Cushion Cut Tanzanite Ring with Diamond Halo and Leaf Sides in 14k White Gold

A cushion cut tanzanite fills the top of this ring, deep violet-blue and held by four prongs. Look closely at the crown and it is not one flat table but a grid of small facets cut across it, which is why the stone breaks the light into short square flashes instead of one broad reflection. A close halo of small round diamonds frames it, and the frame is finished with milgrain — the row of tiny beads worked along the metal edge. Three leaf-shaped diamond-set panels flank each side, milgrained the same way, before the shank widens and tapers back. 7.00 grams of 14k white gold.

Milgrain is a detail you only notice second, and that is the point of it: a plain bright edge next to a dark stone draws a hard line, while a beaded edge scatters light along itself and softens where the metal stops and the stone starts. It is also the giveaway that someone spent time on the mounting rather than just setting stones into it, because milgrain is worked along every edge by hand with a knurling wheel and cannot be cast in convincingly. Six leaf panels and a halo means a lot of edges to run. Where else do you get paid for work nobody sees at arm's length?