So my Jeff White sapphire is all boxed up.....just gotta figure out who to send it to....some feedba

[DianaBanana]

Date: 5/6/2009 3:54:25 PM
Author: LostSapphire

Help yerself!!

I'm at work but will post more later.

I'd be happy to sketch something up for you on my CAD. Can you give me the size of the cushion again? I'm sure it's somewhere but I'm lazy today....maybe if I can draw something for you it would help visualize.

I also really don't like the style where LM outlines all 3 stones in the halo. It doesn't do anything for me, design wise. Especially when it's done in a 3rd colour....but that might just be me.

LS

Would you really do that?? You are FANTASTIC!!!

The sapphire is 7mm x 7.5mm.

I agree - I'm not loving Leon's Montpassier style. It's coming down to either a plain micropave halo, which would be lovely, or a something LS inspired, perhaps with smaller melee to keep the cushion shape, and fat pears or shields that transition into the shank.

Now we're cooking with gas!!

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 5/6/2009 4:35:48 PM
Author: DianaBanana

Date: 5/6/2009 3:54:25 PM
Author: LostSapphire

Help yerself!!

I''m at work but will post more later.

I''d be happy to sketch something up for you on my CAD. Can you give me the size of the cushion again? I''m sure it''s somewhere but I''m lazy today....maybe if I can draw something for you it would help visualize.

I also really don''t like the style where LM outlines all 3 stones in the halo. It doesn''t do anything for me, design wise. Especially when it''s done in a 3rd colour....but that might just be me.

LS

Would you really do that?? You are FANTASTIC!!!

The sapphire is 7mm x 7.5mm.

I agree - I''m not loving Leon''s Montpassier style. It''s coming down to either a plain micropave halo, which would be lovely, or a something LS inspired, perhaps with smaller melee to keep the cushion shape. and fat pears or shields that transition into the shank.

Now we''re cooking with gas!!

Let me ponder on the shape for a bit and I''ll see what I can come up with.

That would be 20% on the total cost of the ring. Will you be paying by cash?

LS

 

[cushioncutnut]

I am not sure if I like the halo''s all the way around either. I do love the Blueberry idea with smaller stones around the halo. That would be Gorgeous. I was hoping Leon would come up with new idea rathing than suggesting an idea from his current designs.

 

[Skippy123]

Oh man, I can''t wait to see your BLUEBERRY

 

[Gypsy]

YAY for a CAD of the design. COOL BEANS!

I'm not a fan of the halo around all three stones. It just doesn't do it for me. Diana, what do you think of the sidestones? Do you like that pair of pears? Like I said, just not sure if I like the shields better or if I just don't like that pair of pears.

I too was hoping Leon would come up with something 'new'. I think your vision is a strong and good one. I do have an idea though. I would start the pave up after the side stones on the shank. Just like Harriet's Tsav's shank. With the smaller melee on the halo, I think it might be nice to see it carried through to the shank (just one sided pave).

And for the side view. I personally would go for either bubbles (if you want pave or a design) or no fligree or pave and just simple swoopy wires.

 

[DianaBanana]

LS - would you settle for payment in chocolate? Or design credit and eternal gratefulness?

Date: 5/6/2009 4:46:08 PM
Author: cushioncutnut
I am not sure if I like the halo''s all the way around either. I do love the Blueberry idea with smaller stones around the halo. That would be Gorgeous. I was hoping Leon would come up with new idea rathing than suggesting an idea from his current designs.

CCN - I probably haven''t given Leon much creative freedom to come up with something new. Although I''m giving him carte blanche with the gallery (yah, super generous, right?).....I didn''t realize how undecided I still am. In hindsight, I probably should have held off on sending the stone.

Here''s what I *know* I want:

Diamonds surrounding the sapphire - I really want some white bling around that stone, to add both size and sparkle

Whether the halo is made from large or small diamonds, I want the least amount of metal showing as possible - no milgrained edge for me

I want to setting to remain square/cushion shaped - I don''t want the diamonds to create a rounded outline or a scalloped outline

A setting that is not uber low - I like a bit of height in my rings - somewhere between 6-8mm

Gallery detail - I don''t care what it is, pave, filigree, secret diamond or otherwise - I like a pretty profile on my rings

I''d love to have pears for added sparkle but they''re a "nice to have" at this point - not absolutely essential. I''d really love to incorporate side stones - I just don''t want a classic three stone ring...if that makes sense!

Hmmmm....maybe I''ll give Leon the list above and let him have at it!

 

[Gypsy]

Diana, I think telling a vendor what you don''t like is as important as telling them what you do. I always find the list of NOs longer than the list of YESs.

Here''s a list of NOs;
Milgrain
Bowties on sidestones
round halo
one big halo around all the stones.
Classic three stone
Center stone without a halo

Etc.

 

[DianaBanana]

Date: 5/6/2009 6:01:41 PM
Author: Gypsy
YAY for a CAD of the design. COOL BEANS!

I'm not a fan of the halo around all three stones. It just doesn't do it for me. Diana, what do you think of the sidestones? Do you like that pair of pears? Like I said, just not sure if I like the shields better or if I just don't like that pair of pears.

I too was hoping Leon would come up with something 'new'. I think your vision is a strong and good one. I do have an idea though. I would start the pave up after the side stones on the shank. Just like Harriet's Tsav's shank. With the smaller melee on the halo, I think it might be nice to see it carried through to the shank (just one sided pave).

And for the side view. I personally would go for either bubbles (if you want pave or a design) or no fligree or pave and just simple swoopy wires.

Hmmmmm.....sidestones.....I think the shield shape went quite well with the cushion IF I was doing a classic three stone ring but I think the facet pattern of the pears is a better fit for what I had in mind - not out sparkling the sapphire if you know what I mean. I don't particularly like THAT set of pears either, I think Leon chose them with the halo proportion in mind. If I'm not going to halo them, I definitely want to look for a better set.

Interesting thought about the shank on Harriet's Tsav - I love her ring! So you're thinking a halo with pears transitioning into the shank like the Blueberry and the shank itself done a la Harriet with melee of similar size to the halo?

ETA - Leon doesn't like filigree in the gallery...he thinks it looks cheap and mass produced...ha!

 

[Gypsy]

Halo around the sapphire. Sidestones outside the halo like LS's. Shank on harriet's ring taking over from the point on the sheild/pear.

Halo around sapphire being the same size as the first melee at the start of the shank looking down at it (since her band tapers and the sidestones graduate).

Yes, what you wrote. LOL.

 

[cushioncutnut]

Date: 5/6/2009 6:18:05 PM
Author: DianaBanana
LS - would you settle for payment in chocolate? Or design credit and eternal gratefulness?

Date: 5/6/2009 4:46:08 PM
Author: cushioncutnut
I am not sure if I like the halo''s all the way around either. I do love the Blueberry idea with smaller stones around the halo. That would be Gorgeous. I was hoping Leon would come up with new idea rathing than suggesting an idea from his current designs.

CCN - I probably haven''t given Leon much creative freedom to come up with something new. Although I''m giving him carte blanche with the gallery (yah, super generous, right?).....I didn''t realize how undecided I still am. In hindsight, I probably should have held off on sending the stone.

Here''s what I *know* I want:

Diamonds surrounding the sapphire - I really want some white bling around that stone, to add both size and sparkle

Whether the halo is made from large or small diamonds, I want the least amount of metal showing as possible - no milgrained edge for me

I want to setting to remain square/cushion shaped - I don''t want the diamonds to create a rounded outline or a scalloped outline

A setting that is not uber low - I like a bit of height in my rings - somewhere between 6-8mm

Gallery detail - I don''t care what it is, pave, filigree, secret diamond or otherwise - I like a pretty profile on my rings

I''d love to have pears for added sparkle but they''re a ''nice to have'' at this point - not absolutely essential. I''d really love to incorporate side stones - I just don''t want a classic three stone ring...if that makes sense!

Hmmmm....maybe I''ll give Leon the list above and let him have at it!

Providing the information that you give him of your wants/dislikes...........I think that is a fantastic idea to let him use his creative juices. I know he did that for a friend of mine and it truly turned out like a piece of art!!

 

[LostSapphire]

DianaBanana:

Here are some really rudimentary CADs.

The first one is using your stone and laying it out like MissGotRocks.

I'm having difficulty exporting the files from AutoCAD so you're going to get screen shots with black backgrounds...sorry!

 

[LostSapphire]

I''ll add my notes in a second..gimme a sec

 

[LostSapphire]

OK let me try this again.

Just to give you a sense of scale for the melee I used on these: the melee on my Blueberry is 3mm (approx 10 pointers).
I've labelled the melee size on the pic. When I tried it with much smaller melee on the halo, the pears/traps/shield shapes then look disproportionally big. So I left it big as it seems to work well with the stone size. You may or may not like that...I'm just trying to visualize the shapes together.

The 2nd pic on here shows kind of a fat pear shaped thing. That's a bit of a generality, just to give you a sense of how it fits against the stone. You could use pears or shields or bullets in here. Remember, the sidestone isn't going to sit exactly against the edge of the sapphire, it would be tilted downwards a bit towards the shank of the ring. You could then transition the end of the pear onto the melee on the shank like Harriet's.

The 3rd pic with the LM reference is feeling like a fave to me. The trap sides seem to fit really well. Look at the LM pic and see how he's transitioned the traps to the shank, with a cushion stone: STUPENDOUS.

OK so these are very rudimentary but might help, might not...
LS

ETA: I agree re: no filigree on the gallery: there's a lot going on already and I think it would detract, not add to, the design.

ETA#2: I just realized my export function from AutoCAD has skewed the shapes a bit. Sorry, you'll have to stand back and squint to get an idea. And remember, these are 2-dimensional sketches. You have to visualize the stone/sidestones/shank as rounded over the top of your hand. The sidestones would angle downwards, like you see in Harriet's pic.

 

[DianaBanana]

You are awesome....thank you so much for doing that! Guess which one I like? The freakin pears of course, I love your ring but I guess I didn''t realize just how much!!

I''m thinking that the shields might work better with the cushion than the pears - flat side to flat side rather than round to flat.

This has been a really helpful thread, I''m going to send a new set of ideas to Leon and hope he doesn''t tell me to hit the road!

 

[LostSapphire]

It sounds like you are making progress! Glad to have been of some help.

ETA: So, the sketch with the pears: the melee is 2.5 mm and the pears are drawm the same size as what is in my ring (they're about .34ct each).

It's hard to figure out the scale of things when you see them in a drawing, but if you look at pics of my ring on my hand, that should give you an idea of what size this will all work out to be. The sapphire in my ring is 7.6mm diameter so it's very close in size to your cushion.

LS

 

[LostSapphire]

So here''s one more with smaller melee (1.5mm). Same on the shank, 1.5mm. Pears in this sketch are the same as the other sketches, approx .34-.35 ct each.

It does keep the shape a little more ''square'' than the bigger melee.

Just thought I''d throw this one out there so you can truly compare the 2.

LS

 

[DianaBanana]

Thanks LS - I feel much better having seen your CADs and writing out my list of wants and want not''s.....I just sent Leon a lengthy email and asked him to have a look at my wish list and come up with something original....after all, I want a "Leon" ring, not a "Diana" ring!

I sent him this collage...let''s see what he comes up with! Maybe he''ll tell me to hit the road...he''s probably got me pegged as a difficult client.

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 5/6/2009 9:39:17 PM
Author: DianaBanana
Thanks LS - I feel much better having seen your CADs and writing out my list of wants and want not''s.....I just sent Leon a lengthy email and asked him to have a look at my wish list and come up with something original....after all, I want a ''Leon'' ring, not a ''Diana'' ring!

I sent him this collage...let''s see what he comes up with! Maybe he''ll tell me to hit the road...he''s probably got me pegged as a difficult client.

These are lovely!

May I make a suggestion? It might be a good idea to have Leon do you a sketch once he''s seen your list. I''d hate to see you end up with something that combined all the elements of these pics that you DIDN"T like!

He is truly visionary when it comes to design work. But at the same time, some of his stuff can be bit too "out there" for me, IMHO. I think his brilliance is in interpreting classic shapes and simple lines. Some of the pieces have so much going on one doesn''t know where to look first! There are timeless, classic design elements in your collage that will result in a fantabulous ring.

As much as you want him to just figure it all out for you, I think you have a strong sense of what you like and dislike. So don''t let him design-bully you into something HE wants to do. Make him work WITH you and you''ll end up with the perfect thing.

And one other thing: once he''s sketched something out, get a DETAILED work order. Check and double check it. Make sure everything you discuss is documented. His talent is in design and bringing his work to life. From what I read on here, his business record keeping skills can be somewhat loosey-goosey.

Thank you for keeping us included in your project! This is so much fun!

LS

 

[Gypsy]

Okay the triple split shank with that huge halo is just fabulous. I'm loving the last CAD with the smaller melee and the shields.

I think your ring is going to be spectacular. I can't wait to see it. I would ask him for a phone call appointment to review your email with him so that he can ask questions, make sure you are on same page, etc. Then follow that up with another email that captures that conversation.

I would definitely have him send you a sketch. Visuals are important.

Diana, when I send vendors pics I circle elements I like in one color and elements I don't like in a different color.

Ditto LS on everything she wrote.

 

[DianaBanana]

Date: 5/6/2009 9:49:30 PM
Author: LostSapphire

Date: 5/6/2009 9:39:17 PM
Author: DianaBanana
Thanks LS - I feel much better having seen your CADs and writing out my list of wants and want not''s.....I just sent Leon a lengthy email and asked him to have a look at my wish list and come up with something original....after all, I want a ''Leon'' ring, not a ''Diana'' ring!

I sent him this collage...let''s see what he comes up with! Maybe he''ll tell me to hit the road...he''s probably got me pegged as a difficult client.

These are lovely!

May I make a suggestion? It might be a good idea to have Leon do you a sketch once he''s seen your list. I''d hate to see you end up with something that combined all the elements of these pics that you DIDN''T like!

He is truly visionary when it comes to design work. But at the same time, some of his stuff can be bit too ''out there'' for me, IMHO. I think his brilliance is in interpreting classic shapes and simple lines. Some of the pieces have so much going on one doesn''t know where to look first! There are timeless, classic design elements in your collage that will result in a fantabulous ring.

As much as you want him to just figure it all out for you, I think you have a strong sense of what you like and dislike. So don''t let him design-bully you into something HE wants to do. Make him work WITH you and you''ll end up with the perfect thing.

And one other thing: once he''s sketched something out, get a DETAILED work order. Check and double check it. Make sure everything you discuss is documented. His talent is in design and bringing his work to life. From what I read on here, his business record keeping skills can be somewhat loosey-goosey.

Thank you for keeping us included in your project! This is so much fun!

LS

Excellent advice.....I''ll give him a call tomorrow to discuss the project in further detail. I really do want him to figure it all out but I also want it to be perfect....yes, I AM going to be a difficult client!

I need to get over my hesitation in asking him for a sketch, I have no idea why that makes me uncomfortable but it does!

 

[DianaBanana]

Date: 5/6/2009 9:52:57 PM
Author: Gypsy
Okay the triple split shank with that huge halo is just fabulous. I''m loving the last CAD with the smaller melee and the shields.

I think your ring is going to be spectacular. I can''t wait to see it. I would ask him for a phone call appointment to review your email with him so that he can ask questions, make sure you are on same page, etc. Then follow that up with another email that captures that conversation.

I would definitely have him send you a sketch. Visuals are important.

Diana, when I send vendors pics I circle elements I like in one color and elements I don''t like in a different color.

Ditto LS on everything she wrote.

Thanks Gypsy, I really appreciate the advice and support!

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 5/6/2009 10:20:47 PM
Author: DianaBanana

Excellent advice.....I''ll give him a call tomorrow to discuss the project in further detail. I really do want him to figure it all out but I also want it to be perfect....yes, I AM going to be a difficult client!

I need to get over my hesitation in asking him for a sketch, I have no idea why that makes me uncomfortable but it does!

You are paying a lot of $$ for this ring. He needs to be able to communicate his vision to you, either verbally or in a sketch. Please make sure you are 100% comfortable with the design before he starts.


My original degree is in architecture/design. I would always tell my clients: "it is a LOT cheaper to change it on paper than it is once the building is constructed". Same thing here for your ring.

I *think* you may not be able to visualize the finished project in 3 dimensions, and this is partly why you are struggling a bit. The reason designers do sketches is to help their clients visualize the project.

Don''t hesitate to ask. Stop apologizing (yeah I know it''s a Canuck thing) for being a difficult client. You''re NOT. You are spending a lot of $$ and deserve to get it right.

And the most important thing: ENJOY THE PROCESS!

LS

 

[Spirit]

Be strong, DB! Good luck!

 

[DianaBanana]

You''re right, visualizing whether 3D or no, is not my forte.

It''s TOTALLY a Canuck thing, isn''t it!? I will definitely ask for a sketch and make sure I''m that I''m totally comfortable before going ahead.

Let''s see what tomorrow brings...

 

[Dreamer_D]

filigree and larger!

ETA: I will read the whole thing before I comment tomorrow!

LOL!

 

[Stone Hunter]

I still like the idea of haloing the Sapphire and not including the pears in that. Glad that you are narrowing down your likes and dislikes. Be difficult, and get what you want. You are paying for it!

 

[MonkeyPie]

I really cannot wait to see the end result. This thread had me drooling all the way through!

 

[Harriet]

See if Leon can slot the 3 pears into the shank, like in my ring. I think it''ll look more polished that way.

 

[ma re]

I wasn''t commenting lately, but was reading all the zillion posts that showed up. Glad to hear you''re starting to see some things "my way", for example, that some shapes are really difficult to mix and some are not. I''m talking about the trap sides, which obviously suit the cusion better than pears. You also have to remember that LS''s sapphire is a round, and can therefore look so stunning when combined with pears. If you, however, "must" have pears, I''d suggest either setting them between the splits of a split shank, or flush set them into a graduating shank. Both can be done to look tasteful. You can also use a pair of pears on each side, so that they form something like a heart, with their tips pointing towards the shank (they''d have to be a bit smaller, of course). Or you can have little pears as your mistery diamonds, set in the gallery. Hope you''re not even more confused now

 

[Sharon101]

Date: 4/25/2009 3:16:14 AM
Author: ma re
I can''t say I understand what he meant with the trillions getting dirty. I see the point of shallower stones possibly getting dirty more easily as their pavillion facet angles are not as steep (so might get more contact with the skin), but I don''t think the difference between the two cuts is so dramatic. Let''s not forget that all jewellers prefer selling deeper stones, as those weigh more, so obviously cost more too - I''m not saying that''s the case here, but it could be. Not to mention that a good jeweller should be able to protect any stone from dirt as much as possible with a good design and a proper level of craftsmanship. It also goes without saying, that a stone''s chance of getting dirty depends on how much it''s worn. Well, you have a lot to think about, hope you find a wonderful solution that will give you joy for years to come.

P. S. I also wanted to suggest hearts, but I see you have too much ideas already

I just want to point out that most trillians dont have much life or sparkle. It is probably what was meant by the stone getting `dirty`. I have a ring with trillian side stones and they are noticably dull. A good friend has a trillian main stone which also performs quite poorly compared with other fancy cuts. My husband is in the trade and I have heard it often that trillians are not known for being sparkely. I dont think the comments are based on trying to sell a heavier diamond, but just the fact that trillians are what they are.