Help designing green sapphire and danburite bracelet

[swissmiss]

Now that my e-ring is done (phew... it was not straightforward), I am diving into my next project: a bracelet. My wrist is very small, 5.5", so I'm aiming for a delicate bracelet around 5.75" in length.

I have a set of native-cut oval green sapphires, each around 5mmx4mm, totaling around 18.9ctw and a gorgeous yellow marquise danburite.

Here is a picture of all the stones together, with a penny for scale. The color is mostly accurate, the stones are mostly upside-down:



I'm totally lost as to how to go about this: cuff? double row bracelet? Prongs? Bezel?

I could definitely use some help...

 

[JewelFreak]

That is such a neat combination! Love your idea. A cuff would be very expensive with the need for so much metal. What about prong-setting the sapphires & bezeling the danburite? It would also look good haloed.

 

[swissmiss]

JF, thank you so much for your thoughts. I didn't even think of the cost of the metal for a cuff; it's now out of contention.

I prefer the bezeling to the halo idea right now... though I think the halo'd danburite would look great if there were other small diamonds interspersed in the bracelet. But that will bring the cost up, no?

How much space is typically between stones in a bracelet of this kind? I ask this because even though my wrist is small, there are clearly not enough stones end-on-end to make is around my wrist.

 

[Niel]

whoa you're e ring is done?? where are those pics?

 

[swissmiss]

whoa you're e ring is done?? where are those pics?

I'm having the darn-est time uploading to PS. As soon as I can get one picture uploaded...!

 

[JewelFreak]

Swissmiss, you could put the stones on a chain, like a dby, only close together rather than evenly spaced around the wrist, how would that look? Chains, I mean, attached to the bezel of the center stone. They could be prong-set (I think that can be done on a chain, right?) or bezeled, whichever you liked or wanted to pay for. I can't think of another way, maybe somebody else can.

---Laurie

 

[swissmiss]

Laurie, thanks for your thoughts. I'm thinking, like you, that little links joining every stone is preferable to having all the stones without links and then a chain to "lengthen". The latter would cause the stones to go to the bottom of the wrist and probably drive me nuts. I don't know, though, if I will like links to the bezel. In other words, I'm perfectly fine with links between the little sapphires, but between the sapphires and the danburite bezel... I'm not sure how it will look

Maybe I can/we can dig up some inspiration photos.

 

[swissmiss]

Ok... So I searched online and found this "inspiration" pic:


I arranged my gems to kind of reflect it:



another pic:




I would likely have the more saturated stones placed closer to the marquise and gradually taper off in color. Although it might look less obvious if they're just all intermingled together.

 

[endless_summer]

Swissmiss - I love this idea - what an elegant bracelet! I totally would have the color fade out towards the edges - it'll make it look like it was on purpose, and the middle of the bracelet will be what you and everyone else sees the most, so win-win!

 

[minousbijoux]

I honestly could not even imagine a bracelet with those stones due to their size, so your inspiration photo is really helpful. Are you going for an antique look? Modern or simple metal design? I could see a simple gold design with some engraving for detail, but have no idea if that is the design you are going for.

 

[iLander]

Honestly, I think you should go for a half inch longer than your wrist, to be comfortable.

Have you tried a string as a stand-in? Measure it out, then mark exactly where it should be tied, then wear it for a couple of hours. See if it's comfy.

 

[quaxie]

This is a cool project. You could do a decorative clasp. Maybe put the danburite in it?

 

[chrono]

Staying with the leaf motif, you can also make the bracelet longer by sort of alternating (and almost interlocking) each green sapphire.

 

[swissmiss]

endless_summer, definitely going to do the color fade to the edges so it looks "purposeful" rather than a hodge-podge.

minous, I'm going for a classic look, without too much, if any, filigree or fancy metal work. I don't find that these particular stones warrant a super fancy setting, so I'm trying to keep it simple. I like your engraving idea, though.

iLander, I usually have a hair tie around my wrist (unless it is tying up my hair), so I'm pretty comfortable with a snug fit - however, your comment reminded me that I have a hard time putting bracelets on, so the extra space may be useful.

quaxie, I definitely want to do a heavy clasp, but I'm not sure about putting the danburite in it because it will "spin" to the bottom. Hmm. I'll have to think about it.

chrono great idea to maximize the stones! I'm off to play a little with them and will post pictures.

 

[swissmiss]

Here are the stones loosely arranged into Chrono's suggested layout. I also placed the last two sapphires on either side lengthwise. Here's a picture:



I actually like it better than the previous design - it looks more "leafy". My only issue is the connection between the sapphires immediately to the left and right of the danburite

 

[pregcurious]

Taking inspiration from the first bracelet you posted, I would highlight the marquise danburite by arranging some ovals like this, radiating out from the oval, and then continue the bracelet as you have above.

I had to use the last single ovals at the end for technical reasons to make the pattern above, but I think you should keep that taper at the ends just as you had it before.

 

[pregcurious]

You could also have the ovals radiate in, so that the pattern is flipped on each side of the marquise.

 

[JewelFreak]

I really like that idea, of using 3 of the sapphires on each side of the danburite, kind of radiating out. You could still bezel the center stone if you want to. A heavy clasp, as you mentioned, might help keep the stone-side from turning around too, good idea.

--- Laurie

 

[swissmiss]

I like it! I'm going to go arrange the stones in a bit.