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First coloured stone purchase... need help!

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aquasea

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Hi everyone,

I have been inspired looking at the gorgeous stones on this forum and have decided that I would like to start my own collection. I don''t have a lot of money at the moment but I am thinking that I would like a very light blue sapphire. I found these two but knowing nothing about gemstones, I really don''t know if they are "good" stones or not. Would anyone be able to advise me or suggest alternatives?

http://www.gemselect.com/sapphire/sapphire-184267.php

http://www.gemselect.com/sapphire/sapphire-184264.php

I also love asschers but am having a hard time finding any!

Thanks

Aqua xx
 

FrekeChild

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Neither one. I guess if I had to pick the first one. They both have windows, and they are cut pretty deep.

If you want an asscher, you'll have to get one custom cut unless you just happen to find one from a cutter...

Good luck with your search!!!
 

aquasea

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Thanks for your honest response, FrekeChild. I will stay away from them then. Any advice as to which vendor I should be looking at?
 

ma re

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Aquasea, do you know what a window is? Feel free to ask for expanations of any terms you don''t understand. BTW, does it have to be a sapphire? Cause if that''s the color you''re after, you could find something nicer among aquamarines, and probably for less.
 

FrekeChild

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Gemselect isn''t bad necessarily, just not wonderful. The cuts are to preserve weight (creating the round appearance on the bottom of the stone) instead of maximizing sparkle. I think they are beautiful colors, only not well cut.
7.gif


I would look at some of the vendors that are listed in the this forum at the top of the threads. Let us know if you need any help!
 

aquasea

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Thanks Ma Re, I didn''t know what a window is but I have since done a bit of research and I think I get it! No, I am not definitely after a sapphire, I just want something that is going to have a pretty colour and be sparkly (I am sure there is a more technical term for sparkly!!)

Thanks for explaining that, Freke, I definitely want something well cut (hanging out on these board has taught me that!). Back to the drawing board!!
 

chrono

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Gailey

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Peter Torraca cuts very nice asschers and a bunch of us have them. Most, if not all of his asschers can be seen on his flickr site. There is a link from his website. He doesn''t have a storefront on his web page, but drop him an e-mail about what you want. He is just super to deal with.

Here''s mine:

Peter Toracca original citrine asscher 01.jpg
 

loriken214

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Here is my asscher peridot cut by Peter Torraca. This is such an amazing stone!

Lori

PTPERIDOTASSCHER.jpg
 

loriken214

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Here is my pink spinel asscher cut by Jeff White. I love her!
30.gif


Lori

lorijwasscher2.JPG
 

loriken214

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This is my mint garnet cut by Gene of Precision Gem. What a beauty!

Lori

GENEMINTGARNET2.png
 

loriken214

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This is my new red zircon that Gene, of Precision Gem, just cut for me.

Lori

genezircon.jpg
 

loriken214

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Date: 3/29/2009 9:55:40 PM
Author: loriken214
This is my mint garnet cut by Gene of Precision Gem. What a beauty!

Lori
Let me clarify....this is on my WISH LIST!
9.gif


Lori
 

loriken214

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My point is, I have asschers cut by Peter, Jeff and Gene and they are all amazing! You can get with each of them to find out if they have what you are looking for. Please let us know what you find.

Lori
 

icekid

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Date: 3/29/2009 9:58:54 PM
Author: loriken214

Date: 3/29/2009 9:55:40 PM
Author: loriken214
This is my mint garnet cut by Gene of Precision Gem. What a beauty!

Lori
Let me clarify....this is on my WISH LIST!
9.gif


Lori
I was going to say...! I thought you were hiding something from us. I think since you''re already referring to it as yours, you should probably just buy it already!
11.gif
 

loriken214

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Date: 3/29/2009 10:13:08 PM
Author: icekid

Date: 3/29/2009 9:58:54 PM
Author: loriken214


Date: 3/29/2009 9:55:40 PM
Author: loriken214
This is my mint garnet cut by Gene of Precision Gem. What a beauty!

Lori
Let me clarify....this is on my WISH LIST!
9.gif


Lori
I was going to say...! I thought you were hiding something from us. I think since you''re already referring to it as yours, you should probably just buy it already!
11.gif
LOL....I spoke before I thought! Isn''t this stone spoken for already?

Lori
 

icekid

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Date: 3/29/2009 10:18:24 PM
Author: loriken214

Date: 3/29/2009 10:13:08 PM
Author: icekid


Date: 3/29/2009 9:58:54 PM
Author: loriken214



Date: 3/29/2009 9:55:40 PM
Author: loriken214
This is my mint garnet cut by Gene of Precision Gem. What a beauty!

Lori
Let me clarify....this is on my WISH LIST!
9.gif


Lori
I was going to say...! I thought you were hiding something from us. I think since you''re already referring to it as yours, you should probably just buy it already!
11.gif
LOL....I spoke before I thought! Isn''t this stone spoken for already?

Lori
Hmm, last time I checked it had not sold yet. Still not marked sold on his site, as far as I can tell
33.gif
 

T L

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Date: 3/29/2009 3:40:30 PM
Author: FrekeChild
Gemselect isn''t bad necessarily, just not wonderful. The cuts are to preserve weight (creating the round appearance on the bottom of the stone) instead of maximizing sparkle. I think they are beautiful colors, only not well cut.
7.gif


I would look at some of the vendors that are listed in the this forum at the top of the threads. Let us know if you need any help!
Why do I always confuse gemselect with selectgem -
40.gif


Do people like selectgem since I''m asking?
 

Gailey

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Date: 3/29/2009 10:00:55 PM
Author: loriken214
My point is, I have asschers cut by Peter, Jeff and Gene and they are all amazing! You can get with each of them to find out if they have what you are looking for. Please let us know what you find.

Lori
Now Lori, that''s just plain greedy!
emwink.gif
 

Gailey

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Date: 3/29/2009 10:23:52 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 3/29/2009 3:40:30 PM
Author: FrekeChild
Gemselect isn''t bad necessarily, just not wonderful. The cuts are to preserve weight (creating the round appearance on the bottom of the stone) instead of maximizing sparkle. I think they are beautiful colors, only not well cut.
7.gif


I would look at some of the vendors that are listed in the this forum at the top of the threads. Let us know if you need any help!
Why do I always confuse gemselect with selectgem -
40.gif


Do people like selectgem since I''m asking?
I''ve never bought anything from Jason, but he has a huge reputation over on GO. He''s recently started cutting seriously. I don''t know how many of the stones on his site are cut by him, but I think probably not many yet.

From all his posts, he seems like a really, really good guy.

It''s only a matter of time, I''m sure, before we become acquainted.

TL, did you see that amazing bi-coloured tourmaline he cut recently? I posted a picture of it on someones''s thread a couple of weeks ago because I thought it looked so amazing!
 

T L

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I know Jason and he''s a very helpful and well meaning guy, but since I heard so many not so favorable things about gemselect, I didn''t buy anything from selectgem because I kept confusing the two sites.
emembarrassed.gif
 

Gailey

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Yes, I agree, Jason could have chosen a better name. I suspect his reputation and his site is going to far out run Gem Select in the long run.

Although, that being said I''ve been pleasantly surprised by some of GS''s stones lately. They had an amazing rose quartz that Elvis featured on ''Stone of the Day'' last week, or the week before.
 

T L

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Date: 3/29/2009 10:54:18 PM
Author: Gailey
Yes, I agree, Jason could have chosen a better name. I suspect his reputation and his site is going to far out run Gem Select in the long run.

Although, that being said I''ve been pleasantly surprised by some of GS''s stones lately. They had an amazing rose quartz that Elvis featured on ''Stone of the Day'' last week, or the week before.
I SAW that stone, I was contemplating getting it, but I didn''t. Can''t buy everything.
 

aquasea

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Wow - this thread has moved on a bit since I last checked! I think I am completely lost - selectgem v. gemselect, someone called Jason??!
32.gif
Completely out of my league here!

Lori, your asschers are gorgeous!
30.gif
30.gif
30.gif
I have contacted the people you suggested and will see what they have to say (I hope they don''t mind dealing with a hopeless amateur!)

Icekid, your sapphire is absolutely stunning. That is sort of what I was first after (but was completely on the wrong track for!) Is it really rude to ask what sort of price I would be looking at for a stone like that?
 

Gailey

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Date: 3/29/2009 11:27:05 PM
Author: aquasea
Wow - this thread has moved on a bit since I last checked! I think I am completely lost - selectgem v. gemselect, someone called Jason??!
32.gif
Completely out of my league here!

Lori, your asschers are gorgeous!
30.gif
30.gif
30.gif
I have contacted the people you suggested and will see what they have to say (I hope they don't mind dealing with a hopeless amateur!)

Icekid, your sapphire is absolutely stunning. That is sort of what I was first after (but was completely on the wrong track for!) Is it really rude to ask what sort of price I would be looking at for a stone like that?
Aquasea

I'm sorry, I think TL and I got a little off track there for a minute or two. I apologize for the thread-jack.

Don't worry about the chit-chat. If you want an asscher and you have contacted the cutters suggested you are in very good hands.

I'll explain a bit about our ramblings since we were rude enough to do it on your thread. Jason is the proprietor of Select Gem. His site is quite new, but he isn't new to this business.
Gemselect is another storefront site who typically post photos that always appear to me (and others) as being suspect of having being retouched. My parting comment to TL was that some of the stones I have seen from that site recently are not half bad, so maybe they are getting a bum wrap based on their photo skills.

Keep us posted on your search and please post links or images to any stones that interest you.
 

loriken214

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Date: 3/29/2009 11:27:05 PM
Author: aquasea
Wow - this thread has moved on a bit since I last checked! I think I am completely lost - selectgem v. gemselect, someone called Jason??!
32.gif
Completely out of my league here!

Lori, your asschers are gorgeous!
30.gif
30.gif
30.gif
I have contacted the people you suggested and will see what they have to say (I hope they don''t mind dealing with a hopeless amateur!)

Icekid, your sapphire is absolutely stunning. That is sort of what I was first after (but was completely on the wrong track for!) Is it really rude to ask what sort of price I would be looking at for a stone like that?
Aquasea,

The vendors I listed have many other types of gemstones in various shapes/colors. I''ve purchased different ones from each of them, too, and I''m excited to see what you decide upon!

Thank you for the compliments....I have a passion for asschers!
9.gif


Lori
 

loriken214

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Date: 3/29/2009 10:33:49 PM
Author: Gailey

Date: 3/29/2009 10:00:55 PM
Author: loriken214
My point is, I have asschers cut by Peter, Jeff and Gene and they are all amazing! You can get with each of them to find out if they have what you are looking for. Please let us know what you find.

Lori
Now Lori, that''s just plain greedy!
emwink.gif
One more....rubelite tourmaline by Peter Torraca.
9.gif


Lori

LWWRUBELITETOURMALINEPT.jpg
 

Gailey

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Date: 3/30/2009 3:11:23 AM
Author: loriken214

Date: 3/29/2009 10:33:49 PM
Author: Gailey


Date: 3/29/2009 10:00:55 PM
Author: loriken214
My point is, I have asschers cut by Peter, Jeff and Gene and they are all amazing! You can get with each of them to find out if they have what you are looking for. Please let us know what you find.

Lori
Now Lori, that''s just plain greedy!
emwink.gif
One more....rubelite tourmaline by Peter Torraca.
9.gif


Lori
Lori
Have you ever posted your assher collection on their own? If you did I someow managed to miss it. Can we have a line up pleeeeeeese!
 

LaurenThePartier

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Date: 3/29/2009 7:27:06 PM
Author: Gailey
Peter Torraca cuts very nice asschers and a bunch of us have them. Most, if not all of his asschers can be seen on his flickr site. There is a link from his website. He doesn''t have a storefront on his web page, but drop him an e-mail about what you want. He is just super to deal with.

Here''s mine:
Ditto this! I have a Peter Torraca Asscher Scapolite and a Finewater gems Asscher Aqua that looks to be close to the colour you''re looking at . . . my Aqua was only $250 or so . . .
 
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