My version of the Princess Diana Bracelet

[Fly Girl]

Close up photo showing both sides of Diana's 5-stand pearl bracelet.

 

[iLander]

Oh, C@#P!

Did poor Sarah get steered in the wrong direction? I certainly thought the clasp and stone setting were one and the same!

It's a Royal piece of jewelry, for crying out loud, shouldn't they be the same?

Oh, my . . . I hope she's not ticked . . .

 

[Fly Girl]

Oh, C@#P!

Did poor Sarah get steered in the wrong direction? I certainly thought the clasp and stone setting were one and the same!

It's a Royal piece of jewelry, for crying out loud, shouldn't they be the same?

Oh, my . . . I hope she's not ticked . . .

I know.. I was just pulling out a photo to print out because I am planning a trip to my jeweler tomorrow, and I'm taking my aqua along for a consult. On the other hand, I figure the information you get here is worth what you pay for it, particularly when I'm the one giving it.

 

[iLander]

Oh, C@#P!

Did poor Sarah get steered in the wrong direction? I certainly thought the clasp and stone setting were one and the same!

It's a Royal piece of jewelry, for crying out loud, shouldn't they be the same?

Oh, my . . . I hope she's not ticked . . .

I know.. I was just pulling out a photo to print out because I am planning a trip to my jeweler tomorrow, and I'm taking my aqua along for a consult. On the other hand, I figure the information you get here is worth what you pay for it, particularly when I'm the one giving it.

Ugh, maybe she didn't want a direct "reproduction" per se. Maybe something "more in the spirit of"?

I was more into blaming myself, and I'm afraid to actually read through the thread. . .

Are you going to use a Stuller clasp or something, Flygirl?

 

[Fly Girl]

Oh, C@#P!

Did poor Sarah get steered in the wrong direction? I certainly thought the clasp and stone setting were one and the same!

It's a Royal piece of jewelry, for crying out loud, shouldn't they be the same?

Oh, my . . . I hope she's not ticked . . .

I know.. I was just pulling out a photo to print out because I am planning a trip to my jeweler tomorrow, and I'm taking my aqua along for a consult. On the other hand, I figure the information you get here is worth what you pay for it, particularly when I'm the one giving it.

Ugh, maybe she didn't want a direct "reproduction" per se. Maybe something "more in the spirit of"?

I was more into blaming myself, and I'm afraid to actually read through the thread. . .

Are you going to use a Stuller clasp or something, Flygirl?

Yes, I was going to propose this 3-strand clasp, and see what other ideas they had. My aqua is 13.5 mm long, and this clasp is 12.5 mm in diameter, so I thought it might work. http://www.stuller.com/products/116/187896/?groupId=3018&series=116

 

[iLander]

OOOOH! PRETTY clasp Flygirl!

 

[Fly Girl]

I dropped off this project at my jewelers today. He made the following comments on the project.

- My emerald cut aquamarine is too deep to be set into a clasp itself. By the time the stone is raised high enough to allow a clasp tongue to be inserted underneath, it will be way too high off of the wrist.

- Normally a pearl bracelet is just loose enough to allow one finger to be inserted underneath. But, for a bracelet where you want a beautiful stone to remain on the top of the arm, it needs to be fitted just a bit tighter. He brought out a three strand pearl bracelet he had repaired for another customer to show me. It had a gorgeous sapphire and diamond clasp, about an inch in diameter, which the customer wanted to wear face up, and not have it rotate out of sight under her wrist. It was stunning, and had been adjusted to fit her wrist fairly snuggly. It was way too tight for me. I think this will be less of an issue when there is an interesting clasp on one side and a gorgeous stone on the other. Obviously, Diana wore hers fairly loose.

- He did not like the round clasp I selected above, but thinks it should be rectangular in shape, similar to the stone.

- He is not quite sure how to build the setting for the aqua to also hold the pearl strands. He is thinking about this. The other clerks in the store said he loves these sorts of engineering problems, and will eventually work out a solution. I know this is true from other projects he has done for me, so for now, the aqua is in his shop waiting for a clasp to be found and a setting to be built.

 

[SB621]

I never noticed that the clasp was completely different from the gemstone. I thought the gemstone was the clasp! Hmmm...this does present some options though. Orginally Sally was going to put a bracer on the other end of the pearls to keep them in line. Now I'm wondering if instead of the bracer I should use the gemstone and just have a really simple clasp opposite? I will shoot Sally an email and see what she thinks.

Flygirl keep us updated on your project as well! I'm so jealous you have an aqua! I really wanted an aqua as well but I couldn't find one in the size that I really wanted. Hopefully one day down the road it will happen. Do you mind sharing where you soursed it from?

 

[Fly Girl]

I never noticed that the clasp was completely different from the gemstone. I thought the gemstone was the clasp! Hmmm...this does present some options though. Orginally Sally was going to put a bracer on the other end of the pearls to keep them in line. Now I'm wondering if instead of the bracer I should use the gemstone and just have a really simple clasp opposite? I will shoot Sally an email and see what she thinks.

Flygirl keep us updated on your project as well! I'm so jealous you have an aqua! I really wanted an aqua as well but I couldn't find one in the size that I really wanted. Hopefully one day down the road it will happen. Do you mind sharing where you soursed it from?

My aqua is from our friend, Dana. He cut it and it was on the litnon website. Dana said the color was great for the price, so I picked it up. It has a fair amount of sugar, so it looks terrible in pictures, and I'm sure that is why it was marked down in price. However, it will be fine for the use I'm putting it to. It is way too big for me to wear as a ring, and I already have an aqua pendant made for me by a designer, so an aqua bracelet is a perfect solution. BTW, I got it well over a year ago, so it has been sitting around for a while, waiting for inspiration. I thank you for that.

 

[SB621]

beautiful stone! my topaz is also from Dana- i find he is really the only person I know of online that sells BIG stones.

I can't wait to see your bracelet and here your jewelers ideas. I did email Sally to see about having my bracelet now be 2 sided or more similar to my inspiration piece. I don't want the bracelet to be snug- i would like it loose so I do see the point of having it be 2 sided.

Keep my updated on your piece- I can't wait to see it. I can't take credit for this bracelet at all. Someone on the CS forum posted the inspiration bracelet last year- or perhaps the year before and I knew that I had to have something similar. I just love how PS works!

 

[SB621]

Oh, C@#P!

Did poor Sarah get steered in the wrong direction? I certainly thought the clasp and stone setting were one and the same!

It's a Royal piece of jewelry, for crying out loud, shouldn't they be the same?

Oh, my . . . I hope she's not ticked . . .

nope not ticked at all! I would have loved the bracelet either way! I did email Sally to see about some changes. I think once she sees the stone we will start the whole design process. I'm super excitied to see what she comes up with. the Diana shot was definitely my inspiration. I want it to be similar but not exactly the same...we will see! Stay tuned...

 

[iLander]

Oh, C@#P!

Did poor Sarah get steered in the wrong direction? I certainly thought the clasp and stone setting were one and the same!

It's a Royal piece of jewelry, for crying out loud, shouldn't they be the same?

Oh, my . . . I hope she's not ticked . . .

nope not ticked at all! I would have loved the bracelet either way! I did email Sally to see about some changes. I think once she sees the stone we will start the whole design process. I'm super excitied to see what she comes up with. the Diana shot was definitely my inspiration. I want it to be similar but not exactly the same...we will see! Stay tuned...

Oh thank you, I was worried! I'm so glad you're not mad . . .

I am really interested to watch these 2 cool projects get done. They're similar, but very unique and different in their own way.

Both will definitely be HEIRLOOM quality.

 

[HHPmom]

I look forward to seeing the finished piece. It's really cool.

 

[Indylady]

I am really looking forward to seeing these two projects completed!

 

[SB621]

Final update: i emailed Sally that instead of the bracer I wanted to create something for the gemstone to be on one side ofthe bracelet and then a clasp opposite it- I have no idea of the design. I don't want to use diamonds or have it be flowery so Sally will work something up. She said that since the gemstone would no longer be part of the clasp we could use less gold so my bracelet will be a little bit cheaper. The stone should arrive in about 2 weeks then Sally will tell me what size pearls I should start looking for.

Any ideas for where I can find some beautiful pearls? I would like them to be round and as white as possible with excellent luster. I would need 3 strands and I would like to keep it under $250.

 

[SB621]

Ok this should be my last update for awhile. If you haven't seen my thread, my DH just bought me a beautiful art deco bracelet, which was way more then I would have spent on a piece of jewelry for myself- not that I'm complaining as I LOVE this bracelet

Anyhow I have several projects in the works right now so I"m trying to see if there are tasteful ways to cut corners on a few of them. Sally was really understanding. We came to the conclusion that I should buy a stock clasp instead of having her create one. This would probably make a huge dent in what I would have paid in a custom clasp. The stock setting will also mean that the pearls will have to be smaller. Closer to 6.5 vs. the 7.5-8's that I orginally wanted. Attached is the picture of the triple clasp I bought from Jeremy at Pearl Paradise (he is a doll by the way).

I orginally wanted the Fan Diamond clasp but it was out of stock- bummer . But then I decided for the whole look of the piece the Victorian Diamond Triple clasp would work for me. I puchased it in 14k white gold. Carat weight is 1.72

Dimension 15.22 mm x 13.77 mm

For the pearls I have 3 strands of 6-7mm AA+ white freshwater pearls. Sorry no pictures as of yet! I'm not expecting greatness from them, but I wanted something simple and classic.

I have to say that I'm so happy I'm working with Sally. She has been so patient with me and all my emails. We have made so many revisions already. I know if it were anyone else I would have driven them crazy allready so I'm thrilled that she has been gracious through the whole process. My gemstone is inroute to her as we speak and once I receive the clasp and pearls I will shoot those off as well.

Next time I post entire bracelet completed will hopefully be completed!

 

[iLander]

Gorgeous clasp! Jealous!!

 

[Fly Girl]

I have decided to go with sterling silver for my bracelet to save money. I ordered these two clasps from A Grain of Sand, and they arrived late last week. I dropped by the jewelers today, and the smaller clasp looked far better with the aquamarine. So, I left it and the jeweler can now begin to work on the silver mounting for the aqua. He was musing about matching the milgrain on the clasp when I was leaving. I look forward to seeing how he works the mounting out.

 

[cushioncutnut]

I too like that clasp but the other clasp will be nice for another pearl project.....

 

[iLander]

Nice choice, Flygirl! Lovely clasp!

I'm with CCN, you'll have to use the other one for more pearls!

 

[Fly Girl]

Thanks. I agree, CCN and iLander. It's a really nice focal clasp, and I have some pearl strands laying about just waiting for me to string them. When I get around to it, as they say.

 

[movie zombie]

duplicate removed.

 

[movie zombie]

this is such an interesting project. and its nearing completion! which means soon there will be pictures

MoZo

 

[SB621]

FlyGirl I love both clasps. Though the one on the left is my favorite- that would look gorgous with pearls perhaps alternativing with some sort of crystal bead? i can't wait to see how they turn out. I'm sure the aqua will be magnificant!

 

[Fly Girl]

I have an update on this project. The jeweler called and wanted me to come in to approve the setting for the aqua. It is handmade in sterling, and is just roughed out and not polished at this point. We also took a look at pearl sizes, and will be going with these Chinese freshwater 5.0 to 5.5 mm whites. The pearls will be mounted on bars with 3 small rings which will be attached to the sides along the base of the aqua mounting. We measured my wrist. Now we wait some more. In the meantime, I got some photos from today for you to enjoy.

 

[movie zombie]

progress has indeed been made! you're going to have a lot of fun wearing this one.

MoZo

 

[cushioncutnut]

I enjoy seeing this project unfold! Very pretty so far!!

 

[cushioncutnut]

I enjoy seeing this project unfold! Very pretty so far!!

 

[that_someone_special]

Wow.. cool! Thanks for the update

 

[diamondseeker2006]

That is really going to be beautiful!