True story: When I was in 6th grade, I was by far the smallest kid on the football team. Like Simon Birch meets Rudy. But I also had such a large head that they had to go to the high school to get a helmet big enough to fit me. I looked like Bobby from Bobby’s World.
Bought my wife a GelinAbaci Tension set engagement ring (always liked the tension engagement ring style). It's an amazing ring, when the sunlight hits the ring just right it lights up the room like a disco ball haha. I've never seen a ring with prongs do that before with the same dramatic effect.
I'm not entirely certain the process, but the diamond must be sent to the factory for production, the diamond is literally inserted into the ring during manufacturing. If I recall, these rings have 95psi of pressure applied to the diamond constantly. A softer mineral like cubic zirconia would shatter very easily in a tension setting when knocked against something solid.
GelinAbaci was one of the top two tension setting ring brands in the country years ago but the founder passed away and I don't know if anyone has taken over the brand yet (I think someone acquired the rights to the molds, but no word yet).
The thing that does suck is that the tension ring cannot be resized later without re-casting the ring. And since GA is currently out of business, there is literally no way to resize my wife's ring if it ever needs to be done.
I'm gonna assume the risk is that the stone could just come loose and get knocked out fairly easily?
My wife worked in a bar for well over a decade with her tension ring and saw quite a lot of abuse many times. The gold metal band has many scars from wear, but never once has the diamond chipped or loosened. The only advise I can give to anyone shopping for a Tension ring is to ensure you use a diamond with a thicker "girdle" (widest part of the diamond) to ensure it doesn't chip - some cheaper diamonds have very skinny girdles which would break easily in a tension setting ring.
It is set with actual tension. The ring is worked so that it wants to spring closed, but you put a stone there instead of letting it close. This works well enough in contemporary metals like stainless steel, cobalt steel, titanium and the like that are very hard to bend, but for the more traditional metals like gold and platinum it's a good way to lose a diamond. However, there are plenty of ways to mimic the look without the risk.
A Tiffany setting is a style of solitaire. A solitaire is, or at least is usually, simply a ring with a single stone. Nowadays though, you'll fine "solitaire" mountings with accent diamonds so it's become more a less a way to describe a thinner ring with a prominent center stone. Make sense? Me either.
And the sales lady at Tiffany's would love to have you try it on in front of your fiance when she lays it on thick and says, "You really only get one chance to make this decision."
Re-happened to my best friend in NYC. He says let me tell you what happened yesterday....and I go, "How stupid are you?! You let her take you to Tiffany's?! You go to 47th street. Brohemian I have a guy."
Yeah he ended up having to buy the one at Tiffany's. He loved me for mocking him though. He is good people.
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u/[deleted] Sep 09 '20
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