glitterata
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2002
- Messages
- 4,336
First, a very pretty emerald-cut Mozambique purple garnet, a smidge over 4 ct. At about 10.1 x 8.6 mm, it's larger than most of my ring stones. I worry about scratching it--I have another purple garnet I loved, set in a ring, and I got a big glaring white scratch across the table practically the first time I wore it. And this one is big enough that I'm sure to knock int around if it's a ring. Maybe a pendant would be better. But I rarely wear pendants, and would it catch enough light to show its bright flashes of color? It's hard to photograph and much nicer in person--none of the brownish color that you can see here. This one was a bargain, but not so cheap it would seem insane to spend money on a nice setting.
Next, a batch of cheap stones.
Six tiny alexandrite pears, 3.5 x 2.5 mm, about a tenth of a carat apiece, about the size of sesame seeds. They were very inexpensive, so much so that I assumed they must be synthetic and I didn't mind, but the seller assures me they're natural. I'm fine either way. They're a pretty green in daylight and change to a distinct, if grayish, purple under incandescence. The photos didn't come out well at all--they're nicer in person. (The incandescent photo is taken using a little nightlight in the bathroom, since we've almost entirely switched to LEDs in our apartment. The nightlight is made out of a teacup cut in half.) I'm considering using them as petals for a flower ring, but is it worth the expense? Would a flower with green petals look silly? If I do that, I would need to find other tiny gems that go well with the tiny alexandrites. (@LD , I would love your opinion about whether it's at all plausible that they might be genuine alex, and if so, natural. Don't worry about hurting my feelings!)
Finally, a couple of marquise tsavorites, about .8 ct apiece, about 9 x 4.5 mm apiece, which cost less than $30 each. They have big windows, and they're not very saturated, but the color concentrated around the edges is a clear, bright, pleasing light green. The photos are true to what I see with my eyes. I'm confident these are natural because they have typical tsavorite inclusions: a needle in one and a fingerprint in the other. I'm considering setting them as the heads of a double snake ring, or as the heads of snake earrings, possibly with hidden hooks to let me attach pendants that the snakes could be holding in their mouths. But that would be expensive--if I bothered to do that, would it be better to find higher quality tsavorites instead?
And here's a $15 sapphire from the same seller, which was sold as a .80 ct peach-yellow unheated natural sapphire. But it's actually a little over a carat, yellow instead of browny-peachy, and not QUITE the same shape as the one I ordered, and the seller is offering a similar $30 yellow sapphire that does fit the dimensions and weight of the one they sent me, so I think they must have sent me the wrong one. I hope nobody orders the $30 one and gets disappointed. Sending this back would be a huge pain and would cost way more than the stone itself. It's completely windowed, but strangely appealing. It looks like something from a Georgian ring. I'm not planning to spend any money setting it, though.
Next, a batch of cheap stones.
Six tiny alexandrite pears, 3.5 x 2.5 mm, about a tenth of a carat apiece, about the size of sesame seeds. They were very inexpensive, so much so that I assumed they must be synthetic and I didn't mind, but the seller assures me they're natural. I'm fine either way. They're a pretty green in daylight and change to a distinct, if grayish, purple under incandescence. The photos didn't come out well at all--they're nicer in person. (The incandescent photo is taken using a little nightlight in the bathroom, since we've almost entirely switched to LEDs in our apartment. The nightlight is made out of a teacup cut in half.) I'm considering using them as petals for a flower ring, but is it worth the expense? Would a flower with green petals look silly? If I do that, I would need to find other tiny gems that go well with the tiny alexandrites. (@LD , I would love your opinion about whether it's at all plausible that they might be genuine alex, and if so, natural. Don't worry about hurting my feelings!)
Finally, a couple of marquise tsavorites, about .8 ct apiece, about 9 x 4.5 mm apiece, which cost less than $30 each. They have big windows, and they're not very saturated, but the color concentrated around the edges is a clear, bright, pleasing light green. The photos are true to what I see with my eyes. I'm confident these are natural because they have typical tsavorite inclusions: a needle in one and a fingerprint in the other. I'm considering setting them as the heads of a double snake ring, or as the heads of snake earrings, possibly with hidden hooks to let me attach pendants that the snakes could be holding in their mouths. But that would be expensive--if I bothered to do that, would it be better to find higher quality tsavorites instead?
And here's a $15 sapphire from the same seller, which was sold as a .80 ct peach-yellow unheated natural sapphire. But it's actually a little over a carat, yellow instead of browny-peachy, and not QUITE the same shape as the one I ordered, and the seller is offering a similar $30 yellow sapphire that does fit the dimensions and weight of the one they sent me, so I think they must have sent me the wrong one. I hope nobody orders the $30 one and gets disappointed. Sending this back would be a huge pain and would cost way more than the stone itself. It's completely windowed, but strangely appealing. It looks like something from a Georgian ring. I'm not planning to spend any money setting it, though.
I think a big pendant would be amazing! Large and in charge!
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