Round Halo Eternity Wedding Set completed, Mark @ ERD

[TracyBear]

I'm so excited! I had to share the good news with my Pricescoper family!! Thanks to everyone who gave advice and direction on this project. You guys are the best! Can't wait see Hovig's wonderful craftsmanship in person.

On March 7th, all I can see when I look at the ring were the huge prongs. It's like when you're distracted from a person's face by their bad haircut. Now on May 7th, I can finally focus my attention on the center stone.


The photo is out of focus and there's lint under the right corner prong, but otherwise I'm really pleased with the remake.



As always, stats are listed for those who want more info:
A. SELECTING MY DIAMOND:
GIA 7.51-7.53x 4.62mm, 1.60ct, G, internally flawless, 3X, no florescence, hearts & arrows
My personal top 5 tools.
1. http://www.pricescope.com/tools/hca
2. http://www.octonus.com/oct/mss/gia&agspgs.phtml
3.http://www.hrdresearch.be/en/DiamondInfo/articlesPDF/Article2_%20Relation_HA_and_cut_parameters.pdf
4. http://www.pricescope.com/tools/AGA_NAJA_Cut_Class_Grader
5.http://diamondpriceinfo.com

B. SELECTING MY VENDOR:
I went with Mark Turnowski from Engagement Rings Direct because of low price and good quality.
Price comparison by % base on a 3.25 ring size and a 2mm width.
Victor Canera: pt=100%
Jewels by Erica: pt=86%
Mark T: Pt=70%
Baxter: Pt=65%
James Allen: pt=62%
B2CJewels: pt= 42%

C.SELECTING MY METAL:
I chose Pt/Ru because I wanted something stronger than 18kt, but not as brittle as 14kt.
Wide range of metals available from ERD : 14kt, 18kt, Pt/Ir, Pt/Ru
Scale of hardness: 950Pt/Ir = 80, 900Pt/Ir = 110, 18kt = 125, 950Pt/Ru = 130, and 14kt = 140

 

[luvsdmb]

Love it!

 

[SB621]

Hooray for happy endings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome to the halo side

 

[pandabee]

The new prongs are absolutely perfectly sized, and love that you can still see the claws! So dainty and delicate.

 

[Enerchi]

FANTASTIC claw prongs!!! And I LOOOOOOOOOVE claw prongs!!

That halo is amazing - just perfect now. And what a thorough comparison chart!

 

[TracyBear]

@luvsdmb: It'll be another month before my man can visit and bring the rings so I'm crossing my fingers that it'll fit!

@Sarah: The halo side is the place to be

@pandabee: I like how they made the prongs thinner, but kept it sharp too!

@ Enerchi: At first, we were disorganized. We didn't clearly define the budget so we kept saying, another thousand here is fine, thousand there is ok, couple thousand here for this is totally worth it... we ended up going 10K over budget on the diamond alone. It was a ridiculous amount to spend on an accessory, especially in this economy when people are losing their jobs and things are unstable. I had to get systematic so we can see what aspect of the ring was worth the money where we can cut back to meet our budget. With the help of an excel spreadsheet and Mark's discount, we ended up going 6K under budget on the entire project.




I scaled the center stone to the same size and realize how much larger it looked with the thinner prongs. The 2 month wait is now justified.

 

[motownmama]

VERY nice outcome!!!!!

 

[TracyBear]

My chubby soon to be hubby has the same pinky size as my ring finger so he sent me some teaser photos over Skype. Can't wait to see the real thing! Hovig forgot to engrave the date on our ring and he paved the entire donut even when I asked him not to. Oh well, overall it looks so beautiful that I'll overlook these minor details. When the rings wear down, I'll take it as a sign to upgrade!

 

[kathness]

Beautiful set!!!

 

[TracyBear]

Beautiful set!!!

Thanks Kathness. Mr. TracyBear keeps teasing me with more info everyday so I can't wait to see it in person!

D. FINAL STATS ON MY RINGS:
E-ring: 2.18ct total
shank: full eternity, 2mm
halo: tilted 30 degrees
melees: full cut, F/G color, VVS+ clarity
ring size: 3.25-3.5

W-ring: .48ct total
shank: full eternity, 2mm
melees: full cut, F/G color, VVS+ clarity
ring size: 3.25-3.5

 

[TracyBear]

E. OVERALL EXPERIENCE WITH ERD: 4 out of 5
The final product looks stunning! I couldn’t be happier. It really made my Memorial Day weekend memorable! In terms of the product’s craftsmanship, it’s superb for the price that we’ve paid. I would recommend Mark if you're on a low budget. The only downside to my experience was the numerous circumstances that caused us to wait roughly 3 months for our rings. I had a complicated order and Mark had numerous personal issues during the making of my ring, a disastrous combination. If you have a standard order, I feel that Mark will save you money while still giving you an excellent product.



Outside textured embossed packaging looks sophisticated and classy. I really appreciated that they put the rings separately so they don't grind against each other during shipment. That was really thoughtful.



The ring boxes looks cheap and are poorly made. The material is of a velvet/suede-like fabric that is a lint magnet. The color is of a dull dried blood maroon.



I like the idea of a clip instead of a slit to hold the rings since you can display it at a slant. If you want to maximize your grand finale moment for your significant other, I would recommend purchasing another box, like those nice $20 LED lite ones. The inside of the ERD boxes feels like cardboard and look so tacky that it makes their expensive product look cheap. If I was the marketing director for ERD, I would update the ring boxes to a faux leather material in a rich burgundy color. It doesn't cost that much as they can still use their nice outer paper packaging. It'll make a world of visual difference. Presentation is key!



I'm impressed with the craftsmanship. Under the microscope, there were some slightly uneven paving, but visually all together it looks perfect!



Here's the completed set. My stone is cut for brilliance and fire, not for spread so I didn't get as much finger cover as I would like; however, this small stone sparkles even in near darkness so that made up for it. I'm hoping that DSS don't set in so I can keep this set forever and make my fiance happy.



The set is a tad large for my left ring finger. I'm thinking of wearing my promise ring on my left hand and the set on my right hand. What do you gals think? I'm part European, can I get away with it?

 

[woofmama]

Gorgeous rings!!! The claw prongs are perfection Enjoy!

 

[TracyBear]

Gorgeous rings!!! The claw prongs are perfection Enjoy!

Thanks woofmama! After seeing it in person, I would def. think about getting 6 prongs for stability since the claws are so delicate/tiny. They're completely camouflaged into the diamond so you can't see them anyways.

 

[Christina...]

Very pretty and I'm happy that you love it!!

 

[TracyBear]

Very pretty and I'm happy that you love it!!

Thanks Christina! It's funny, but on our engagement, we forgot about the ring. We've known each other forever, I chose my own ring design, and I pretty much knew that it was going down that weekend. I came in pretty chilled, didn't think that I'll be surprised or moved. But when he said his little speech and got down on one knee, everything clicked. "Holy shit, it's really happening. I'm going to be married to my best friend!" I felt so lucky to have someone to love and be loved in return. After I said, YES!, we just hugged until someone pointed out that he needs to give me the ring. His hands shook so badly that he missed my finger twice. Memories of our 13 years of friendship flashed back, it was overwhelmingly emotional. I felt like I was going to barf and my face showed it. It really didn't help that we were on a ship! Funny how I obsessed over an object for months which turned out to be pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things.



The moment it all went down.

 

[Enerchi]

TracyBear - I love the rings on your GORGEOUS LONG SLIM fingers!! They look amazing - ERD did a fantastic job (in the grand scheme of things... a 3/12 delay isn't too terrible when you look at 'forever' together!)

I am really loving the set together--- perfect match!! Congratulations again- they are gorgeous rings!

 

[TracyBear]

Thanks Enerchi! A week after I got the E-ring, I took it to my local jeweler to have them build up the shank from the inside so now it fits so much better! I was going to ask them to reset the center stone as well since it's set unsymmetrically. Ultimately, I decided not to because I was worried this would somehow weaken the prongs. I wonder why ERD set their stones like this. It's not on the arrows and it's not between two arrows, it's just slightly off to the side of one. Does this have some structural advantage or something?

 

[Laila619]

Your set is beautiful!! Congrats!

 

[Lilly2013]

Dear TracyBear, would you mind to share how you got ERD to remake your ring, or they just change the prongs? I am so sad now that the same problem happened to me, here is the pic of my ring, god, I am so upset now, please help me!

 

[TracyBear]

Dear TracyBear, would you mind to share how you got ERD to remake your ring, or they just change the prongs? I am so sad now that the same problem happened to me, here is the pic of my ring, god, I am so upset now, please help me!

Hello Lilly2013, I'm so sorry to hear that your prongs were not to your liking. I contacted Mark, told him that my prongs are messed up, and he made an entire new ring. It took time, but it's completely worth it in the end because now the melees are evenly distributed throughout the halo. I hope that Mark is able to resolve the prong issue for you by now. Take care.

 

[junebug17]

I don't know how I missed this! Your set is gorgeous TracyBear and looks fantastic on your tiny finger!