simply my inspiration for the rings. I wanted to have my rings made together to ensure a perfect fit that would avoid this exact situation I am dealing with now.


CAD Rendering

 

[ac117]

I do think that the ring size is part of the problem, but I am not convinced it is the entire problem because I have to pull the eternity band down so tightly over my finger with a Snuggie that it cannot be removed in order to have it sit under the head of the solitaire. Here is the CAD image I received... I had a complete panic attack when I saw this, which I expressed in email saying "The way it looks right now, I would never wear it for fear of it damaging my solitaire." This was followed up by a one-hour conversation with the jewelry designer because I was so concerned. I was told that CAD "appear a little sharp in the edges and bulkier than the finished product" and that the eternity band would not touch my prongs. I guess it is my fault for believing that, because the CAD rendering is pretty much exactly what I got.

And regarding the ring size... There was actually a comedy of errors with this. I had ordered the eternity band in a 5.5 and the solitaire in a 5, but the instructions that were given to the designer erroneously had both rings as 5.5. So he designed these rings not knowing they were supposed to be different sizes, and perhaps that is part of the the problem as well. If he had known the eternity band was going to be bigger, I would imagine that he would have explained to me about the rubbing. Any seasoned jewelry designer should know this and when your client is completely paranoid about rings damaging each other, this would be crucial to point out.

I'm not sure what Tiffany's has to do with ordering custom rings designed to fit perfectly together? Tiffany's was simply my inspiration for the rings. I wanted to have my rings made together to ensure a perfect fit that would avoid this exact situation I am dealing with now.


CAD Rendering

Yes, I would hope the jeweler would've made additional adjustments knowing there would be a difference in size. I completely understand your disappointment, I was just expressing my POV on what might be causing the issue and saying it's not entirely WF's fault. I'm not faulting you completely either and I'm sure you will come to a happy resolution.

My point about Tiffany was really directed at sandyinanaheim's comment that this is a design flaw - we're not comparing 2 Tiffany rings here so IMO, I don't believe this is the case when Tiffany has their version and you have a different inspired-by ring.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Laila619]

These kinds of diamond bands with the exposed girdles are usually going to do damage, regardless of what anyone says or promises. That is why bright cut and channel set bands exist (or spacers)! I know you might not like the look as much, but they are far more practical and they do not damage engagement rings. You're going to have to decide what is most important to you. Some kind of compromise will probably have to be made.

 

[LLJsmom]

The folllowing pics show the band when it was used as my ering. I converted it to a band by removing the center stone. So it gives you an idea of the height next to other bands. For 30 pointers it is very low set.

 

[CharlotteYork]

These kinds of diamond bands with the exposed girdles are usually going to do damage, regardless of what anyone says or promises. That is why bright cut and channel set bands exist (or spacers)! I know you might not like the look as much, but they are far more practical and they do not damage engagement rings. You're going to have to decide what is most important to you. Some kind of compromise will probably have to be made.

I am absolutely open to alternative styles! The first one is probably my favorite option (I actually had suggested it during my design process when I was freaking out about the CAD)...

The second one was suggested by cflutist. She had "rails" applied to either side of her eternity band. With either of these options, however, it would be critical that the diamond tables did not touch the prongs. But it appears that the girdles are covered - more so on the first one - yes?

The third style is from LLJsmom. Her five stone band has metal that extends slightly beyond the girdles of the diamonds which prevents them from hitting the prongs of neighboring rings.

I would love thoughts/pros/cons on these three styles!


Option 1


Option 2


Option 3

 

[CharlotteYork]

The folllowing pics show the band when it was used as my ering. I converted it to a band by removing the center stone. So it gives you an idea of the height next to other bands. For 30 pointers it is very low set.

I absolutely LOVE this option!!! Questions...

1. This is basically my exact eternity band setting except that the metal on your sides surrounding each diamond extends just above the diamond... Mine stops just before the girdle. Would it be possible to add the extra platinum to the existing band without having to remake it entirely??

2. With my current situation, if the metal was extended just above each diamond on the eternity band, there would then be little platinum ridges rubbing up against the prongs of my platinum solitaire, yes? But if the tables of the diamonds are still protruding, it might be the diamond tables that would be rubbing?? Would platinum on platinum rubbing continue to cause damage? What about diamond tables rubbing against platinum?

Thank you so much for sharing these!!! This is why Pricescope is the best, I never would have thought of this!


My ring from the side


Your ring from the side

 

[gm89uk]

Even if all your height measurements were perfect, if the ER isn't snug and doesn't sit perfectly perpendicular to your finger, it will just tilt and hit your eternity ring, like in this photo

 

[LLJsmom]

I absolutely LOVE this option!!! Questions...

1. This is basically my exact eternity band setting except that the metal on your sides surrounding each diamond extends just above the diamond... Mine stops just before the girdle. Would it be possible to add the extra platinum to the existing band without having to remake it entirely??

2. With my current situation, if the metal was extended just above each diamond on the eternity band, there would then be little platinum ridges rubbing up against the prongs of my platinum solitaire, yes? But if the tables of the diamonds are still protruding, it might be the diamond tables that would be rubbing?? Would platinum on platinum rubbing continue to cause damage? What about diamond tables rubbing against platinum?

Thank you so much for sharing these!!! This is why Pricescope is the best, I never would have thought of this!


My ring from the side


Your ring from the side

On mine, the metal extends beyond the girdle of the stones, not above diamond girdle. Whether your diamond table will hit the prongs of your ering depends on the angle at which the prong shows of your ering protrudes and the height of the band. If the added metal makes your band thicker it may provide enough distances between the diamond table and the prong.

 

[cflutist]

I will definitely consider this option, thank you for sharing. Beautiful rings by the way! Were these rails added as part of your original design or after? I wonder if they could be added to my current ring? This is actually a very similar idea to the one I had proposed as an alternative to my current design where the diamonds were nestled inside the metal. How I wish I had chosen this style!!

As you can see from my CADs, it was part of the original design. You could also go a tad wider to keep the diamonds away from your solitaire prongs. Mine was designed with the slope of the prongs on both of my HPD rings in mind.

 

[HappyNewLife]

have you heard back from WF? I'm sure they will help you out. The prongs can probably be polished easily. I am a weirdo and don't mind my prongs being rubbed. If one ever breaks I will have the excuse to reset it

 

[unsettled]

have you heard back from WF? I'm sure they will help you out. The prongs can probably be polished easily. I am a weirdo and don't mind my prongs being rubbed. If one ever breaks I will have the excuse to reset it

This is where I am too!

 

[Wewechew]

Ok... I am on a roll. Last photo and I will stop bugging you. Here is the band against the e-ring. You can see the space available. Both rings are the exact same size 5.5.

I really hope it’s the e-ring. They can remake that one easily.

Sorry to thread jack... did you have the wedding band knife edge rounded some? I have the Tiffany knife edge wedding band and it’s really sharp and pointy.

 

[CareBear]

@CharlotteYork I'm so sorry to hear your rings are upsetting you! I think @Miki Moto did an excellent analysis of the issue with your two rings! I just wanted to share the head of my ring, also made by WF. The prongs do not look to be as 'flared out' as yours, but not as "tucked in" as the real Tiffany. I believe, the lower the stone is set, the more flared the prongs will be, so your stone needs to be set much higher than the WF "standard" height. You should ask WF to remake the head, with the stone set at the "Tiffany" height, using @Miki Moto's photos, and test it out with your eternity band. Your eternity band is about as low as it can get with 8pt stones. So if a new head does not fix the problem, you may need to go with smaller stones for the eternity. Any reason why your eternity has to be half a size bigger? Good luck!!!

 

[Logan Sapphire]

You asked about the potential of platinum rubbing against platinum and causing damage. My old ering's trellis prongs were eaten away by my platinum channel band. The band was more like a pipe cut so the sharper edges eroded my prongs.

 

[Miki Moto]

Sorry to thread jack... did you have the wedding band knife edge rounded some? I have the Tiffany knife edge wedding band and it’s really sharp and pointy.

Hi! No, it’s the original band and it is thin. Maybe it’s the photos that make it look rounded. Or it could be I bashed it up so much. I am really hard on my rings. Here are two photos to show you the width. One shows the width difference from the top and the other shows the bottom. The bottom of the band and the e-ring match as it is supposed to. The e-ring band tapers down as I am sure you know. Thats actually the part I love about the e-ring. It makes it all about the diamond. I hope this helps.

 

[CharlotteYork]

have you heard back from WF? I'm sure they will help you out. The prongs can probably be polished easily. I am a weirdo and don't mind my prongs being rubbed. If one ever breaks I will have the excuse to reset it

My concern with the rubbing is that it will compromise the security of the solitaire diamond. I read somewhere on here about a lady who had so much damage to her prongs that the entire head finally fell off when she accidentally knocked it against something. I am not concerned about the aesthetics - you have to look very closely to see the damage - but I am worried about losing my center stone! Maybe I am being paranoid, or maybe it would take so long for this to actually happen that I shouldn't be concerned?

 

[CharlotteYork]

@CharlotteYork I'm so sorry to hear your rings are upsetting you! I think @Miki Moto did an excellent analysis of the issue with your two rings! I just wanted to share the head of my ring, also made by WF. The prongs do not look to be as 'flared out' as yours, but not as "tucked in" as the real Tiffany. I believe, the lower the stone is set, the more flared the prongs will be, so your stone needs to be set much higher than the WF "standard" height. You should ask WF to remake the head, with the stone set at the "Tiffany" height, using @Miki Moto's photos, and test it out with your eternity band. Your eternity band is about as low as it can get with 8pt stones. So if a new head does not fix the problem, you may need to go with smaller stones for the eternity. Any reason why your eternity has to be half a size bigger? Good luck!!!

Hi CareBear! Yes, I think you all are right about the height of the head. Hopefully that will solve the problem! And regarding the eternity sizing... I got a larger size so that I would not have to have it remade if my finger grew as eternity bands cannot be sized... And now it looks like it will have to be remade. WF added sizing bars inside the ring, but that obviously didn't work.

 

[CharlotteYork]

You asked about the potential of platinum rubbing against platinum and causing damage. My old ering's trellis prongs were eaten away by my platinum channel band. The band was more like a pipe cut so the sharper edges eroded my prongs.

Oh no!!!

 

[Miki Moto]

I would get both rings made in your real size. The beauty is in the two rings laying and flowing together. As I mentioned before, the eternity band being sized larger is part of the issue.

Don’t try to plan for something that may or may not happen. And it could take 10-20 years! And your fingers might shrink. I would make the set perfect now. Make it look gorgeous now.

 

[HappyNewLife]

My concern with the rubbing is that it will compromise the security of the solitaire diamond. I read somewhere on here about a lady who had so much damage to her prongs that the entire head finally fell off when she accidentally knocked it against something. I am not concerned about the aesthetics - you have to look very closely to see the damage - but I am worried about losing my center stone! Maybe I am being paranoid, or maybe it would take so long for this to actually happen that I shouldn't be concerned?

I don't want to give you advice that leads to losing a diamond. But I've had many rings with prongs that are being rubbed and none have ever compromised security. I can see it happening after 10+ years, but I've never stuck with a diamond long enough to find out Oh, but also my melee has never been 8 pointers, so maybe they're more diggy

 

[CharlotteYork]

I would get both rings made in your real size. The beauty is in the two rings laying and flowing together. As I mentioned before, the eternity band being sized larger is part of the issue.

Don’t try to plan for something that may or may not happen. And it could take 10-20 years! And your fingers might shrink. I would make the set perfect now. Make it look gorgeous now.

Yes, you are absolutely right! After reading all of the wonderful advice and expertise on Pricescope, I think that

1. The head on my solitaire needs to be heightened.
2. The eternity band needs to be resized to a 5.

I don't think just doing one of these things will solve the problem, but I think a combination of them both will. diamondseeker2006 had advised to leave a small sizing window available on the eternity band. I didn't want to do it because I guess symbolically I didn't like the idea of breaking up "eternity" but after going through all of this mess, I will absolutely do it now!!!

BTW, I do love the clean look of your wedding band. I purchased a thin round platinum band from WF that I enjoy wearing with my solitaire on occasion. But now you have me wanting the knife edge!! I like having the option of mixing and matching, that is why I could never solder. I also really love LLJsmom's sapphire and diamond channel set band... I might eventually consider getting one of these to stack in between my eternity band and solitaire. It is not something I would want to wear every day - the clean, classic look of the solitaire/diamond eternity is what I have wanted since I was about 16! Logan Sapphire said her prongs were eaten by a platinum channel band.. yikes!! Has anyone else had this problem?? The last thing I want is another issue to have to deal with!

Such a wealth of information here, I am so grateful for Pricescope!!! Thank you all!!

 

[Miki Moto]

For me, I would not leave a small sizing window. I would make your band perfect.
I love eternity bands actually. And when I first purchased my solitaire, the intent was to get the shared-prong eternity. I felt it took away from the solitaire which is why I did not get it (aside from the difference in color that I saw against my solitare, but that's another story)

That said though... to this day, I still love eternity bands. What I love most about it really is the symbolism of something forever (good marketing to brainwash me on that!). So an eternity band should be the same all around, endless, perfect... like your love. Yeah.. I'm a sucker for that thought. And putting a sizing window will kill the flow.

What is the worse case that can happen? Okay, your fingers get bigger. Just remake the ring as you are doing now. You have 90% of the materials and the primary cost are the stones.

To me, I would not sacrifice the beauty of a ring that you will stare at everyday for years to plan for something that may or may not happen. I know me, if I added a sizing window, I would zoom in on that sizing window and wish I hadn't done it.

My two cents again of course. I am sure you know what you want, but I want to share a different point of view.

 

[Wewechew]

Hi! No, it’s the original band and it is thin. Maybe it’s the photos that make it look rounded. Or it could be I bashed it up so much. I am really hard on my rings. Here are two photos to show you the width. One shows the width difference from the top and the other shows the bottom. The bottom of the band and the e-ring match as it is supposed to. The e-ring band tapers down as I am sure you know. Thats actually the part I love about the e-ring. It makes it all about the diamond. I hope this helps.

Yes, those pictures make it look more knife edge

 

[SimoneDi]

@CharlotteYork perhaps you can first have the head of your e-ring redone and then decide if you still want to touch the band? I don’t know where you are located, but summer is just around the corner and I am not sure if your ring size fluctuates with the seasons, but mine for example do quite a bit which is why I usually size my rings slightly larger.
Sorry again that you are disappointed, I am sure that you will find a good solution. And as others have said even platinum on platinum can cause damage of the prongs, so I guess the question is what would be considered tolerable to you?

P.S. @Miki Moto I am kind of obsessed with your classic wedding set!

 

[CharlotteYork]

@CharlotteYork perhaps you can first have the head of your e-ring redone and then decide if you still want to touch the band? I don’t know where you are located, but summer is just around the corner and I am not sure if your ring size fluctuates with the seasons, but mine for example do quite a bit which is why I usually size my rings slightly larger.
Sorry again that you are disappointed, I am sure that you will find a good solution. And as others have said even platinum on platinum can cause damage of the prongs, so I guess the question is what would be considered tolerable to you?

P.S. @Miki Moto I am kind of obsessed with your classic wedding set!

Thank you, SimoneDi. I am a definite size 5 without fluctuation... I have been my entire adult life, even through pregnancy, and I am not having any more babies. I really think it needs to be resized. My hope - and my original goal - was that the eternity band would rub against the donut and not touch the prongs, thus keeping the center stone more structurally secure.