shape
carat
color
clarity

Buying first stone

madams

Rough_Rock
Joined
Nov 7, 2010
Messages
20
I have read this forum for the past year and have learned so much from your threads and comments! I am ready to buy a stone and mounting (I wear a 6.75 or 7) and have a ring made. My budget is $600 give or take. I woould want the stone to have minimal inclusions, great color and be sparkly! I would like a halo mounting with full cut diamonds and have looked at many on jewelry hoo and LOGR but am open to other vendors. I am interested in a round or oval spessarite garnet. I do not have a benchman locally.

Do you think I can find something nice in this price range?

I would love to hear any suggestions you many have for me! Thanks in advance for your help.
 
Hi, madams :wavey:

I'm still learning much too. I think you can do it, but will have to search well and click fast when you find the right stone. I would look for a stone close to a calibrated size to make it easier. Ovals are more common in spess than rounds, from what I have seen, though a round or cushion may be easier to find a setting for that fits the stone well. Many "native cut" stones are not cut to a calibrated shape. I don't know if you can expect to afford a custom halo mounting at that budget...you may need to see about one of the ebay stores for that or perhaps one of their "semi-custom" ones. Do you already have a good goldsmith you trust locally to set your colored stone? If not, it would be a good time to start shopping around for that person too.

On the color of the stone, I think many of us are looking for as pure an orange as we can find, but it will be helpful if you can say whether you prefer a yellow modifier or darker orange/red modifier if a pure orange cannot be found in your budget. Personally, I also love trillion spess, but that would be difficult to find a halo ring for.

Laura
 
Thanks, Laura! I love trillion cut stones too but felt the setting would probably need to be custom made to accommodate the stone and therefore over my budget. I would prefer a modifier more toward the red tone vs yellow.
 
If your budget includes a setting AND you want a very good and very orange Spess, it might be a challenge. If however you'd be happier for a Spess with brown or yellow modifiers then it's probably possible and if you can accept single cut stones it will be easier again. Single cuts for melee actually give a better sparkle than full cuts (generally).

Find your stone first then look at settings because the size/shape of the stone will be determining factor. A trilliant would also be possible so don't rule them out although there's less semi-mounts for trilliants than ovals.

Try looking for a stone at www.ajs.com and www.multicolour.com but there are tons of our vendors on this board who may have something also!
 
Thank you lovingdiamonds! I will look at both sites!
 
I've been eyeing that one too...nice stone. Laura
 
Is your $600 for the stone alone or stone AND setting? If it is for the entire completed ring, it is going to be a challenge unless you are willing to accept something not 100% eye clean (but mostly clean) with good colour, or something perhaps a little dark, reddish or brownish or yellowish or something small that you aimed for. I believe most Lanbo and LOGR standard settings are single cuts so you'll have to set aside around $100 or so to upgrade them to something full cut and better colour/clarity.

You made no mention of what millimeter size stone you hope to purchase. It will be helpful to know. Getting something calibrated will make it easier to find a non-custom off the shelf setting for it. Round and oval are good choices for a spessartite as these are the more commonly cut shapes.

The only issue I foresee is your lack of benchperson help to set the stone. I highly advise you NOT to have Lanbo or LOGR set the stone. The lapidary usually will not set it either unless they procure the setting for you. Does your $600 budget also cover the stone setting cost? If so, your budget for the stone is being squeezed even tighter. You still have time to find a local benchperson and it will be good in any case to develop a relationship with one for other jewellery projects (ring resizing, polishing, replace missing melees, cleaning, repair work and etc).
 
Yes, yes, get that one so I don't have to! Addiction is a bad thing...
 
Chrono,

As this is my first project, I am feeling my way with the process of buying a stone and mounting and then getting it set. I would like to keep the mounting and stone within the $600 range with mounting prices in addition to that. Wearing a size 7, I would like at least a 2 carat stone so 7-8mm would be OK but would love a 3 carat.

I have looked at so many stones and semi-mounts but am never sure (or confident with my knowledge) if they will fit each other.

I agree that I need to find a skilled jeweler to set my stones and do repairs as needed. I am hoping this is the first project of many!

Thanks for your suggestions and input.
 
Vapid Lapid,

Beautiful stone! I am seriously thinking about it.

Thanks!
 
Hi madams,

That's a nice looking spess. I look forward to seeing how your project turns out.

I too, want to embark on a beginner project but with a pear shaped spess. But I realised that the stone I was looking at probably wasn't the best. So, my new plan a madeira citrine from Doug Menadue as a beginner stone with a semi mount from ebay.
 
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP

Featured Topics

Top