Change of center stone - recommendations?

[oldmancoyote]

Hi all,

I am considering changing the centre stone in a ring - photo attached. Currently it has a (probably) peridot of about 5ct, 11.8 x 7.2 mm, but this is not the original stone (it was sold as "beryl" by the dealer, but it has a RI of about 1.7, so it''s deffo not a beryl!)

I don''t know what the new stone would be - the makers of the ring (Boucheron, in 1976) have not yet told me what the original stone was... but it''s likely to have been cut similarly and to have been a sapphire or ruby.

Can you recommend someone to cut and set a new stone?

Thanks!

OMC

 

[chrono]

Hello OMC,

I''m sorry no one has replied yet and I happened to chance upon it today. For cutters, here''s my recommendation:
Jeff White at www.whitesgems.com
John LeBourgeois, J&C Gems and Gold - Custom Gem Cutting (can''t find a website though)

As for setters, I''d recommend going with someone local to you.

 

[oldmancoyote]

Thank you very much, Chrono. Having seen the gem on Lost Sapphire''s ring, I think Jeff is definitely on the list!

Any opinions on concave faceting? I''m attracted to the idea and the photos look nice, but have never seen a stone IRL (and if restoring is the principle, there were no concave facets in 1976)

 

[chrono]

For concave faceting, I''d suggest Richard Homer but I''m not sure if he''ll do recuts anymore. If you contact Wink, he might be able to let you know as he is extremely good friends with Richard. You can reach him at www.winkjones.com There''s concave faceting and then there''s concave faceting. Also, either you like it or you don''t. Personally, concave faceting looks better on lighter coloured gemstones than darker colours to me. To get a sampling of what they look like, here''s Richard''s homepage.
http://www.concavegems.com/