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[existencialismo]

Ok this is a very random question, but do any of you have good contacts with any jewelry designers/setters in the Seattle area (or within 30-40 min away) ?? I am looking for someone that's an expert in creating very detailed and intricate designs to custom make my engagement ring. My ring will be made up of pave stones and it's going to have a very

Comments

[existencialismo]

I just finished reading about them, all the current reviews are great but I read some negative things about their work from a few years ago. would you mind telling me how the design process went? what kind of ring did you purchase (any small details with little metal showing?)

I am just worried because Micropave is so delicate... literally done under a microscope and has teeny tiny prongs, and I keep reading that you have to go with only "expert" setters... but those experts sellers charge a minimum of $4,500 on up JUST for the setting with tiny diamonds in the band and halo

This is my inspiration ring



http://img37.imageshack.us/i/haloring19.jpg/
http://img524.imageshack.us/i/mwd10454spr095rings056f.jpg/
http://img708.imageshack.us/i/schaprofileview0.jpg/
http://img440.imageshack.us/i/cushionhaloharrywinston.jpg/
http://img87.imageshack.us/i/cushionhalodiamondengag.jpg/

[runningnekkid]

We got my engagement and wedding rings from Greenlake Jewelery and I was thrilled with the whole experience. Granted, we wound up buying an engagement ring that was already in stock and only designed the wedding ring with them, but the process itself was very agreeable for both rings. I found them to be very open about my ideas and honest when they thought that something would be either very costly or outside of their expertise. For example, we initially were going to design my husband's wedding ring there as well, but we wound up finding someone online who specializes in exactly what he was looking for, and they were very excited for us that we had found this person, rather than trying to talk my husband into getting his ring made my them instead.

My rings are much simpler than yours so I can't vouch for their ability to work with your inspiration piece, but I think it's definitely worth at least talking to them and getting a feel for how they mesh with your style and ideas.

Engagement ring: http://pics.livejournal.com/runningnekkid/pic/0000c98p/g8
Wedding ring: http://pics.livejournal.com/runningnekkid/pic/0000dkgw/g8

[nightsinger]

My husband can probably shed some more light on the e-ring design process (I wasn't involved; it was a surprise), but I was involved with the design process for the wedding bands.

Here's a shot of the wax cast of mine:


And the finished wedding bands:


The design process itself for the wedding bands was a lot of fun -- we went into the shop and worked with the same man who had done the work on my e-ring. He started by asking us what sort of thing we wanted. We talked about what we wanted to do, and provided him with a sketch:


He helped us decide things like rails/no rails, how wide we wanted the bands, what sort of metal we wanted, etc, in a lovely discussion. We were never, ever rushed or made to feel like he had anything else at all on his mind or on his plate than our project.

We had two or three in-person meetings about the wedding bands and talked via email as well -- he was extremely responsive, and it was a very positive experience for us both.

[darthparadox]

Heh, the "design process" for that ring was basically me going in to GLJW to meet with a designer, without any clue of what I wanted other than for it to be based around two small sapphires around a larger moissanite stone. I chatted with him for a few minutes, and then the design for the ring pretty much popped fully-formed into my head. He helped me refine the details of it - choosing stone sizes, prong styles, etc - but that was pretty much all there was to it.