Help with anniversary gift!

[PrincessPeach]

Hi all

I am interested in some advice regarding a FIRST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY gift...My lovely hubby is letting me pick out something I want, and he wants it to be special. I''''ve come across a nice princess cut garnet about 2cts (I forgot the vendor), which is already in a setting with accent diamonds. Now, it costs btwn 500-1,000. For the sake of being cost conscious, should I purchase a loose stone and have it set at a later time? Has anyone done this before?


Thanks!

 

[tyty333]

You might get more responce over in the colored stones forum...they buy stones and have them set all
the time. Some very pretty rings over there!

 

[D&T]

have you browse through the colored stone selling site up above? there are tons, you would probably do really well cost wise buying them loose and then getting them set With your budget, there are some beauties out there. First up, what size are you looking for in mm? carat weight varies for different colored stone. and you mentioned princess cut? here is a pari from finewatergems.com http://www.finewatergems.com/garnet.html then maybe send it over to Brian Gavin or Whiteflash to create a setting for them with their super ideal melees?

 

[D&T]

here is garnet pair from diamondexpert.com

http://www.diamondexpert.com/diamonds/dbs.cgi?sf=detg.setup.cgi&active=active&stock=GS00269&submit_search=1

but its round...

 

[chrono]

I second the recommendation of find the garnet loose, then setting it. Going this route will most often give you a much better looking coloured gemstone. Also, sometimes vendors do not post their entire inventory so it''s best to call or email them.

 

[PrincessPeach]

Thank you all for responding!

I was kind of interested in the Citrine from Fine Water Gems website...though I really wanted a garnet, I might consider the Citrine being that I just personally love yellow.

http://www.finewatergems.com/citrine.html

What do you think?

I am thinking of having a bezel type of solitaire for a gemstone ring; I prefer all cuts except for round, being that I already have ering and wedding band with rounds and would like to off-set those!

Thanks again...I''ll keep you updated on this project of mine ...I have until August!

 

[marcy]

What a fun project. I like to pick out loose stones then have them mounted.

 

[chrono]

That Finewater citrine looks different from what I expect citrines to look like but maybe you like that hue? It doesn’t look very yellow to me. Maybe a pale yellow? Citrines are also soft and not meant for everyday wear. Garnets are a little better for ring stones but should still be babied. Bezeling it is a good idea and for that stone, will bring out more colour. Just be sure to find an experienced benchperson who handles more than sapphires.