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Anyone have diamond and sapphire eternity bands? - Got It! Pics!
Looking to have one of these made... I have 11 - 7 point diamonds that I want to reuse. My sons' birthstones are diamond and sapphire. Ever since my 2nd son was born I always wanted some kind of piece of jewelry incorporating the two together. Does anyone have one of these? Cost? What is there to know about purchasing Sapphires? Anything in particular?
Thanks!
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Re: Anyone have diamond and sapphire eternity bands? - Got It! Pics!
I'm looking at diamond & sapphire eternity bands for my wedding band and they seem to average around $600 - $700.
If you're looking to wear this every day and thinking about a full, shared-setting eternity band, you may want to reconsider.
I wanted a full eternity wedding band and was talked out of it. With the shared settings, every stone is dependent on the one next to it. So if one is even the tiniest bit loose, so is every other stone. And the stones on the inside of your hands will take a beating with just everyday wear.
http://www.bluenile.com/riviera-pave-sapphire-diamond-eternity-ring-platinum_53020?elem=img&track=product
I have a sapphire and diamond e-ring. Our jeweler told us the quality is in the color- the richer the blue, the more expensive the gem (if it looks watery, that's not as good quality basically). But, if you didn't want a pure blue sapphire anyway, as PP said they come in lots of different colors. I know someone with one that's so light blue it almost looks like a diamond if you're not looking closely.
You also want to avoid inclusions in sapphires, just like with diamonds. Also, sapphires look better when they're not cut round but cut more oval-ish. In an eternity ring that probably wouldn't be as noticeable as each gem would be very small.
This site has a lot of info about sapphires: http://www.brilliantearth.com/rings/blue-sapphire/engagement-rings/
OP, this ring sounds like a great idea. If you do end up getting this made please show us pics! (Not because I want to steal your idea whatsoever....promise).
that's what I was envisioning for myself too. After trying on several sapphire/diamond wedding bands I felt like none of them really went with my e-ring. I decided to get a plain band and let the e-ring continue to stand out on its own... for what that's worth to you. Good luck in your search!
I have a sapphire center stone on my e-ring too and I got a whole different wedding band and wear my e-ring on my right hand. I agree that it would be really hard to try to match the sapphire shades. Good luck!
It would probably be easiest to work with a jeweler and have them source the sapphires for you. They will need to be a similar size, shape, hue, saturation and cut. Sapphires come in all sorts of colours as well, so you can really have anything you want.
A PP raised the concerns of eternity bands that I share - if you are not gentle with your jewellery, they can damage very easily. Even something as simple as grasping a door handle (round or those long ones like at the mall) can damage the band. Clapping - not only painful but if you are wearing rings on the other hand can damage the setting. I prefer a 3/4 eternity, but my rings don't spin much. This also solves any future issues for re-sizing, as you cannot resize a full eternity.
Now, for some pictures. Not mine. These are bezeled, which really make the sapphire colour pop imo.
I have heard of this, but heat treatment and irradiation are much more common in sapphires. Both process act to enhance the color at a chemical level. Many of the deep blue sapphires on the market are treated in some way, and jewelers legally have to disclose such treatments to customers. Not that there is anything wrong with treatment - it's permanent and not just on the surface - but still something to be aware of.
And I agree with the PP who said that you may want to go in to a jeweler and see if they can special order the stones for you - most jewelers have access to databases full of all kinds of stones that they can order, which is great when you need stones that are the same size/color.
What kind of eternity band, OP? I would advise shared prong rather than a channel band. If you like the look of the channel, prongs in a faux channel are an option as well, to help the stones be set more securely. Find you a good jeweler that does custom work and ask for a quote.
ShesSoCold - Likely will not wear everyday.
thisismynickname - Yes, I was thinking something very similar to your link!
teddygirl9 & madamerwin - I am definitely going to work with a jeweler.. The man we ordered my E-Ring and our bands from is very knowledgeable and great to work with. I mentioned my idea to him when we ordered our rings. I traded in my old E-Ring towards our purchase and when he told me he would only give about $30 for my old wedding band, I decided to just keep it!
I did have concerns about the full eternity shared prong.. Would a eternity channel setting have the same risks for damage and loose stones? Since my old wedding set was channel setting, I kind of wanted to stay away from that style.. Which is why I was thinking shared prong to match my new wedding set. I will definitely consider half or 3/4 eternity, but I guess was just thinking full to use up all the diamonds!
This is from an internet article about gem enhancement:
Surface diffusion has been around for decades and, until recently, was pretty much confined to use on blue sapphires and the occasional ruby. By packing already faceted, light colored stones into a container with powdered titanium and iron, and heating to very high temperatures, a thin surface layer rich in these chromophore elements is formed, which through selective absorption, greatly darkened the apparent blue color.
Such stones must always be repolished afterward as the high heat tends to mar the surface. In the repolishing process it is inevitable that some of the thin layer is unevenly removed, so that when viewed under immersion and/or in diffused light, an uneven pattern of color--> paler on some facets than others and darkest at the edges of the facets, can be seen.
If the diffused stone has inclusions at all, these will also show the typical signs of high heat, such as partially resorption of silk, partial melting of crystals, or stress fractures. With such obvious signs of treatment, only the unschooled or unwary buyer is likely to be duped.
Below is a picture of a 1.53 ct. sapphire. A beautiful stone: top color, eyeclean, and reasonably well cut. In today's market one might expect to pay between $1000 and $1500 per carat, retail, or even more in an upscale jewelry store for a sapphire with this kind of appearance. This stone's actual retail price was $150 for the piece, or less than $100 per carat. What a bargain, you say --> and why so cheap? (No, it is not a synthetic!)
The price paid, was, however, appropriate to the stone. It is a natural origin sapphire, but it is has been color enhanced by surface diffusion. The lovely color layer has a thickness of much less than one millimeter, the rest of the stone is either colorless or an unappealing pale blue or grey.
Such stones represent a bargain, as long as the customer understands the limitations inherent to them. Any scratch, chip or nick will remove the color layer revealing a light spot, and the stone cannot be recut or it would lose its color entirely. As a stone to be used in a pendant or earrings or even a ring worn once in a while, it will look beautiful for many years, but it is not an appropriate choice for a frequently worn ring or bracelet.
"Centuries ago, someone stumbled upon the magical effect of applying heat to gemstones. High heat, such as that from a charcoal fire, can make a bland looking gemstone change its color into something spectacular. If this fortunate technique was not discovered, there would be very few affordable gemstones of good color on the market.
Heat treatment is considered to be a natural type of enhancement as it is a continuation of the processes that occur in the earth when the stone was originally formed. During treatment, the stone is heated to very high temperatures (approximately 1600 Celsius) causing inclusions, chemical elements, and other impurities to reform themselves and change the color of the stone. This color change may result in the stone being darker, lighter, more intense or of a different color. An example of this is the dissolving ofrutile silk inclusions in blue sapphires, which improves both clarity and color. This heat treatment is permanent and irreversible."
(from http://www.gemselect.com/gem-info/heat-treatment.php)
Even the GIA considers heat treatment acceptable: http://www.gia.edu/cs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=GIA/Page/FAQDetail&cid=1355958541372&pagename=GST/Dispatcher
Good to know! I also didn't (when I was married) wear my rings around the house, took them off when I came home and put on when I left in the morning.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DiamondDoveJewelry/search?search_query=sapphire&order=date_desc&view_type=gallery&ref=shop_search
As for just heat treated stones, I have no issue with those.
I'm not sad about Mom's ring, either. It was appraised for over $8000, even with the diffused treated sapphires.
Met with the jeweler last weekend and he said full eternities are more of a risk when the stones are smaller. He said I should be find with the size diamonds I have and also with the fact that it won't be worn daily.
He gave me a quote: sapphire stones plus setting and labor - around $700! I'm VERY happy with that price! My BF was thinking it was going to be $1500+!