Barry Bridgestock/ACS Green Tourmalines

[Liane]

So after months of lurking and loving everyone else''s stones, I decided to dip my toes into the water and pick up a couple of my own. Here''s my latest purchase: a pair of 6-mm medium green tourmalines from Barry at ACS.

Originally I was going to have these made into earrings (hence the matched pair), but now I''m thinking about setting them in YG as a matched pair of pendants made for my two younger sisters. I''m getting married in about a year and my sisters are the bridesmaids. Neither of them owns a single piece of real jewelry, and my wedding colors are gold and green, so maybe it would be nice to give them pendants as bridesmaid gifts? I also got a pair of .25 carat diamonds as a bonus with my Nerd Diamond; they''re not great diamonds, but they''d make nice accent stones on pendants, and my sisters don''t own any diamonds.

Anyway, please let me know whether you think these stones could work as pendant decorations. They''re a little small to be pendants on their own, IMO, but I could build a design around them.

 

[Liane]

Out of the box.

The stones are much brighter IRL. I''m not sure why they came out so dark in the photo. Still learning how to take gemstone pictures...

 

[Liane]

Vendor photo.

IRL they don''t look much like this at all. The color is closer to the first picture I posted, although the stones are brighter than the photo shows. I was a little hesitant because of the uneven color when I saw the photo, but Barry assured me that the tourmalines don''t look nearly as uneven in person, and he was right.

 

[Liane]

Pictured with the Nerd Diamond (2-carat K-L round brilliant, approx. 8mm diameter).

 

[Liane]

One last picture with the Nerd Diamond.

Yay! Thanks PS. I would never have known where to find these without the board.

 

[T L]

I think your sisters, if they're more on the petite dainty side, could pull off a 6mm pendant. I know I couldn't, but I'm an Amazon woman - LOL!! The pendant idea sounds like a great idea, but the cost to make each pendant might be a bit high, custom work, gold costs, yada yada yada. I rather do the earrings if the cost is too prohibitve.

ETA: Why is your diamond called the "Nerd" diamond?

 

[Liane]

Date: 5/25/2009 12:01:00 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
I think your sisters, if they''re more on the petite dainty side, could pull off a 6mm pendant.

ETA: Why is your diamond called the ''Nerd'' diamond?

My sisters are many things, but "dainty" is not among them.

One''s a South Philly bartender with half a dozen tattoos, the other shaved her head while training for Ironman because it "would make her go faster." Jewelry fiends they are not, but I''m convinced that every girl should own at least one genuinely nice piece. Besides, they''re in their early 20s, so there''s plenty of time to develop an appreciation for sparkly rocks! In the meantime, I''m thinking 6mm might be a touch too small. But with a hammered gold hoop or other added bit of sparkle, maybe. I''ll have to ask around and price how much it''d cost to do that.

The Nerd Diamond is a long story. I''ll make that another post lest this one turn into a novel.

 

[T L]

Date: 5/25/2009 12:11:39 PM
Author: Liane

Date: 5/25/2009 12:01:00 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
I think your sisters, if they're more on the petite dainty side, could pull off a 6mm pendant.

ETA: Why is your diamond called the 'Nerd' diamond?

My sisters are many things, but 'dainty' is not among them.

One's a South Philly bartender with half a dozen tattoos, the other shaved her head while training for Ironman because it 'would make her go faster.' Jewelry fiends they are not, but I'm convinced that every girl should own at least one genuinely nice piece. Besides, they're in their early 20s, so there's plenty of time to develop an appreciation for sparkly rocks! In the meantime, I'm thinking 6mm might be a touch too small. But with a hammered gold hoop or other added bit of sparkle, maybe. I'll have to ask around and price how much it'd cost to do that.

The Nerd Diamond is a long story. I'll make that another post lest this one turn into a novel.

Well, after the description of your sister, it might not be worth it to give her a necklace because although it's for your wedding

1) It might never be worn or appreciated again, and Barry's stones are too nice to hide away and languish (that's what bridesmaid dresses are for - LOL!!).
2) If it's never going to be worn again, that's a lot of $$$ to spend on custom work gone to waste.

Just my 2 cents. If you want to get them a green necklace to wear, get something inexpensive and costume. I would get pretty earrings mounts for them for myself instead.

Liebcor on ebay makes inexpensive gold mounts if you're looking to save $$$ on earring mounts.

 

[cellentani]

Liane, what a sweet sister you are to want to do this! 6mm can be a bit small, but another PSer posted her pendant she''d made with an LOGR setting that turned out nicely. If you like it, LOGR could make the setting in whatever color gold you choose, but it''s for a 6mm, so I don''t think any other custom work would be needed.

Here''s the link to the pendant: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/finally-got-my-stone-set.114637/

And a pic from the eBay vendor:

 

[ma re]

Liane,

don''t get me wrong, but the part about your sister was the best laugh I had in quite a while

Regarding your ideas, I have to agree with others and suggest that you either get them something fake (they migth not own any jewellery for a reason - maybe they just don''t like it) or get them something rather cool like THIS or THIS, so you might even spark their imagination when it comes to gemstones. Some other interesting stones that come to mind are cat''s eye chrysoberyl (can be light green and it has this great optical effect) and bi-color tourmaline (can have a green area along with another color). I''m suggesting these cause your sisters don''t strike me as people who''d be interested in some usual "sparklies".

 

[Liane]

Date: 5/25/2009 1:23:12 PM
Author: ma re
Liane,


don't get me wrong, but the part about your sister was the best laugh I had in quite a while

Regarding your ideas, I have to agree with others and suggest that you either get them something fake (they migth not own any jewellery for a reason - maybe they just don't like it) or get them something rather cool like THIS or THIS, so you might even spark their imagination when it comes to gemstones. Some other interesting stones that come to mind are cat's eye chrysoberyl (can be light green and it has this great optical effect) and bi-color tourmaline (can have a green area along with another color). I'm suggesting these cause your sisters don't strike me as people who'd be interested in some usual 'sparklies'.

Thanks for the input. The mawsitsit and malachites are lovely... and might be a more cost-effective choice.

Yeah, it might not be the best idea to use these tourmalines for pendants. We'll see. At the very least I'll ask my sisters, because I'm not going to spend all that money (and such nicely cut rocks!) on a gift that'll molder in a closet somewhere. If they think they'll wear the pendants once in a while, then okay. If not, time to make some nice earrings for me!

Here's an explanation of the Nerd Diamond (be warned, it is a long story): https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/the-nerd-diamond.116115/

I put it in Hangout because it's more blatheration than "behold, here is my new shiny!" but there are some shiny pictures too.

(Edited for clickability. I hope.)

 

[D&T]

Those are such beautiful stone from barry, those would be nice for yourself. unless you really want a pendant that maybe later they might appreciate and bring them out for nice occasion maybe? then I definitely love what cellentani has posted, gorgeous pendant.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Hmm, I''m going to go with keeping them for yourself and making them into earrings. They''re such beautiful stones, and matched pairs are kind of hard to come by (relative to single stones), so I say keep them together.

And if you want to get them a pendant, how about bigger freshwater pearl pendants? (which they can maybe wear to the wedding?)

 

[Icce]

I think they would be nice earrings (make sure they fit ok on your earlobes...some poeple have very small ones and big stones can droop). Pendants are nice too but ask if they will re-ware them first.

 

[mochi]

MHO...I think it would make a fabulous earring. It''s such a pretty stone!!

 

[icekid]

I think they would make lovely earrings too. Given what we know about your sisters, I am not so sure that a classic pendant (lovely though they are!) is quite the right choice.

 

[Stone Hunter]

Another vote for keeping them together. It is hard to find matched pairs, so please don''t break them up. But your idea is lovely, just be sure your sisters think it''s lovely before you spend the money on settings.

The stones look very very nice!

 

[chrono]

I think the matched pair is lovely and the thought behind them even more beautiful. That said, I am in agreement with everyone.
1. Your sisters might prefer something different and that stand out due to their interests as you described them
2. Custom setting to make the stones appear larger will cost $$$
3. 6 mm is usually a decent size for pendants but for those who like to make a presence, it might seem to small.

What I''d do is keep them as a pair for earrings and purchase perhaps a carved gemstone for pendants. Those are unique, tend to be larger and also inexpensive.