Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Budget

[royalstarrynight]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Yay! I'm so glad you found a setting and jeweler who you are happy to work with under your budget!

We love being part of the process! You are so sweet and considerate but Keep us updated! You can't be a tease and leave us...

 

[FrekeChild]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Yes, please keep us updated! Make sure to post pictures of the process too!

 

[velouriaL]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Amazing!!!! So excited for you.

Ate the blue diamonds treated? Worth asking and making a decision about.

 

[chrono]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

I'm almost 100% sure the blue diamonds will be irradiated in order to be a strong blue that stands out in the setting. Is Greenlake sourcing the centre stone for you then? If so, what stone are they getting for you?

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

velouriaL --- yes, they'll be treated. Honestly the color was more important to me than anything else for those little stones. I definitely wanted to keep a blue color, not just a blue tint.

Chrono --- Yes, they'll be sourcing the stone. Otherwise there's an extra setting fee on top of all of the shipping back and forth and my inexperience in buying gems. She originally pushed me toward a sapphire, but they were all too expensive and the color was not quite right. I feel so picky saying that, but I'm sure everyone here knows what I mean! She also offered a Chatham created sapphire, which was VERY budget friendly and the hue was great, but the saturation makes it look cartoon-y somehow. I'm not quite sure how to describe it, but it felt wrong to me. I'm willing to pay a little more for natural spinel. I shared some of the stones linked in this thread to give her an idea for color.

We also discussed sizing up the head of the ring so it is 12mm across and accommodates a spinel up to 6.5mm (rather than 5.7), and after talking things over with the Betrothed, we decided we could afford the upsize cost as long as the spinel stayed under $1000 (preferrably under $800) and we use white gold. Thanks to everyone for getting me to entirely reconsider metals

They did not have any spinel close to the color I want in stock, so I'm not sure how long it will take Krista to source it. If we used a slightly oval stone in the center, many more stones are available, at least from the vendors I have access to through the stickied thread here, so I told her that was fine. She made a quick mock-up for me with a roval stone, and I actually like the look! I also told her that I like bubble inclusions if that helps find a stone in the price range. I would post pictures but really it looks just like the photo on their website except with appropriately tinted transluscent circles over the clear crystals. It gives me a great idea of potential, but nothing really at which to ogle

 

[FrekeChild]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Post the pics anyway! We like pictures!

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Hahaha you are people after my own heart with loving pictures, so I must oblige you, especially after you've helped me find a DREAM

 

[chrono]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

What is the green melees used? Is the mockup colouration accurate? I ask because most irradiated blue diamonds tend to be a dark teal colour.

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Chrono --- Good to know about the diamond color! She said she would show me pictures of the diamonds, but I haven't seen them yet. I will keep an eye out.

The green gems are emeralds. I know they are not best for daily wear, and I have looked through other threads here and done web searches for green stones in that color to no avail. I asked Krista for her professional opinion about the topaz and the emerald for this ring, since it is very different from the original design on which y'all commented. She absolutely warned me not to do the topaz on the sides because they are too exposed and I would probably have to replace them frequently. She suggested, however, that the petal shapes provide protection for the emeralds. They are slightly cupped and they have a bit of an outer lip. Do you have a different opinion or suggestion?

 

[velouriaL]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

I probably wouldn't use emeralds. Even with the protection, I'd be too nervous. Can you find corundum that will work? Or treated diamonds?

Personally (JMO!), I wouldn't do green on the petals because... well, the stem/leaves, if anything, should be green and the petals should be another color. Again, JMO!

So, if it were me, with this in mind, and the difficulty of finding durable green stones, I'd probably switch up the color scheme. Can you do pink or yellow diamonds? Blue (darker?), yellow, pink, purple sapphire? I have seen colored sapphire melee that really shows a lot of color. Maybe it's best to wait until you isolate your center stone and then pick colors that complement it?

You can also do multiple colors on the petals... a mix of pink and white or pink and yellow diamonds might be pretty... or darker pink sapphires with light pink diamonds. You could do three shades with darker sapphires, lighter sapphires, and diamonds.

For the center stone: You might also consider a light lavender pink gray spinel. They are fairly plentiful and inexpensive, and quite pretty! The lighter they are, the more colorful flashes they show. I know you want BIG COLOR but, to me, the lavender grays are so so pretty and would look really awesome with lots of colorful melee.

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

velouriaL - Thank you again for your input. Your thoughtful posts have a way of helping me look at this project through a different lens <3
------------------------

When the Betrothed and I first started dreaming about rings, we were going to replace my inexpensive engagement ring with a more expensive and bigger one we picked out together. This was, of course, when I was working a job making a paycheck three times my current one When I (we) decided I would/could go to grad school across the country and he would/could move without a guaranteed job, we knew finances would get tight in a hurry, so for the past two years, we've put off and put off buying the Lotus Ring from Gemvara. He now has a stable job, but that took several months with the lovely economic downturn we've had.

When we originally designed that ring, it was supposed to be a replacement engagement ring and then I would get a plain metal wedding band. We picked out the stones for their historical/spiritual/cultural meaning and stayed as far away from diamonds as possible for a multitude of reasons. I did not anticipate developing such an affection for my current little engagement ring, with which I now could not bear to part. It also has two of the three original gem species? types?, the third of which was emerald.

Realizing we were never going to be able to afford the dream ring, we began compromising down on metals and stones until we reached the ring in my first post here. I was uneasy about the tourmaline and saw by reading other threads that spinels in colors and hardness were a cost conscious upgrade, for an every day ring, that is. Tourmalines are still beautiful in their own right, of course

Fast forward through this thread. Pregcurious found the Green Lake setting, which is SO MUCH BETTER than the Gemvara setting. This is PERFECT!!! Thanks to so many, especially FrekeChild with photos and links for gems and metals, what I am working on now is beyond what I thought I could afford or imagine. Unlike the Gemvara ring, which is beautiful but a little cold and formal, the Green Lake setting is still polished, but a little more relaxed and organic.

With all of these changes coming fast and furious for something over which we had been drooling for two years, I was trying to hold on to something from the original. But if I am utterly enamored with my engagement ring now, I can't imagine how sentimental I will become over this ring once I have it in my grabby paws and it has been blessed by loved ones during the wedding ceremony. And that means I should make it as least prone to breaking as possible.

Now then with all that said...

TL;DR, but still want to offer advice? <3

I don't know anything about melee. I'm trying to educate myself, but I'm having a considerably more difficult time doing that than looking at gems as species(?) or bigger stones. What are my options for melee --- can virtually anything be used? Now that I am loosening my no diamonds policy are there green melee diamonds? (I tried to google, but my google-fu must also be on summer break.) This is probably a better question for Green Lake, but what are the cost differences for using even more diamonds? Alternatively, are there colored gemstone melees that I could consider in lieu of both blue and green diamonds without jacking up the price? Even more alternatively, like velouriaL suggested, what are y'all's opinions on color combinations if I ditch green entirely?

 

[swissmiss]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

The majority of the money will be spent on the labor, not the stones for the melee, so I suspect that the cost savings will not be substantial.

There are green sapphires, but in my experience, they can have an olive-y tone.

 

[pregcurious]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

I'm so happy to see that you're making progress. Please update us!

I second VelouriaL's suggestion of yellow diamonds, but they can be a little pricey if they are natural in color. I have a yellow diamond halo for the reset of my engagement ring stone, with the yellow diamonds set in 18K yellow gold. I've posted a pic of the ring here. The rest of the ring is platinum.

You could also consider standard white diamond melee. Diamonds will sparkle in a way that sapphires and emeralds will not. White diamonds will be lower in price than natural yellow diamond melee, and white diamonds give a timeless look. I don't expect that using white diamond melee will be much more expensive than using emeralds and irradiated blue diamond melee because the main cost is the labor of setting.

 

[FrekeChild]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

The question is, what do YOU want? This is your ering, and the options are practically limitless. Do you want white petals? Do you want blue petals? Do you want yellow or purple or black or whatever petals? If you shoot out color ideas, we can give you feedback on what gem choices you have for that particular color. Basically any gem type can be found as melee, it's really just a matter of deciding if that's what you want to be on your finger forever. Lots of different colors will look beautiful!

 

[pregcurious]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Yes, it depends on what you want, and with melee, you will have a lot more budgetary freedom than you do with the center stone. You can ask Green Lake to give you CAD pictures of different colored melee. Any way you go, I think this is going to be beautiful and unique ring.

 

[royalstarrynight]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

I really think you should follow your wants and when it comes to aesthetic. We can only suggest things that we prefer aesthetically and that we've experienced through owning our rings. For example a high head or melee falling out.

Could you consider tsav melee? (again I'm not sure how easy they are to find and their price range) They are in the garnet family and a quite a bit harder than emeralds, which being a beautiful green.

 

[chrono]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

I like green and blue to go with the pink; it's an eye catching colour. If GL can come up with a very bright blue FCD, that's great, if not, I would stay with blue topaz. They are easy to source and cheap enough to replace. The green is more problematic although in such a small size, emeralds might hold up better than I would expect.

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Hi All!

I've been playing with colors today using nail polish dabs on paper. (That's my collecting addiction )

Option 1: Raspberry pink spinel, green tsavorite (thank you, royalstarrynight) petals, blue topaz or diamond on the leaves.

Option 2: Raspberry pink spinel, chrysoberyl petals, blue topaz/diamond leaves. My question here would be, can I ask Krista/Green Lake to make sure the chrysoberyls lean more yellowish green than golden or greenish yellow? Chrysoberyl surprised me --- I really am not a yellow person and was not liking the colors of yellow diamonds, but the richness of chrysoberyl is different!

Option 3: Lighter than raspberry pink spinel, lavender petals, and blue topaz/diamond leaves. Not sure what stone to use for the petals in this case? This has a different feel than the original super saturated look, but I still like it.

Option 4: Raspberry pink spinel, royal purple or blurple (not violet) petals, and blue topaz/diamond leaves. Would a purple that dark and small look black in a gemstone? Since y'all have seen way more gem combinations than I have in person, are those colors too punchy against each other so that they would fight, rather than complement each other?

Option 5: Raspberry pink spinel, orange petals, and blue topaz/diamond leaves. This also gives the ring a different feel -- it's very hot.

Option 6: Raspberry pink spinel, blue topaz petals, and lime green leaves. Is lime an easier color to find than emerald? The blue would need to be very saturated to sit right next to the spinel, I think, which is why I think diamonds would be out in this option.

Any thoughts or votes??? Thanks again

 

[pregcurious]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Can you post pics of the nail polish colors next to other ?

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Of course. These are a bit warm and yellow - the light in our apartment is less than stellar. I used white paper plates.

 

[InToTheMystic]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

I think #6 looks amazing.

Tsavs would be perfect for the green (not really a 'lime' green exactly though). There are a few places around that sell small tsav stones in different sizes - what about something like this: http://www.gemselect.com/tsavorite-garnet/tsavorite-garnet-380283.php ?

 

[VirginiaZee]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Personally I prefer either #1 or #6. #1 looks like the revised inspiration CADs you posted, and #6 might look more like a "real life" flower (blue petals, raspberry center, leaves, etc., if that's what you wanted). The question is... do any of these combos speak more to you? Which one do you keep coming back to look at again?

 

[FrekeChild]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Yeah, our opinions don't count for anything. You and your SO's do.

What do YOU like the best? Do you have a favorite color? Does your SO? What about birth stones?

 

[pinkjewel]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

What about a hot pink spinel center, with lav/purple sapphire petals and tsav green melee on the leaves?

 

[chrono]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Whilst playing with colour dabs are fun, note that coloured stone melees often times do not come in such colours (tone and saturation) due to their very tiny size. See these as examples.
http://www.columbiagemhouse.com/melee.html

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

InToTheMystic --- I love the color of those tsavs! Thanks for the link

VirginiaZee --- Thank you for your input! I think we've narrowed it down to 1, 2, and 6.

FrekeChild --- But y'all are the expert panel! I *do* want to know what you think!!!

Chrono --- Thank you! I definitely wasn't sure about the saturation of tiny stones. I was afraid darker ones might read black and lighter ones might read clear. I really appreciate the link


If we narrow it down to two, can we ask Green Lake to show us a CAD of both before we decide? I'm honestly not sure how much work it is to change out stones and whether or not it's fair to ask that...

 

[chrono]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

If we narrow it down to two, can we ask Green Lake to show us a CAD of both before we decide? I'm honestly not sure how much work it is to change out stones and whether or not it's fair to ask that...

You definitely should do this. It is extremely easy to change colours using CAD; it only takes seconds to edit the colours.

 

[velouriaL]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

I wonder if you tweak the design so that the melee stones are larger and therefore carry more color? I think if you went up to 2 or 2.5mm, you'd get a lot more color. Maybe Greenlake has some ideas.

(I, personally, like 2 and 4. I am obsessed with bright pink spinel and bright chartreuse chrysoberyl at the moment, mostly inspired by Yvonne Raley's work.)

 

[Cupcake_Panda]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

Chrono --- Thanks for the affirmation. I haven't heard from them since Wednesday. Krista said she was going to do a stone search with Green Lake's vendors. I am going to message her today with colors.

velouriaL --- That would be interesting! I don't think I can afford any more changes to the design, but it doesn't hurt to ask

 

[pregcurious]

Re: Spinel or Tourmaline and Palladium Wedding Ring on a Bud

I love you sense of color. Thanks for posting your paper plate! Can't wait to see this.