Sunday, 23 September 2012

Diamond Cluster Rings

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Diamond Cluster Rings Biography
The ubiquitous diamond cluster ring has been a diamond ring staple of women throughout the last 100 years. However today this type of ring is going through a style metamorphosis of sorts as new designers come on stream with innovative new diamonf rings based on this venerable classic in new metals and innovative styles
The diamond cluster ring is perhaps the most popular style of diamond ring ever. It predates such modern styles like the right hand ring and the journey ring.
Although without any formal support from De Beers marketing in the US it is a style that benefited overall from De Beers generic diamond advertising back in the 80s and 90s.
The style variation on this type of diamond ring is endless and so now any diamond ring comprised of smaller diamonds in the size range from half a point to even half a carat would fall into the category of diamond cluster rings as long as they were not obviously meant to be a journey ring or some other popular advertised style.
A cluster diamond ring is meant to convey a larger than life diamond look for minimal cost through the use of diamond melee (individual diamonds under 20 points in carat weight) bunched up together with minimal open space or metal space in between so they could deliver a scintillating knockout punch to the viewer in terms of flashy brilliance.
Cluster diamond rings usually lay out the diamonds with the highest set diamond which might be the largest at the crown of the ring surrounded by diamonds set on successively lower levels in a terrace fashion.
This could be shaped in a circle, square, heart or any shape imaginable.
The idea was to have the diamonds visible from all angles to attract the viewer with its sparkle.
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The White Gold Diamond Cluster Ring
Although from the 1970s to the 1990s the dominant metal in diamond cluster rings was yellow gold, in the past ten years that has changed considerably and now the gold diamond cluster ring will tend to made out of white gold.
The ring to the right is the basic flower style of cluster rings. Most other complicated white gold diamond cluster ring styles are built on top of this style premise.
White gold is good for small diamonds because it makes the diamonds appear whiter than they are if the diamonds fall in the commercial grade of near colorless which is the range normally identified by the color grades G, H, I, J, K and L.
This grade of diamond will typically have a champagne tinge to them that will hardly be noticeable through the range G, H and I especially when mounted in white gold.
In one carat diamonds, the most popular size for your average engagement ring, the color grades J, K and L have a noticeable tint of champagne, yellow, brown or gray in them.
However in the smaller melee sized diamonds these tints are not very noticeable because smaller diamonds mean smaller concentrations of color and the use of white gold to mount this grade of diamond in a cluster format ring will generally enhance the look of these diamonds making the slight coloration even more unnoticeable.
But once you get into the color grades M, N, O and beyond, the backdrop of white gold will now only sharpen the color contrast between diamonds and mounting and you will be better of mounting this grade of diamond in yellow gold to mask the diamond coloration.
Antique Diamond Cluster Rings
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See all 5 photos
Vintage diamond cluster rings have experienced a resurgence of sorts because of the boundless variety of diamond cluster rings that have made their way into the estate jewelry cases of retailers since late 2007 when the gold spot price began touching $800 per ounce after beginning the year in the $650 range.
Antique styled diamond rings have as a general rule become more popular with consumers as they began to get tired all the diamond jewelry drek that poured out of Far eastern manufacturing centers in India to satiate the American diamond consumer's taste for a good deal on diamond rings totaling a carat or more.
An example of this type of diamond cluster ring can be seen to the top right and can still be found in Zales and other mass market jewelers at $399 for a one carat total weight ring.
This type of product is short on style and definitely short on diamond quality as manufacturers shaved gold weight and compromised on setting quality.
Now women love the inherent appeal of classic art deco and Edwardian styling like this vintage diamond cluster ring to the right.
It is a double diamond cluster ring with a pair of high quality diamonds in a 1940s setting with old European cut diamond melee surrounding it.
Many women, even from younger generations are starting wear these retro styled diamond rings and if they can't find it in an estate jewelry case they can usually find a retailer that will carry antique reproduction minus the old European cut diamonds of course but with the classic filigree, hand carving and millgraining work dome on the mounting.
See all 5 photos
See all 5 photos
Diamond Cluster Engagement Ring
Often when a center stone of adequate size in a diamond is either too expensive or is not required by the engagement ring design, many couples find a diamond cluster engagement ring to be perfectly adequate.
In the case of this Celtic knot engagement ring set to the right you can see that the styling is more centered on the symbolism of the celtic motifs rather than the flashiness of the center stone.
Here it seems that the diamond cluster is perfectly adequate for the style requirements of the ring.
Although invisible set diamond rings may not fall into the classic definition of a diamond cluster ring, it still is essentialy a cluster of diamonds that have no metal separating them on surface.
This has become a popular option for women who want the diamond surface area of a two carat diamond engagement ring but with the pricing of a clutser ring.
The jewelry market has come up with invisibly set diamond centers that have a cluster of smaller square shaped or pie shaped diamonds that fit like a puzzle exactly together with no metal showing in between to give the illusion of a larger square, round or oval center diamond.
This princess set diamond cluster engagement ring set above right is a perfect example where the four princess cut diamonds are invisibly set together to give the look of a larger single princess diamond in the head of the engagement ring.
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