Setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones

Abstract

A setting for a diamond or diamond shaped stone is disclosed which can be used for setting any sized diamond or diamond shaped stone. The setting consists of a series of prongs that are angled to match the most common and preferred culet angle of all diamonds or diamond shaped stones, which is approximately 98°. The prongs are of a length longer than the length of the sidewall of the pavilion of the diamond or diamond shaped stone and the portion of the prongs beyond the size needed is cut off and their ends deformed to hold the diamond or diamond shaped stone.

Description

This is a regular patent application based on U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/534,585 filed on Jan. 5, 2004.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is directed a setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones that has extended prongs for holding a diamond or diamond shaped stone and is adapted for use with various sized diamonds or diamond shaped stones, where the excess length of the prong is cut off to form a holding end to hold the diamond or diamond shaped stone.

2. Description of the Related Art

Settings with extended prongs for mounting diamonds or diamond shaped stores have been used in the past, which typically have several metal prongs upwardly and outwardly extending from a bottom joint or base. The prongs are generally symmetrically arranged about a central symmetric axis of the setting.

One example of the prior art settings for diamonds or diamond shaped stones is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,038,751 issued to Butler on Mar. 21, 2000 (hereafter “Butler”), which disclosed a method of setting stones by using a setting adopted for accommodating various sized stones, where each prong is disposed at an angle with respect to the axis of the setting in a range between about 20°-30° with the preferred range being between 24°-26°. The problem with the Butler setting, however, is that the oblique angle of the prongs does not match the most common and preferred culet angle of diamonds or diamond shaped stones.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a diamond or diamond shaped stone 10 typically has a crown 12 with a table 14, a girdle 16, and a pavilion 16 with a culet 18. The “culet angle” is the planar angle C between the opposite pavilion sidewalls 22 as shown in the side view of FIG. 2.

In diamonds or diamond shaped stones of good or fine make, the preferred culet angle C is in the range of approximately 97°-99°. Usually, an “ideal cut” diamond or diamond shaped stone has a culet angle of approximately 98°.

When a diamond or diamond shaped stone with a preferred culet angle of approximately 98° is set in a Butler setting, the diamond or diamond shaped stone is held in a position that is raised from and above the base or bottom joint of the prongs, because of the mismatch of the oblique angle of the prongs of the Butler setting with the most common and preferred culet angle of the diamonds or diamond shaped stones. As a result, a visible empty space is left between the culet of the diamond or diamond shaped stone and the base or bottom joint of the prongs, no matter what is the size of the diamond or diamond shaped stone, as shown in FIGS. 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, and 18 of Butler. The appearance of such empty space is often undesirable.

In addition, because the oblique angle of the prongs in the Butler setting does not match the oblique angle of the sidewall of the pavilion of most diamonds or diamond shaped stones, the prongs of the setting do not abut or support the pavilion of the diamond or diamond shaped stone held by setting, which increases the risk that the diamond or diamond shaped stones is not set straight but with a tilted angle relative to the symmetric axis of the setting, which also results in an undesirable appearance.

Therefore, there exists a need to provide a setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones that, while can adopt to different sized diamonds or diamond shaped stones, fits the preferred culet angle of diamonds or diamond shaped stones of good and fine make, which is in the range of approximately 97°-99° and preferably to be approximately 98°, so that no visible space is left between the culet of the diamonds or diamond shaped stones and the base or bottom joint of the prongs, and the diamond or diamond shaped stone are always held at the right orientation.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention discloses a setting for a diamond or a diamond shaped stone which can be used for setting any sized diamond or diamond shaped stone of good or fine make that has the most common and preferred culet angle. The present invention setting consists of a series of prongs that are angled in a correct angle so as to match the most common and preferred culet angle of all diamonds or diamond shaped stones.

In the present invention setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones, the prongs are of a length longer than the length of the sidewall of the pavilion of the diamond or diamond shaped stone held thereby and the portion of three prongs beyond the size needed is cut off and holding means are formed at the end thereof to hold the diamond or diamond shaped stone. The diamond or diamond shaped stone is held in the same orientation to the base or bottom joint of the prongs regardless of the size of the diamond or diamond shaped stone held by the setting.

More importantly, because the prongs of the present invention setting for diamond or diamond shaped stone are angled in an angle chosen to match the most common and preferred culet angle of diamonds or diamond shaped stones, when a diamond or diamond shaped stone is held by the setting, the bottom joint of the setting fittingly abuts the culet and the prongs of the setting fully abut the pavilion of the diamond or diamond shaped stone.

The present invention presents a novel, unique and improved setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones that not only can hold diamonds or diamond shaped stones of different sizes, but also fits the most common and preferred culet angle of diamonds or diamond shaped stones, so that no undesirable space is visible under the culet of the diamonds or diamond shaped stones, and the diamond or diamond shaped stone is always held in a right orientation.

OBJECTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved and better setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a setting with a more pleasing and better appearance than previous settings.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a setting of diamonds or diamond shaped stones that matches the most common and preferred culet angle of all diamonds or diamond shaped stones.

It is also another object of the present invention to provide a setting of diamonds or diamond shaped stones that matches the 98° culet angle of ideal cut diamonds or diamond shaped stones.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a setting of diamonds or diamond shaped stones that eliminate the undesirable empty space under the culet of the diamond or diamond shaped stone held by the setting.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a setting of diamonds or diamond shaped stones that ensures that the diamond or diamond shaped stone held by the setting is always symmetrically oriented.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a setting that can be used for setting any commonly sized diamonds or diamond shaped stones.

It is also an additional object of the present invention to provide a setting that holds a diamond or diamond shaped stone in the same orientation with regard to the bottom joint of the prongs regardless of the size of the diamond or diamond shaped stone held by the setting.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a setting that allows jewelers to quickly set diamonds or diamond shaped stones of various sizes.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a setting that can be easily used by jewelers for setting diamonds or diamond shaped stones.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from a review of the accompanying drawings and the detailed description of the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a prospective view of a diamond or diamond shaped stone of good or fine make;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the diamond or diamond shaped stone shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a prospective view of one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones having three prongs;

FIG. 4 is a top plane view of the present invention setting shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front elevation view of the present invention setting shown in FIG. 3 with dotted lines illustrating a diamond or diamond shaped stone held by the setting;

FIG. 6 is a rear elevation view of the present invention setting shown in FIG. 3 with dotted lines illustrating the diamond or diamond shaped stone held by the setting;

FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of the present invention setting shown in FIG. 3 with dotted lines illustrating the diamond or diamond shaped stone held by the setting;

FIG. 8 is a side elevation view of the present invention setting shown in FIG. 3 with dotted lines illustrating a smaller diamond or diamond shaped stone held by the setting;

FIG. 9 is a prospective view of another one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones having four prongs;

FIG. 10 is a top plane view of the present invention setting shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a side elevation view of the present invention setting shown in FIG. 9 with dotted lines illustrating a diamond or diamond shaped stone held by the setting; and

FIG. 12 is a side elevation view of the present invention setting shown in FIG. 9 with dotted lines illustrating a smaller diamond or diamond shaped stone held by the setting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones is shown and generally referred to by the numeral 30. In the following descriptions, the word “diamond(s)” will be used to indicate both diamond(s) and diamond shaped stone(s).

The setting 30 has three prongs 32 generally made of metal or other similar materials. The prongs 32 are joined at their bottom ends to form bottom joint 34 which serves as the base of the setting 30. The prongs 32 extend upwardly and outwardly from the bottom joint 34, and are disposed spaced apart symmetrically about a symmetric axis X of the setting 30, i.e., the angle A between each prong 32 and the axis X is the same, and the angle B between any two adjacent prongs 32 is also the same for all three prongs 32.

One of the most important novel and unique features of the present invention setting 30 is the oblique angle A of its prongs 32. As discussed earlier and shown in FIG. 2, the most common and preferred culet angle C for diamonds is in the range of approximately 97°-99° for diamonds of good and fine make, or more preferably to be approximately 98° for ideal cut diamonds. This means that the angle A′ between a symmetric axis Z of the diamond 10 and its pavilion sidewall 22, which is half of the culet angle C, is in the range of approximately 48.5-49.5° for diamonds of good and fine make, or approximately 49° for ideal cut diamonds. In the present invention setting 30, the oblique angle A of its prongs matches this angle A′, i.e., to be in the range of approximately 48.5°-49.5° and preferably 49°. In other words, the oblique angle A of the prongs 32 of the present invention setting 30 matches the oblique angle A′ of the pavilion sidewall 22 of the diamond 10 of good and fine make or ideal cut diamonds.

This novel and unique feature of the prevent invention has several critical and important advantages. As shown in FIGS. 5-7, since the oblique angle A of the prongs 32 of the setting 30 is the same as the oblique angle A′ of the pavilion sidewall 22 of the diamond 10, diamond 10 is not held at a raised position that leaves an empty space below its culet 20 as seen in Butler but rather is allowed to be held at a position where its culet 20 abuts the bottom joint 34 of the setting 30 which eliminates the undesirable appearance of the empty space between the culet 20 of the diamond 10 and the bottom joint 34 of the setting 30.

In addition, since the oblique angle A of the prongs 32 of the setting 30 is the same as the oblique angle A′ of the pavilion sidewall 22 of the diamond 10, when the diamond 10 is held by the setting 30, the three prongs 32 of the setting 30 symmetrically and fittingly abut the pavilion sidewall 22 of the diamond 10 which ensures that diamond 10 is correctly oriented, i.e. the symmetric axis Z of the diamond 10 coincides with the symmetric axis X of the setting 30.

The present invention setting 30 is adopted to fit diamonds of various sizes. As shown in FIGS. 3, 7 and 8, the length of the prongs 32, prior to setting a diamond 10 in the setting 30, is greater than that of the pavilion sidewall 22 of the majority of diamonds (e.g., between ¼ carat to 2 carat in weight). After a diamond 10 is set between the prongs 32 and its culet 20 abuts the bottom joint 34 of the setting 32, the excessive length of the prongs 32 beyond the girdle 16 is cut off and the ends of the prongs 32 can be slightly deformed (or in other conventional ways or by other conventional means) to hold the diamond 10 in the setting 30.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, regardless of the size of diamond 10, since the oblique angle A of the prongs 32 of the setting 30 is the same as the oblique angle A′ of the pavilion sidewall 22 of the diamond 10, the prongs 32 will always abut the pavilion sidewall 22 of the diamond 10, and the bottom joint 34 of the setting 30 will always abut the culet 20 of the diamond 10.

This arrangement of the present invention ensures that regardless of the size of diamond 10, there will be no space left below the culet 20 of the diamond 10, and the diamond 10 will always be maintained at an orientation where its symmetric axis Z coincides with the symmetric axis X of the setting 30.

Referring to FIGS. 9-12, another one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention setting for diamonds is shown and generally referred to by the numeral 40.

The structure, function and characteristics of this alternative setting 40 are very similar to the above described setting 30 except setting 40 has four prongs 42 instead of three, therefore the description of this alternative setting 40 below will not unnecessarily duplicate the descriptions of such similar structure, function and characteristics.

The alternative setting 40 has four prongs 42 generally made of metal or other similar materials. The prongs 42 are joined at their bottom ends to form bottom joint 44 which serves as the base of the setting 40. The prongs 42 extending upwardly and outwardly from the bottom joint 44, and are disposed spaced apart symmetrically about a symmetric axis X of the setting 40, i.e., the angle A between each prong 42 and the axis X is the same, and the angle D between any two adjacent prongs 42 is also the same for all four prongs 42.

More importantly, the oblique angle A of the prongs 42 matches the angle A′ of the pavilion sidewall 22 of the diamond 10, and is in the range of approximately 48.5-49.5E for diamonds of good and fine make and preferably 49E for ideal cut diamonds. As a result, regardless of the size of diamond 10, the prongs 42 of the setting 40 will always abut the pavilion sidewall 22 of the diamond 10 to ensure proper orientation of the diamond 10, and the bottom joint 44 of the setting 40 will always abut the culet 20 of the diamond 10 to eliminate any space between the culet 20 of the diamond 10 and the bottom joint 44 of the setting 40.

It is appreciated that while a three-prong setting 30 and a four-prong setting 40 are described hereinabove, the present invention setting may have any number of prongs, such as three, four, six or other number of prongs, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

It is also appreciated that the oblique angle A of the prongs of the present invention setting may be in a wider range, e.g., between approximately 40-60°, to accommodate diamonds of imperfect cut.

It is further appreciated that while a round cut diamond is illustrated in the drawings and described herein, the present invention setting may be adopted to hold diamonds of other types of cut, such as the “princess cut”, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

While the present invention has been described in detail with regards to the preferred embodiments, it is appreciated that other variations of the present invention may be devised which do not depart from the inventive concept of the present invention.

Claims

1. A setting for a near perfect cut diamond or diamond shaped stone having a culet angle in the range of approximately 97 to 99 degrees, the setting comprising:

a. three prongs joined at their bottom ends forming a base of said setting;

b. said three prongs extending upwardly and outwardly from said base and disposed equally spaced apart symmetrically about a symmetric axis of said setting, defining an oblique angle between each said prong and said axis;

c. said oblique angles of said prongs being identical and arranged to be in the range of approximately 48.5 to 49.5 degrees;

d. whereas said base and said prongs fit the near perfect cut diamond or diamond shaped stone without any undesirable empty space left between said base of the setting and the culet of said near perfect cut diamond or diamond shaped stone.

2. A setting for a near perfect cut diamond or diamond shaped stone as claimed in claim 1, wherein said oblique angles of said prongs are 48 degrees.

3. A setting for a near perfect cut diamond or diamond shaped stone as claimed in claim 1, wherein said prongs are made of metal or other similar materials.

4. A setting for a near perfect cut diamond or diamond shaped stone as claimed in claim 1, wherein said prongs are provided with extra length for fitting various sized diamonds or diamond shaped stones.

5. A setting for a diamond or diamond shaped stone having a culet, the setting comprising:

a. at least three prongs joined at their bottom ends forming a base of said setting;

b. said prongs extending upwardly and outwardly from said base and disposed spaced apart about a symmetric axis of said setting, defining an oblique angle between each said prong and said axis;

c. said oblique angles of at least two of said prongs being identical and arranged to accommodate said culet of said diamond or diamond shaped stone;

d. whereas said base and said prongs fit the diamond or diamond shaped stone without any undesirable empty space left between said base of the setting and the culet of said diamond or diamond shaped stone.

6. A setting for a diamond or diamond shaped stone as claimed in claim 5, wherein the number of said prongs is three.

7. A setting for a diamond or diamond shaped stone as claimed in claim 5, wherein the number of said prongs is four.

8. A setting for a diamond or diamond shaped stone as claimed in claim 5, wherein the number of said prongs is six.

9. A setting for a diamond or diamond shaped stone as claimed in claim 5, wherein said oblique angles of said prongs are in the range of 48.5 to 49.5 degrees.

10. A setting for a diamond or diamond shaped stone as claimed in claim 9, wherein said oblique angles of said prongs are approximately 48 degrees.

11. A setting for a diamond or diamond shaped stone as claimed in claim 5, wherein said prongs are made of metal or other similar materials.

12. A setting for a diamond or diamond shaped stone as claimed in claim 5, wherein said prongs are provided with extra length for fitting various sized diamonds or diamond shaped stones.

13. A setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones, comprising:

a. a multiplicity of prongs joined at their bottom ends forming a base of said setting;

b. said prongs extending upwardly and outwardly from said base and disposed spaced apart about an axis of said setting, defining an oblique angle between each said prong and said axis; and

c. said oblique angles of at least two of said prongs being identical and arranged to fit the culet of said diamonds or diamond shaped stones;

d. whereas said setting can be used to hold the diamonds or diamond shaped stones without leaving any undesirable empty space between said base of the setting and the culet of said diamonds or diamond shaped stones.

14. A setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones as claimed in claim 13, wherein the number of said prongs is three.

15. A setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones as claimed in claim 13, wherein the number of said prongs is four.

16. A setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones as claimed in claim 13, wherein the number of said prongs is six.

17. A setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones as claimed in claim 13, wherein said oblique angles of said prongs are in the range of 40 to 60 degrees.

18. A setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones as claimed in claim 17, wherein said oblique angles of said prongs are in the range of 48 to 50 degrees.

19. A setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones as claimed in claim 13, wherein said prongs are made of metal or other similar materials.

20. A setting for diamonds or diamond shaped stones as claimed in claim 13, wherein said prongs are provided with extra length for fitting various sized diamonds or diamond shaped stones.