1st topic & 1st test stone- please advise!

[petit_bijou]

Hi everyone,

I decided that today was the day to be bold and emerge from lurker-land, as I finally gained the courage to start testing the waters of loose gemstones. As I mentioned in FallenRox's topic, I am only just starting on the path to coming up with my dream ering.

My boyfriend and I have discussed getting engaged and the fact that we want a non-diamond center stone, but that's where most of our concrete discussions have ended. Our timeline to engagement is within the next two years, depending on a variety of factors (the usual family drama/pressure, potential international move, finances, etc. etc.). The long timeline is actually good, because I know I'm picky and tend to change my mind a lot before settling on a big decision so this takes the pressure off my research time. I know I want something purple, but I've been flip flopping between medium-purple, or a pale lavender with lots of sparkle. My favourite PS stones so far are TS's lavender spinel cushion in the yellow gold halo, and Zestfully Bling's new silver/blue/violet halo. I also can't decide on a cut, but I figure if I choose a colour then I'll at least have one criteria settled upon!

Since I've been trying to "watch and learn" from FallenRox's experience, I decided to dabble in some ebay stones to get an idea of what might look good IRL and next to my skin tone. I purchased my first spinel a few days ago, and wait anxiously for its arrival!

Here is a shot from the ebay listing, and would love if people would contribute their thoughts or observations on the stone so I can learn. I know there is a huge window and I'm not a big fan of the brown/yellow flashes, but I figured it would be a good way to see how I like the lighter saturation and how much grey I would want for less than $10 all-in. It's just a smidge over a carat in weight, and 5.7 x 6.6 in dimension. When I get it in person I'll take some handshots for more opinions.

Thanks in advance!

 

[FallenRox]

Good for you posting for the first time!

And you have PLLLLLLLLLLLENTY of time to figure this out, so that's awesome too!
How'd you get away with only buying one test stone? lol I opened an ebay account and
(oh nevermind what I did) *blush

...but it was worth every package and 10 pack of gem boxes!

You'll definitely get a feel for the sparkly side of spinel life with that one. And from reading what you wrote you know quite a bit about what you like and don't like on screen. Once you get that sucker in your hand, I'd recommend getting another test stone in a more saturated/mid range hue (might be the wrong terminology- Lord knows I'm no expert)

That's what did it for me. The extra light, mid and dark ranges and rolling them around on my hand.
I'm a mid range lover for me personally. Light was like not having enough sugar in the Kool aid and the dark was like....
where's the SUGAR??? lol

That's about all I have to offer at this point, but I love the favorites that you mentioned from here on PS.
Zest's spinel made me drool all over my desk.

 

[T L]

Actually, I think you should look for some $10 light grey spinels without windows. They are to be had, and I do think it's nice you opted for a lighter tone to help with the sparkle.

I don't know if you're referring to my cushion spinel in the yellow gold halo in your comments above, but that stone was $25 and had free S&H.

Food for thought.

 

[petit_bijou]

Actually, I think you should look for some $10 light grey spinels without windows. They are to be had, and I do think it's nice you opted for a lighter tone to help with the sparkle.

I don't know if you're referring to my cushion spinel in the yellow gold halo in your comments above, but that stone was $25 and had free S&H.

Food for thought.

Whoops! It was your stone I was referring to, sorry about the typo TL !

Definitely some good food for thought... FallenRox, I might be following in your ebay spree footsteps sooner than I'd anticipated!

 

[FallenRox]

Actually, I think you should look for some $10 light grey spinels without windows. They are to be had, and I do think it's nice you opted for a lighter tone to help with the sparkle.

I don't know if you're referring to my cushion spinel in the yellow gold halo in your comments above, but that stone was $25 and had free S&H.

Food for thought.

Whoops! It was your stone I was referring to, sorry about the typo TL !

Definitely some good food for thought... FallenRox, I might be following in your ebay spree footsteps sooner than I'd anticipated!

I'd love to see what you go for next. After I read your post the other night, I went on a hunt for a few more just to see. I saw a few I'd love to have but we've got a ring to pay for at some point, so I'm going to live vicariously through you guys for a while.

 

[petit_bijou]

I know what you mean... I have SO MANY in my "watched" list right now... I'm trying to be strategic so that I don't spend so much on test stones that I end up cutting into my REAL stone budget. I am trying to decide between a few variations on purple with a fair bit of grey in them... they remind me of the colour of grape flavoured gatorade

I should probably wait to see what my reaction to the first one is before I choose my next one, but I might not be able to hold off that long.

 

[FallenRox]

Is it there yet??????????????????

(I know, that doesn't help if it's not, but... I had to ask) lol

 

[petit_bijou]

Hahahah, not yet!! It's making me nuts- I keep looking at its picture, and adding things to my watch list on ebay.

Because of the postal strike (that just ended) I decided I send it to my home province (I live somewhere else during the school year for grad school), since I'll be going home for about a month in July and I didn't want it to sit in my mailbox at school for so long if I miss it. Depending on when it arrives my mom will forward it to me here at school, otherwise I'm going to have to wait 3 weeks to see it !! I really hope it gets there soon and she can flip it around quickly.

In the meantime I might post some pics of the jewelry I wear every day and some of the wildly diverse ideas I have for settings to try and get some input to narrow down what kind of shape I should be ultimately looking for. I need to do SOMETHING to keep me occupied while I wait! It is nice to know there are others who share my anxiety of not having it in my hot little hands though!