3/4cttw Diamond Ballerina Ring with Oval Rhodolite Garnet in 14k Yellow Gold

An oval rhodolite garnet sits in a yellow gold cup under four prongs, a deep magenta that reads closer to purple than to red. Around it, two rows of tapered baguette diamonds ring the stone and fan outward, and three more rows carry on down each shoulder, so the whole top reads as one radiating skirt — the ballerina setting the design is named for. Each baguette is held by its own yellow gold prong tips, which is why the metal reads as a fine beaded grid over the diamonds rather than disappearing. At 9.40 grams it is a substantial ring, and the weight is in the mounting that carries all those rows.

A skirt like this is harder to build than it looks, because tapered baguettes will only fan without gaps if each row is cut a little longer and a little wider than the one inside it. Get one stone wrong and the gap shows from across a room, since there is no brilliant sparkle to hide behind — baguettes throw long flat flashes and read as lines. Done properly, and it is here, the rows close into what looks like a single sheet of light with a magenta stone dropped in the middle of it. How often does five rows of anything come out looking like one?