WF .33 studs: Handmade Bezel or 8-Prong Martini?

[mela lu]

da nah nah nah nah - THUNDER! You''ve been, Thunderstruck!

Hahah. Speaking of heavy metal - here is the image WF just sent me of a .375 set in 8-prong.
sigh.

Heavy.Metal.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 11/14/2007 12:56:12 PM
Author: mela lu

da nah nah nah nah - THUNDER! You''ve been, Thunderstruck!

Hahah. Speaking of heavy metal - here is the image WF just sent me of a .375 set in 8-prong.
sigh.

Heavy.Metal.

Hm...they lose a bit of their delicatesseness (obviously I am bit hungry sitting here, cause I know that''s not a word) in that size. But they ARE magnified, so they still may be OK. I think at this point, it''s personal preference? Because bezels are gonna look more heavy metal than that.

I''ve seen Mara''s 3 prong in person, and I assure you, they appear delicate and very elegant!

 

[TravelingGal]

Side by side with your inspiration earrings for comparision...

 

[Mara]

mmm not a fan of the small stones in that 8 prong. bezel is an entirely diff look and it doesn''t have to be heavy.metal if it''s done right, esp with the handmade. can WF send you a pic of something like .75ctw in handmade bezel?

 

[mela lu]

okay. bear with me.
I photoshopped the two side by side.

On the left is the vanity shot from the website (carat weight unknown)

On the right is the .375 ct that WF just sent me.

Do you notice a MASSIVE difference? Is the vanity shot more forgiving of a photo??

 

[Mara]

i don''t know about vanity shot being more forgiving but it is REALLY magnified. so imagine those about oh...500 magnification smaller.

 

[decodelighted]

Ewwwwwww.

That setting is grabbing the poor sparkly & squeezing the life out of it! One thing I thought of ... for you too, TG .... bezel settings can sometimes be reused. Maybe post-upgrade you could put colored gemstones set into them? My friend had a bezel e-ring that she set a sapphire into after re-setting her e-stone. It wasn''t Purrrrfect (a tool mark or two) but pretty good. Eh, food for thought -- me no likey 8 prong on .33.

 

[TravelingGal]

melalu, what does your gut instinct say? Because at the end of the day, you have to wear them...

If you get something other than the 8s, will you look at them and wonder, and possibly regret? I really loved Mara's 3 prong martinis, but at the end of the day, I knew that I'd regret it if I didn't try and get the bezels. I *may* regret that I DID get them, but my gut tells me I'm on the safe side.

If you put a pair of 3 prong martini's next to these 8 prong with the smaller diamonds, what makes your heart sing?

ETA, these are snlee's, for the 3 prong. Love em!

 

[Ellen]

To be honest, I''m not loving the 8 prong on the smaller stones. I''d go 3 prong martini or bezel.

 

[mela lu]

Holy cow - my heart says "none please".

I think I'll ship the stones un-set for now. ETA: or maybe in the 3-prong (and if I really don't like it in person, I can re-set without a huge finacial commitment)

I agree the 8-prong on that little stone looks a little like "Little shop of horrors!!"

"AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaDREY" LOL

 

[Ellen]

Date: 11/14/2007 1:40:38 PM
Author: mela lu
Holy cow - my heart says ''none please''.

I think I''ll ship the stones un-set for now.

I agree the 8-prong on that little stone looks a little like ''Little shop of horrors!!''

''AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaDREY'' LOL

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 11/14/2007 11:19:25 AM
Author: mela lu
You are so right Tgal.

D''oh!

What I REALLY want to know is...WHY aren''t the 8-prong as fancied, and WHY aren''t there very many pictures of them here?

I would love someone who owns 8-prong''ers to weigh in....

I think it''s because most of the studs we see are fairly small, and people feel so many prongs have the potential to overwhelm smaller stones.

I don''t know what the handmade bezels cost, but it could also be possible that the ratio of setting cost:stone cost is more attractive on larger stones and less so on smaller ones.

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 11/14/2007 12:38:05 PM
Author: mela lu

thanks EBree!! I saw her 3 prong'ers, and as lovely as they look on her, I just dont know if they are for me?!

I've seen 4-prong martini settings somewhere......and if WF doesn't have them already, i'm sure they could make them. Would that be more appealing?

 

[mela lu]

Date: 11/14/2007 1:52:49 PM
Author: aljdewey

Date: 11/14/2007 12:38:05 PM
Author: mela lu

thanks EBree!! I saw her 3 prong''ers, and as lovely as they look on her, I just dont know if they are for me?!

I believe WF also has 4-prong martinis? would that work?

Same feeling...thickness of metal and height of basket.

not sure...

I think I''d go 3 prong over 4 to eliminate some of the bulk...I mean, they ARE lovely, so I think even as a temporary measure, the 3-prong would be lovely.

 

[aljdewey]

Also, what about the w-prong earring setting instead? The base is more martini-like than basket like, but it has 4-prongs (so it avoids the tripod look some people don''t like).

Cost-wise, they are only a smidge more than 3-prongs.

 

[mela lu]

I''m laughing because after my sleepless night I was SURE I was going to choose bezel.

Now I''m lost.

I do know that I am not going ''bezel'' because of the cost.

That''s all I know right now.

*key in Jeopardy music*

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 11/14/2007 2:03:59 PM
Author: mela lu
I''m laughing because after my sleepless night I was SURE I was going to choose bezel.

Now I''m lost.

I do know that I am not going ''bezel'' because of the cost.

That''s all I know right now.

*key in Jeopardy music*

It''s never as easy as you think it''s going to be, is it?

Seriously though, only PSers would be as anal as we are about a simple stud settings. Prongs, design flow, thickness, etc etc. It''s some sort of bizarro disease!!

 

[E B]

Those are gorgeous, alj!

 

[Fly Girl]

I''d only get the bezel if you planning to keep the earrings forever. If you think you might upgrade, I would get the cheaper 3 prong martini Stuller settings (and maybe some larger stones???). You really can''t see much of the setting on the ear.

 

[Lynn B]

OK, bear with me as I try to articulate something. In that photo of the 2 side-by-side pair of 8-prong martinis... is there something different on the metal of the smaller pair?

On the larger pair, it looks to me like there is a small band of metal circling the stone (basically following the girdle)... but I don''t think I see this on the smaller pair? Maybe it''s there and I just can''t tell... or maybe they can''t do it on that size stone?

But which or whatever, I agree that (as much as I ADORE the 8-prong setting), I don''t care for it on the small stones. Makes them look like costume jewelry to me.

 

[snlee]

I don''t like the 8 prong setting with small stones either. I''d definitely choose bezel over the 8 prong but I understand you not wanting to spend so much since you plan to upgrade later. I really love my 3 prong setting but if it doesn''t make your heart sing maybe you can go with a 4 prong setting? The settings alj posted are beautiful! Good luck deciding on your settings!