Montana Sapphires - MountainMommaGems on Etsy

[deskjockey]

Hi, I feel a little weird starting this thread, but BrilliantN asked about Mountain Momma on the recommended vendors sticky so thought I would post my experience.

We got my e-ring stone from Sharon and had a great experience. She is very communicative, has a good return policy, and I think her descriptions of the stones are pretty excellent. I wanted the one we got right away but had some questions about several others and she came across as very accurate and good at deciphering my "what I want" to which stone would best suit (I am a newb, so don't always have the right words for what I'm looking for). The catch: I like stones with a little gray to them, and I like slight imperfections, I think they make things more interesting. I'm also a newb to this whole thing, so what floats my boat may not be what is ideal to other people. Her pricing for the most part seems to be very fair (looking at similar stones on other sites, some were a little cheaper some were a little more expensive. She tends to run less than gemfix, more than mastercutgems, for example. Compared to sites like the Natural Sapphire Company, her prices are awesome - I've seen a few very similar stones there for almost twice the price).

Shipping was lightning fast, good return policy though I didn't use it Very happy with what I got, which I think was better/more interesting than what she described. Lots of color shift and personality - forest green under LED lighting, teal in diffuse natural light, stormy ocean blue in my work lighting, but has good shine and life no matter the color. I did notice in her photos it looked like the stone had a little window, but when I received it, it did not (I think it was a tilt window, a lot of her photos aren't perfectly straight on, and I did notice a little heart shaped window - how cute!- when I tilted the stone a certain way. Not noticeable in the ring).

Pics of stone:

(outside)


(inside)


(set and on a cloudy but bright day)

I'm not the best at photos. I will say when I first opened the package I wasn't sure about it, I had to live with it a few days. Now I'm obsessed with it!

If you're interested in montanas I would also definitely check out Blaze at blazengems.com as well. And Dana at mastercutgems.

 

[chrono]

Thanks for the review. Do you mind posting side-by-side comparison pictures of your stone and the vendor's stone? CS has a sticky for such comparisons but it seems to have gone quiet.

 

[pregcurious]

Very pretty stone!!

The thread that Chrono referred to can be found here:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/vendor-pictures-and-owner-pictures-of-ps-stones.109420/page-17']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/vendor-pictures-and-owner-pictures-of-ps-stones.109420/page-17[/URL]

 

[deskjockey]

Honestly I don't know if I can find a copy of the photo, I think I'll have to search my email for it. :/

eta... yay! I was able to pull it up! Here's the vendor photos:


You can see what looks like a heart shaped window on that pic, but straight on in real life you can't see that.



Not sure how to get it exactly side by side, but here's my photos again (and I have a horrible time photographing it,first in the shade, second in direct sun, third inside with incandescent light)



I will say that the character of the stone was a bit more blueish grey than I anticipated, but I also REALLY love it, and I love the glow it gets in certain light, and I love the moodiness of it. It reminds me of the new england coast sometimes. And her cut (to my novice eye) seems great, it has a lot of sparkle even in very low light.

 

[minousbijoux]

From your pictures, it actually looks remarkably close to the vendor pic.

 

[chrono]

I'd say the vendor's picture is quite close, which is a challenge for most vendors.

 

[movie zombie]

congrats! at the end of the day it is what the two of you like!
and I love your water comparison.......sometimes we like what we like because of things like this.
it is not always about getting "top" color but pleasing our own eye.
again, congrats! I think you did very well.

 

[JewelFreak]

DJ, as I said in your original thread, I'm so in love with your ring and the stone! Also interested to see how close the vendor pic is to the real thing -- that's difficult and very helpful. You have a good feel for gems if you see & love the personality of yours. I hope you keep buying a few, even though I understand you gotta feed your horses.

--- Laurie

 

[deskjockey]

I actually have a garnet arriving today that I am excited about, my birthday present to myself since I've been wanting a whole collection of garnets. This is my gateway-drug, entry-level garnet and I can't wait to see it and get it set

Word is I'm getting some little curious pieces of rough with it, which I might be even more excited about than the actual cut stone. I have a friend who does design work and makes some interesting jewelry, I think I may have her help me find something creative to do with them.

 

[iluvshinythings]

I've wanted a Montana sapphire and have drooled over the MountainMomma selection. Good to know the quality is there. Your ring looks beautiful and the color of your sapphire is beautiful.

I'm not always a big fan of what an ideal gem is supposed to look like either. I like a little personality and what I think is an interesting color isn't always what is the most desirable to the experts. I'm the one buying it and wearing it though so I buy what I like. Sounds like you have a similar opinion.

I can't wait to see your garnet as well. I love my garnet. It gives the most interesting flashes of color and it's like having a new stone in any different light. I'm not sure if that's typical of garnets so I'd be interested in your description.

 

[pandabee]

Thanks for the very helpful comparison! I've had a few from her shop on my favorites list for quite some time so maybe I will take the plunge soon enough. Your ring turned out beautifully.