Are Sub Attributes possible?

I am trying to create a custom jewelry site for a client, and am completely stuck on how to set up the hierarchy.

My situation is this:
I have multiple products, such as rings, bracelets, earrings...etc.
Let's use Rings as an example. This is how I'd like to have it set up, but I'm not sure it is possible.
CATEGORY -- Rings
_SUB CATEGORY1 -- Gold
__PRODUCT -- Ring w/ gold band
___OPTION 1 -- Band Style
____ATTRIBUTE1 -- Balls
____ATTRIBUTE2 -- Daisies
___OPTION 2 -- Center Stone
____ATTRIBUTE1 -- Crystal
_____SUB ATTRIBUTE1 -- White
_____SUB ATTRIBUTE2 -- Black
_____SUB ATTRIBUTE3 -- Bronze
____ATTRIBUTE2 -- Swarovski Pearl
_____SUB ATTRIBUTE1 -- White
_____SUB ATTRIBUTE2 -- Black
_____SUB ATTRIBUTE3 -- Bronze
___OPTION 3 -- Endpieces
____ATTRIBUTE1 -- Bead Caps
_____SUB ATTRIBUTE1 -- Ruby
______SUB SUB ATTRIBUTE1 -- 6mm
______SUB SUB ATTRIBUTE2 -- 8mm
_____SUB ATTRIBUTE2 -- Topaz
______SUB SUB ATTRIBUTE1 -- 6mm
______SUB SUB ATTRIBUTE2 -- 8mm
____ATTRIBUTE2 -- Donuts
_____SUB ATTRIBUTE1 -- Rose
______SUB SUB ATTRIBUTE1 -- 6mm
______SUB SUB ATTRIBUTE2 -- 8mm

As you can see, some of my attributes have attributes, which sometimes have more attributes. I do not know if there is a way to accomplish this, but I can't seem to figure out how to set this up using categories and sub categories.

If anyone can shed some light on how to accomplish this hierarchy I would greatly appreciate it. I've tried to make my explanation as simple as possible, but if anyone needs further clarification, please let me know. Thanks so much in advance!

Nope. What you're describing are 'dependent attributes' and Zencart can't do that yet. I'm not aware of any mod that includes that function, either.

Ouch!

After searching for an answer to this throughout the web, I've found a good deal more people who are looking for this feature. Do you know if this is in the plans for a future version? If so, how close is it?

V2.0 is supposed to be able to keep stock for attribute combinations, which are not the same as dependent attributes, but might be able to be tweaked and used in a similar fashion. We will have to wait and see exactly how the attributes work in the new version before anyone can figure out how to rework them.

For starters, you can work down in subcategories a good bit farther than just "gold rings". It seems reasonable to have a number of styles of gold rings as the products; this will let you display pictures of typical examples, and then the customer can go into the product to select stones, endpieces, etc.
You may consider the balance between a strict logical heirarchy of features and a more level spread of feature combinations. Having to pick between crystal and swarovski pearl before picking through a few colors doesn't strike me as easier than picking between six distinct stone options.

If you have one product that can vary radically in appearance depending on options chosen, how will the customer know which she wants to explore? Don't make the customer try all the combinations before seeing what they look like. Many of them should be visible side by side in a listing.

If I am understanding you correctly, I agree. Given the example I gave, it would be plausible to have a number of products that account for the most popular combinations of options and attributes. Unfortunately, this was just a simple example. the actual options go much, MUCH deeper than 3 selections (for instance, "Crystal" has 80 color options, of which have 2 shapes associated with each color, and 2 sizes within each shape). Without dependent attributes, it doesn't seem like there is any way to tweak the current capabilities to accomplish this. Am I understanding you correctly?

With that many option values, picking combinations directly does become less feasible. But I question whether you need to have the shape dependent on the color, and the size dependent on the shape. Square 6mm, square 8mm, round 6mm and round 8mm seems like a simple choice to make at one go. Do they vary in price based on crystal color, size or shape?

The coding required to really get close to the heirarchy you want would be involved enough that you would probably be better off waiting on v2.0 to try for that.

I agree about the size and color relationship. In actuality, the color is the one dependent on the size, as not every color is available in every size and shape (another variable that I haven't mentioned yet that further complicates things).

When is v2 set to launch?

It is supposed to be released as a public beta this month, with a few intermediate versions before final v2.0 release in the spring. As soon as the beta is out, there will be people swarming over it to try out the new possibilities for modification.

The color availability issue is one that will definitely be addressed in v2.0 - see the announcement:

Stock/sku support

* stock can be set for attribute combinations
* ajax suppport for stock display
* sku can be set for attribute combinations
* ajax support for sku display
* individual reorder levels can be set per attribute/sku combination, and a global setting can optionally override

Buttin in here:

Crystal" has 80 color options, of which have 2 shapes associated with each color, and 2 sizes within each shape

Size = 2 options
Shape = 2 options
color = 80 options

Or is that not what you said??

That is what I said. What I've decided to do is to have 11 options, and simply group them together with the design rather than trying to have 4 options with dependent variables (obviously, because this is impossible). For instance, I'll have:

Center Stone
_Crystal
_Pearl

Stone Color
_Brass
_Green
_Bronze
_etc

Stone Shape
_Round
_Square

And so on.

The only problem with this, is that the customer may not want to have a center stone, and would chose "none," but they are still able to chose stone color and shape...etc, which become void since they said "no" to a stone in the first place. I've seen this done before, it just doesn't seem as professional to me.

Is there a way to "turn off" subsequent options if a preceding one is not checked? They could still be visible, just not active? I'm pretty sure I've seen this before.

Is there a way to "turn off" subsequent options if a preceding one is not checked?
This again croses into the "dependant variable" arena

Attributes are one of the more complex areas of Zen Cart. Even as they are now, people find them difficult to understand and work with. Dependant attributes is just one of several ways that they could be further extended, but the challenge each time is to find a generic solution that works in all circumstances and which remains usable for Zen Cart users.

The requirements that you describe above are of the sort that are often easier to build for a specific situation. And that's the beauty of open source software, you're allowed, even encouraged, to do so.