Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

[VapidLapid]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

Well it seems fashion week is nigh upon us and all the merchants are scrambling to be ready. Tiffany
& Co has been building their new store next door to me for months, but now the pressure is on, so they're construction crew has been starting noisy work at 5 am for the last week, with their noisiest machines set up in the street so the sound wakes us all. City ordinance says they can't start until something like 9 am, but with fines around $500 a day that's just the cost of doing business in NYC, and cheaper than paying someone off. Fortunately the store goes through from one street to the other and the back entrance is on my street, while the main entrance is one block over. The store occupies part of the ground floor of two buildings. there is an air space between the buildings and on the first floor it is connected. out my back windows I can see they have made a quasi-faceted and bezeled skylight. The store is quite narrow, but I am told it is 7000 sq ft. Today the powder blue awnings arrived. Just now I was walking the dog and saw the brown paper that was covering one of the windows was down so I looked in. The only display I could see was handbags. I didn't know they sold them. Or maybe that is new? I took a couple of pics with my phone, not great, but it gives y'all some kind of preview.

 

[chrono]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

Never knew they sold handbags either.

 

[Arkteia]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

Maybe they have diamond-encrusted locks or buttons? It works for Mercedeses...

 

[JewelFreak]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

New in the last couple years. They're priced close to diamonds.

--- Laurie

 

[chrono]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

Handbags priced like diamonds? No thanks, I'd rather have the diamonds instead.

 

[chrono]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

Just picked this up from the post office and I couldn't wait to post pictures of my new mint garnet. Sorry for the crappy pictures but that's all I have for now. I'll try to take better pictures later.

It's a 2.76 ct gossular garnet measuring 10.9 x 7.2 mm. It has a decent amount of blue modifier and if it were darker by 2 notches or so, it would have tipped into the tsavorite range. It's smudgy in the pics due to over-handling. Lousy office CFL so I expect it to look better when the sun comes up.

 

[Jeweljunke]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

Love love love it. Where did you get it? How are ya gonna set it?

 

[chrono]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

Love love love it. Where did you get it? How are ya gonna set it?

Thanks JJ. I'm still debating whether it is a keeper or if it's going back so until then, I'd prefer to keep the vendor's name under wraps. As for a setting? A ring of course! Probably something in rose gold to bring out the blue modifier.

 

[minousbijoux]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

I love the fact that you get to wear jeans to work!

 

[chrono]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

I love the fact that you get to wear jeans to work!

It's casual dress Friday! I'm required to dress up a little the rest of the week though. Besides, you are supposed to be focused on my new garnet, not my office space or what I'm wearing today. Is it not working?

 

[minousbijoux]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

Sorry...I was so umm, so blinded by the garnet that my eyes took refuge elsewhere?

 

[VapidLapid]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

I think that garnet could make a pair of jeans look so dressy that you could wear them all week!

 

[VapidLapid]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

This discussion prompted me to look for one of my early stones, a Tsavorite from Tan. Pear, 1.21 ct as I recall it was.....$9.99

 

[chrono]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

Double post.

 

[chrono]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

Can't beat that for $10! I think those days are long gone too.

 

[Fly Girl]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

I recently purchased this cat's eye emerald cabochon from Finewater Gems. It is Columbian and fairly clean, and while not a rich emerald green, still a pretty medium green. Vendor photo on the left, and my snap on the right in the sun to show the cat's eye. (Please ignore my ghostly hand holding the camera.) It will probably be a ring, but I'm still mulling over setting ideas.

 

[chrono]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

So the eye opens and all? Does it show the milk and honey effect? I've seen cat's eye beryl (aqua) but not the other beryl (emerald).

 

[Fly Girl]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

- Mil

So the eye opens and all? Does it show the milk and honey effect? I've seen cat's eye beryl (aqua) but not the other beryl (emerald).

I sometimes saw one side a bit milkier than the other. Also, I could see the eye line split into two at different angles to the light.

 

[davi_el_mejor]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

- Mil

So the eye opens and all? Does it show the milk and honey effect? I've seen cat's eye beryl (aqua) but not the other beryl (emerald).

I sometimes saw one side a bit milkier than the other. Also, I could see the eye line split into two at different angles to the light.

AMAZING! Love the open eye! It is soooo cool! Jealous over here!

 

[chrono]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

Very cool; this type of stone is a fun stone to play with, especially in a ring. BTW, I can see a reflection of your hand and arm in one of the pictures.

 

[T L]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

- Mil

So the eye opens and all? Does it show the milk and honey effect? I've seen cat's eye beryl (aqua) but not the other beryl (emerald).

I sometimes saw one side a bit milkier than the other. Also, I could see the eye line split into two at different angles to the light.

I love the soft bluish green color of that stone. I think it would look great in a delicate bezel. Just lovely.

 

[iLander]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

- Mil

So the eye opens and all? Does it show the milk and honey effect? I've seen cat's eye beryl (aqua) but not the other beryl (emerald).

I sometimes saw one side a bit milkier than the other. Also, I could see the eye line split into two at different angles to the light.

GORGEOUS, FLY GIRL!

I seriously considered those emeralds (I think he had 3 at one point) but budget is spent.

Love that stone! Pop it into a halo, I think faceted prong-set diamonds would make a fabulous contrast!

 

[iLander]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

Well it seems fashion week is nigh upon us and all the merchants are scrambling to be ready. Tiffany
& Co has been building their new store next door to me for months, but now the pressure is on, so they're construction crew has been starting noisy work at 5 am for the last week, with their noisiest machines set up in the street so the sound wakes us all. City ordinance says they can't start until something like 9 am, but with fines around $500 a day that's just the cost of doing business in NYC, and cheaper than paying someone off. Fortunately the store goes through from one street to the other and the back entrance is on my street, while the main entrance is one block over. The store occupies part of the ground floor of two buildings. there is an air space between the buildings and on the first floor it is connected. out my back windows I can see they have made a quasi-faceted and bezeled skylight. The store is quite narrow, but I am told it is 7000 sq ft. Today the powder blue awnings arrived. Just now I was walking the dog and saw the brown paper that was covering one of the windows was down so I looked in. The only display I could see was handbags. I didn't know they sold them. Or maybe that is new? I took a couple of pics with my phone, not great, but it gives y'all some kind of preview.

I was in your neck of the woods this past summer, I'm still amazed how different Soho is these days. I should have bought a loft in the '80's! Cool to get the inside scoop with pics, thanks VL!

Tiffany hand bags are about $500 to $1500, which isn't bad considering luxury Chanel bags are in the $4000 range.

Hoping your SO is still doing well, VL.

 

[Fly Girl]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

- Mil

So the eye opens and all? Does it show the milk and honey effect? I've seen cat's eye beryl (aqua) but not the other beryl (emerald).

I sometimes saw one side a bit milkier than the other. Also, I could see the eye line split into two at different angles to the light.

GORGEOUS, FLY GIRL!

I seriously considered those emeralds (I think he had 3 at one point) but budget is spent.

Love that stone! Pop it into a halo, I think faceted prong-set diamonds would make a fabulous contrast!

Thank you, all.

iLander, I tried ordering all three emerald cabs, but the round pair was taken.

I'm seriously considering a diamond setting like your color shift sapphire ring from IDJ. I haven't seen that setting in their catalogs for a cabochon, but I'm sure if I phone, they will be able to do it.

 

[iLander]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

Thank you, all.

iLander, I tried ordering all three emerald cabs, but the round pair was taken.

I'm seriously considering a diamond setting like your color shift sapphire ring from IDJ. I haven't seen that setting in their catalogs for a cabochon, but I'm sure if I phone, they will be able to do it.[/quote]

That would be wonderful, Fly Girl! It will be so stunning . . . They really do pick out some fabulous diamonds for PSer's, I was really impressed with the cuts. Yuketeil said that "they are very close to hearts and arrows" (I'm not sure what that means, I know the diamond-oriented PSer's know). IDJ found the setting in a printed catalog on their counter, I'm not sure which one it was, though.

GAH! I can't wait to see it!!

 

[chrono]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

H&A or Hearts and Arrows are a type of precision cutting where you can view such a pattern. The arrows are easier to see than the hearts.

 

[bluebirrrd]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

Okay friends, I think I need to be talked down a little bit. Something exciting happened, which was that I found a local gem shop with a real precision cutter and everything. It's the first time I've been able to see and play with gobs of real life colored gems and talk to a lapidary in person instead of looking at on-line photos and corresponding by e-mail. So, that was uber exciting and fun! To celebrate, I wanted to pick something out of course, and I had a modest budget. There were lots of things I could have gotten and I was smitten with his sunstones, but none really had much schiller which I love best of all.

What I ended up with was this eensy teensy 3.3mm Brazilian alexandrite ("So, I think I have an alex..."), not perfectly cut (flat crown, small window), but with good color change and perfect for my stacking ring project. It's so small, you don't see the window in person, and the flat crown is a bummer but the color is very, very pretty. I certainly don't mind small, but it definitely wasn't cheap!!! (it was $160)

Unfortunately, the gem I can't stop thinking about was the medium-medium dark square cushion tsavorite that he'd just got and hasn't listed or even tagged yet. It easily shone above all the others with it's beautiful green color and bright facets. I asked the price and moved on very quickly, not dwelling on it at all because it was something like $380 or $390. I don't even remember the exact size, I think .92 ct or so. It was so lovely, but I knew then and still know I shouldn't get it. Now, I'm having to stop myself from contacting him, going back, and trading in the alex for it.

Sooo, with that said, here's the alex - looking deceptively humongous of course!!! My plan was/is to commission some really delicate stack rings on Etsy. They're extremely affordable, and it's the kind of project that you can just keep adding onto.






The green is close, but perhaps it looks a little less washed out and a little less blue/more green in person. The purple is close too, but the photos don't show the reddish tint at all and there are definitely tiny red flashes in real life. Just pretend it's about the size of a ladybug instead of what you see here

 

[chrono]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

That's a nice looking alex and actually, the price is rather decent. In truth, if the tsav colouration is good, $400 is also a good price for the almost 1 carat weight. Am I making this harder for you?

 

[bluebirrrd]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

Er, yes you are! I actually really like the little alex, which makes me think terrible thoughts of getting both. I'm really just trying to push the tsavorite out of my mind. Either that or go back and try to find something wrong with it that I didn't notice the first time. Though that could be dangerous.

 

[chrono]

Re: Catch all thread - talk or better yet show us

All right, here's a trick to decide if the alex is a keeper. Are you planning to prong set or bezel set the alex? If you cup the pavilion completely, how does the stone look? Does it become too dark? How does it affect the colour change? This is the downside of most colour change stones in that they don't do so well in a very enclosed setting.