Eightstar VSB tapered baguettes in white gold no rhodium!

[Finally!]

Last fall I am sure I exasperated PSers by nattering on about my quest for a fantastically cut Very Strong Blue RB to go in the custom setting I was trying to get made (I say "trying" because it ended up taking over six MONTHS to complete the project!) Read this thread if you are interested in the backstory about my ring.

I''m sorry to take so long to post the "conclusion" to my saga, but my now-FI made me swear I would not post about my ring until he actually gave it to me. And then he took two months to do it!

But I will remember that moment forever... pretty much because I started hyperventilating and crying all at once and forgot to answer him! I have never been so happy.

So now "my precious" is mine... Finally!

Even though I went over budget on it and took way too long to get it done, he didn''t gripe too much. And he let me get EXACTLY my heart''s desire, which is something that way too few women ever have the chance to do. Every time I look at it I am reminded that he is very generous, understanding, patient, and that he loves me unconditionally.

So, without further ado, let me present my heart''s creation. I must apologize in advance for the dirtiness of my ring and for my hairy fingers (I had no idea!)

The diamond:

-- 1.37 G SI2 with Very Strong Blue fluorescence
-- custom-recut for me by Eightstar (took only about two weeks)
-- GCAL cert
-- HCA score = 1.4 TIC (61.5% depth, 55% table, 34.7 crown, 40.8 pavilion)
-- Avg diameter = 7.17mm

The setting:

-- White gold without rhodium (to match my grandmother''s wedding band)
-- Four tapered baguettes, four tiny RBs
-- Tulipset head in platinum, by Stoller
-- Maximum width of setting = 6mm; Minimum width = 3mm
-- Hand-carved in wax and cast locally

 

[Finally!]

A glint of fire.

 

[Finally!]

While I was very attracted to tapered baguettes, I never found a setting where I thought the me-view (you know, looking straight at your ring as you type!) was beautiful. Most had what I considered very ugly, utilitarian structures supporting the baguettes. Then I saw a Viachi baguette setting that used scrolls as supports, and fell in love. I would have gone with that, but I wanted to use my grandmother''s white gold wedding band, which was worn completely flat on one side from her 50+ years of wearing it against a 10k gold ring. I needed a setting that could meet up flush with her "half"-ring, but the Viachi had a chunky head. Finally, in shopping for settings, I also fell in love with the color of white gold without rhodium applied to it. The color is buttery, not the bright yellow of regular gold, but not silvery, either. I saw only a few settings done in "natural" white gold, and none with baguettes or flat sides. I realized that if I wanted the setting search to be over, I needed to go custom.

 

[Finally!]

Going custom on my budget led me to use a local artisan who purportedly worked cheap and did good work. They say you can never get "cheap", "good", and "fast", only two of the three... and that was certainly true in this case. "Fast" he was not.

Here''s the drawing I ended up doing for him in an effort to speed up the project. Note that in the upside-down view, you can see the edges of the ring near the stone. These are "wings" that flare out above the "base ring" (the part directly around my finger.) This base ring allows my grandmother''s ring to fit flush against this setting, but still lets me have the tapered look I love.

 

[Finally!]

Here''s the bottom view.

 

[Finally!]

Tilted slightly so you can see the wing a bit better.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

How very beautiful and unique! I love the florescence!!!

 

[Finally!]

And here''s the top view. It doesn''t taper as much as I had envisioned, but I am still pleased by it.

 

[Finally!]

A close-up of the white gold color and the beautiful Eightstar pattern.

 

[Finally!]

Side detail. In retrospect, I should have tried to frame the baguettes as flower heads to the design.

 

[Finally!]

Here is my precious in the full-on sun. To look at this photo you could never convince me that this is an eye-clean stone, but in fact, it is. Shining light through it is the only way to see its imperfections, and even then you have to get your face very close to it.

The fluorescence is also in full swing here. To the eye, it appears more like a light lavender, but the camera is seeing blue blue blue.

 

[Finally!]

I bought a little keychain blacklight so I could play with my precious'' fluorescence. When the light is shined from behind the stone in the dark, this is what it looks like. It isn''t actually glowing this color! It does glow, however - and in the exact same shade of green as those glow-in-the-dark stickers you had on your ceiling as a kid! My camera is not good enough in the dark to catch that, unfortunately. I find that I need to shine my little light directly against it to "heat it up" for a minute or so before it becomes VERY glowing in the pitch black. The glow sticks with it for more than 5 minutes once the blacklight is off. If I put it in its white ring box and crack the lid open a little, the whole interior of the ring box glows.

 

[Finally!]

And now for the hand shots. This first shot is in low "romantic" lighting, but unfortunately not under halogen lighting (which is what most jewelry stores use.) It''s compact fluorescent lighting.

 

[Finally!]

Here it is in diffuse, indirect natural light (from a north facing window.)

 

[Finally!]

Last pic! Here it is outdoors, in the deep shade.

 

[tigian]

It''s gorgeous on your finger! Congratulations on your engagement. So special and looks like it was well worth the wait.

 

[Finally!]

I forgot to mention that the Eightstar is quite a unique diamond. Another PSer said this awhile ago, and I agree, you really can look straight through this RB from the top. You absolutely have a sense of depth when viewing it. Stranger still, it seems brightest white in shade and lower light levels. In a restaurant or bar (someplace with halogen lighting) it can blind with its flashes. And it seems huge - I was absolutely self-conscious about it when I first started going out with it on. I suddenly realized that very few women in my area have diamonds of this size or larger! Plus the Eightstar cut makes it seem even bigger than it should because it is shining from edge to edge - the whole face. I''ve been tempted to go looking for wedding bands at B&Ms just to be able to compare it to diamonds of similar carat weight.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

It''s been a while since I''ve seen an eightstar. Very crisp arrows. Congrats!

 

[chiquitapet]

It looks beautiful on you! I love the fluorescence shot!

 

[gwendolyn]

Lovely! Congrats on your engagement!

 

[Lorelei]

WOW!!!!