I need help with my first project...

[bleeblue]

Hi everyone,

Lauren''s awe inspiring collection of coloured asshers

has inspired my first ever coloured stone project.

Because it''s my first project I''ve decided to start on a small and I have given myself a budget of $250 for the stone.

I''d really like to find a yummy assher cut coloured stone that is at least 7mm x 7mm to set into a ring. I have big hands so anything smaller will get lost. Ideally, I''d like a light pink or blue sapphire but I don''t think my budget is going to allow that. The colours I''m interested in are light pinks or blues and I''d like the type of gem to be a reasonably hard so that I could wear everyday as a RHR if I chose to.

I''ve read countless threads and I''ve looked at the websites of Dan Stair, Barry Bridgestock and Richard Homer (didn''t find anything in their current stock). I''ve contacted Dan and he said that he doesn''t have any suitable roughs at the moment.

I would really appreciate any guidance and suggestions to help my search.

 

[FrekeChild]

Light pink tourmaline? Barry or Dan might have something that would work...

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

You can try Peter Torraca too, and Jeff White. Both are known for their asschers

 

[MakingTheGrade]

For light pinks, I''d second tourmalines. Although I''d be curious to see what a rose quartz asscher might look like, ahha. Spinels also come in a lovely baby pink, but would most likely be out of budget.

For light blues: aquamarine, blue topaz

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Yay! I'm so excited to watch your project take off!

For light pink or blue, I'd look into tourmalines, spinels or have you thought of aqua? My aqua fit into your budget.

I have an asscher morganite, but it's not quite pink enough for what I think you're looking for, but it's worth looking into if you're careful with it.

So far in my collection, I have asschers from Gene at Precision Gem, Jeff White, Peter Torraca, and Gary Braun at Finewatergems. Personally, I think Gene's asschers are the best bang for the buck, and more along the style of Asschers I enjoy. I have a peridot from Jeff White that I just received, and the cutting is superb, but he is pretty pricey for his time, so this might not be the right project for him. Gary cut my aqua and I think he did an amazing job.

Either way, I'd email all four of them and see what they have in stock.

 

[bleeblue]

Thanks for all the replies everyone

Are aquamarines or tormulines ok for everyday wear?

 

[GliderPoss]

Yay new project! I recomend Doug from Bespoke Gems. He is wonderful to deal with and my 7mm asscher was around the same as your budget.

 

[ma re]

Date: 11/19/2009 11:11:08 PM
Author: bleeblue
Thanks for all the replies everyone

Are aquamarines or tormulines ok for everyday wear?

Depends on how rough are you on your rings i.e. how much manual work you''ll do while wearing them. They''ll eventually require repolishing along the way (probably every several years).

 

[chrono]

I''d suggest a blue topaz; inexpensive so you''ll get the size plus it''ll hold up quite well for everyday wear compared to tourmalines and aquamarines.

 

[bleeblue]

I know this may be doing things backwards but I just won this LOGR setting...

do you think an aqua assher would look good in it?

 

[Lenamama]

Oh Oh go with an aqua.... what ct size are you thinking of... and Lauren has the most A-M-A-Z-I-N-G collection.....

Aqua scores a 7 on the MOH scale, and it does depend on how rough you are with your hands... I AM rough, so no dishes... etc...

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

I think that would look good with an aqua! Dan just cut me one - he might have more rough in stock.

 

[bleeblue]

Ok... so I went a little crazy... and I bought 3 beauties from Dana which cannot be more different to what I was initally looking for

...

First the Spinel:

 

[bleeblue]

Next is a color shift tourmaline:

 

[bleeblue]

and lastly a yummy pink tourmaline

:

(and now I am too poor to buy an aqua assher for a while... but I will be saving and on the look out)

any ideas on what I should do with these beauties?

 

[Stone Hunter]

Very pretty stones. Nothing like jumping into colored stones with both feet!!

You didn''t post their sizes, I would pick one and make it a ring. If you''re very creative try to find some smaller stones to go with one of them and go for a pendant. Many PSers have great design ideas.

Cheers!

 

[bleeblue]

Date: 12/1/2009 10:57:58 PM
Author: Stone Hunter
Very pretty stones. Nothing like jumping into colored stones with both feet!!

You didn''t post their sizes, I would pick one and make it a ring. If you''re very creative try to find some smaller stones to go with one of them and go for a pendant. Many PSers have great design ideas.

Cheers!

Oh how silly of me to forget to post size...

The spinel is 1.76 carat, VVS1, 7.2 mm

The color shift tourmaline 1.16 carat, VVS, 6.8 mm

The pink tourmaline is 1.215 carat, VVS, 6.5mm

 

[ma re]

All in one pendant, graduating in size (smallest to largest or the other way around)? That''s the first thing that crossed my mind anyway... Nice stones btw!

 

[bleeblue]

Date: 12/2/2009 2:48:26 AM
Author: ma re
All in one pendant, graduating in size (smallest to largest or the other way around)? That''s the first thing that crossed my mind anyway... Nice stones btw!

Okay so ti''s been over a month since I''ve recieved the gems and this comment has stuck in my head(Thanks ma re!). I''m going to see my jeweller tomorrow about making the stones into a three stone pendant

I''ve got a few ideas in mind and I''d appreciate everyone''s opinon on which would look the best.

1. classic stone drop
2. three stone bezel
3. octagonal bezel
4. cascading eye shapes
5. swirly three stone

(pictures to follow as i''m bad at describing)

 

[bleeblue]

1. classic stone drop

 

[bleeblue]

2. three stone bezel

 

[bleeblue]

3. octagonal bezel

 

[bleeblue]

4. cascading eye shapes

 

[bleeblue]

5. swirly three stone

(minus the pave - will be in plain polished gold)

 

[Bella_mezzo]

classic stone drop is my vote!

Not to threadjack but...
Why oh why did you all have to remind me about precision gems...? I really want a beautiful asscher cut gem stone but I don''t think I can buy anything else until next year

In the meantime, I''ll figure out the gem/color I want. I have a deep blue sapphire ering, so I''m thinking spess garnet, tsav, aqua, or med-light blue spinel or sapphire (not grey)...oh the choices!!!

 

[ma re]

Could you post a photo of your three stones together? That might make the choice easier by giving an insight on how those designs might work with stones in question.

 

[jewelz617]

I''m liking the look of that 3 stone bezel. Very clean and classic, would let the stones shine nicely.

 

[IrisAccents]

I second the vote for the three stone bezel- classy with clean lines.

What a fun project- I can''t wait to see what you go with!

 

[Catmom]

Classic vote here!