advise needed...

[Arkteia]

This rubellite from Lisa has been lying in my box for a long, long time. I just have no concept of what to do with it. I think, a pendant. And I think I know what I want to pair it with.

Recenlty, I won a pair of blue tourmaline pears at Tan's auction. The cost was $ 10.00 i think, maybe slightly more than that. I bought them with an idea of making a pair of bezel dangles, and I still plan on doing it. They were OK, I thought, but look at the color combination - red and blue!

 

[Arkteia]

They are still very small... I tried to line them up... still small.

 

[Arkteia]

But the colors are exactly what I have been looking for! Never mind the previous picture, it was taken under a horrible light, I just wanted to show the concept. Look at this...

 

[Arkteia]

So... size-wise they do not match. Can anyone give me an idea of where to find a similar blue tourmaline (a trilliant or a round one? I can use two smaller round ones if need be, I have an idea of how to position them, so 5-mm rounds should be OK. I just have no clue what to do with the pears).

Unless someone has an idea?

In short, I need either sites/places to find blue tourmalines like the one I have shown, or an idea how to combine this huge tourmaline with two small blue pears so that it would look OK...

 

[Agnesg]

Very pretty blue tourmaline!

 

[Burberrygirl]

Hey Crasru,

I saw these indicolites on Mastercut and thought of you. Maybe Dana has more of this rough and can cut you something.

http://mastercutgems.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=6047

Have you thought about setting the rubellite with the indicolites on either side (with the points of the pears pointing away from the rubellite) in a pendant?

 

[Arkteia]

THank you, Burberrygirl, this is a good idea! If they do not match, I can always return them. I saw better tourmalines at Dana's site today, but then I dropped and broke my laptop (cyber-Monday and Black Friday together, I guess ). By the time I connected it to the external monitor, that one was sold!

 

[MAC-W]

How about something like this?

 

[Arkteia]

Wow, MAC! This is interesting! Now honestly, what do you think of this whole idea!

I thought of buying two round smaller indicolites, and positioning them on top and bottom of the stone, but not just on top and bottom, but among the prongs that would be curving upwards and downwards (if I explained it well). But this one is interesting. Do you think that they match color-wise?

The only thing, I thought Liza's stone requires something which is cut better to match. But alone, it doesn't work very well because it is large and needs something else to make a pendant more interesting.

Maybe some smaller "beads" to place strategically between the rubellite and the indicolites? Like small round pearls? Or another pair of diamonds? Then a very good cut would not be side by side with not-so-good one?

I was even thinking of sending the stone to Sally. She lives in Thailand, she could probably source out something that would match my rubellite. I just do not know how expensive it will be. I can source out diamonds, of course.

But isn't it surprising that for $ 10.00 you could get decent stones from Tan?

 

[chrono]

Ditto Burberry and Mac’s idea on using the pears sideways flanking the rubellite! With this design, you can adhere to your new gem-free diet and still use up existing stones for your setting projects.

 

[Arkteia]

I am still amazed at MAC's drawing! This is something! What a great idea! How long did you spend, MAC, before you came up with it?

 

[MAC-W]

I'm glad you like my sketch Crasru. I have to admit, it took all of about 2 seconds as it was the first idea that popped into my head as soon as I saw your stones. It just seemed so logical to me.

I think it will work great with your stones. Also I think as a pendant the cut of the stones will not be so noticeable. People will focus predominately on the colour, not on the cut or the 'matchy-matchy'.



I've just had a pendant made (still to post photos - sorry) with some spessartities I got from Dana years ago which are not the best cut and not the best clarity, but nobody that sees the pendant in real life even comments on that. All comments are about the colour and only the colour, so I think your stones will be the same. I also had a ring made with another spess I had and some champagne diamonds, which I am now getting remade cos I dont like the way the champagne diamonds look in evening light, but every single person I've mentioned it too in real life just looks at me like I've grown a second head and then says "I love your ring". If I posted pics of the ring here, you and all other PS'ers would instantly spot what I'm talking about but almost nobody else would.

Sometimes on PS we get too caught up in "perfection" when really 99.9% of people who will see our jewellery in real life dont even notice all the niggly things that we PS obsessives notice - they just think "WOW I love that". (or at least thats my experience, maybe US is different than OZ)

For a pendant made with $10 or $20 stones I would say have fun with it and dont stress about perfection.


ETA: I love those colours together and think it will look great whatever you do with the stones.

 

[Burberrygirl]

MAC-W, I really like your drawing. I was thinking of setting the stones N/S like this:

 

[Burberrygirl]

Crasru, have you looked at JKT's pendants on her website for inspiration?

http://juliakaytaylor.com/necklaces.html

I think you'd like the third picture in the fourth row.

 

[LD]

Crasru - if you do go for a pendant, one thing that struck me immediately was the size of the Rubellite. If set as a pendant it has to be designed really well so that it avoids tipping forward (if set east/west) or rolling from side to side (if set north/west). A rigid setting would be preferable to hold everything in place with the chain set high on the corners (to avoid all of the above).

It sounds like you're not set on using the pears? I would use those as earrings in all honesty, especially if they're not an exact pair.

In terms of side stones for your project, whilst I love Sally, personally I prefer to source my own stones. If you are fussy about colour/cut etc., this may be the better route for you also.

I've found a few pairs (that are already set as earrings) but I adore tblj180 that are halfway down the page. As they're the same shape as the Rubellite I think it would look wonderful! My only concern is they may be a titchy bit too dark. If $ wasn't an issue then can you imagine how gorgeous tblj177a would look with your gem?????


http://www.mineralminers.com/html/tbljlry.stm

 

[MAC-W]

Crasru - if you do go for a pendant, one thing that struck me immediately was the size of the Rubellite. If set as a pendant it has to be designed really well so that it avoids tipping forward (if set east/west) or rolling from side to side (if set north/west). A rigid setting would be preferable to hold everything in place with the chain set high on the corners (to avoid all of the above).

Good point about the tipping LD.

Crasru,
how about something like this to avoid any tipping problems?

 

[MAC-W]

or if you prefer the E-w style setting, this ...

 

[chrono]

MAC,
I love your original idea but understand that the logistics of wearing it is in question. I’m sorry to say that the first redesigned pendant looks like the rubellite has devil horns while the second redesigned pendant looks like a clown’s head.

 

[LD]

Mac - not sure if you'll be able to draw what I mean but don't link the chain to the side stones - simply have a fixture behind the central stone (at the top - not middle to avoid flipping) to thread the chain through. Voila, no tipping or twisting!