A little fun...

[tammy77]

It's probably been done, but I thought I'd start a fun little post for the day to distract me from this ridiculous headache!

What's your favorite CS and why?


What's your "Holy Grail" stone?


What project are you working on now, or plan to work on next?


That's all for today!

 

[TristanC]

I want to buy a fancy purplish gray round/asscher diamond with "in-house grading" of 1ctw, and then send it to GIA to come back fancy Violet.

 

[Fly Girl]

My favorite colored stone is ruby, because my favorite color is red. Always has been.

I'd love a big, beautiful red Burmese ruby ring.

Currently, I'm having my Richard Homer Portuguese briolette citrine being set by T Lee. I'm picking it up from T and attending a Roger Dery colored stones round table tomorrow evening. Can hardly wait!

 

[lavatea]

I'm posting before I read through everyone's responses. I hope I'm not repeating what everyone else is saying.

What's your favorite CS and why? not sure, but I do seem to be drawn to tourmalines and garnets quite a bit...and I opal (partially b/c it's my birthstone) although I haven't tried to buy any yet


What's your "Holy Grail" stone? tsavorite closely followed by a mahenge (thanks to all of these darn mahenge threads lately)...oh, and a nice blue sapphire


What project are you working on now, or plan to work on next? I'm working on paying off a BB green tourmaline from a fellow PS'er that will go into a round stone stacking ring project but that's going to be a long term project...not sure what I will end up completing next...money's so tight so I'm moving pretty slowly...but man I'd love to get another asscher soon...or a light blue sapphire if the right one came along for a decent enough price (there was this lovely parti sapphire from Doug that I visited for months but alas it has been bought )

 

[jstarfireb]

Favorite CS - it's changed over time, but right now it's the green garnets, especially tsavorite. They're so sparkly and a gorgeous shade of green.

Holy Grail - a 6-7mm Asscher-cut tsavorite or Merelani mint garnet with a perfectly bluish-green hue.

Current projects - nothing earth-shattering. I sent a few pieces to Daniel M for setting and repairs (Barry mint garnet and rose gold lanbo setting, Barry supernova spinel and second-hand white gold setting, repairing a ring that my local guy set crookedly). I'm also waiting for a gorgeous JKT pendant that I bought second-hand from another PSer. But that's it for now.

 

[blithesome71]

What's your favorite CS and why? Peridot & Topaz (natural blue & imperial)

What's your "Holy Grail" stone? Untreated Katlang Pink Topaz (3-7ct)... Geez they're difficult to source and pricey. I'd definitely buy one when I win the lottery someday lol

What project are you working on now, or plan to work on next? No pending project at the moment but I'm choosing between a fine translucent blue chalcedony cab or a faceted opal (w/ colourplay) before this year ends

 

[JewelFreak]

Favorite CS? Can't really say. I love too many stones, more partial to greens, blues, green/blues & pure yellows.

My Holy Grail stone is a BIG Paraiba tourm, with all the neon-ness of the best of them. In my dreams!

 

[SB621]

What's your favorite CS and why? I have two- Blue sapphires and blue/green tourmalines

What's your "Holy Grail" stone? Paraiba tourmaline around 3-4cts
What project are you working on now, or plan to work on next? Setting my .93ct FLY into a double halo

 

[Kismet]

My favorite CS: It's hard to say but if you're forcing me to make a choice then I'd have to say chrysoberyl.

Holy grail stone: I would love to get a 2-3 ct untreated ruby, red as red could be.

Current projects: My jaspers, opal brioletts and sunstones are currently being set. I'll also be sending my semi black opal off to be set in a hand made setting in a month or so.

 

[talamasca]

What's your favorite CS and why? Hmm, I like quite a few, but at the moment I'm drawn to anything pink; spinels, sapphires, tourmalines.

What's your "Holy Grail" stone? I'd love a really nice deep red ruby

What project are you working on now, or plan to work on next? Currently sourcing a medium blue sapphire and designing H2B's wedding ring

 

[ruffysdad]

Fav stone? Garnet, always. They're what I call an honest stone,ie no cleavage planes, little to no chance of treatment, lots of sparkle and fire, mostly relatively inexpensive, and hard enough for most jewelry projects, Second fav is tourmaline

Holy Grail? Light lavender or mauve spinel rough about 15ct that's ball shaped, If you think packing 129 facets on a 6mm round's neat then you'd go nuts when I was done with one of these

Current project? I've got a bunch going on. I'm getting ready for a show, trying to retire from my real world job, have a blue/green tourm, 2 C/S garnets and an aqua to cut and am growing my hair long enough to wear in a ponytail to irritate my hair stylist brother

Pete

 

[pregcurious]

What's your favorite CS and why? Any intensely colored natural/untreated red (spinel/ruby), green (emerald), or blue (sapphire) stones. I prefer stones with a hardness of 8 and above, but that's a difficult requirement for an intense green stone.

What's your "Holy Grail" stone?I don't really have one, but a 3 carat blue Paraiba/Paraiba-like (Mozambique) tourmaline or a 3 carat August Vintage round would be hard to beat.

What project are you working on now, or plan to work on next? Obsessing about how to set a red spinel (I bought 2 years ago) into a three stone ring with diamond sides. I also have a peach sapphire that I may set in my former ering setting.

 

[NKOTB]

Favourites in general are tourmalines, spinels and garnets. I like the overall durability and variety of colours, as well as the affordability. I like aquas, too. I love sapphires and rubies, but the ones I like are usually beyond my budget.

Holy grail: pad sapphire, intense hot pink anything, and/or medium-toned, well-saturated blue-green stone.

Projects: haven't slowed down on the stone buying long enough to focus on that, but will probably either set my blue tourmaline from Lisa, Big Pink spinel from Gene, or one of my Mahenges into a ring of some sort.

 

[kenny]

Shame on me for wanting anything else, but I'm just not dead yet.

I'll take an AGL-graded Blue Sapphire of Kashmir origin, with that perfect glowing silky color, not to dark but not too light.

It would have to start out as a 4 to 6 ct because the the weight would be 3 carat AFTER being cut into an Octavia asscher that Karl optimized for the Index of Refraction of sapphire.

 

[tammy77]

Thanks for playing along! I'm glad I asked...I'm embarrassed to admit it but I'd never seen a Paraiba and I'm in LOVE!

AFM I'll answer now that I have a few minutes, though I don't have the most specific (or CS educated) answers.

Favorite Stone - I'm pretty all over the place but I really love tourmaline! Fav would be pinks and that beautiful paraiba color.

Holy Grail - I think I'm still too new at collecting to really have THE Holy Grail. Right now I just have a modest wish list ranging from cheap (nice quality amethyst) to more costly (pariaba, nice size quality tsavorite, etc.). I'm hoping to pick up a sphene and chrome diopside to soothe the tsavorite craving (I know they're soft, torn on this still...) Ok you get the picture, I'll stop listing things!

Projects - See above. I'm guessing it'll be a while before I get anything set other than my family alex that is in process w/DanielM.

 

[vc10um]

Favorite stone would have to be amethyst. I'm a purple FIEND. But a close second is garnet, in most shades and origins. I love my tsav from Swala and can't wait to get my hands on a full range of beauties...I'm thinking a Tanga is next for me!

Holy Grail...that's a toughie! I'm not sure, but it would have to be large, natural, eye clean, BRIGHT, and have kick-@ss fluorescence.

Projects...nothing right now, we're saving for a house! I'm going to InterGem this weekend, though, so we'll see how much willpower I've got.

 

[Arkteia]

No favorite stone, or rather, they change all the time, but I am really drawn to orange and blue colors.
Holy Grail? If something that you are striving to find but can not, a spessartite that would match my Namibian one.
If it is something that you dream about but can not afford, then it is a Paraiba and a pink diamond.
Projects: Main one - find my 5.2 mint garnet. I almost started setting 5-ct spessartite, next in line is my sapphire, then a pink spinel from Gemcal.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Favorite cs- chrysoberyls, spinels, sapphires. I like harder stones that I can wear without scratching or chipping.

Latest projects- Just got back my moms ring in which I placed a color shift chrysoberyl in.

Coming projects- Ruby from Multicolour gems to be set in a David Klass Diamond halo setting.

 

[natsplat]

What's your favorite CS and why? Garnets and spinels for RI gorgeousness, non-blue sapphires for velvetiness (hopefully), tourmalines for moody character. And I hope heliodor for sheer cheeriness!


What's your "Holy Grail" stone? I would love a gray/peach diamond. Not big, so it is doable.


What project are you working on now, or plan to work on next? Either I will start setting my trio of stacker stones:



in either lotuses or possibly more minimal pronging,

OR

I will set my Gene aqua:



As a pendant (but I may be looking for smaller DBTY stones to accompany that)

 

[kelpie]

Fave CS: Green Grossular Garnet because it looks good in all saturations/hues and imparts this ethereal green glowy sparkle. My husband, who does not get gems, examined my ring and declared "Whoa this is like a ring an elf would wear".

Holy Grail: Clean Burma ruby devoid of purple/pink secondary (I think I would be ok with heat and possibly flux treatment). Man, that's like unobtainium. There is one at my jewelers they let me visit, but I'll never afford it.

Right now I'm setting the pink spinel oval and spessartite emerald in three stone rings with diamond sides. When that is done I want to set my 6ct mint tourmaline oval among a double strand of akoya pearls. When that's done I'll start to think of ways to get my mitts on that ruby.

I'm sure I'll have other small projects but that is my gem "bucket list"...maybe a pair of 2CTW asscher diamond studs too but I have to try it out with falsies before I commit. Another project is selling all the stuff I acquired on my taste refining jewelry journey.

 

[y2kitty]

What's your favorite CS and why?
Spessartite. I love orange. Followed by spinel - so many varieties.

What's your "Holy Grail" stone?
Greater than 2 carat emerald cut spess pure orange or hot pink spinel.

What project are you working on now, or plan to work on next?
Mastergoldcraft is setting a spinel for me.

 

[Aven]

What's your favorite CS and why? Tsavorite hands down, because of the lushness of the green.


What's your "Holy Grail" stone? Either a 7x7 rounded, chunky cushion, meduim-meduim dark tsav, or 9x7 emerald cut tsav. Or a green mali garnet! Pala has one that I look at every so often.


What project are you working on now, or plan to work on next? Right now, nothing other than saving, but my current my hopes/goals for future projects would be to do a nice emerald ring, a sapphire ring, and a red spinel ring.

 

[kt]

ooh, this is fun!

Favorite stone: Well, it used to be sapphire, be/c it comes in so many wonderful colors, but now that I've discovered spinel, they are tied. I LOVE blue sapphires, though! So i'm super happy with my sapphire 3-stone ring.

Holy grail stone: hmmm, I can't say I have one be/c I'm so new at this and there are lots of colors I like, and I'd like to get some different ones instead of always gravitating towards blue! I'd like to find a grey/blue/lavender stone to match my kitty's eyes - he's got the most unusual eyes that my MIL says look almost human! I've gotten a couple of stones to look at but none are quite right yet. I suppose I'm just getting what strikes my fancy at this point that I can afford. Eventually i'd like to find some blue stones for a pair of earrings, and some pink ones, too.

Projects: I have a few going on - I got my what I call my pseudo Pad spinel that I got a halo setting for that i'm waiting to arrive and set; I'm still waiting for a pink-ish-purple spinel to send to DanielM to make an unplated 14k white gold, James Meyer-esque ring out of; and if I find that grey/lavender/blue stone I'd set that with DanielM in a simple prong setting, too. Lots to do!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Favourite stone - this is a tough question. I love so many... Of the stones I own, I am divided between my Mahenge, a Gene ruby, a Munsteiner amethyst and a small russian Demantoid.

Holy Grail - 2ct, eye clean, perfect blue hauyne. Same size neon Paraiba.

Current project - I am trying to decide if I really neeeeed that lovely ruby cab, to set in a simple yellow gold ring. *sigh*