Blue Zircon from Finewater Gems

[Deia]

I received the zircon earlier this week from Gary after BEG decided to return it (Thanks BEG!

)

First up vendor picture:

 

[Deia]

Here's the only decent picture I managed to take so far, it still doesn't show the color properly though... I will try again this weekend when I have a bit more time

I'm very pleased with the stone, it's beautiful and almost peaceful to look at, although if I am honest I thought it would be just a little darker (is this where I should use the term saturated instead of plain old "darker"?) I guess I will bezel it that should help.

 

[Deia]

This doesn''t show the color at all but I just found it funky! The stone looks on fire

 

[D&T]

Beautiful! Love the cut and the color! yay! how will you set it?

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Awesome cut and color!! I''m so jealous!

 

[Cind11]

Oh, I think that is really pretty! I love the cut on the stone!

 

[joy2theworld]

Very pretty! What does the stone measure? I''m trying to get an idea for one I''m looking at right now.
Thanks!

 

[SB621]

Love that fire! How are you going to set it?

 

[Arcadian]

Well cut zircons are a thing of beauty.

Its not really recommended to bezel set them as they can be brittle. if you still decide to go that route, make sure whoever does it has a lot of experience.

-A

 

[Burberrygirl]

Beautiful zircon!

 

[marcy]

Gorgeous. I love blue zircons.

 

[T L]

Awesome cutting on that stone!!

 

[Nomsdeplume]

That is WOW!!!
I love blue zircons! More pics!

 

[ma re]

Beautiful!

 

[Deia]

Thank you everyone for the kind words! The cutting really is awesome and I think the fact that stone stone is light in color just highlights all the tiny little facets this stone has.... it really is amazing!!!

I am going to be naughty and sneak away from my desk at work to try and take some pictures of the stone

Is it really not recommended to bezel zircon? I have no idea what to do with it yet... my first instict is always to make it a ring but I don''t know if that is a good idea if it''s a softer stone.

Ok, off to try and get some better pictures!

 

[ma re]

For occasional wear it''s just fine, but it''s best if you''re more careful when wearing it and if you don''t set it very high above the finger.

 

[Deia]

I don''t wear any of my rings daily and I take them off whenevr I do anything that could potentially damage them.

I''ll have to think about it. I really have NO idea how to set this one.

 

[oddoneout]

I love the colour and the cut is amazing.

 

[chrono]

Yes, I think the word you are looking for is “saturation”. You can get it set in a ring but it should be an occasional wear ring and in a protective type setting.

 

[T L]

I would never bezel a zircon, the chance of chipping it during setting is very high, and I doubt any benchpeople would even want to do that. I do think the nice lighter tone does highlight the extraordinary faceting job on this stone.

 

[cushioncutnut]

What a beautifully faceted portugese cut stone. It is just blazing! All though you may want to be a little cautious as to what type of setting to choose for it.... I don''t think a good jeweler sweats too much when setting these stones...........compared to setting something like an appatite. My jeweler had no problem setting my zircon. It is a little higher set into the setting. I whacked it pretty hard at work the other day and thought for sure I would have chipped the stone.

Luckily it didn''t, but I think they are little tougher than we give them credit for.............

 

[princessplease]

What a great stone!!!!

 

[Deia]

Thanks everyone

I just read that zircon is at 6.5 to 7.5 on the Moh scale...aren't garnets at 7 - 7.5 ? it doesn't seem like such a soft stone to me

... TL, you mentioned it was brittle...is that in addition to being a soft(er) stone?

Here are a few more pictures I took

outside on my balcony, with sunny spells

 

[Deia]

 

[Deia]

It's not as saturated as this in rl...still a nice picture though

 

[Deia]

 

[Deia]

 

[Deia]

Ok that''s it for now thanks for looking

 

[ma re]

The hardness difference may not seem significant to you if you're looking at just numbers, but there are other things about all this to know. Hardness of quartz is 7 on that same scale, and quartz is an element often found in ordinary household dust as well as your common sand. That means that anything that's softer than 7 is prone much more to abrasion by enviromental elements, which can, in the long run, make your stone become full of microscopic scratches that dull the surface and make it less sparkly (but that can be polished off if necessary). And brittleness is even more important when it comes to zircons, since they can chip upon accidental strikes, much more easily than is the case with most stones. That makes them somewhat harder to set into jewellery, but if you have a skilled person in mind, there should be no serious problems (always ask your jeweller if he/she has problems with setting a specific variety of gem you have in mind, just to be safe - and always specify what kind of a stone it is that you want to set).

P. S. I think some garnets are below 7 as well (demantoid).

 

[Arcadian]

IMO talk it over with your jeweler first to get their input on bezeling it. Zircon can be brittle and can make bezel setting quite a nightmare. Trust me, no two pieces are alike, so you may be able to safely bezel this stone. But, there''s nothing more stomach dropping than to get a call from your jewler saying that your stone split in two.

Garnet isnt brittle like zircons so that plus higher up on Mohs scale makes it pretty safe for almost any setting.

but you have to do you, KWIM?


-A