Icy’s CS adventures

mellowyellowgirl · Jan 28, 2023

icy_jade said:
W said that a bee may look like a housefly and spider legs could be pokey. End of the day the bench needs to have a certain level of artistry to be able to do it and he isn’t confident they can. Of course if I insist he can probably try but I’m not super enthu at this time. Maybe if I happen to see any beautiful inspirations then I may want to try more.

Triple halo isn’t a bad idea tbh. It’s so small. Plus the color looks awful on my skin (ok all pastels do, but especially pads). Definitely do-able but shall look n see if can find any readymade casing first since I really hate to customise.

Would you consider CS melee as well Icy? Could bring down costs and give you additional size.

I follow the BG stones person and have always loved their CS melee.

My 2mm CS melee from Starlanka was also inexpensive.

icy_jade · Jan 28, 2023

mellowyellowgirl said:
Would you consider CS melee as well Icy? Could bring down costs and give you additional size.

I follow the BG stones person and have always loved their CS melee.

My 2mm CS melee from Starlanka was also inexpensive.

Thank you but I don’t like to mix colors? I love that I have a rainbow coloured collection, but individually I like my pieces mostly in single colors. Boring right?

mellowyellowgirl · Jan 28, 2023

icy_jade said:
Thank you but I don’t like to mix colors? I love that I have a rainbow coloured collection, but individually I like my pieces mostly in single colors. Boring right?

Nono I totally understand. Personal preference and all!

It's like me and bezeling. I really don't think I will ever want to bezel anything!

icy_jade · Feb 11, 2023

These are making me ridiculously happy when I see them.

Somehow all the resizes, rehab project and deliveries all came together. All preloved and now loved by me.

7.54 ct Star sapphire (D0.87ct), 2.46 ct Mexican fire opal (D1.29ct), 9.1 ct Mexican water opal (D0.21ct, onyx backing weight unknown), 8.17ct aquamarine (D0.59ct)(debatably Santa Maria or not)

Played with the last night in the bathroom….

Starstruck8 · Feb 12, 2023

icy_jade said:
These are making me ridiculously happy when I see them.

Somehow all the resizes, rehab project and deliveries all came together. All preloved and now loved by me.

7.54 ct Star sapphire (D0.87ct), 2.46 ct Mexican fire opal (D1.29ct), 9.1 ct Mexican water opal (D0.21ct, onyx backing weight unknown), 8.17ct aquamarine (D0.59ct)(debatably Santa Maria or not)

Played with the last night in the bathroom….

Wow! Love them all. But especially the translucency and glow of the star sapphire and the orange flash of the fire opal.

voce · Feb 12, 2023

icy_jade said:
Thank you! Casted, and then hand engraved. I asked for milgrain all over, which I got, LOL.

Edit: Just want to add that a while back there was some discussion over hand forged vs casting, hence I mentioned this being casted then hand engraved and milgrain added. So it doesn’t mean that you are always stuck with ugly casted milgrain if it’s casted.

Hand forged vs casting

Are hand forged rings supposed to be superior? I've seen a lot of rings promoted as hand forged and they look totally wonky to me. They probably would have benefitted from a uniform mould rather than being clobbered up by whomever. Was the particular bench just dodgy? I've always expected hand...

www.pricescope.com

I know you say you prefer ready made settings to custom, but when you go for a custom setting the results are jaw-dropping! Belated congrats on the reset.

voce · Feb 12, 2023

icy_jade said:
These are making me ridiculously happy when I see them.

Somehow all the resizes, rehab project and deliveries all came together. All preloved and now loved by me.

7.54 ct Star sapphire (D0.87ct), 2.46 ct Mexican fire opal (D1.29ct), 9.1 ct Mexican water opal (D0.21ct, onyx backing weight unknown), 8.17ct aquamarine (D0.59ct)(debatably Santa Maria or not)

Played with the last night in the bathroom….

Love how icy-looking the opals and the sapphire are. The aqua is nice, too, but easily the least juicy-looking of the bunch.

elle_71125 · Feb 12, 2023

Those opals!

I love the bright, juicy orange of the fire opal. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one in person. Does it flash other colors too? And that water opal is just stunning. I love a free form opal pendant and yours is just perfect. So many beautiful color flashes!

MMtwo · Feb 12, 2023

Just wow, what beautiful stones. I love the blue sapphire cab. My word that is lovely!

icy_jade · Feb 12, 2023

voce said:
I know you say you prefer ready made settings to custom, but when you go for a custom setting the results are jaw-dropping! Belated congrats on the reset.

Thank you! I find custom settings so stressful tbh. I just don’t enjoy the process so when it does turn out well it’s such a relief and makes up for some of the stress. Don’t know how you ladies who always customise do it.

MMtwo said:
Just wow, what beautiful stones. I love the blue sapphire cab. My word that is lovely!

Starstruck8 said:
Wow! Love them all. But especially the translucency and glow of the star sapphire and the orange flash of the fire opal.

Thank you @MMtwo and @Starstruck8 ! The star sapphire actually looks very much like another bigger one. I guess I have a “type” for star sapphires. My jeweler once mentioned that these are “old mine” material.

voce said:
Love how icy-looking the opals and the sapphire are. The aqua is nice, too, but easily the least juicy-looking of the bunch.

Ahhh I know the pics are not flattering but seriously the aquamarine is nice. It sparkles (it’s such a beautifully clean stone) and has great color.

Against my beryl ring:

Natural light

See it sparkles under the light

If I hadn’t gotten it with a bunch of other things it’s so very pretty. But if I’m very honest the fire opal is a scene stealer. Unexpectedly so as the setting is a rehabbed setting (used to house an ugly turquoise) and it’s a relatively affordable ring but omg the color and play of color irl is amazing.

elle_71125 said:
Those opals!
I love the bright, juicy orange of the fire opal. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one in person. Does it flash other colors too? And that water opal is just stunning. I love a free form opal pendant and yours is just perfect. So many beautiful color flashes!

Thank you! I think red, yellow, green and orange. It’s positively neon in some lighting and I love it so much.

In the shop - you can see the play of color

In a car when it looked neon

Shaded natural evening light

The water opal isn’t the best as the play of color isn’t vivid (I have a smaller ring which has a better play of color). But I appreciate the size and setting so still all good.

elle_71125 · Feb 12, 2023

icy_jade said:
Thank you! I find custom settings so stressful tbh. I just don’t enjoy the process so when it does turn out well it’s such a relief and makes up for some of the stress. Don’t know how you ladies who always customise do it.

Thank you @MMtwo and @Starstruck8 ! The star sapphire actually looks very much like another bigger one. I guess I have a “type” for star sapphires. My jeweler once mentioned that these are “old mine” material.

Ahhh I know the pics are not flattering but seriously the aquamarine is nice. It sparkles (it’s such a beautifully clean stone) and has great color.

Against my beryl ring:

Natural light

See it sparkles under the light

If I hadn’t gotten it with a bunch of other things it’s so very pretty. But if I’m very honest the fire opal is a scene stealer. Unexpectedly so as the setting is a rehabbed setting (used to house an ugly turquoise) and it’s a relatively affordable ring but omg the color and play of color irl is amazing.

Thank you! I think red, yellow, green and orange. It’s positively neon in some lighting and I love it so much.

In the shop - you can see the play of color

In a car when it looked neon

Shaded natural evening light

The water opal isn’t the best as the play of color isn’t vivid (I have a smaller ring which has a better play of color). But I appreciate the size and setting so still all good.

That Beryl ring is stunning!! I love the ratio on the side diamonds too.

CSpan · Feb 12, 2023

icy_jade said:
Ok and this ruby:

Has been set! Just in time for Chinese New Year…

ZOMG. That ruby is exquisite and love the setting. The side stones are insanely white and clean.

icy_jade · Feb 13, 2023

elle_71125 said:
That Beryl ring is stunning!! I love the ratio on the side diamonds too.

Thank you!

CSpan said:
ZOMG. That ruby is exquisite and love the setting. The side stones are insanely white and clean.

Thank you! The traps are E-F, and VS-VVS

voce · Feb 13, 2023

icy_jade said:
Thank you! I find custom settings so stressful tbh. I just don’t enjoy the process so when it does turn out well it’s such a relief and makes up for some of the stress. Don’t know how you ladies who always customise do it.

Thank you @MMtwo and @Starstruck8 ! The star sapphire actually looks very much like another bigger one. I guess I have a “type” for star sapphires. My jeweler once mentioned that these are “old mine” material.

Ahhh I know the pics are not flattering but seriously the aquamarine is nice. It sparkles (it’s such a beautifully clean stone) and has great color.

Against my beryl ring:

The custom setting process is different with every vendor. I think it helps to be picky about who you work with, as I have backed out of many many potential collaborations (before I pay deposit) if something is off about the process. Sticking to a few vendors with whom I enjoy the process (Enhoerning Jewelry for instance) definitely makes it a lot easier to do many many custom settings.

On a side note, I do love how the aqua ring looks next to theb greener beryl ring. They both have so much presence and are nice colors.

icy_jade · Feb 14, 2023

Wore the star sapphire today and was wondering how “vintage” it must be to have such a sky high setting. It’s not that it’s got such a heavy bottom that the setting needed to be high.

icy_jade · Mar 6, 2023

Went to see some big ones… didn’t get them. Just to share.

Autumn in New England · Mar 6, 2023

All gorgeous, as usual, but that turq cab really caught my eye. I own a lot of fine turq in sterling and some gold. But I don't have any set in a high-end piece with diamonds. Large top-grade sleeping beauty material is difficult to find these days. Yours is as nice as it comes. It's on my wish list!

icy_jade · Mar 6, 2023

Autumn in New England said:
All gorgeous, as usual, but that turq cab really caught my eye. I own a lot of fine turq in sterling and some gold. But I don't have any set in a high-end piece with diamonds. Large top-grade sleeping beauty material is difficult to find these days. Yours is as nice as it comes. It's on my wish list!

I don’t know why but I didn’t love it so I didn’t get them (hopefully no regrets). They are beauties though. The turquoise cab is nice and big and clean and the white opal setting is so so stunning too… really can’t explain why. Maybe no fate with the stones?

Autumn in New England · Mar 6, 2023

icy_jade said:
I don’t know why but I didn’t love it so I didn’t get them (hopefully no regrets). They are beauties though. The turquoise cab is nice and big and clean and the white opal setting is so so stunning too… really can’t explain why. Maybe no fate with the stones?

It's not just about beauty or rarity sometimes... gems have to speak to us! And those clearly did not talk to you. I'm sure you'll comfort yourself with your other 1,000 pretties.

lucida818 · Mar 6, 2023

Your collection is truly very very amazing & aspiring @icy_jade, I often dropped my jaw looking at yours

icy_jade · Mar 7, 2023

Autumn in New England said:
It's not just about beauty or rarity sometimes... gems have to speak to us! And those clearly did not talk to you. I'm sure you'll comfort yourself with your other 1,000 pretties.

Hahaha… I swear I don’t have 1,000 pretties!

lucida818 said:
Your collection is truly very very amazing & aspiring @icy_jade, I often dropped my jaw looking at yours

Awww thank you! That’s such a lovely compliment.

I feel like it’s the same way I feel looking at this pic:

So gorgeous right? Totally covet them.

Autumn in New England · Mar 7, 2023

icy_jade said:
Hahaha… I swear I don’t have 1,000 pretties!

Awww thank you! That’s such a lovely compliment.

I feel like it’s the same way I feel looking at this pic:

So gorgeous right? Totally covet them.

@lucida818 has one of the prettiest paraibas I've seen here on PS!

icy_jade · Mar 8, 2023

Autumn in New England said:
@lucida818 has one of the prettiest paraibas I've seen here on PS!

I agree! Totally love the big pink sapphire too!

icy_jade · Mar 20, 2023

Dropped off some rings to reset/resize and share some random eye candies that I ogled at my jeweller. Prices are going up so fast it is super scary

Clockwise:
Unheated Burmese sapphire, unheated ruby
Emerald (stunning irl) and same sapphire
Sapphire, peridot, aquamarine
Burmese PB unheated ruby