Greetings to all at the PS community. Just wanted to share with you some pics of the engagement ring I recently had made by the excellent Victor Canera. About nine months were spent from the time I began casually looking into different ring designs and diamond cuts to having the finished ring in my possession. Considering the speed and efficiency with which Victor worked, once underway, all this time seems almost funny to me in retrospect. But coming to this with no special knowledge, beyond a sense for what is well-made and beautiful and what is not, I had many questions that needed satisfaction before rushing into buying. And for that I owe a partial debt of gratitude to the many knowledgeable posters on these boards.
My fiance-to-be fortunately offered a few general guidelines in choosing her ring, or I may have had some difficulty beginning. She hoped for a ring with a halo, and she preferred square-ish stones to rounds, and platinum/white gold coloring to yellow gold. Beyond these suggestions, she wanted no involvement. This significantly narrowed the possibilities and gave me something to work with. For my part, I wished for a high quality, prominent, reasonably-sized center stone (1 ct or more).
An immediate difficulty I faced was that having a halo meant pave, and a lot of the pave I had seen did not appeal to me. Specifically, the very jagged edges and blobs of metal holding the melee in place struck me as a little ungainly. Could there be an alternative perhaps? Someone who specialized in doing exceptionally fine, artistic pave? It was this quest that led me to Victor. The finished ring was done in "Neo-French" pave - a style that, to my knowledge, only Victor does and which I take to be his personal favorite. This pave is nothing like your standard pave. Each piece of melee is ensconced in perfect tiny architecture and held tightly together so that no intervening metal interrupts the flow of diamonds. The difference is obvious macroscopically, but you really almost need a magnifying glass to appreciate the full artistry of this work.
The shank also presented a dilemma because I was initially interested in a split design, however Victor thought that on a 1+ ct, the split would overwhelm. This was resolved perfectly by going for a cathedral design, in which the shank still rises up to meet the halo, but without splitting. On diamonds in this range, I think the cathedral really looks like an elegant slimmer analog to the split on larger stones. To satisfy me on its appearance, Victor made this beautiful side profile sketch:
I opted to use a diamond from Victor's own (recently inaugurated) line of stones, the Canera Antique Cushions, a choice I can happily recommend. Although these stones run a little higher than their generic alternatives, the special cut enhances the stones' light reflecting abilities, making for a brighter appearance. Victor provided me with ASET images demonstrating the difference. I felt the extra cost was justified because the stone is really the centerpiece of Victor's rings, and just as a piece of fine art ought to be equal to or better than its frame, so also the diamond with respect to its setting. Also worthy of note, using Victor's line of stones takes 5% off the cost of the setting and expedites the time to completion (about 2 weeks in this case). Pricing seemed reasonable to me considering the nature of this ring.
In regards to Victor himself, I must join the general chorus of approbation. Professional, efficient, knowledgeable... and very patient! It was an absolute pleasure to work with him. He even took time on his weekend to make the above sketch just to keep the ball rolling on the process.
Thanks to all here for the education. The finished ring is everything I had hoped for, and more. Can't wait to present it to her. Hope you enjoy the pics.
Professional photo:
Video:
http://youtu.be/okYBWTkLkTA
Specs:
-Cathedral Shank Halo Solitaire in Platinum
-Neo-French Pave throughout
-Single-Cut melee
-1.12ct I-VS2 Canera Antique Cushion, GIA cert.
My fiance-to-be fortunately offered a few general guidelines in choosing her ring, or I may have had some difficulty beginning. She hoped for a ring with a halo, and she preferred square-ish stones to rounds, and platinum/white gold coloring to yellow gold. Beyond these suggestions, she wanted no involvement. This significantly narrowed the possibilities and gave me something to work with. For my part, I wished for a high quality, prominent, reasonably-sized center stone (1 ct or more).
An immediate difficulty I faced was that having a halo meant pave, and a lot of the pave I had seen did not appeal to me. Specifically, the very jagged edges and blobs of metal holding the melee in place struck me as a little ungainly. Could there be an alternative perhaps? Someone who specialized in doing exceptionally fine, artistic pave? It was this quest that led me to Victor. The finished ring was done in "Neo-French" pave - a style that, to my knowledge, only Victor does and which I take to be his personal favorite. This pave is nothing like your standard pave. Each piece of melee is ensconced in perfect tiny architecture and held tightly together so that no intervening metal interrupts the flow of diamonds. The difference is obvious macroscopically, but you really almost need a magnifying glass to appreciate the full artistry of this work.
The shank also presented a dilemma because I was initially interested in a split design, however Victor thought that on a 1+ ct, the split would overwhelm. This was resolved perfectly by going for a cathedral design, in which the shank still rises up to meet the halo, but without splitting. On diamonds in this range, I think the cathedral really looks like an elegant slimmer analog to the split on larger stones. To satisfy me on its appearance, Victor made this beautiful side profile sketch:
I opted to use a diamond from Victor's own (recently inaugurated) line of stones, the Canera Antique Cushions, a choice I can happily recommend. Although these stones run a little higher than their generic alternatives, the special cut enhances the stones' light reflecting abilities, making for a brighter appearance. Victor provided me with ASET images demonstrating the difference. I felt the extra cost was justified because the stone is really the centerpiece of Victor's rings, and just as a piece of fine art ought to be equal to or better than its frame, so also the diamond with respect to its setting. Also worthy of note, using Victor's line of stones takes 5% off the cost of the setting and expedites the time to completion (about 2 weeks in this case). Pricing seemed reasonable to me considering the nature of this ring.
In regards to Victor himself, I must join the general chorus of approbation. Professional, efficient, knowledgeable... and very patient! It was an absolute pleasure to work with him. He even took time on his weekend to make the above sketch just to keep the ball rolling on the process.
Thanks to all here for the education. The finished ring is everything I had hoped for, and more. Can't wait to present it to her. Hope you enjoy the pics.
Professional photo:
Video:
http://youtu.be/okYBWTkLkTA
Specs:
-Cathedral Shank Halo Solitaire in Platinum
-Neo-French Pave throughout
-Single-Cut melee
-1.12ct I-VS2 Canera Antique Cushion, GIA cert.
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