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Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!!!

Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

Here's the reason I do it before I have my stones mounted: I want them to be insured for replacement value. If I have a stone which is considered flawless or close to it, precision cut and excellent color, I don't want it to be replaced with a middle of the road stone should something happen down the road. So let's say its lost and the insurance has it down for $xx based on the value and description attributed to it by an appraiser. The appraiser becomes critical in the process which is why you want to go to one like Richard Sherwood who specializes in colored stones. The appraiser, in turn, relies on data provided by the cert - they can often do it themselves (like in the case of Richard Sherwood), but its impartial if its done by a lab. That is, the appraisor is assigning a value based on the data and what he/she sees, not just on what he/she sees. In other words, its more defensible.

My big worry is that if I buy an extremely high quality $10K stone and I should lose it, I don't want the insurance company to "make me whole" with a stone of lesser quality, or pay me less than its value, because they think its worth $7K. I mean, if, at the time of loss, a comparable stone can be purchased for $7K, then that's what they should pay. But it has to be of comparable value and the only way to prove it, is to have obtained a cert which provides the detail about that stone that sets it apart from stones of lesser quality. Does that make sense? It might be belt and suspenders, but I really don't want to argue with the insurance company... :errrr:
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

Many appraisers (and I have zero experience with Richard Sherwood who I believe you mentioned you were going with so I'm not including him in this at all) inflat the price. It is typically better to insure the ring/ stone/ piece of jewelry you bought at the value that you actual bought it or have them give you a realistic replacement value.

IE if you buy a sapphire for 1k then ensure it for 1k.
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

Go for the AGL Fast Track brief. You will need it for the appraiser to be able to put a fair valuation on it and also for the insurance company to not poke holes in it should they be required to pay up. Minousbijoux explained the reasons for it clearly.
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

And don't wait for the sapphire to come back from AGL to get the design process underway with JbEG since you are on a tight schedule. Multi-tasking is a good thing!
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

Le sigh...

I really didn't think Steve would be a disapparition.

I almost want to email JBEG and tell them to tell him to report back!
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

velouriaL|1298769860|2860208 said:
Le sigh...

I really didn't think Steve would be a disapparition.

I almost want to email JBEG and tell them to tell him to report back!
Ha ha, worry not... I have not disappeared!

The quick update is that AGL took about 3 weeks, and I just got my stone back from them today. Meanwhile, I couldn't have Erica start the cads because Jeff didn't know the exact depth, so she's been waiting too. I'll post the AGL cert on here tomorrow so folks can see what it looks like, and I'm also mailing the stone to Erica tomorrow.
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

First post on this subject but have been reading all along...Steve, you are a DOLL and your gf is the luckiest girl on the face of the earth. Good luck with the rest of the ring and I am waiting with great excitement to hear the end of the story!!! :appl: :appl: :appl:
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

yay!
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

I was just wondering whatever happened with the ring Steve !
Can't wait to hear more! :appl:
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

I just got my AGL certification; everything looks good as expected. (I knew the stone was heated when I bought it, so no worries there). Here is what the front and back of my "Fast Track Gem Brief" card look like:



I'm shipping the stone off to Erica at JbEG tomorrow.

But should I insure the loose stone first? If so, can I just add it to my homeowner's (actually, renter's) insurance? Or should I take out a new policy?

IMG_0272-1.JPG

IMG_0271-1.JPG
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

I don't know if renter's insurance will cover a loose stone. You may want to check out Jewelers Mutual for that. I cannot wait to see your CADs!!! Thanks for keeping us posted!
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

Do you mean insurance for the mail? Just buy it at the post office.

For damage at the jeweler, don't most jewelers have their own insurance for damage done during setting?

Or just get a rider on your homeowners/renters insurance.
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

iLander|1298993494|2862021 said:
Do you mean insurance for the mail? Just buy it at the post office.

For damage at the jeweler, don't most jewelers have their own insurance for damage done during setting?

Or just get a rider on your homeowners/renters insurance.

Some don't for outside stones.
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

Got any CADs to share with us yet :naughty: :naughty: :naughty: ???
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

BUMP! I might be the only one but I cant wait for some pictures!
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

CADs are here!!!

Rather than getting all fancy at first, Erica decided to start with a sleek but plain version, to make sure she's on the right track with her design. We can (and probably will) get a little more ornate and/or organic with the basket design, and maybe add some milgrain (or pave) to the bands around the shank, to accentuate the transition between metals where the shank and the basket meet.

Anyway, now that you've seen her designs, what do you like and what would you change?

My take: It's a little simple for my tastes, but I think it's a decent start. Needs more of an organic feel. I wonder what it would look like with the metals reversed? (i.e. gold on the band, platinum in the basket) Or maybe gold for the band as well, and the only thing that's platinum are the bands around the shank?

v3b-r1.jpg

v3b-r2.jpg

v3b-r3.jpg

v3b-r4.jpg
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

Hooray for CADs!

I think just a bit of engraving and changing the platinum basket to something more organic will be all it needs. It's beautiful! My only concern is where the "cuffs" will hit your fiancee's ultra-tiny finger, if they will land just above where her fingers meet it'll keep the whole thing from spinning (a good thing!) but if they are too low they will be between her fingers, which might (only might!) be uncomfortable.

I love how much of the stone you can see from underneath, while the whole ring still protects it!
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

Steve! So glad to see you back!!!

I love the concept! I think if you want a little more "oomph" you could do pave in the horizontal band of the basket and/or the little shoulder accents like you had mentioned. Aside from that, I would look into some engraving/milgrain and call this puppy a done deal.
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

Nice cads! What about engraving on the gold side parts, engraving under the pear stones (on the gold). Are you planning on
doing any milgrain work? You cold do that on the edges of the gold also.

Or maybe a small round melee under the pear if you dont want engraving there.

You could put pave on the gold side parts like the lilly setting...
http://jewelsbyericagrace.smugmug.com/JbEG-Signature-Settings-and/Plain-and-Pave-Solitaires/The-Lily-Split-Shank/12795589_XX3pg#914522763_xy3U8

(I havent read your whole thread so I'm not sure exactly what kind of setting you are looking to have made...just trying
to throw some ideas out there).
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

Yay Steve! Thanks for updating us! :appl:

I agree with maebelle about the cuffs- I'd double check with Erica about placement to avoid irritation between the fingers.

I'd also make the bottom of the band yellow gold, since she said that's what she wanted (back in the first pages of this thread) but keep the cuffs white gold. I don't know that'd I do the cuffs in platinum because if she chooses a gold wedding band, from what I understand, the raised platinum of the cuff could wear down the gold where they meet. Erica can confirm/deny this.

Good start! Is the gold going to be polished, or brushed like the McT/McC designs?
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

AWESOME! Very exciting!

I think doing a more complicated basket perhaps with some pave. The "butterfly" basket Leon Mege did a while back might look nice. Or something more "organic."

I may have mentioned this before, but please do make sure that your GF is into multimetal. I personally DO NOT like it AT ALL for myself, although I have admired it on others. If it were me, I'd probably go for all gold, but of course, that's just me. Some people vastly prefer white gold. I find that many people have strong feelings one way or the other about metal color, so you may want to sneakily check-in on that.

Maybe you can talk with JbEG, too, about the texture of the metal? If i remember correctly, the MC2 inspiration piece had a soft look... Might there be some way she can finish it to bring out that quality in the metal? I wouldn't want to go brushed or hammer, but something...
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

Thanks for sharing your CADs! I'd definitely add milgrain. I think engraving could be lovely as well depending on the placement. I think this first go round is a good starting point.
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

I love the cads! And I second the miligrain. I recently had a sapphire set with leaf shaped supports with miligrain myself, hehe.
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

velouriaL|1300902319|2878320 said:
AWESOME! Very exciting!

I think doing a more complicated basket perhaps with some pave. The "butterfly" basket Leon Mege did a while back might look nice. Or something more "organic."

I may have mentioned this before, but please do make sure that your GF is into multimetal. I personally DO NOT like it AT ALL for myself, although I have admired it on others. If it were me, I'd probably go for all gold, but of course, that's just me. Some people vastly prefer white gold. I find that many people have strong feelings one way or the other about metal color, so you may want to sneakily check-in on that.

Maybe you can talk with JbEG, too, about the texture of the metal? If i remember correctly, the MC2 inspiration piece had a soft look... Might there be some way she can finish it to bring out that quality in the metal? I wouldn't want to go brushed or hammer, but something...

For the multi-metal issue, I'm asking her to do the whole shank in yellow gold, so that only the bands around the shank will be a different color (white gold probably).

I asked her about toning down the texture of the band to a softer look; I'll let you know what she comes back with.

As for the basket design, what do you think of the basket on this ring?

GabbieHaloBasket.jpg
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

Stilllll check in with your GF if you can about the mutlicolor gold just in case. If I were given a ring with ANY multicolor, I would be THRILLED, of course, but it would definitely NOT be ideal. For me. Just saying.

I like that basket a lot. Perhaps you could ask her to shape the split shank petals mirror the lines of basket somehow? Just push her toward less cut and paste design and more unified forms. I like also the idea of using pear shapes in the basket to mirror the pears.

I personally don't like the idea of millegrain... just because of the overall flowiness and organicness of the design. You could perhaps do, like, smooth ridges that mirror the bezel around the pears.

Have you thought about not doing a basket at all? Like the original Lily except with the pears? I think that was one the novel things about the setting that I really appreciated. I love being able to see more of the stone, kind of floating there.

I might also get rid of the cuffs entirely and spread the ridges down the whole shank like this MC2 - http://images.marthastewart.com/images/content/web/weddings/jewelry_center/mcteige_mcclelland//mcteige_mcclelland_1016c_ring_xl.jpg
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

Here's an example of a brushed (rose) gold ring she did; I could also do matte metal. Do you think this would look good for my ring?



I asked her about making the bridge between the shank and basket more flowery, with petals that flow like in your Mc&Mc example. I feel like I'm asking more questions than I'm answering... ;)

GabbieHaloBrushedGold.jpg
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

velouriaL|1300930884|2878604 said:
Stilllll check in with your GF if you can about the mutlicolor gold just in case. If I were given a ring with ANY multicolor, I would be THRILLED, of course, but it would definitely NOT be ideal. For me. Just saying.

I like that basket a lot. Perhaps you could ask her to shape the split shank petals mirror the lines of basket somehow? Just push her toward less cut and paste design and more unified forms. I like also the idea of using pear shapes in the basket to mirror the pears.

I personally don't like the idea of millegrain... just because of the overall flowiness and organicness of the design. You could perhaps do, like, smooth ridges that mirror the bezel around the pears.

Have you thought about not doing a basket at all? Like the original Lily except with the pears? I think that was one the novel things about the setting that I really appreciated. I love being able to see more of the stone, kind of floating there.

I might also get rid of the cuffs entirely and spread the ridges down the whole shank like this MC2 - http://images.marthastewart.com/images/content/web/weddings/jewelry_center/mcteige_mcclelland//mcteige_mcclelland_1016c_ring_xl.jpg
Ditto. But especially the last bit. Not a huge fan of the cuffs...I feel like it breaks up the organic feel...

And YES on the Matte metal.
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

Lovely lovely ring :love:

FrekeChild said:
velouriaL|1300930884|2878604 said:
I might also get rid of the cuffs entirely and spread the ridges down the whole shank like this MC2 - http://images.marthastewart.com/images/content/web/weddings/jewelry_center/mcteige_mcclelland//mcteige_mcclelland_1016c_ring_xl.jpg
Ditto. But especially the last bit. Not a huge fan of the cuffs...I feel like it breaks up the organic feel...

And YES on the Matte metal.

I do agree with FrekeChild and veloriaL though, I think the cuffs look a little out of place...
 
Re: Got a great JW sapphire, let's find the perfect setting!

To offer another POV, I do like the cuff idea but would make them much thinner/finer --

and if you're going all yellow gold except for the cuffs, I would do the bottom half of the shank in high-polish yellow gold, then high-polish white metal cuff, then matte-finish yellow gold, and hopefully you're keeping the high-polish white metal prongs for the sapphire?

However you decide on the details, the design of this ring is really coming together - I think it will be beautiful!
 
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