Chrysoberyl setting

[the_mother_thing]

I have my (first) chrysoberyl purchased from Dana's recent sale, and I LOVE it! It's the perfect golden yellow I was looking for without any/much green (to my eyes at least). I'm considering setting options, and am partial to bezels; however, not knowing how chrysoberyls behave, I thought I'd ask the experts. And share a couple pictures of it because ... who doesn't like pics of CS? I will share that it looks slightly more brownish in the pics than it does IRL; in hand, it's more light-gold/yellow.

Per MCG, it's 8.3 x 5.4 mm, 1.23ct, oval 8 main brilliant cut. It's a bit of a firecracker when the sun hits it. Would it be better in a semi-bezel or might it perform as well in a full bezel? My gut thinks semi to allow as much light in as possible and minimize darkening it any (especially b/c I'm leaning toward YG for the semi/bezel, but perhaps with white metal also depending on whether I go ring or pendant).

Thanks much for any input!

 

[chrono]

Semi-bezel or collet set only. Gotta let that light in for maximum fireworks!

 

[the_mother_thing]

Semi-bezel or collet set only. Gotta let that light in for maximum fireworks!

Thank you Chrono. Is a "collet" basically a bezel that is open underneath the stone (if so, that is definitely what I meant in terms of a 'full' bezel, since I would want to be able to clean it effectively)? I need to brush up on my setting terminology.

 

[chrono]

To be precise:
A bezel set is a general term for the metal case which the gem is set into.
The rim of metal that surround the stone is the collet.

I guess I call it a collet when it covers only the girdle, although that is technically also a bezel set. A tube bezel looks literally like a tube (no opening whatsoever in the bezel except where the crown of the stone is exposed).

 

[the_mother_thing]

To be precise:
A bezel set is a general term for the metal case which the gem is set into.
The rim of metal that surround the stone is the collet.

I guess I call it a collet when it covers only the girdle, although that is technically also a bezel set. A tube bezel looks literally like a tube (no opening whatsoever in the bezel except where the crown of the stone is exposed).

I gotcha now ... thank you for explaining that!

I think I would try to stay in the semi-bezel area on this, and have a preliminary idea in mind. I am a TERRIBLE artist with no drawing skills, so I will try to photoshop/powerpoint something up, and see how it looks on computer/paper first, then maybe post it for input/feedback.

Thanks again so much!

 

[chrono]

Are you thinking East West or North South orientation?

 

[the_mother_thing]

Definitely east/west ... I don't want it to look 'engagementy' if that makes sense.

ETA: my first thought was a mixed metal w/YG semi-bezels and white metal for the shank.

 

[the_mother_thing]

I've been dummying up some ideas/pictures with my chryso. Just curious, would YG make the stone appear more brown, and mabye - to retain more of a 'yellow' appearance - I should go with a white metal instead?

 

[chrono]

Do you have yellow gold and white gold/PT jewellery you can place the chrysoberyl next to, to see the effect?

 

[the_mother_thing]

Do you have yellow gold and white gold/PT jewellery you can place the chrysoberyl next to, to see the effect?

Thank you! I seriously need & deserve a bonk on the head for not thinking of this, and you really deserve a bouquet of flowers.

Thoughts? I tried to keep everything the same in terms of light & location, etc., but it was hard since the two rings (one 14K YG and one SS to show good contrast) were a little different. I have my thoughts but really curious what you and anyone else sees/thinks because I don't always trust my eyes to these things.

Also (and really showing my CS ignorance here) what is it called when a CS does that half & half thing where one half looks 'brighter' than the other half as in the pic with the YG? That seemed to go away when more 'surrounded' by the white metal ... like the light was reflecting off the metal and back up through the pavilion better. Just thinking about that in terms of setting considerations.

ETA: please excuse my fingerprints on the stone.

 

[chrono]

It seems to want a white metal. Have you tried rose gold? Or is that too far out for you?

 

[the_mother_thing]

It seems to want a white metal. Have you tried rose gold? Or is that too far out for you?

Thank you! Pfew, so maybe my eyes are getting better with this. I liked it better against the white metal also. As for RG, while I LOVE it in tiny doses (e.g., the accents in my jkt ring), it gets completely lost on my skintone, so that probably would be a no-go for this.

And in all honesty, since it's my first chryso, it wasn't terribly expensive, and it likes white metal, I probably would be inclined to stay with the more budget-friendly SS metal for this project so I can test drive it, see how I like it, and if I do, maybe graduate to a bigger/better chryso down the road at some point.

I happened to stumble upon this setting on Pinterest from Grenwich Jewelers, and while it's not 'modern' as I would have originally thought AND it's not east/west like I originally wanted, I think something along these lines (but preferably with a semi bezel) might be pretty for it. Simple, a little ornamentation but nothing crazy/too detailed/etc. Unfortunately I couldn't get the GJ page to load so I might see what the profile view looks like.

I'm not sold ... and thankfully have no timeline for this ... just playing with ideas and pictures since I really need to see visuals (I have zero imaginative visualization ability).

ETA: just managed to get the GJ page to load: http://www.greenwichjewelers.com/shop/designers/products/megan-thorne-oval-picture-frame-ring-in-white-gold I'm not crazy about that side view AT ALL ... but the face on view is kinda pretty.

 

[agingsparkle]

I know nothing about this vendor but I really love the detailing on this east-west ring... https://www.etsy.com/listing/253892306/east-west-emerald-cut-morganite-ring-14k?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=east%20west%20ring&ref=sr_gallery_42

 

[Michael_E]

Also (and really showing my CS ignorance here) what is it called when a CS does that half & half thing where one half looks 'brighter' than the other half as in the pic with the YG?

That's called "normal" or more appropriately, "bad lighting". When any stone is placed anywhere that there is more light coming from one side than another it will show that half and half deal. If you look at a ray trace of a stone as shown here, light entering from the right side bounces through the stone and to your eyes. It's not possible to have light enter one side of the stone and come back out the same side. This means that if the light entering the stone only comes from one side it will only come out the other side. Holding a gem close to a window gives you a bright reflection on the inside half of the stone and a dark reflection of the ceiling/room interior on the outside half of the stone. The stone shown here is a barion style oval, as so is the best oval design available, for strong, even light return.

That seemed to go away when more 'surrounded' by the white metal ... like the light was reflecting off the metal and back up through the pavilion better. Just thinking about that in terms of setting considerations.

Light is usually only available to be seen through the pavilion when the stone is tilted and you're looking through the tilt window. Since the pavilion is usually fairly steep the view is usually through the side of the stone and not down towards the bottom....a good reason to have open galleries, at least in darker stones or those that benefit from light through the side.

 

[the_mother_thing]

I know nothing about this vendor but I really love the detailing on this east-west ring... https://www.etsy.com/listing/253892306/east-west-emerald-cut-morganite-ring-14k?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=east%20west%20ring&ref=sr_gallery_42

That is really pretty! I'd love a marquise in a setting like that!

That's called "normal" or more appropriately, "bad lighting". When any stone is placed anywhere that there is more light coming from one side than another it will show that half and half deal. If you look at a ray trace of a stone as shown here, light entering from the right side bounces through the stone and to your eyes. It's not possible to have light enter one side of the stone and come back out the same side. This means that if the light entering the stone only comes from one side it will only come out the other side. Holding a gem close to a window gives you a bright reflection on the inside half of the stone and a dark reflection of the ceiling/room interior on the outside half of the stone. The stone shown here is a barion style oval, as so is the best oval design available, for strong, even light return.

Light is usually only available to be seen through the pavilion when the stone is tilted and you're looking through the tilt window. Since the pavilion is usually fairly steep the view is usually through the side of the stone and not down towards the bottom....a good reason to have open galleries, at least in darker stones or those that benefit from light through the side.

Thank you for explaining that Michael ... very helpful! I will definitely keep this in mind when considering setting options.

 

[chrono]

There are ovals that do not exhibit this half shadowing phenomena and this is why I generally stay away from ovals and elongated rectangular CS. It might be normal but it's not a characteristic that I enjoy, although I do know some do!

 

[Niel]

I like this person's stuff I think it would look cool with an E/w oval.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/StephanieMaslow

 

[Michael_E]

There are ovals that do not exhibit this half shadowing phenomena

My point here was that this depends in a large part on how the stone is oriented in lighting situations that make this condition worse. I've looked at this issue with lots of different designs in all sorts of shapes and the only general thing that can be said is, the closer you are to round, the easier it is to minimize the sharp demarcation in that half and half effect. That said, if the stone is positioned in the worst possible way, in a half and half lighting situation, (next to a window with the stone pointed towards the ceiling, then even a nice round cut will show the effect to some extent. This means that the longer a stone, the farther it is from a round cut and so more prone to reflecting dark zones in it's environment this way. This is not the case for stones which have some internally reflecting " stuff" which makes the stone a little fuzzy looking, but distributes light with some diffusion.

In any case, I am interested in your comment about some ovals not showing this effect Chrono. If you run across any pictures of such stones and wouldn't mind posting them, it would help in my search to find the "perfect" oval cut style and understand this a little better.

 

[the_mother_thing]

I like this person's stuff I think it would look cool with an E/w oval.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/StephanieMaslow

Thank you Niel! I'll check that shop out and see what they have as well. I've been collecting pictures of things I see/like, and mocking them up with my stone to try and compile various inspirations ... hopefully I will land with something. I'd love to find a stock piece that would work because I totally stink when it comes to visualizing projects conceptually.

 

[Niel]

I like this person's stuff I think it would look cool with an E/w oval.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/StephanieMaslow

Thank you Niel! I'll check that shop out and see what they have as well. I've been collecting pictures of things I see/like, and mocking them up with my stone to try and compile various inspirations ... hopefully I will land with something. I'd love to find a stock piece that would work because I totally stink when it comes to visualizing projects conceptually.

I know exactly what you mean. Plus if would be nice to find a stock setting anyways from a place like stuller because we know they do SS or 10k gold

 

[chrono]

Michael,
Gene Flanigan would be your contact for more information regarding cuts. Concave faceting and the Supernova design do not seem to show this phenomena but Gene claims there are also many other designs that avoid this.
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/blue-sapphires-with-no-half-half-extinction.184319/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/blue-sapphires-with-no-half-half-extinction.184319/[/URL]

 

[Niel]

Maybe it would fit these?

http://www.stuller.com/products/build/122510/11267364/?groupId=122262#/center-stone

http://www.stuller.com/products/build/71751/11438342/?groupId=122780#/center-stone

 

[the_mother_thing]

Maybe it would fit these?

http://www.stuller.com/products/build/122510/11267364/?groupId=122262#/center-stone

http://www.stuller.com/products/build/71751/11438342/?groupId=122780#/center-stone

It measures 8.3 x 5.4 mm, so I am not sure if a stock 8x6 setting may work, or is that too much 'off' to fit properly?

And just to see what they might look like, your Stuller picks are below. I found a couple others browsing on there I liked also. I like the twisty look.

 

[Michael_E]

It measures 8.3 x 5.4 mm, so I am not sure if a stock 8x6 setting may work, or is that too much 'off' to fit properly?

Any 8 x 6 setting would work with your stone. Settings are designed to have a percentage of each prong cut away to form a seat for the stone. With slightly smaller stones one can just bend the prong in slightly and cut the seat a touch more shallowly to make a fit. If it doesn't look right, I just chop the prongs off and replace them by moving the whole prong inward or using a slightly thicker wire for the prong. In any case if the setting is close, it can be made to work.

 

[Niel]

It measures 8.3 x 5.4 mm, so I am not sure if a stock 8x6 setting may work, or is that too much 'off' to fit properly?

Any 8 x 6 setting would work with your stone. Settings are designed to have a percentage of each prong cut away to form a seat for the stone. With slightly smaller stones one can just bend the prong in slightly and cut the seat a touch more shallowly to make a fit. If it doesn't look right, I just chop the prongs off and replace them by moving the whole prong inward or using a slightly thicker wire for the prong. In any case if the setting is close, it can be made to work.

That's good news.

I like that swirly e/w Photoshop you did

 

[the_mother_thing]

It measures 8.3 x 5.4 mm, so I am not sure if a stock 8x6 setting may work, or is that too much 'off' to fit properly?

Any 8 x 6 setting would work with your stone. Settings are designed to have a percentage of each prong cut away to form a seat for the stone. With slightly smaller stones one can just bend the prong in slightly and cut the seat a touch more shallowly to make a fit. If it doesn't look right, I just chop the prongs off and replace them by moving the whole prong inward or using a slightly thicker wire for the prong. In any case if the setting is close, it can be made to work.

Thank you; that's good to know. I knew there was some wiggle room in them, but not sure how much. Just trying to stay with 'stock options' for this project.

 

[packrat]

this is what I'd planned to do w/a pink supernova tourmaline I had http://nodeform.com/collections/semi-half-bezel-rings/products/chatham-lab-created-oval-blue-sapphire-half-bezel-solitaire-engagement-ring

Supernovas are amazing, should you ever be in the market. Of the ovals I've had, they've been the least likely to exhibit the half and half. Michael cut me a supernova chrysoberyl several years ago and it was *stunning*..I ended up selling it to fund my avc's but I still miss it. Fat little sucker.

 

[the_mother_thing]

this is what I'd planned to do w/a pink supernova tourmaline I had http://nodeform.com/collections/semi-half-bezel-rings/products/chatham-lab-created-oval-blue-sapphire-half-bezel-solitaire-engagement-ring

Supernovas are amazing, should you ever be in the market. Of the ovals I've had, they've been the least likely to exhibit the half and half. Michael cut me a supernova chrysoberyl several years ago and it was *stunning*..I ended up selling it to fund my avc's but I still miss it. Fat little sucker.

Thank you Packrat! That is really pretty! I've long admired the modern feel to that designer's rings, especially the semi-bezel for a cushion cut stone. I have seen listings for supernovas but none in person. Maybe I can find a video on YT to see one to get an idea. I'm sure they're fabulous.