Need help with stone/color combination!!!

[chelsea3]

Help! I have a platinum (empty) three stone setting that can hold a 9mm center and 5.70 mm sidestones. I would really like to create a "Mother''s Ring" with this setting. I have three children, one born in January (Garnet?), one in February (Amethyst?) and the third in October (Tourmaline?). How would it look to put a reddish pink Garnet in the center with a purple amethyst and pink tourmaline on each side? What variety of Garnet would you pick. What variety of Amethyst and Tourmaline would you pick?

Would this stone and color combo not be pleasing to the eye????

I would love to read your opinions and any other suggestion you may have!

Are there any particular vendors that you would recommend to help with this project? Thanks!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I really love Gene's (from precisiongem) star360 cut garnets, the umbalite is a gorgeous pink-purple.

Here's a photo of Cellatini's

Link to thread

He can also cut the sidestones as he has cut amethysts and tourmalines as well.

Although if you're under a budget, Bob Kast (from gemsafire) cuts a lot of smallish amethysts and tourmalines for very economic prices (probably under 100$ per stone) and his cutting is suberb. He's just starting out more or less, so his prices are very competitive, though he doesn't always have the best rough. But neither amethyst nor pink tourmaline is too hard to come by, so I'm pretty confident he could cut you something lovely.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I would personally prefer lighter pastel side stones if you went with an umbalite like cellatinis.

 

[chelsea3]

Wow. . . I LOVE

the look of that garnet. . . the cut/color is exactly what I''m envisioning! I just don''t have the knowledge to know what to look for. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and insight with me!

I''m going to check out the website and prices.

 

[chelsea3]

Would you then ask for a lighter amethyst and pink tourmaline? Do you think that these three stones will compliment each other or look odd since the three stones are all different? The setting is a three stone trellis setting.

 

[packrat]

I think pinks and a purple would be pretty together

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Here is a pair of light pink-orange tourms from Bob Kast (the pair is 80$, but too big to be your side stones, just posting to give you an idea of the colors I would personally go for).

 

[MakingTheGrade]

And here''s a light pinkish purple amethyst from Bob as well ($40 and 6.8mm, again too big, just to give a price point and color).

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I personally like lighter/more pastel side stones because I think they battle less with your center stone, and are generally sparklier and brighter due to the lighter color. Might just be me though.

 

[chelsea3]

Thank you for you input Packrat and MakingTheGrade! It is 10pm where I live and I am starting to get super excited about this project after seeing the beautiful stones and colors. . . the prices seem pretty reasonable too! If I were to mail the empty setting to Bob, do you know if he would he be able to find/cut specific stones to fit the setting and would he also set the stones? You have definitely peaked my curiousity. . .

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Pink and red are not usually a combination that go together. You have to be very careful on your color selection because they might clash with one another. Red and purple go well together, and pink and purple go well together.

Tourmaline comes in all different shades, and so do garnets.

If you did a purple/pink garnet, you could pull off purple and pink for the side stones.

I found some examples (just for color, I didn''t look at size) on ACS

purple pink garnet

medium pink tourmaline

I picked a tourmaline that was not too pale because I didn''t want it to be overpowered by a darker amethyst and garnet.

 

[chelsea3]

Sorry, I meant to ask if you know if Gene from PrecisionGems would be able to find/cut and also set the stones if I mailed the setting to them?

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I don''t think so Gene does jewelery..but you can ask.

Michael E of the gemshoppe is both an experienced jeweler and gem cutter, and is well respected on Pricescope. So he might be a good option if you just want to send the setting off and have it come back all purty.

 

[chelsea3]

Ohhhh my Ltlfirecracker, those stones are beautiful as well! I agree that the garnet needs to be reddish pinkish purplish to pull off having a pink stone on one side and a purple stone on the other. Now I''m thinking that perhaps I ought to try to get the stones from the same vendor so that they can help find/cut stones that are complimentary in color. Thank you for your input!

 

[chelsea3]

MakingTheGrade: Now I''m off to look at Michael E at Gemshoppe''s website. I have a feeling I''m going to be awake playing on the internet for a while, looking at eyecandy! I really appreciate your responses! I would be lost without the help of PS''ers to help me with my bling! Thanks again.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

No problem. Michael is really sweet and patient to deal with, and I think he''s the best bet for a one-stop-shop kind of deal.

Let us know how it goes!

 

[packrat]

Michael was really informative and helpful when I was looking for my spinel, and there are some pretty rings on here from him too-he''d be a good one to ask!

 

[AustenNut]

I was browsing around ebay and came across these earrings. Though it''s obviously not a ring, I think the colors show what your ring might look like all together.

 

[ma re]

AustenNut that''s a good example of color combo, but the problem is that the ring in question probably can''t have stones graduating in size, so visual balance might not be so easy to achieve.

Chelsea, here are a few things you should know. Garnets have a much higher refractive index than either tourmaline or amethyst so, to put it simple, they sparkle more. They are due to this reason much livelier and more scintillating, which means that if you move them under a light source they will catch it and reflect it a few times more within the same time frame if compared to tourmalines or amethysts. Because of this reason they''ll grab your attention in this arrangement more than the other two varieties, so I think it''s best to have a garnet as the center stone for this reason.

Now to review possible colors:

- garnets can be dark red (pyrope), burgundy (rhodolite), lime (mali), green (tsavorite/demantoid), brownish cinnamon (hessonite), orange (spessartite), orangy red (malaya) and anything in between; they can also change colors from one in daylight to another in incandescent light
- tourmalines can be yellow, brownish-orange, pink, vivid pinkish-red (then they''re called rubelites), deep greyish blue (indicolite), green, bright turquoise (paraiba), bi-color, tri-color; of course, there are color variations within each variety of course, but these are the main colors
- amethyst can be anything from pastel bluish-violet to deep reddish-purple.

Now, you didn''t say if all three stones are suppose to be the same shape and what shape are we even talking about (I''m guessing round, but it doesen''t hurt to ask).

Hope this helps.

 

[arjunajane]

chelsea, I love your idea and infact already own a ring rather similar -
I agree with the others that if you go with a rich coloured stone like that Umbalite in the middle, a more pastel amethyst and tourmaline would be best. Luckily, tourms come in (almost) any colour and tone you could want..

My ring has a pink tourmaline centre from Barry Bridgestock, with a purple spinel and an antique diamond on each side;
I thought I would post the pics to show you this kind of idea does work!

 

[arjunajane]

showing the pink and purple together:

 

[chelsea3]

Packrat: Thanks for the "thumbs up" on Michael as a vendor. P.S. I ordered the "Titan Peeler" you recommended (different thread) from the LTD catalog!

AustenNut: I really like the color combo in the picture of the earrings. Thank you for finding and posting it for me. Seeing the colors together definitely has me itching to create a "Mother''s ring" with these stones!

ma re: Wow. . . you are a wealth of knowledge! I''m going to print your list of stones/colors for future reference with this project! Thank you for responding and also for highly suggesting that I use a garnet for the center stone due to the way it will reflect light! Good to know!

Arjunajane: I love your ring

, thank you for sharing your pictures with me. It is just stunning! In fact, if I did not already have an empty platinum setting, I would be a copy cat and have the same type of bezel ring made. . . Hmmm, I''m going to past your picture in my "Eye Candy - Want" file for future reference!

 

[arjunajane]

you''re welcome chelsea - thankyou for the compliments. Although of course I love the design too, I was posting mainly to show that different colours and species of stones can and do work well in rings together (when chosen well and made by a good jeweller, of course).
I am in the process of having another one with tourmalines and beryl made - again, all 3 different colours.

Sometimes there are too many "rules".

Good luck in designing your ring and choosing your stones

 

[AustenNut]

Wow, Arjunajane, that is one pretty ring! Thanks for posting it...it''s giving me ideas.