Mother''s ring help, please!

[Definitely. Maybe]

I was talking to my mom the other day and she mentioned wanting a mother''s ring with mine and my brother and sister''s birthstones it. All of the women on my mom''s side have had one, except her and I would really like to have one made/bought for her.

I have no idea where to start, which is why I am asking for any and all advice, inspirtation photos, ideas, where to get it made/ where to buy one, etc.

I have found some while looking online (the normal keepsake ones with small stones and names), but I think they are too... boring? I don''t know. I want it to be really special and something she is proud to wear.

Ideas:
- yellow gold or white & yellow
- possibly engraved with our names, but not like the stock ones I''ve seen online
- buy stones individually
- Colors/stones: Garnet (Jan), Topaz (Dec), and Diamond (April)

As far as budget I really don''t have one set in stone... I guess it will really just depend on advice, ideas, cost/size of stones, custom/not, etc.

So, I guess what I''d also like to know is what would you want it to look like? what would you like to wear?

Thanks in advance! Any and all ideas are welcome! please, please help!

 

[bookworm240]

I have 2 thoughts -

You could always go the route of stacking rings. I have been looking at them on esty.com They also have a lot of jewelers who are pretty reasonably priced and do custom work.

My other thought would be to find a semi-mount you like that has a space for the number of stones you would like.

Oh one more thought...someone posted the idea of buying a ring on overstock.com just for the setting. So you could find a nice setting and then get the stones you wanted set.

I am still a newbie here, but those are my thoughts.

 

[Definitely. Maybe]

Thank you for the suggestions. I had thought about stacking rings, but I think my mom would prefer them all in one ring... I''ve also been looking at other settings. I haven''t checked overstock, yet, thanks so much for bringing that up!

One ring that I saw that I really loved was mariedtiger''s ring with the stones and the engraving on the side. I really like that it is unique, personalized, and... of course... beautiful.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I think the diamond is the difficult stone here. I am afraid a small diamond may look like an accent stone, instead of one of 3 main stones. Or you will need a very generous budget!

What colour are you thinking for the topaz and the garnet? I may be mistaken but the stones, originally, had an astrological meaning, tied to the colour of the stone (which, of course, meant the most common colour).

I like the idea of a birthstone band. For example, replace 2 of the diamonds on this band with the correct stone. She can wear it with her e-ring and wedding band, for a "family set" (marriage and children)

 

[Definitely. Maybe]

Lady- Thanks so much for responding. I just typed a huge response and there was an error! Ahh. Oh well.

I am finding myself a bit lost in deciding the colors for the months. The color and stone varies per site you visit. Garnet- I would like it to be a dark red. Not sure what color or stone for December. I''ll look it up...

I had seen this ring and kind of liked the idea for it. Hopefully it attaches... I could have them 3 different sizes, like this one, and put the diamond in the smallest. April is for my little sister, so I guess that would be ok too...

I do like, well, LOVE the idea of a family band. I think that would be so cute and would love to have one myself oneday. But, for my mom I don''t think it would work because her diamond is really, really tiny. I don''t even know the carat weight.

I don''t mind spending more for the diamond. She has never bought or been given anything like this and I really just feel she deserves it for everything she has done for us.

 

[Definitely. Maybe]

Okay, it didn''t attach.

http://www.ice.com/rings/gemstone-ring-prd_rcc_022898.jsp

This is the link to a ring that I first saw and liked. I could do something like this with 3 different size stones, but with them smaller? I guess I would have to look and see what stones I could find first.

 

[ma re]

With the stones you listed, I''d suggest the following. Get a dark red (so called, pyrope) garnet for January and london blue topaz (the darkest blue topaz variety) for December. That way you will have two colors that are easy to combine in a single piece of jewellery. If you''d, for example, get a usual sky or swiss blue topaz (those are all trade names), garnet would be much darker than any of them, and if the stones would be set on the opposite sides of the diamond, one would be much darker than the other - that means, no visual balance and an awkward look. Of course, there are other options to consider when it comes to gemstones, but this one is probably the best in terms of budget. Garnets come in all colors except blue and topaz can be any color except maybe purple and green (except some surface coated "varieties"), so there are a lot of possibilities, but some of them can be costly and hard to find.

Another thing to keep in mind when mixing gems are their respective levels of brilliance. Some gems sparkle more (like diamonds or garnets), some not so much (like topaz or citrine), and therefore make it harder to combine them, since you wouldn''t want one of them overpowering others. Since there''s a diamond in this combo, I''d suggest maybe looking at getting stones in a baguette cut. They''re available in small sizes and often cut as accent stones in materials such as those you need. This kind of cut would also make topaz appear (almost) equally as brilliant as the other stones, which would not be the case with a tiny round one (...that could never come close to a diamond in terms of sparkle). You can set them like THIS (next to each other), or like they''re set in the sides of THIS ring (on top of one another) - I''d suggest in yellow gold if you go with these shades and colors. Whichever you decide, it''s elegant and easy to wear.

 

[bookworm240]

I just did a quick search for some other settings....sadly I don''t know how to put 3 pics on one page.

 

[bookworm240]

another

 

[bookworm240]

and finally

 

[bookworm240]

Oh and Mr Ma Re....I still

you!!

 

[chrono]

Date: 5/4/2009 7:17:49 AM
Author: bookworm240
and finally

I like this one (the antique looking band with milgrain) the best because it doesn''t look tacky like the typical mother''s band where the colours can clash. It also has a very pretty design. The diamonds between the alternating coloured gemstones also helps with the flow of the ring and colour blending.

 

[bookworm240]

I like that one the best as well.....you and I have excellent taste Chrono....sending a hug.

 

[ma re]

Bookworm, you posted some interesting suggestions, and I''ll point to one particular detail about them (for learning purposes) - color combos. If you look at #2, you can see that the colors combine much better/easier than in the other examples, as their tone (lightness/darkness) is very similar. In the other two, dark blue (I''m guessing sapphire) sticks out like a sore thumb among the pastels. That''s why I suggested going with the pyrope garnet and swiss blue topaz in this particular case.

 

[chrono]

Mr. Ma Re,
I actually like the strong contrast of the dark blue with the pastel pink and yellow in the 3rd example.

I think having the little diamonds in between the gemstones and also not being set next to each other helps with the sore thumb appearance.