GOG cushion in an ERD full bezel

[texaskj]

slobber, slobber, drool, drool
It looks much bigger to me than .85.

 

[Love Street]

Wow this is so classy and svelte - a modern classic for sure! I really love how the bezel accentuates the shape of the stone. Beautiful and congrats!!

 

[CharmyPoo]

Stunning! That is an amazing diamond in a very well made setting.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Congrats, that is gorgeous!!!! I've always loved NeatFreak's ring and I have to say, you ring is gorgeous as well. I the profile, and the Jubilee!!!

 

[Cachette]

Beautiful ring! It looks wonderful on you (and big!)!

Congratulations on your engagement.

Cachette

 

[Bleed Burnt Orange]

Oh my goodness...your ring is BEAUTIFUL!!!!! I absolutely LOVE it!!

 

[missydebby]

jeez that's LOVELY

 

[kittybean]

What a gorgeous, chic ring! It looks amazing on you!

 

[baby nurse]

Your ring is beautiful! Bezels are so sleek and pretty-- you must be delighted with it . Will you wear a wedding band with it?

 

[miwa]

Your ring is beautiful! Bezels are so sleek and pretty-- you must be delighted with it . Will you wear a wedding band with it?

Thanks and I think she will. So we're on the hunt for a decent band right now that looks good with it.

 

[missydebby]

question.... may I ask the approx cost of the setting?

 

[luv2sparkle]

I love it, thanks for the stats. I would have said it was much bigger. It is the perfect size for your girls hand. I probably would have
said 1.25-1.50. It is beautiful!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

It's absolutely stunning! Love those square H&As and that bezel setting is so perfect for it! Congratulations!

 

[Skippy123]

Wow it is gorgeous

 

[violet3]

it's stunning! congratulations!

 

[miwa]

I love it, thanks for the stats. I would have said it was much bigger. It is the perfect size for your girls hand. I probably would have
said 1.25-1.50. It is beautiful!

I think it just looks bigger in pictures fisheye effect from the lens

But seriously, thanks again to everyone for the compliments. It warms my heart!

 

[miwa]

question.... may I ask the approx cost of the setting?

I would love to answer you but is it against any vendor etiquette? I wish a private messaging feature is available for such purposes.

 

[missydebby]

Not that I'm I'm of, but if you're not comfortable or unsure, that is totally way cool.

Can you say if it was under 2k? 1,500?

 

[miwa]

in between

 

[missydebby]

in between

ty! *smooch*

 

[Rosebloom]

Oh my gosh I absolutely LOVE it!!! Totally perfect!!!!

As for a wedding band, I would pair it with something like this:

http://www.singlestone.com/index.php?page=collections&catID=9&pID=370&startRow=3

To echo the bezel

Or I would do something like this:

http://www.jamesmeyerjewelry.com/wed_bands.htm

The Wed-J. To compliment the sleek architectural nature of the ring

 

[starburst]

I looooove your stone & setting!! They look absolutely perfect together!!

 

[Wieke]

Dear miva, not sure if you are still here. I was wondering about the metal? Is it set in Platinum or White Gold? Where you not a bit afraid about getting the stone set somewhere else than the place where you bought it (GOG)? I really love the ring althoug I did not really like bezels before. Just the proportions and personality of this ring made me change my mind I am considering another H&A cushion, the Brian Gavin Signature Cushion. At the time that you were choosing the diamond it was not available. What do you think about it?

 

[miwa]

Wieke,

I hope this reply does not find you too late. I wish this forum had a private message feature so that these things come to my email instead of me tracking down the thread out of curiousity every so often.

Anyway, onto your questions. The metal is platinum since I wanted the durability.

As for being afraid, did you mean being afraid of ERD not doing a good job or afraid of all the shipping involved? I think as you browse more, if you haven't realized, ERD (Engagement Rings Direct) is quite reputable amongst the members here so them doing a good job wasn't too much of a concern. A fellow member on here, Neatfreak, had a very similar setting first (95% alike), and after I saw her's, I knew it was the one. Here's her's -- or at least it 'was' hers. Since she came up with the design with Mark at ERD, it was a custom ERD creation, I already saw what it can look like, so the setting process went to them. If I had to nitpick, I'd say my setting is not perfectly symmetrical, but it's hand made so, perhaps some imperfection is to be expected. For the shipping, I was positively terrified since it required GOG to ship to me and then me to ship back to ERD, but I liked the setting too much. However, I must give the kudos to Mark. He allayed my fears, helped me ship it back and forth, AND insured it during the entire process so the risk was somewhat minimal.

Full bezels were not my first choice, but simple prongs were not either, so I was looking at other designs like tensions, fake tensions, half bezels, and so on, but in the end, the full bezel won out also because I felt that it protected the diamond better. See, I wanted a ring in which she could wear everyday without too much concern. In hindsight, this particular setting causes the diamond itself to sit a bit lower than your usual pronged setting. The wife was not too thrilled about that because during her "Diamond Shrinkage Syndrome" stage, she felt that the shorter height and the fully covered edges made the diamond look smaller. We still love it and get the compliments but it's just something to think about.

I just took a look at the Brian Gavin cushions and they're nice. It definitely would've been an extra resource if it had been available back then. They're ideal cut, hearts and arrows so they're good in my book!

 

[sweet_blossom]

Love this ring

 

[Orchid Lei]

Gorgeous. What a sleek and elegant style.

 

[Wieke]

Hey ,

I am so glad to hear back from you. Yes yes yes

To get things a bit straight, I am a woman, not a guy and not looking for an engagement ring, since I am already happily married and have a gorgeos (little) diamond ring but like you mentioned yourself, these bloody things are shrinking... But the main message I wanted to give with the introduction is that your answer is not late at all, since this is a long-term dream/project for me.

Since I have already an engagement ring, but I always dreamed of a bigger stone, but do not feel that it has to be my husband who get it I am looking for less bling-bling and more class and pure style. For like you said something I could wear all the time, even with two kids around, where the stone would be low sitting and safe... I was never into bezels, but since I saw yours I keep on returning to the pictures and wonder "is this it"? I am not 100% sure yet, but I always keep on returning I put a tracking on this discussion and hoped you might return too. I think the ring would maybe appear more low key than it actually is, but that is also part of my intention, I dont need to brag with it, I just feel that wearing it would make me happy every day (plus investing into studs or necklaces - which would probably be more logical than into another ring would not allow me to see it all the time, with each move I am doing during my day).

I took initiative and contacted already Mark T. He was very friendly a even talked to me about some gorgeous cushions which I was for a moment considering, but for me the H&A element is important in the stone. It brings structure and perfection to the whole diamond in my eyes. Therefore it would have to be the Brellia or Brian Gavin's signature. At the moment the stones in range I am considering are too expensive, since too good in color and clarity and I am waiting for something more to my budget to turn up. I know I could just take the pictures and have the setting done elsewhere, but I have so much respect for the work done... should I turn my dream into reality I will deffinitely go back to ERD!

I would have the following questions:

My worries about the shipping etc were not out of distrust, I was more concerned with the shipping risks and also potential risk that the stone might get damaged during the setting (this can happen also at GOG or Brian Gavin, but that was my question - does ERD have some sort of insurance and should the diamond get damaged you would have it replaced even though it was not their stone?)

Why did noy not ship directly from GOG to ERD? To see the stone first?

One is pure curiosity - what wedding band did you end up choosing? It seems to be quite hard with this ring?

Was Netfreak's ring also square? I had the impression from the pictures that it was rectangular...

I know it is a theoretic question, since a diamond is never too big, but should you be able to go back and affording a bigger stone would not be an issue, what size would you based on esthetics choose? I am considering a bigger one that yours, since my finger size is 6.25 so I guess to have the same proportions it would already need to be slightly bigger (plus the shrinking syndrome safety policy

Thank you so much for your friendly and supportive approach!!!

 

[miwa]

Everyone, thanks for the continued generous comments!

Weike,

The things about the setting you mentioned were mostly what went through "my" mind while I was getting it. We think alike on almost all counts. The H&A was definitely necessary after watching Jonathan's videos at GOG's site. Similarly, I told Sarah at GOG, the logical left brain of mine wants symmetry and perfection and the creative right wants the fire and colors so I definitely approve of your stubborn refusal to settle for anything less. It took her about a month to come up with one that fit my requirements and budget so hang in there. My net was a little wider though. I was accepting anything at a "squarish" shape as long as it was cut with H&A. One of the conditions my wife said was, "no round." At the time there was something called the Princess of Hearts. I think GOG sells a similar one called an Ideal Square now. I also allowed for the Jubilee.

For the shipping, I'm not exactly sure what the insurance covered. This is definitely something you want to clear up with Mark. I was more worried about the shipping company losing it and that's what I thought the insurance was for. I would imagine that includes damage but hey, it's a diamond in a ring box, then in a small shipping box, and then in a bigger shipping box. The whole process was quite interesting. It's well insulated and plus, diamonds are pretty hard stones! It's all overnight shipping so its pretty well tracked and there's no waiting for days with worry. Shipping directly from GOG to ERD would've counted as a local sale apparently so this way worked out a bit better.

The wedding band that ended up going with it is much more bland since we were being pressed budget-wise for the wedding itself. It was just a half eternity band. This is definitely something on the upgrade list, but interestingly, we realized too that if we had anything more powerful, it would've taken away from the ring. It also had to be low enough to clear the space under the head, otherwise, it'd would be pushing awkwardly against it. I guess I would even say that this setting is not too wedding band friendly. I do like the singlestone ring in the link that Rosebloom provided a few posts above but I don't think my wife would've liked it.

Yes, neatfreak's ring was more rectangular and that's perhaps why hers looked so good with the cut corners whereas we may not be able to get away with it so well.

Ahh, the what ifs. It's always so interesting about life isn't it? Like sports cars. When I'm young enough and have the reflexes to take advantage of a good sports car, I can't afford it but when I can finally probably afford it, I'll be too old to drive it the way it should be driven. Good thing you also mentioned esthetically, so, yes, while a diamond is never too big, it can actually look big enough to be awkward on a ring. I've seen it. People start doubting the authenticity or the quality of it so then the ring becomes a subject of ridicule. There is the 1 carat line that most ladies seem to gravitate towards just so that they can say they've crossed the line, but when you look at it, it's barely HALF a millimeter larger per edge than a 0.85. So, if I won the lottery, I'd go past 2 carats because I still think it's decent looking without looking ridiculous. Realistically, since a good, clean 2 carat costs the price of a small car, I'd probably try to get close to 1.5 carats. I think the other way to be budget conscious may be to do 2 smaller side stones or channel set even smaller ones on the sides, but this would involve a different setting. It's all the rage now. My wife definitely seems attracted to them. She says its more sparkly! Since you share my tastes, I'd like to mention that I am very enamored with Mark Morrell settings too. Back then, they were a tad costly for me and he was pretty backed up time wise. The guy can't design a website, but man, can he design rings! I find them very beautiful, flowy, organic, and alive. I like his work so much that if I ever go through upgrading, that might be the path.

Cheers to your dreamy project, good luck, and definitely come back and show us the results so we can revel together in your joy!

 

[Wieke]

Hey Miwa, I was out of town and away from my PC, so sorry for the longer silence... Now also quite busy, but just opened the Mark Morrell website and had to laugh so hard about it and your comment on the design that I HAD TO REPLY IMMEDIATELY some of the settings are dreamsome, but I will need some time to digest the whole "concept"

 

[briolette]

It looks huge!
I love it. So clean and refined. Wear it in good health!