Celebrating a Special Occasion with Jewelry

Nothing more personal than our response to color. Color is the new language of passion, and nothing captures it better than distinctively styled jewelry. Leave her speechless with our brilliant colorless and fancy colored diamond or bold brilliant gemstone jewelry styles.

Jewelry and gems, The Buying Guide

Choosing the Setting

The setting you choose will be determine primarily by your personal taste. Nevertheless, it is a good idea to be familiar with a few of the most common settings so that you have a working vocabulary and some idea of what is available.

- Bezel setting.
With a bezel setting, a rim holds the gemstone and completely surrounds the gem. Bezels can have straight edges, scalloped edges, or can be molded into any shape to accommodate the gemstone. The backs can be open or closed. One advantage of the bezel setting is that it can make a stone look larger. The bezel setting can also conceal nicks or chips on the girdle. It can also protect the girdle of the stone from chips and nicks. Keep in mind that if you use yellow gold in a bezel setting, the yellow of the bezel surrounding the gemstone will be reflected into the gemstone, causing white stones to appear less white. On the other hand, a yellow gold bezel can make a red stone such as ruby look even more red or an emerald look more green.

A variation on the bezel setting is the collet setting. The collet setting has a similar appearance to the bezel setting but involves the use of gold tubing.

- Prong setting.
Prong settings are perhaps the most common type of setting. They come in an almost infinite variety; four prong, six prong, and such special styles as the Belcher, Fishtail, or six prong Tiffany. In addition, prongs can be pointed, rounded, flat, or V-shaped. Extra prongs provide added security for the stone and can make a stone look slightly larger. However, too many prongs holding too small a stone can overpower the stone and make the setting look heavy. When setting a marquise, heart shape, or pear shape gemstone, it is recommended that the point or points be held by a V-shaped prong which will best protect the point or points. For emerald cut gemstones which have canted corners, straight, flat prongs are the best choice.

- Gypsy setting.
In this type of setting, the shank (metal part of the ring that goes around the finger) is one continuous piece that gets broader at the top, and is shaped on top into a dome. At the center of the domed top is an opening, into which the gemstone is inserted. There are no prongs. The look is smooth and clean, and popular for men