Surprise Diamonds or Frankenstein Bolts?

[Patty]

I had a new head put on my wedding ring. I went from a white gold, high-set, 6 prong head to a platinum 4 prong head. The new head is a low Stuller solstice peg head. I love it! I am amazed at how much better the stone looks with only 4 prongs. I see flashes of light much more often than before, especially from the side. (And hubby says I can upgrade this center stone early next year, so please ignore any yellowness or inclusions.

)

When I had this ring made six years ago, I had two 7 point stones left over. So, I asked the jeweler to add them as "surprise stones." I love the look of these stones from the side of the ring, looking directly at them.

This picture is my "hand on the steering wheel" view which I adore (the ring, that is, not my hand):

 

[Patty]

And this shot shows the surprise stone although the proportion looks off...the surprise diamond is only 7 points!

 

[Patty]

From the top, however, the platinum bezels stick out like Frankenstein's neck bolts, don't they? Surely this isn't what surprise stones are supposed to do. The ones I've seen (only in pictures) are flush, like the Vatche ones and Whiteflash's.

 

[Patty]

This is another view of the neck bolts. (The flash makes them look worse than they really are, but they are bad enough!)

My jeweler is out of town for the month. His bench jeweler put the new head and surprise stones on the ring. I'm not sure if I should go back now and ask them to "smoosh" the bezels into the prongs more, or if I should wait and talk to the owner when he gets back.

I'm also thinking about just having the surprise bolts removed.

What do you all think?

 

[ame]

Is this a Beins piece? Or did you get it done somewhere else?

Personally Id go back and ask for it to be done so that they weren'tsticking out so far. Id be expecting them flush....

Other than that its really cool!

 

[MaryAlaina]

EDITTED TO ADD: PLEASE DO NOT USE MY PHOTOS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!

I would have them redo the surprise diamonds. Here is a picture of my asscher ring with surprise diamonds:

They are definitely sitting flush with the mounting.

 

[Jennifer5973]

Patty, I see what you mean (after I stopped laughing at your use of the phrase "Frankenstein bolts!!--too funny!

)

I think they are proportionate to the stone/ring, but just need to be made flush under the setting...right now they are more "in your face" than "surprise."

Congrats on your new, improved ring--it came out really lovely and this situation can be remedied, I am sure.

.

 

[Diamondsbybree]

Very beautiful~! I love the look of the surprise diamonds. Nice touch to a perfect ring~!

 

[chialea]

"Surprise! Your hand's stuck!"

I'd go ask them to set them closer in -- or at least ask them what possessed them and why they couldn't!

 

[Patty]

LOL...lots of view and not many replies means that most of you agree with my opinion that the ring looks funny.

Thank you to those who replied. Yeah, not much of a surprise, are they?!

Okay, I went back in today. The bench jeweler is on vacation this next week, so the guy I talked to said to bring it back the first of August. The owner will also be back by then. He said that he thinks the bench jeweler should be able to make the bezel smaller so that it sits flush. He said I can talk to the bench jeweler about it when I go back.

So I feel better. It just goes to show that even when you think you and your jeweler are on the same page, you can end up with something that wasn't what you expected.

 

[researcher]

I'd bring a picture to show them what you want the next time you go in. I made poor Brian from WF send me pictures of his plans and I sent him some pictures as well just to make sure we agreed on my setting. It wasn't completely custom, but I wanted a thinner shank and some other slight alterations. Not everything was done the way I wanted, but at least I knew ahead of time what they could and couldn't do and why (my stone was just too big for some of my requests!). Good luck with the rework!

 

[Patty]

Researcher, I brought pictures with me today of how my ring currently looks. I think that if I talk to the guy and explain what I want, he should be able to get it right. He needs to work with the current ring...it's not like he's going from scratch, but I think he should be able to get closer to what I want.

 

[noobie]

OK Patty, you asked so....




The way the surprise settings stick out is not my personal favorite style. I prefer the more flush looking settings with the surpise diamonds. If it were my ring, I would have the surprise diamonds set flush. However, you should do what you like.

 

[Shay37]

Yup, Patty, not really loving this one. I like surprise diamonds, and those stick out far enough that they are not a suprise at all. I think I'd have it redone, and then we'll all be loving it and wanting it.

Shay

 

[Daniela]

The concept is beautiful (I absolutely love surprise diamonds), but I think I agree with having them set flush. But what a beautiful ring, otherwise!

And I love the new head on your ring. Then again, I'm biased since I have the exact same one on mine.

 

[moremoremore]

Hey Patty! I think it is the right thing to do to get it fixed...I think it detracts from the center stone face up. The jeweler really should have known what you meant...I'd be a little ticked if I were you!

 

[moremoremore]

It's ALLLLIVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!


LOL...Sorry....couldn't resist from that hysterical title!

 

[Patty]

----------------
On 7/25/2004 1:50:29 PM moremoremore wrote:

It's ALLLLIVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!


----------------

Well we DO want lively diamonds, don't we?

 

[Patty]

----------------
On 7/25/2004 9:54:55 AM Daniela wrote:

But what a beautiful ring, otherwise!

And I love the new head on your ring. Then again, I'm biased since I have the exact same one on mine.

----------------

Thank you Daniela! It's amazing to me how much more I like this head than the old one!

And I do love this ring. (Thanks for calling it perfect, Diamondsbybree!) I know the center diamond isn't great, but overall, the ring is very sparkly and I love the yellow gold.

Half of the 7 pointers are good quality and half of them are not good, lol. I had two different anniversary bands that were used to make this one ring and the one was a better quality. I think the little stones look great in person, but in macro mode, they don't look as good.

Thanks to those of you who have replied. I'm never sure whether I should reply to each of you individually. I don't want to bore you all with a million replies, but I appreciate your input!

 

[hoorray]

Patty, the new head looks great! I agree -- the bolts need to sit more flush, but the surprise concept is good. I've been toying with changing my head from a 6 prong that sits a little too high to a lower 4 prong. I've also thought about redoing the whole setting, but I'm pretty happy with the shank.

Your's makes me think to just redo the head. Thanks for posting it, and I hope it gets straightend out to where you are happy wth it!