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Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures!

MakingTheGrade

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Yeah...I owe you guys a lot of pictures!
I'll post the photos first and save my comments at the end :)

First up my unheated lavender star sapphire in a hand made 18k rose gold ring.

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Upgradable

Ideal_Rock
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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

Your star ring is AMAZING!!!!
 

Arkteia

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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

Sorry, I think my post collided with someone else's. Or maybe you are still posting. I saw only the star sapphire so far and I love the ring. Just wanted to find out the name of the jeweler.
 

MakingTheGrade

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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

Now for the pendant, which I LOVE. It is seriously now in my top 3 favorite jewelery pieces.

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MakingTheGrade

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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

love love lovvvve

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MakingTheGrade

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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

I tried to take some good shots of just the opal, but it's very difficult to show the beauty and life in this stone without a video...

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MakingTheGrade

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

Sorry these neck shots aren't the best...

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MakingTheGrade

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

I ordered a pair of mint garnets. Here is the smaller and paler of the two. i thought I'd combo it with my OEC and Barry tsav in a pendant of some sort. Haven't worked out design details yet...

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MakingTheGrade

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

Some perspective shots with my star sapphire as cameo.

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MakingTheGrade

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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

Here's the other grossular garnet 6mm. No plans as of yet.

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MakingTheGrade

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

Phew, that was a lot of photos to upload! Sadly the mint garnets got the short end of things because I got tired of taking photos.

Anyways, on to my thoughts on my new pieces and stones!

1. Star sapphire ring:
The good: I love the color of their 18k rose gold, it's a very rich warm apricot color. And the ring is very Very hefty in gold weight. I love the brushed satin finish on the ring, and the price and turn around time were excellent. The star is nicely centered. And of course, you all know how much I adore my star sapphire!

The bad: The bezel is...well...rough. It's a bit uneven and rough/jagged on the inside. I think the small imperfections are highlighted by the fact that it's a cab and not a faceted stone so it's very smooth and subtle and no flash to distract from the imperfections in the bezel. Also, I would imagine that my star sapphire was a challenge to set compared to a faceted stone or a cab with a flat back. I told Dan that the bezel was a little iffy to me, and they said I could send it back and they could try to clean it up but I don't really know how much difference it could make. They said they didn't clean it up with a tool they usually use because they were afraid of scratching the stone, although I'm a little curious as to whether they only use it on diamonds then because sapphire are pretty tough. Anyways, I have no plans to send it back for touch up since I don't think it'll change much, and also I had mentioned that I thought the bezel was uneven when they had first sent me completed pics and they said they'd clean it before they sent it out. I figure they probably already did most of what they could do then.

2. Tourmaline pendant: It's ALL good here! I love how this piece turned out. I think the ethiopian opal goes well with the opposed cut tourmaline because they are both such dynamic stones, and they show such sudden flashes of life and fire and color.

So in general, I think i'd go back to Dan for prong pieces but probably not bezels unless they are tube bezels.

3. Mint garnets: The dispersion is crazy! I still have no plans for the 6mm garnet, but I think a 3 stone with the smaller one will be nice. I don't know what design yet though, but I'll probably be waiting until holidays are over before I start on it.

Thanks for looking everyone!

And thanks Uppy for the compliment.
Crasu: The jeweler is Daniel M on etsy.
 

baby nurse

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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

I do see what you mean about the star sapphire bezel being rough, but it's still a pretty piece. Thank goodness the star is well-centered and the color of the gold looks lovely with that stone.

I LOVE your pendant. The stones look awesome together and the neck shots look great!

The mint garnets are fabulous :love: I'd love to see them in a pendant!

Congrats on some successful projects!
 

MakingTheGrade

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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

Thanks Baby Nurse!
I love my pendant too! I think there's a niche of geek-sheik jewelry that's just waiting to be cashed in on! I love the pixelation effect of the tourmaline and the general look of the pendant with the black rubber cord.
 

Aoife

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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

The tourmaline pendant is amazing. Dynamic is the word! Beautiful.

The mint garnets are wonderful, and I absolutely can't wait to see the pendant with the OEC and the tsav. because it's going to be fabulous.

The star sapphire is the star of the show. I can see the issues with the bezel, but when I look at the hand shots, I really am only looking at how soft and dreamy the stone is, and how well the rose gold looks with it, not the little irregularities in the bezel.
 

MakingTheGrade

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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

Thanks Aoife!

Yeah, I'm sure I'll get over the little irregularities with time.

And anyways, this was always likely to be a temp setting until I could afford something a bit blingier..like a 3 stone. num num..
 

Lovinggems

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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

I love your new pieces, although the bezel is not perfect it's still a gorgeous piece.
 

MakingTheGrade

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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

Thanks Lovinggems! I think I'll get past the small imperfections pretty quickly :)
 

Fly Girl

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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

Love your new pieces. I've been in love with star sapphires ever since Linde stars were hot in my youth, and your ring is gorgeous. I'd embrace the handmade, more organic look and just enjoy it. It has a great color and a lovely star.

The pendant is gorgeous. I love a great pendant, and you won't see another one like that one walking around. Lots of color and flash.

Your idea for a three-stone pendant with the graduated sizes is great. Looking forward to seeing how you put that together.

Well done. Love those pieces. :love: :appl: :love: :appl: :love: :appl: :wavey: :wavey:
 

MakingTheGrade

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Re: Star sapphire ring, tourm pendant, mint garnets pictures

Thanks Flygirl!

I absolutely fell in love with star sapphires the second I saw this one in person. I would love to get more in the future! Although I feel like as time passes, it'll get harder and harder to find unheated star sapphires with good translucency since I would imagine many get heated and cut. :nono:

Yeah, still working on a plan for my 3 stone pendant...not really set on details other than that I want the tsav to be set in 18k yellow gold. I think this new tourm pendant is changing my opinion about getting pendants made (i've previously been primarily a ring gal).
 
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