Finding a Setting

[koolchicken]

I bought this spinel from Master Cuts sale page a few days ago and I'm waiting for it to arrive.

http://www.mastercutgems.com/preview.php?cat=302&id=7192



I did buy several pairs of tiny stones to be made into earrings, but this will be my first single large stone purchase. Because of that I decided I wanted to to set it simply so I could just enjoy the stone itself. I want either a plain white gold band or one with pave sides (I don't like it when they go all the way around). I found Americanset on the recommended sellers list. They have perfect feedback (save two neutral reviews) and are in the US which puts me at ease. They say in the listing they'll even set the stone. I also like the idea of having the stone set just a smidge higher up so I can wear stacking bands around it to change up the look if I'm feeling fancy. This is the setting I'm interested in,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/28120567197...eName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649



I did a search on here and couldn't find any photos of rings made with their settings. And all the talk about them was from years ago. Does anyone on here have one of their rings? Does this setting seem like a good value? I feel like it looks a little nicer than the LOGR settings, and the color and clarity Americanset lists is better as well (it's also better than LOGR upgraded stones). Does sending the stone to them seem like a wise choice? I don't have anyone where I live who could set it for me so I have to send the stone out anyways.

If there's another seller people recommend I'm more than open to it. I'm not in a huge rush to set this, it could wait. But I like to finish projects that I start within a reasonable timeframe. Also I want to keep the cost of the setting under $450 since I spent less than half of that on the stone.

 

[chrono]

I am sorry I don't have any advice since I have never dealt with them but hopefully a bump up will garner more responses. Have you checked out some very affordable Etsy vendors?

Daniel M (Dan) - http://www.etsy.com/people/danielmjewelry
Adzia - http://www.etsy.com/people/AdziasJewelryAtelier
Kyleanne - http://www.etsy.com/people/kyleannemetals
Maddie of OneGarnetGirl - http://www.etsy.com/people/onegarnetgirl
JuliaB - http://www.etsy.com/shop/JuliaBJewelry

 

[koolchicken]

Thank you Chrono for your suggestions.

I did actually look at those vendors. In fact I just sent my 5mm pairs to him to set into studs. It's too late to add anything to that order as it's already gone out and I'm still waiting for the stone to arrive. I could still try them.

Perhaps it was not the right way to go about things but I just sort of popped on their sites, saw what they had and if anything was like what I wanted. When nothing was quite perfect I kept looking. I love Julia's designs, and I hope to have her make me a few things in the future. But the plans I had were for round and square cushion shaped stones. Also she's a bit pricey at the moment, and the stone I have really wasn't that much. I'd rather splash out on a fancy setting when I'm buying a more expensive stone. Although on the other hand it might make sense to get a setting I really, really want for this stone since it's special to me. I sort of wish I bought a round stone now, but this is what "spoke" to me.

I must think more...

 

[Niel]

I almost went with them when we were looking for my SIL setting. That exact setting Cathay. I'll be interested to see what it looks like if you do as I want that setting Sir something of my own.

 

[koolchicken]

Niel, I will be sure to post pics once my stone is set. I'm still not 100% sure what vendor/setting I'm going to go with though. I did ask for some hand shots of this setting because glamour shots are nice, but it's never going to look like that in real life. I may just bite the bullet and go with this one. They have a pretty fast turn around time even though it sounds like they make each piece to order. Plus it's only $40 to set which is reasonable to me. I don't have a shop near me where I could have things set. And they seem nice, are fast to respond, and they have a few other things I like. So this might be a good way to test the waters.

 

[Niel]

Over at hearts of shared they will do settings in silver. I don't known if you'd be interested but they are lovely settings and the silver would help with the cost. Of course.

 

[FrekeChild]

Over at hearts of shared they will do settings in silver. I don't known if you'd be interested but they are lovely settings and the silver would help with the cost. Of course.

Niel, I think we'd all benefit if you could proof your posts a bit better before posting them. I have no idea what you're saying here...

 

[Niel]

Over at hearts of shared they will do settings in silver. I don't known if you'd be interested but they are lovely settings and the silver would help with the cost. Of course.

Niel, I think we'd all benefit if you could proof your posts a bit better before posting them. I have no idea what you're saying here...

Blarg. Annoying. No excuse but my autocorrect ruins me all the time, and I still can't get used to my phones keyboard. Water. Hearts of water. Sorry. Nothing else was misspelled. Just that word.

 

[FrekeChild]

Lol! That makes so much more sense now! I was so confused!

 

[koolchicken]

I LOVE Hearts of Water designs. But again, I'm waiting for a round stone. I'm seriously starting to wonder why I didn't buy one at this stage. Silver is nice, but I'm happy to pay for gold since I think it's what I'll be happiest with. The stone actually came in today, here are some photos.



I'm having a really hard time taking photos of it. It looks so dark in the photos. In reality it looks more like the vendor photos or perhaps a smidge lighter. I really like it. I think I prefer purple spinels to amethysts since this shifts more towards grey as opposed to being warmer like an amethyst.

Dana also sent along a little present. I was totally shocked, it was quite unexpected. They're a 5mm pair of pale pink spinels.



This is just for color. When you look at them straight on or only slightly tilted only one has a very tiny window. But for some reason when I try to take a photo of them straight on the look almost black. They don't look like that in real life or when I photograph them in their box. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

I thought about setting them together but decided against it.



They don't look bad together, I just think I want the purple one on it's own.

 

[FrekeChild]

How's your weather? Mine is currently quite cold for the area, but it's still decent enough to go outside to take pics! I'm hoping that you might be willing to brave the elements too!

I find that the best time for me to take photos is 2-4pm when the sun is starting to begin it's descent and is stronger. Then I turn my back to the sun, balance the stone on my fingers on the back of my hand facing straight up, and arrange the camera at an angle where it best captures the stone.

Another technique is around noon, when the sun is right overhead, to go outside, hang out under a tree, or in the shade close to the sunlight and snag some pictures there.

OR, if you have a part of your house that gets strong morning sun, you can put your stone on the window sill/floor/piece of furniture, cup your hand around the back of it, and figure out the best angle for getting a good pic of the color that way. This is my favorite, but we just moved to a new house, and it's not placed properly on the lot for this kind of fun time. We will probably have to move so I can take better pics of gems in the morning sun...

What nail polish are you wearing? Is that gold glitter? LOVE IT!

 

[koolchicken]

Thanks for the tips FrekeChild! I actually live in Hawaii so going outside isn't really an issue for me, lol. Right now we're having "winter" so it rains a lot and it can be quite overcast most days (at least on my island and in the part of it I live in). Also this half of the year the sun is on the other side of the house. I know that might sound weird but it's true. In the summer it's difficult to sit in the living room with the curtains open, but this time of year I feel like I need the lights on.

So perhaps I'll try taking photos again, but I'll go outside this time. It might take me a while. I'l need my husband to be home so he can watch the baby and I can try going out a few different times to find out what works best here.

And thanks, those nail polishes are my favorite combo (even though it's looking a bit ratty, sorry). The pink is Essie and it's called High Maintenance. The gold is Deborah Lippmann and it's called Boom Boom Pow. And it may not come across well in the photos but aside from the chunks there's a very fine gold shimmer, in fact it's actual 24kt gold dust! I'm wearing 2 coats of each.

 

[chrono]

I'm guessing that your camera is too close to the stones, so the darkness you see is the obstruction or camera shadow. Get a little further away from the stones and use the macro function and the stones should lighten up in the pictures. I have no issues taking indoor pictures. In fact, most all my pictures are taken indoors under fluorescent lighting since I am rarely at home or outdoors. Outdoors gives the nicest pictures since stones look their best under diffused sunlight but I cannot spare the time to be traipising around my yard.

 

[minousbijoux]

Don't discount overcast skies, as they often provide some of the best brighter than you think, diffused light for photography. If its not a tropical storm but just overcast, I would try taking pics outside by placing it on something neutral in tone (or, as Freke has suggested, hands are good too, but imo, a bit more challenging) like weathered wood. Then I set my camera on macro, back up and hunch down so I'm close to being on the same plane as the stone but a few feet from it and snap away...

It looks like it has great potential and look forward to more photos.

 

[koolchicken]

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions. I'm going to try and take more photos tomorrow when my husband is home. If I do it now I'll have to deal with my son, Captain Naughty, trying to escape- or eat the stone, lol. But I'm going to try both going outside and going upstairs where the light might be better. I could try the back bedroom, I think the light there might be what I'm looking for. I'll charge the camera batteries today!

As for settings I'm now thinking of jewelryhoo on ebay. I've seen some recent reviews on here that were glowing and they actually have a few things I really like. This one in particular, http://www.ebay.com/itm/281220222533?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649





I like how it's simple, but still a little bit fancy. And truth be told I love halos. I own two other gemstone rings and they're both halos. I initially looked at the American set one because it was different. I don't want everything to be the same. So I'm trying to decide if I really want to branch out or not. I don't have to decide this second, I have time to think about it. I don't want to make any rash decisions since I'm unlikely to ever reset the stone.

Also (cough, cough) I have another stone coming… I was showing my husband the Master Cuts sale page and I mentioned I thought another spinel on it was pretty- and he bought it for me for Christmas. I couldn't believe it and I feel pretty guilty, he's bought me so much lately. I'm very likely to halo that stone, and maybe I don't want them to both be the same? But on the other hand it's sooo pretty!

This is hard.

 

[koolchicken]

So my son decided to take a nap just as the sun was coming back out. So I headed to the back bedroom to try my hand photographing the big stone one more time. I tried to keep everyones suggestions in mind and I feel like it really paid off! Thank you all for your help!!!

I feel like the first two show the stone at it's very best. When it looks it's best it looks quite purple with medium/light pink flashes. It can look kind of lilac overall as opposed to purple at times. In the evenings when it's under dim overhead lighting it still shows purple but goes a bit more grey and the flashes remain pink but a darker pink. It can look a bit dark on one half of the stone at times regardless of the lighting.





There is also a small window. You have to look straight down to see it but it is there and I thought it would be fair to show it.

 

[livannie]

Wow! That's so pretty! You picked a nice one there. It's huge and I love that color. I think the setting is pretty too. I have a couple things I want to get set too, so I can't wait to hear if you like that setting vendor. I really like Dana from Mastercutgems too, he has beautiful things for good prices.

 

[koolchicken]

Thank you livannie! It's 2.49ct and I wear a ring size 6 (left) or 6.5 (right). I think it's small enough though that it won't look weird if I want to do it with the slimmer band and no halo. I do have another stone coming that's bigger and I'm either going to halo that or put it into a pendant so it might make sense to go "plain" with this one.

I will be sure to post pics when I do finally pick a setting. Probably not till after the first week of January though. I'm moving and though I could send it out now, I don't know if I want to deal with the hassle should it not get back to me before the end of the month.

 

[FrekeChild]

What island are you on? I was on Maui in April and got some awesome pics. lol! Everything is better with a beach in the background...

How old is your little one?

The lavender is really pretty, great job with the photography! I'd actually considered that pink spinel before, but ended up buying a finished piece instead.

 

[koolchicken]

I'm on Kauai. I never take any jewelry to the beach though, I know how much is buried in that sand! But please, keep bringing your stuff here to photograph, lol.

Captain Naughty (as he's affectionately known) just turned a year old last month. I brought him to ID Jewelry a few months back and this kid (who won't let anyone hold him) was letting Yekutiel hug and kiss and snuggle him. We bought him a cross and sat him on the counter with a mirror in front of him. When he saw his "beautiful" (as we call it) he went "Oooh!". Smart boy.

And thank you! I was worried it was too dark for me for a bit but now that I've really experienced it in other lights I really love it. Sorry you missed out on the pink, but I'm glad my husband bought it for me. It just looks so pretty in the photos, if it's half as good in real life I'm going to be quite pleased. I won't get it till Christmas so there probably won't be photos till then. I can't wait!

 

[chrono]

Now that you've seen under better lighting, is it a keeper or are you still undecided? If you cup the stone (to simulate an enclosed type setting like a halo), how much darker does the spinel get?

 

[koolchicken]

Chrono, I tried that this morning after I read your comment and found it doesn't really make much of a difference. It pretty much stays the same, maybe gets a little darker. I was surprised. And really, I'll only ever see it in daylight. I pretty much take off everything when I'm at home. So it doesn't really matter if I think it's borderline in the living room, with the lights turned off, and the shades drawn…
Don't worry, I'm not weird I just get headaches.

As for settings, I am leaning more towards the jewelryhoo one. I talked to Nicole and she was super fast getting back to me and really helpful. Upgrading the stones is only $80 and she said she can customize anything I see in the shop so I'll probably go with them. That or with a preloved setting I just contacted the seller about. It's just like the American Set one but with bigger/better stones. It has a peg head that could be changed out so it should work. I actually think the stone will look better in that setting too.