Need Help With My First Project

[teetee]

Hello PSers!
I am working on a project for my sister's wedding. She really likes this pendant and I was curious to see if you all thought it would be feasible to get it made. The design looks fairly straightforward. Which vendors would you recommend? Would you try to get the stones yourself online or have the vendor procure them?
Here are the stones involved (approximate sizes):
.75 ct aquamarine center
.11 ct diamonds x5
.15 ct blue sapphires x6
.12 ct light blue sapphires x4
.12 ct tsavorites x3

This is my first project and I look forward to learning a lot from the pros out there. Thanks for any comments/suggestions.

 

[yssie]

That''s an awesome design..!!

 

[Arkteia]

Amazing!

 

[ma re]

Depends on the vendor. If his reputation is outstanding, if he''s knowledgable about gemstones and guarantees the best possible service for the project, then I''d have him find the stones, especially since this is your first project and this particular one might turn out to be a bit tricky for a newbie. But if you don''t feel comfortable with the vendors that are available to you, you might try to source them yourself. But I''m sure some here with more experience will be of better help than me.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

that is a great design!

I''d get quotes for the design/setting/diamonds, and for the design/setting with all stones from Whiteflash and Brian Gavin and see how they fit in your budget.

Also, I''d get quotes for the stones from several of the recommended colored stone vendors here.

Can''t wait to see the finished result!

 

[Gailey]

Well it might be fun to try and find the centre stone and that would make it personal to both you and your sister. The melee in the halo will be difficult for you to source and I would leave that up to the jeweller.

Not very long ago I wanted to source a 4mm pink sapphire heart for a project and had no success. I regularly look at approximately 100 gem sites alone.

I e-mailed Lesley Harris from Brian Gavin Diamonds and she sourced the heart for me the by the following day. I would have no hesitation in recommending Brian and Lesley to you to make the whole pendant. If you do a search for either "Brian Gavin Diamonds", "BGD", or "Lesley", you will turn up a ton of projects.

I will keep my eyes peeled for a round aquamarine for you.

 

[Stone Hunter]

Interesting setting. I think that sourcing the smaller stones yourself would be hard. Several PSers have used Wink Jones to source things for them and do settings.

Good Luck!

 

[chrono]

I’d probably look for the aquamarine myself and let the vendor source the little melees. The design is super cool and I can’t wait to see everything come together.

 

[Gailey]

Are you sure that the centrestone in the picture is an aquamarine? It looks like it could be a zircon to me.

Small round aquamarines are surprisngly difficult to find. Here is what I managed to come up with:
Dan Stair octagon aqua
Smallish blue zircons from AJS Gems
Small blue zircon from Gary Dutton
Small blue aquamarine from Africa Gems
Smallish round very pale aquas from Gemhunters
Slightly larger round blue zircon from Steve PerrySmall slightly included aqua from The Gem Trader
Almost perfect! round aqua from Richard Homer
Couple of very nice zircons from Richard Homer

Your other alternative is to contact a lapidarist and ask him to cut you something individually. In this respect, here's a list of some of the popular lapidarists whose work can be seen on PS:
Peter Torraca
Lisa Elser
Gene Flannigan
Roger Dery
Jeff White

And finally, one last alternative is Michael E. Michael is a very rare breed of individual who not only cuts gems but he also sets them. I don't know his web address, but I am hoping that someone will jump in with it.

Good luck.


Edited to say "Duh Gailey

" Michael's web address is www.gemshoppe.com

 

[teetee]

Date: 1/26/2010 5:32:03 PM
Author: Gailey
Are you sure that the centrestone in the picture is an aquamarine? It looks like it could be a zircon to me.

Small round aquamarines are surprisngly difficult to find.

Thanks for all the tips and links. The photo was probably color enhanced but I''m pretty sure it''s an aquamarine. I''m not surprised that you said small round aquas hard to find. The original designer of this piece is an high-end jewelry house from Paris...I''ll tell you all tomorrow if no one is able to guess the name.

I will check out all those links. I may need to find 3 aquas because we''re thinking about making some drop earrings in the same style so that she can have a set....hope this doesn''t turn into mission impossible. The wedding is not until August so hopefully that gives me enough time. She really loves that pendant and is already incorporating those colors in her wedding planning.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[ma re]

Boucheron.

 

[Gailey]

Date: 1/27/2010 4:06:51 AM
Author: ma re
Boucheron.

Teetee, given that this is a Boucheron pendant, I would say that this makes the aquamarine likely to be a Santa-Maria aquamarine, given it''s deep colour. That is going to be next to impossible for someone not in the trade to source especially because of it''s size. Your alternatives would be zircon as I''ve said previously or perhaps blue topaz.

 

[chrono]

Date: 1/27/2010 10:24:23 AM
Author: Gailey

Date: 1/27/2010 4:06:51 AM
Author: ma re
Boucheron.

Teetee, given that this is a Boucheron pendant, I would say that this makes the aquamarine likely to be a Santa-Maria aquamarine, given it''s deep colour. That is going to be next to impossible for someone not in the trade to source especially because of it''s size. Your alternatives would be zircon as I''ve said previously or perhaps blue topaz.

Ditto that; an aquamarine in that colour and size will be almost impossible for most jewellers to source, not to mention, you wanting 2 more for earrings. I second Gailey’s recommendation of going with either blue zircon or topaz.

 

[oddoneout]

Great design. I like how it takes sort of a classic design and mixes it up with the different colours.

 

[teetee]

Date: 1/27/2010 4:06:51 AM
Author: ma re
Boucheron.

BRAVO!

My sister contacted the jeweler that made her engagement ring and he said he could do this. We''re going to meet with him next weekend so I''ll be sure to ask a lot of questions about the stones. Thanks for the subsitution tips in case we need them. I''m really skeptical but I hope that he can get good quality stones...not just the aqua but all the other ones too.

 

[PumpkinPie]

I adore that pendant! it''s so beautiful and aquatic looking

 

[Michael_E]

An aqua of that color is going to be quite a challenge, BUT a tourmaline of that color would be rather easy to find. The downside is that the color of that center can be pretty expensive, (relative to other stones that size), in any stone other than a blue topaz.

I would suggest letting whoever makes this for you source the small stones. The reason for this is that they all have to be very close in size when channel set and this is not something that most people are willing to take the time to do, since it may require ordering from several sources, measuring each stone, sending stuff back that doesn''t work or even doing a partial recut on some stones that are hard to find in a given size.