It's all very dramatic!

[MrsCornishWed]

.... *hand to forehead* ....

What to do when you find a gemstone 3 x your budget?

I have been on the hunt for 'the one' for what feels like eternity (told you I was feeling dramatic! )

.I have found it. Oh, how I love it so. But it is so far from budget, I'd have to sell all my worldly belongings and live in a box for years to come- and even then I may need to sell some vital organs on the black market!

I dream of this stone, and visit the Web page several times a week just to stare. I think I may be crushed when someone snaps it up!

... experienced gem buyers of ps. Please help me get a grip and tell me I will get over it!

 

[Tanzigrrl]

Hmm, I'm of two minds on this.

There was a time, two actually, wherein I found my holy grail stones. In one case, I thought about it for about 2 weeks, realized I couldn't live without it, made an offer to the dealer which he accepted, and made it my own. Another time, I saw THE stone and bought it right then and there. I knew I wouldn't get another chance. Both were pricey and outside my "budget" but were not going to put me into financial ruin.

Those were very special cases. Usually, though, I enjoy the online pics and even feel vaguely relieved when someone else buys it. Often it's a fellow PSer so at least it stays "in the family."

 

[chrono]

Keep a picture of it in your special Gem Folder and look at it everyday.

 

[MrsCornishWed]

I fear I may never find a comparable stone (though potentially I am a little too besotted to think straight right now)

It's no where near trade ideal
..and probably not everyone's cup of tea but it's so flipping pretty, unfortunately for me I can't even access funds like that in one go right now even if I was willing to crumble my financial situation for a year so lol!

 

[NKOTB]

Usually, another one will come along, or maybe even the same one, at a better time. I have missed out on stones (even cried over one. CRIED!! Talk about dramatic!), and drooled over ones over my budget at the time, then had them pop up later, or wait for me, or found better ones.

It kind of depends what scale you're talking about, too. If your budget is 200 and it's 600, and you have items maybe you could sell to get to your goal, and/or maybe negotiate a reasonable payment plan with the seller, and it's really one of a kind that you might not find again for years, if ever, it might be worth it. But if your budget is 2k and it's 6k, that's a whole other ballgame. It's not worth the stress and anxiety of getting in over your head, and chances are, another will pop up at some point.

 

[Marlow]

by MrsCornishWed » 23 Jul 2014 11:22
.... *hand to forehead* ....

What to do when you find a gemstone 3 x your budget?

I have been on the hunt for 'the one' for what feels like eternity (told you I was feeling dramatic! )

.I have found it. Oh, how I love it so. But it is so far from budget, I'd have to sell all my worldly belongings and live in a box for years to come- and even then I may need to sell some vital organs on the black market!

I dream of this stone, and visit the Web page several times a week just to stare. I think I may be crushed when someone snaps it up!

... experienced gem buyers of ps. Please help me get a grip and tell me I will get over it!

---------

Which one is it.......

We can collect and you will pay us many many years!!! Would be a cool idea to offer "microcredits"!!!

No honestly - this is reality in each and every gemshow I visit - some are still in my head

 

[Marlow]

Talk to the vendor....they want to sell and a deal is better then no one.

Pay step by step and you get it after it is paid.

Hope the stone is not overpriced and not toooooo expensive - otherwise let him go if the next few year you only eat canned ravioli.

 

[T L]

Keep a picture of it in your special Gem Folder and look at it everyday.

Or find any possible fault you can with it, so you can talk yourself out of buying it.

 

[MrsCornishWed]

The stone is about £ 1500 in gbp, plus all the taxes and extra fees I'd incur importing from the US. Then I feel it's crying out for half moon or trillion diamond co pilots... Then the cost of gold!

My budget was like £1300 for the whole thing. . Presuming I wasn't using any side stones. It doesn't sound unattainable but I've dissected my finances sooo many times trying to accommodate it.. fact is I have 3k worth of more educational studies I need to undertake and my logical and sensible brain tells me I shouldn't be for fitting that for a pretty stone. But my god I want to!

 

[MrsCornishWed]

... here she is:
I cannot explain what it is, but it's everything I wanted!

 

[T L]

The stone is about £ 1500 in gbp, plus all the taxes and extra fees I'd incur importing from the US. Then I feel it's crying out for half moon or trillion diamond co pilots... Then the cosy of gold!

My budget was like £1300 for the whole thing. . Presuming I wasn't using any side stones. It doesn't unattainable but I've directed my finances sooo many times trying to accommodate it.. fact is I have 3k worth of more educational studies I need to undertake and my logical and sensible brain tells me I shouldn't be for fitting that for a pretty stone. But my god I want to!

Think about how awful all that accumulated debt will be for something that isn't a necessity. I personally detest debt, and have walked away from many gems that I know I could have put on credit.

Also, do you think the picture is photoshopped or color enhanced in any way? Sending a stone all the way to Great Britain, and paying all those fees/taxes is a big additional risk if the stone in hand looks nothing like it IRL. Did you also ask the pertinent questions about what it looks like in various light sources?

Wish we could see the stone, I'm sure many of us could probably talk you out of it. I have talked a friend of mine out of buying so many gems recently, and she thanked me. She now has a better budget to buy that one spectacular dream stone if she wants. Sometimes it takes additional eyes to see any issues with the gem.

 

[T L]

... here she is:
I cannot explain what it is, but it's everything I wanted!

Ah, I see you posted it, it's over $1K/ct, and is only 2 carats. Sapphires are very dense and show up very small too. You may like the color very much, but I think you may be able to find something like that from Litnon, or elsewhere, for less money if you keep looking.

 

[distracts]

Usually, another one will come along, or maybe even the same one, at a better time. I have missed out on stones (even cried over one. CRIED!! Talk about dramatic!), and drooled over ones over my budget at the time, then had them pop up later, or wait for me, or found better ones.

I agree with this. No matter how much I have wanted some things, if they were meant to be, they have found their way to me (or at least to being on sale at a price I can afford at a time when I have the money ready to spend on a jewelry item!).

 

[NKOTB]

They won't ship to you anyway, as it's over their shipping-outside-the-country limit. Problem solved.

I think you'll be able to find another blue-green when the time is right.

 

[MrsCornishWed]

They won't ship to you anyway, as it's over their shipping-outside-the-country limit. Problem solved.

I think you'll be able to find another blue-green when the time is right.

You're kidding

 

[MrsCornishWed]

TL .. I'm not looking for huge.. 7 - 8mm is my ideal. . I just adore how the green runs central. Reminds me of the sea on my wedding day.... *soppy*

 

[Marlow]

Litnon has a nice blocky rough Montana

http://www.litnon.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=9793

a bargain - finished 1,2 ct... a top shape for a cushion or radiant.

I was thinking about this for me cut by Uli.

In the european community we could send it free to UK

 

[JewelFreak]

Sometimes I have gone crazy for a gem I couldn't come near affording, visited it, dreamed it, then forced myself to get over it. After a little while I've looked again, seen the same one, and thought, "Yeah, well, pretty but not that pretty." I don't know if it's the mood when I first see it that eventually dissipates, or what. But every time, I have eventually found another just as nice or nicer at a much better price.

That sapphire may grab you hard at the moment, but believe me, you will find another equal to it, possibly for less. It isn't a one-of-a-kind-grab-it-now quality. Hope that helps!

 

[Bex]

I have no good advice, but I completely sympathize. I fell in love with a stone that's more than what I originally wanted to spend on the whole ring! It's doubly hard because I've realized that I'm not going to be able to find what I want within my original budget, so I have to either adjust my expectations down, or be content getting a stone now and a setting in a year or two.

 

[MrsCornishWed]

Marlow- I emailed to reserve it as soon as you posted but Michael just emailed to say someone snapped it up 'just minutes' before my email. Boooo





Thank you all for indulging my moan ... I will let the stone go and wait .. you all speak much sense. .as always!

 

[ephsea]

I understand your feelings for that one, MrsCornishWed! I've ogled her many times, as has my fiance, heck I've even shown it to friends and everyone loves that color. You can tell that Andrew cherry picks rough to get such great color, but with that comes a big pricetag - the only reason that gem isn't sold already. If the price were lower, someone (me!) would have bought it months ago. Also Andrew is *very* careful with his pictures, they are always shown in the *best* possible light, that gem may seldom look exactly as pictured - my guess is the green goes grey under indoor lighting. I think you should be patient, something else *will* pop up and either it will be cheaper, or you'll have more money.

 

[ephsea]

And since I see Marlow tempted you with that rough... Well I should caution you that I have *no* idea what color those pieces I just sent off will come out, nor whether I'll get anything close to what I want. That aside, there's plenty more El Dorado rough on Blazengems, with more coming out of the ground every day... For what I've spent on rough, I could have had a gem custom cut by a lapidary out of his/her own stock. Cost is a little more per ct, but the risk factor would be waaay lower - the lapidary would give me a good idea of what size/color/clarity I would be getting, along with a finished price, ahead of time. This was gamblin' money for me, and I'm in no hurry, so this course suited me.

 

[T L]

TL .. I'm not looking for huge.. 7 - 8mm is my ideal. . I just adore how the green runs central. Reminds me of the sea on my wedding day.... *soppy*

That's fine, but it's rather small for the price per carat, even for an unheated sapphire, because usually, straight blue in that size, without any green, demands those kind of prices, especially for what you'll pay after fees and taxes to your country. However, if you like seafoam green, there's tourmaline that color too, although not as durable. It might be something else you want to look in to. Good luck.

 

[dk168]

I learnt about the need to live within my means the hard way, and am slowly coming out of a long dark tunnel.

Taking stock of what is important and unimportant in life made me realised I should save the money intended for jewellery presents for my 50th birthday next year towards another major purchase in the form of a tent package that is going to give me years of enjoyment instead.

Besides, I seldom have the opportunities to wear the nicer jewellery pieces that I already have, and am not in a hurry to add more to my collection.

Good luck OP, whatever you decide.

DK

 

[VirginiaZee]

<--- that's for staring at gorgeous things that are either (a) sold or (b) WAY (way way way) out of budget.

Say, (sorry if this has been mentioned already) have you contacted Peter Torraca? Someone else recently got a very nice very large greenish blue sapphire from him, though it did take some time for him to find the rough. Here's a linky (well, I would insert a nice link if I knew how, I figured a URL works just as well ): https://www.pricescope.com/communit...phire-e-ring-with-custom-wedding-band.204260/

 

[lambskin]

Simply put do not buy that stone because you can not afford it. I enjoy jewelry but i believe in guilt free/stress free buying. If that stone and the desired setting is causing stress now and a hardship for a few years to come you're not going to enjoy it. We all see gems posted here that we love but many of us can not afford. I am satisfied with 'window' shopping on the internet and at jewelry stores. We all feel your pain.

 

[sapphirecats]

It's beautiful, but not worth the stress it will cause. I e bought my fine jewels cash only so I save first for it. It's best maybe to save a little as you can, but find a. More budget worthy stone, there are many pretty Montana sapphires out there you will fine one you'll love even if not this one.

 

[Marlow]

This is sooo unfair!!! It was YOUR rough!!! The price was very good!!!!

Maybe you try to find another one - the total price would be ( for rough, transfer and cutting ) around 200-250 $ maximum in this size!!
Much cheaper then a finished Montana on many homepages!!

Uli has some Montana rough - I ask him whether he has a larger piece with a bluegreen seafoam color. I remember they were a bit smaller.

 

[Marlow]

http://blazengems.com/retail/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=83_36&sort=20a&page=2

Maybe here you find a nice ( Thank you ephsea) rough???

Again that would be cheaper!

 

[MrsCornishWed]

Ahh Marlow ..I appreciate your dedication for my cause! I suspect a PS lurker snapped it up!


After writing this post and having you all to sound off and sleep on it, I am seeing much clearer. Yes it is beautiful, and if I'd had the money I probably would have bought it even if overpriced - something is only worth what someone will pay for it hey!) Because I still love it to bits. BUT I am a young woman with years of gemstone and jewellery purchases ahead of me, that will only get better as my financial circumstances improve with age... I have a little girl and my husband and I save hard for my education. And *that* is so much more important than a pretty e ring. <especially given it won't really be an e.ring anymore since we already wed>

I'm going to stop tormenting myself over this gem. It's not that important. Lovely but certainly not essential. It would be irresponsible to spend that sort of money right now.




Now that I have dusted myself off.. Thank you all for helping me get a hold of myself! I knew you'd all understand in a way no one in real life would appreciate!


Talk to me about rough! How much am I looking at all in? It can't *really* be as cheap as you say Marlow.. otherwise no one would buy finished gems at such high prices surely? .. I really hadn't considered getting something from rough because it scares me and I know nothing about it. What if a stone is cut for me and I don't like it???