Ruby Halo Ring

[praween_s]

Hello guys,

It’s me again after been disappeared for 3 years after my last post in Nov 2016 about the journey of my blue sapphire ring (I mean just not posting a thread but still observing and envying ).

To please myself in 2019 as a reward of my hard work, I went to my favorite shop in Bangkok (Expert Gems Manufacturing) seeking an untreated vivid red ruby for my new ring.

Well the family running the shop is way more expert on cutting and exporting blue sapphires from Chantaburi, Thailand to the world but they told me they could bring me some good red stones for selection as their cousin runs red ruby cutting business.

Few days later, they came back with few stones within my budget. I was lucky enough to make a selection first as the stones were going to be sent to Hong Kong for sale and they might never come back to Bangkok again

And that’s when I met with this stone....



Here’s the my hand-shot with the stone in the holder ring (and also my burmese ruby eternity ring)....



This is a 1.51ct Untreated Mozambique Ruby (it looks incredibly beautiful in person and much better than it looks in the picture no matter how hard I tried to capture it with my phone camera). No window. Symmetric shape. VVS to VS.

I’ll record the video of it in good lighting environment and then post it soon.

And here’s the cert...



Well this is unusual as I’ve never had a corundum smaller than 2.3ct before (all of my current colored stones are heated and all of them are much cheaper than this one!!! ... Took me few days to accept this truth about treated/untreated price scale)

But yeah this is the farthest I can go for an untreated ruby....

Considering the size of the stone against my big hands, I think it’s going to need a diamond halo so it won’t look too tiny when wearing.

The decision on ring setting is still a work-in-progress. I’ve already supplied all my preferences to the shop and I’m expecting to see the perspective sketch from them in a few days. I’ll keep updating this thread with the progress so please join me in waiting and I wish you will enjoy the purchasing journey with me.... More weeks to go....

 

[IcePhoenix]

What a gorgeous colour *drools

 

[Mrs_Strizzle]

So gorgeous! A halo for size will contrast the ruby beautifully. I feel ya on the costs of heated vs unheated, especially in ruby (which is why I haven't pulled the trigger for one myself). Congrats on your find!

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

Looks beautiful with the band. Enjoy it!

Annette

 

[natasha-cupcake]

That color just jumped out at me, took me by the hand and spun me around a few times! I absolutely love it! How I wish I had the budget for a beautiful ruby like that right now. Unfortunately, I will have to live vicariously through you. Please stick around and post lots of pictures of the stone and the final ring, too. It's going to look spectacular, I'm sure.

 

[mpc]

Beautiful stone!!! Can’t wait to see the design sketches!

 

[Arcadian]

Gorgeous Yellow gold yes? high kt yellow?

 

[voce]

Congrats! I'm a sucker for red stones myself, and yours is very lovely.

In my opinion, a fine red will look good in white as well. You may love yellow gold more than white gold, but some purplish reds you need to set with yellow to make the Adobe look better, and with purer reds you have the luxury of choosing.

 

[Bron357]

Very beautiful ruby. I share your dilemma, my ruby is wee and I have big hand and LOVE huge gemstones.
I think a petal style diamond halo would look lovely, decent size diamonds and in yellow gold.

 

[Bron357]

This idea. The ring is Antique and the ruby is the same size.
But the price tag via Ruby Lane of this one is
OMG
$66,800

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Color! The stuff ruby dreams are made of.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

what a beautiful deep to die for color
well done

 

[praween_s]

Awwww thank you all guys

So here’s the setting preferences I’ve given to the shop:

• White Gold 18k setting
• The ruby must be surrounded by round and baguette DVVS diamonds.
• Each diamond must have enough hole beneath it for lighting benefit and so it will easily be cleaned in my ultrasonic cleaner.
• The side profile of the ring must not overshadow the bottom of the stone.
• 4 claw prongs in Rose Gold 18k
• Knife Edge Micro Pave band (half top)

Let’s see how their drawings will look like.

And here’s the video I recorded while wearing the gem holder ring.

 

[Bron357]

This is my version of that style, my wee ruby is too small for the setting. My sapphire will go in it.

 

[praween_s]

This is my version of that style, my wee ruby is too small for the setting. My sapphire will go in it.

I wish it will turn out as beautiful as yours but my version might be smaller considering the center stone. I like the way the baguettes are set like sun rays.

Can’t wait to see how the design turns out...

 

[icy_jade]

That’s a gorgeous red!

Pls keep us posted of your ring setting.

 

[praween_s]

Okay it’s the day to deposit the stone at the shop so they can work accurately on the setting design (since it’s been in my safe for few days). I managed to take some photos in different lights while traffic very jam.

The picture of the stone from the top of the thread has been taken in the living room of my condo under warm light, windows closed. Another pic (with my hand) at the top taken in the shop with millions of halogen bulbs above my head.

But it is going to be pretty different today....

In the car (driver position):


In the car. Direct sunlight (Lowered side window):

 

[Bron357]

How exciting, have you seen any CAD for your ring design?
Can’t wait to see the final ring.

 

[praween_s]

How exciting, have you seen any CAD for your ring design?
Can’t wait to see the final ring.

Nah I don’t think they have computer CAD. What they’re going to do is to draw the sketch for me by hands (considering my previous pieces with them).

And after the TCW of diamonds and approximate weight for the metals are agreed and the design sketch got finalized, they will then proceed with wax carving by hands from scratch.

It is going to be completely handmade end-to-end as far as I know. And it takes soooooooooooo long to complete.

BTW, I’ve been told that the sketch will be ready today. So exciting.

 

[praween_s]

Hmmm it turns out to be this design.



But as the size of center stone is pretty small, the baguettes would look almost square and the designer suggests that I use princess cut diamonds instead.

But personally, Princess cut and Round cut are brilliant cuts, not step cut. They will look similar from afar and I just don’t want that.

I really like what they’ve come up with though. So I requested them to re-draw it with 6 corners instead of 8 so the baguettes will look more rectangular as it is important to me that both step cut and brilliant cut must be in the halo.

The new drawing will be ready on Monday they said........

 

[praween_s]

Another video of the stone with tweezers.

 

[Bron357]

Hmmmm, I don’t think the design will flow fluidly with just 6 corners. The ruby oval shape will mean larger “gaps” to the outside of the halo.
I would switch it around, have the baguettes pointed “out”, I’m the worlds worst drawer but like this.

 

[praween_s]

Hmmmm, I don’t think the design will flow fluidly with just 6 corners. The ruby oval shape will mean larger “gaps” to the outside of the halo.
I would switch it around, have the baguettes pointed “out”, I’m the worlds worst drawer but like this.

Many thanks for the recommendation. Appreciate your efforts on drawing that for me .

The pointed-out-baguettes design looks too feminine to me (I’m a 32 years old boy) and I’m not that confident to rock a flower-like ring in my usual outfits.

Up to now, I’m still unsure about rocking a halo either. I’m afraid that it might turn me into a wizard wearing enchanted ring but I really hope it will look good (and not too much) on me

I’ve been worrying about the gaps around the 4 corners too. But look at that ....



I think I’m ready to proceed with diamond sourcing and wax carving processes.

 

[voce]

Many thanks for the recommendation. Appreciate your efforts on drawing that for me .

The pointed-out-baguettes design looks too feminine to me (I’m a 32 years old boy) and I’m not that confident to rock a flower-like ring in my usual outfits.

Up to now, I’m still unsure about rocking a halo either. I’m afraid that it might turn me into a wizard wearing enchanted ring but I really hope it will look good (and not too much) on me

I’ve been worrying about the gaps around the 4 corners too. But look at that ....



I think I’m ready to proceed with diamond sourcing and wax carving processes.

I love the look of this design. But, I do think it's more feminine looking than the last design you posted.

 

[praween_s]

I love the look of this design. But, I do think it's more feminine looking than the last design you posted.

@voce Will it be a good idea if I just rotate its face to be like this?

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

hmmmm that may have made a difference
oh dear i can't remember the right word
but i love the oblong diamonds in the halo
they don't look overly feminine to me
im very excitted for you and can't wait to see it finished on your finger

 

[voce]

@voce Will it be a good idea if I just rotate its face to be like this?

It's just my opinion, but yes, I do think setting it E-W makes it more gender-neutral, less feminine. Do you know how long the production process will be? Looking forward to seeing hand shots.

 

[praween_s]

It's just my opinion, but yes, I do think setting it E-W makes it more gender-neutral, less feminine. Do you know how long the production process will be? Looking forward to seeing hand shots.

Actually, the very first conversation about this project with them was to make it E-W but they said the stone color will appear “better red” if we place it this way (and their expertise is to cut these stones and they’ve done it since before I was born so I believed them without asking further ). But I admit that I’ve seen it an E-W ring the second before stone purchasing, just couldn’t think of how the design will actually look like at that time.

Well I’ll check with them again to get more idea on “better red” term and if there is any technical/structural issues if I really want it E-W.

In response to your question about timing, since this is all handmade, it usually takes:

• 15 days for diamond/gemstone fitting (diamond can be quickly sourced from across the road. But for colored stones, they have corundum in every color and every size in their factory!!! I’ve seen a spectrum.)
• 15 days for each wax carving and confirmation.
• 15 days for molding, setting, polishing, plating, finishing

I’ve bought from them for more than 10 pieces and they could keep this speed at average.

45 days period is long enough for ones to die waiting . But they done good by periodically feeding progress pics from the factory to me so that I can breathe and live. And if it happens to be delayed, they will explain to me what gone unexpected and how they’re dealing with the issue.

There was a time when I ordered an eternity emerald ring and one of the stone cracked as part of stone setting and they have to find the new stone Having the same color, quality, size. They sent all the pics so I completely understand them.

 

[voce]

I've never heard that about the stone looking better N-S in general. I know that some windows appear better in one orientation offer the other. I would recommend you try placing it in both orientations to see if there is a noticeable difference.

What I DO know, however, is that setters will charge more to set stones E-W. I imagine that setting E-W is more challenging somehow, maybe because traditionally they've done it N-S and haven't got enough practice to where they feel confident setting stones E-W.

 

[praween_s]

Okay now finalized. Spoken to the shop and they insist that it looks better vertically on me than setting it horizontally.

I have already confirmed the design.

I have good faith in their craftsmanship. My previous pieces were more difficult than this one and they all came up perfectly

Now waiting for diamonds sourcing and then wax carving. Sourcing process takes shorter time than wax carving. When the diamonds are ready, I’ll visit the shop to inspect them.

Many thanks for all the comments on the ring setting design. Now let’s wait for the real stuffs