Find Your Perfect Diamond
Made to sit flush against the engagement ring it was designed for.
Every ring is made from start to finish in our Los Angeles atelier.
A finely made piece of jewelry lasts for generations, and it gives more pleasure every year it is worn. A poorly made one betrays itself slowly: a loosening diamond, a snagged sweater, a clasp that fails. The difference is visible before you buy, if you know exactly where to look. This page is where to look.
Most jewelry settings are assembled from parts: a head that holds the center diamond, a shank that circles the finger, galleries and bridges that join them. Quality shows in two places at once, the precision with which each part has been made, and the skill with which the parts are combined into a single piece. Neither can rescue the other. A beautifully cast shank joined carelessly to its head will fail at the seam; perfectly executed assembly of crude components produces a crude ring.
When you evaluate a piece, you are therefore running two inspections in one: the components, and the joinery. Everything that follows on this page is a specific place where one or the other reveals itself.
Prongs are the smallest structural element on the ring and the one carrying the entire point of it. On a well made piece they are substantial and uniform, alike in thickness, height, and angle, holding the diamond squarely and firmly. Tap the stone gently with a fingernail: it should not move at all. A diamond that shifts under a fingertip today is a diamond that departs under a car door tomorrow.
Then look at the prong tips themselves. They should be polished and rounded, finished as deliberately as any visible surface. The classic exam is the scarf test: drape fine fabric over the ring and draw it away. On fine work the fabric glides off; on rough work it snags. A prong that catches a scarf in the showroom will catch sweaters, gloves, and skin for the next thirty years.
Quality of fabrication is judged the way the piece will be lived with: up close, in the hand, from every angle. Take real time with each item below, because a maker who cut one corner has usually cut several.
| What to Inspect | What Fine Work Looks Like |
|---|---|
| Surfaces | No rough areas, pits, or scratches anywhere, including surfaces you have to turn the piece to see |
| Symmetry | Every element mirrors its partner; shoulders, prongs, and pave lines match side to side |
| Balance | Elements are graceful and well proportioned; earrings and pendants hang correctly and face forward |
| Clasps | Easy to operate with one hand, and secure once closed; a clasp should never make you choose between the two |
| The back | Finished as carefully as the front, with nothing to catch on fabric or skin |
| On the finger | Rings sit comfortably and do not flop or rotate; weight is distributed so the piece stays where it was put |
The back of the piece deserves special attention, because it is where a maker cannot pretend. The front is designed to be admired; the underside of the gallery, the inside of the band, and the seats beneath each diamond are finished, or not, according to the true standards of the workshop. Turn every piece over before you judge it.
Inside the band of every well made ring you should find two small stamps. The first is the quality mark, stating the fineness of the metal: 18k or 14k for gold, 950 for platinum. It is a legal representation of what you bought, not a decoration. The second is the maker's mark, identifying who produced the piece and who stands behind it.
Their absence tells you something. A maker proud of the work signs it and states its metal plainly. A piece carrying neither mark is asking you to take both its material and its origin on faith, and fine jewelry never asks for faith when it can offer proof.
Every standard on this page is one we hold ourselves to, and made to order production is what makes holding them possible.
Your ring is produced after you order it, in Los Angeles, matched precisely to your diamond, your size, and your specifications. The head is built for your stone's exact measurements, not the nearest approximation in a drawer.
Before a ring ships, it passes the same inspection this page teaches you to run: prong integrity, surface finish, symmetry, the marks, and the back of the piece held to the standard of the front.
40 day returns, 60 day complimentary resizing, and a lifetime warranty covering manufacturing defects. Craftsmanship you can verify, with a safety net you should never need.
The diamond deserves the same rigor as the setting. Every stone we recommend is scored by ROSI™, our gemological intelligence, built by our gemologists. Request a ROSI™ Score Report on any diamond, ours or anyone else's.
The front of a piece is designed to impress you. The back tells you the truth.
Judge every piece the way it will actually be lived with: in the hand, up close, turned over. Tap the diamond and expect stillness. Run the scarf test and expect silence from the prongs. Read the marks and expect both of them. None of this requires a loupe or a credential, only the willingness to look where the maker hoped you would not. A piece that passes every exam on this page will still be passing them a generation from now.
Found a diamond you are considering, here or anywhere else? Send the GIA or IGI certificate number and our gemological team returns its ROSI™ Score and a read of where it sits in the current market. Complimentary, within minutes.
Score a DiamondWhere stones of the same exact specifications are trading on the open market right now. You get a straight answer, even when the diamond is not ours.
John Anderson, our Lead Gemologist, runs these exact inspections every day, on our pieces and on pieces clients bring from elsewhere. Show him what you are considering on video and he will walk the prongs, the finish, and the marks with you, plainly. The consultation is complimentary and there is no obligation.
1-800-779-1726