urseberry
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2007
- Messages
- 516
Red is my favorite color. When I started reading about colored stones on PS a few months ago, a nice ruby was at the top of my wishlist. So I bought a small, 0.88 Burmese ruby from Mastercut Gems' in the final hours of one of Dana's sales, after realizing I would regret it if I missed out. The 0.88 carat stone measures 5.40 - 5.29 X 3.36 mm and is a slightly wonky round. It's from Mong Hsu, and has been heated with flux, and there are flux residues in a crevasse. In daylight, it looks just like the vendor pictures below. It glows, and is unmistakably RED. Indoors, under fluorescent lighting, it dies and becomes extremely dark. I also noticed that it became dark when I covered the pavilion with aluminum foil.



Despite its flaws, I find my little ruby very pretty, and decided to set it in a simple solitaire. I've always admired the modern, fluid lines Sholdt settings. Someone here on Pricescope posted about Brian Gavin's March madness sale, where stones and settings were paired up with teams in the tournament. The discounts started out around 8%, but teams that advanced had the corresponding items increase in discount. Sadly, the setting I had my eye on got "eliminated" in the first round, but I was still able to take advantage of the initial discount by ordering on the last day it was active. Brian Gavin calls it the Minnie, and on Sholdt's site it's the R472-1. It's a very open setting, to maximize light shining on the stone.
My heart sank a bit when I saw the glamour shots from BGD, because the ruby looks so dark and muddy. It's okay, because I know it will look much better in sunlight. I look forward to picking it up on Friday! I'm terrible with pictures, so all I have for now are vendor shots.



Despite its flaws, I find my little ruby very pretty, and decided to set it in a simple solitaire. I've always admired the modern, fluid lines Sholdt settings. Someone here on Pricescope posted about Brian Gavin's March madness sale, where stones and settings were paired up with teams in the tournament. The discounts started out around 8%, but teams that advanced had the corresponding items increase in discount. Sadly, the setting I had my eye on got "eliminated" in the first round, but I was still able to take advantage of the initial discount by ordering on the last day it was active. Brian Gavin calls it the Minnie, and on Sholdt's site it's the R472-1. It's a very open setting, to maximize light shining on the stone.
My heart sank a bit when I saw the glamour shots from BGD, because the ruby looks so dark and muddy. It's okay, because I know it will look much better in sunlight. I look forward to picking it up on Friday! I'm terrible with pictures, so all I have for now are vendor shots.