I love when I can finally post an engagement ring! I'm a big fan of solitaire rings. Believe it or not my husband proposed with a solitaire with the intention of resetting it once I decided how I'd like it... aka he put every dollar he could afford at the time into the stone and we redesigned it (twice) since.
However just because you have a solitaire setting, doesn't mean it has to be simple. This is a yellow gold "petal" setting which gets its name from... the prongs being shaped like petals. It's an absolutely stunning setting!
Now onto the stone... this client was an absolute delight to work with and gave me somewhat carte blanche to choose the stone because he was not local. He asked for a stone with a very high clarity rating and I responded back asking if he would allow me to choose a stone that's perfectly eye clean without paying $$$ for a high clarity rating. I was so confident with this stone that I actually set it for him and told him if he didn't agree I'd take it right back... he loved the stone.
This is why it's so important to have an actual human (yes and jeweler that you trust) choosing stones with you. Stone ratings aren't always indicative of what you'll actually be getting- there's a lot that goes into a rating. For example there may be an inclusion, but it may be in a placement that isn't visible to the naked eye. AND... out of the 6 independent labs hat certify diamonds, some are notoriously known to us jewelers for being way too generous with their ratings... meaning we expect a color to be 2-3 grades higher (worse) than listed and meaning you aren't going to get what you are paying for.
See this photo below. This was sent to be my a jeweler friend. Client came into their store with a ring he had purchased from a popular (and huge) online diamond realtor. This stone (stone on the right) was rated and sold as a an "H" color. The jeweler matched it to a true H color stone. This stone is closer to an M color- and just for reference, the cost should have been about 60% less due to the true color of the stone.
Food for thought.
