a "fanta" garnet from Tan and ring project

[VapidLapid]

Though this project is not finished I thought it timely to begin a post. I bought this garnet from one of Tan's auctions about a month ago. It is 1.36 carat, 6.2mm. it was described as "Mandarin".Yesterday I began hammering a piece of silver, a third of a one ounce coin, into a block to work from. This thickened the piece and having a more regular shape made it easier to balance the weight evenly, thicker and wider on top, thinner and narrower at bottom. I know the stone has a lot of brown in it, but when it catches the light, which it does far more often than not, it packs an impressive punch. And in contrast to the 5 carat stone with window for $2800.00, this was about 30. Admittedly its no where near 5 carat and is SI. The video in the listing was color accurate including the brown, but was glamorously lit.

First up is two views of the same stone

Then the squared up blob of silver

Same blob transformed

lastly with the stone next to it

 

[VapidLapid]

 

[Nashville]

So cool!!!

 

[Burberrygirl]

Vapid, that's amazing! I can't what to see how it turns out. Very cool!

 

[Largosmom]

Amazed at the transformation of the "blob"...did the cut become the center of the ring?

I think it will be pretty amazing.

Laura

 

[chrono]

I always enjoy watching your projects unfold; is the red mark the place where you plan to set the stone?

 

[Nicki]

Ooh, can't wait to see how this turns out...it's looking very promising already!

 

[Upgradable]

Vapid, I love watching you work a project!! This looks like a fun one. I think the inclusions in the stone give it a shattered sparkle look. I can't wait to see how it 'pounds out'!

Do you do work for others? I'd bet you'd have a big fan base!!! Speaking as the self-appointed president of your fan club, that is.

 

[Kismet]

I love watching your jewelry making progress threads. Looking forward to see how it all turns out.

 

[VapidLapid]

Well thank you all for the kind words. The encouragement I get here really sustains me in those dark moments. I'm just feeling my way around in all this so I'm not ready to become a "trade member" yet, plus I'm just too opinionated and liberal with them to give up my status as a consumer. I do really appreciate having been asked if I'd take orders! That is a huge sign to me from a friendly and wisely critical audience. Thank you again.

Yes the red line indicates where the stone will be set. But also it is there as a guide to me in the forging. throughout the process after every annealing I put the ring on a 1/4 inch metal rod and tap on it to locate the center of gravity. I hammer away from the center mark on the thin side toward the red mark to keep the shape and distribution of metal.

The listing was still on ebay at least I found it through the feedback, it was gone from my buying of the last 60 days. So I was able to get the listing photo. The video is much more orange than the photo and closer to what I see IRL. My photos are far more brown than the stone really is. Also in my photos I used a small george jensen dish as a parabolic reflector held right next to the lens to get some light directed as close to straight in through the front of the stone as I could.

 

[Upgradable]

Well thank you all for the kind words. The encouragement I get here really sustains me in those dark moments. I'm just feeling my way around in all this so I'm not ready to become a "trade member" yet, plus I'm just too opinionated and liberal with them to give up my status as a consumer. I do really appreciate having been asked if I'd take orders! That is a huge sign to me from a friendly and wisely critical audience. Thank you again.

You never disappoint!

 

[T L]

Looking forward to the end result. I really like the cutting on that garnet by the way.

 

[Aoife]

This is really fascinating to me! I don't suppose you took photos of the stages between the block w/cut, and the ring? I'd love to see how the ring looked after it was a block, but before it became a true ring.

This is a great project, thanks for posting.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi Vapid,

That is going to be a lovely finished piece. You are showing us your talent in action and thanks for that. I like your stone. It is so sparktly and I don't mind a small amount of brown.

I think brown clothing is in this yr. Perhaps brown in gems will be looked upon more kindly. You know, matchy, matchy,

Annette

 

[stepcutnut]

Looks like another fabulous project, can't wait to see it finished!

 

[packrat]

Cool project-I like seeing the process!

 

[Largosmom]

I don't think I've watched the process before, but I'm already fascinated!

 

[VapidLapid]

So, it's still not finished but I thought I would update where I have the metal work to and I think I have better more representative pics of the orangeness. With the weight distributed around the ring heavier and thicker at the top and lighter and thinner at the bottom it was time to start fashioning the seat for the stone. I drilled a tiny pilot hole through the center of the heavy side to act as a guide for the...I call it a masher. Since I needed to make a depression in the solid metal where the stone sits I needed to make a tool. This is just the way it is when you dont really know what your doing except to make it up as you go. Improvisation can be very liberating. I cut a 50º bevel on one end of a length of steel drill rod, repeated that 3 more times around at 90 º to make a pyramid point of 50º which I then filed to a cone. 50º was my guesstimate of the highest angle in the pavilion that would need to be removed from the ring to fit it neatly. With the ring secured to a stake I put the masher point in the guide hole and hit it hard with a 3 pound sledge. The ring was annealed just before this. The stone rests nicely in the depression and the metal that is displaced to the shoulders will provide material for fashioning the half bezels.

 

[Arcadian]

Very Cool! I've never seen a blob to ring in quite like that!

-A

 

[chrono]

Oh my! The pictures are getting more interesting and your spessartite looks delish in these newer pictures.

 

[oddoneout]

It's very interesting to see the process. Beautiful stone too.

 

[VapidLapid]

Today's progress was small for a lot of work. I spent about 2 hours trying to carve the seat for the stone and the groove in the half bezel sides for the girdle to fit. Carving metal, i suppose, is not the way it would be done in a professional studio. As I said, I improvise, so I used some hand tools I have left from my intaglio/ etching days.anyway the stone sits close to where it should, and today I used a tripod and that made the picture much much better and closer to what I really see. I wonder if I will actually finish this tomorrow.

 

[Largosmom]

Looking forward to more pics on the final stages. Cool!

 

[Lovinggems]

Excellent work!