Trilogy Halo

Trilogy Halo

The Trilogy Halo command surrounds every gem of a trilogy with its own halo: a metal channel following the girdle, the small gems set into it, the prongs that hold them and the prongs that hold the main stone. It is the Halo engine applied gem by gem, with one set of parameters for the center stone and another shared by the two side stones.

The command works on a Three Stones element. Run it and pick one of the three gems: the set is resolved from its group, together with the finger reference circle. If the picked gem does not belong to a Three Stones element, the command asks you to select the three gems manually.

All three stones must be a shape the halo supports — Round, Cushion, Emerald, Oval, Radiant, Asscher and Pear. If a single one of them is a different cut, the panel does not open.

The panel opens on the element library: click a saved Trilogy Halo design to load it, or the pen icon to start editing.

Center and sides

By default the three halos are identical and you edit them as the center. Turn on Side edition and a CENTER GEM / SIDE GEMS selector appears, so the side halos can be tuned apart from the center one. The toggle is hidden in the Settings tab, because what lives there applies to the whole piece.

Parameters is organised in four tabs: Metal Profile, Gems, Main Gems Prongs and Settings.

Metal Profile

The channel of metal that runs around the stone.

• Profile: The channel profile from your asset library, shown with its preview.
• Width and Height: Section of the channel.
• Distance Gem: How far the channel sits from the main stone.
• Bottom Diameter and Width Bottom: The bottom of the channel, so it can close narrower than the top.
• Z Position: Raises or lowers the channel along the axis of the stone.
• Rotation: Rotates the channel profile.
• Smooth Edges: A slider that fillets the edges of the channel.

Gems

The small stones set into the halo.

• Gem Size: Size of the halo gems.
• Min Distance: Minimum separation between them.
• Vertical: Raises or lowers them inside the channel.
• Bright Cut: Bright-cut finish of the seats.
• Inner Height and Inner Width: The inner opening under the gems.
• Force Even Number: Forces an even count of gems around the halo, so the layout stays symmetric.

Prong settings

Three buttons choose how the halo gems are held: none, shared prongs or scalloped.

With prongs selected:

• Gem Size, Height, External Diameter and Internal Diameter: Dimensions of the prongs.
• Extension for Mnf.: Extra length added for manufacturing.
• Automatic Prong Diameter: Lets the prong diameter follow the gems instead of being fixed.

With scalloped selected you also get V-Cutters, Boolean and Remove Channel toggles, plus two collapsible sections:

• CUTTERS — Start Height, Start Width, End Height, End Width, Length, Move in Z, Move Middle in Z, a Shape (U Shape or V Shape), a Mode (Both Sides or Independently) and a Shape Scale slider.
• V-CUTTERS — Start | Width, Start | Height, End | Width, End | Height, Length, Move by Normal and a Mode (Keep Start and End, or Independently).

Drill settings

Three buttons — none, round or quad — choose the hole drilled under each halo gem, each with its own Width and Height.

Main Gems Prongs

The prongs that hold the main stone of each halo.

• Mode: Circle or Custom Shape for the section of the prong.
• Diameter: Section of the prong.
• Gem Inside: How deep it bites into the stone.
• Height over Girdle: How far it rises above the girdle.
• Move in Z: Raises or lowers the prongs.
• Rotation: Distributes the prongs around the stone.
• Prong Height: Length of the prong.
• Extension for Manufacturing: Extra length for production.
• Cap Bump: The bump on the cap of the prong.
• Extend to Bridge: Extends the prongs down to a bridge; when it is on, Height to bridge sets how far down and Bridge Mode chooses a Curved or Straight bridge.
• Cap Mode: Round or Claw. With Claw you also get Gem Inside, Tip inside, Height, Width and a Tension slider for the cap.

Settings

Applies to the whole piece.

• Cut by ring size: Trims the halos to the finger circle.
• Merge sides with center: Joins the side halos to the center one instead of leaving three separate bodies.
• Show cutter: Displays the cutter used to trim, so you can check it.
• Cutter Top, Cutter Bottom, Cutter Height and Cutter Move Z: Adjust that cutter (0 means it matches the center one).

Air Gap

The openings cut through the body of the halo. This section has its own Side edition toggle, with its own CENTER GEM / SIDE GEMS selector, because the air gap is set per halo.

• Layout buttons: none, 4, 6 or a free number.
• Number: The count when you choose the free option.
• Width and Height: Size of each gap.
• Move in Z: Raises or lowers them.
• Vertical Rotation and Global Rotation: Tilt each gap and turn the whole ring of gaps around the stone.

Visualization

Four toggles — Hide Center Gem, Hide Side Gems, Hide Center Halo and Hide Side Halos — let you tune one part without the others in the way. They are view aids only and are not saved: the whole piece is computed when you accept.

Stones

The Stones expander is the complete Three Stones editor — shape, material, carats, distance above ring and rotation for the center stone, plus angle and rotation Y for the sides. While the panel is open the three document gems are hidden and drawn by the preview; on Accept the whole set is re-baked with its halos.

Saving your work

Save defaults in the panel header stores the current configuration as the starting point for the next run (right-click it to go back to the factory values), and the save button stores the design as a named preset in the element library, ready to be reused on another trilogy.