MountainJuls
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2020
- Messages
- 34
Hi all! I’ve been a lurker and learner for the past three months and just thought I’d introduce myself and tell about what I’m hoping to accomplish.
I had just started looking at what jewelers in my area were reputable when SIP started, and my researching nature led me here and I’ve tried to learn a lot in my spare time. I’m a mom of two, DD finishing up first year in college, and DS just graduated 8th grade. My hubs and I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in Nov. I love jewelry but am a practical person who does a lot with my hands and don‘t want to have to take off rings for most daily tasks such as cooking, regular cleaning, light gardening, and such. Heavy duty stuff or super dirty things I’m ok with taking rings off. I take necklaces and earrings off at night.
My ER was from a mall in Ohio, 1995. I can’t find the original paperwork but if I had to guess, it is a 0.7 Pear I VS2, with 6 prongs set in a band with 4 small graduated channel set diamonds on each side. I have a plain thin wedding band. We bought an anniversary band from Zales for our 10 yr anniversary, with three center prong set diamonds flanked by 3 smaller channel set diamonds on each side. The rings never lined up(of course) and I tried wearing the anniversary band on both sides of the pear but ended up damaging the prongs on both sides. They are all 14k yellow gold. One of the prongs on the anniversary band broke and a diamond popped out while making the bed but I was able to find it on the rug. Now, one prong on the pear is bent in addition to the notch from the anniversary ring. So, I have not worn any rings for the last year. I hate to say it, but hubs took most of that year to even notice. I don’t fault him too much, since it can come in handy on shopping trips that he‘s not a noticer. I also didn’t want to bring it up bc I didn’t want to seem pushy or materialistic, but time is up lol! Hubs has brought up a few times over the years as finances have gotten better to update and fix my ring but it has never happened, for one reason or another. I even started the process once 10 yrs ago with a small local shop to redesign the main ring but then we ended up moving overseas for a year and they were shut down by the time we returned. I had not really gotten far in the design process anyway, and have really put more thought into it now.
Ok, on to the projects at hand, not in any particular order.
1) Upgrade wedding set. I prefer Platinum, so a new set with a larger main stone(Maybe 2ct ?). I had thought I would visit places and try on a variety of sizes and styles to see what I liked the look and feel of, but with this was in early March and with SIP orders that came to a screeching halt. Turning to online research led me here, so I’ve just been trying to expand my knowledge and gathering ideas in my spare time. Just this week, some places are opening up a bit( I’m in CA) and some shops will allow appointments with extensive cleaning in between clients. I feel bad having a place go through all that for me when I probably won’t end up buying from them. Should I go ahead and visit some places, maybe larger chains rather than a small mom and pop jeweler? I do have a some ideas that I think I want to try, but cant really know until I try some options on. For those of you who designed a new ER, how did you come to know what you wanted? Is trying on options a good start? How did you make the leap from an idea of what you want to commissioning it to be made?
With this new set, there comes the question of what to do with the older rings? I am sentimental about my pear diamond, and even though it may not be the best quality, could see keeping it to remake into possibly a pendant later. But what to do with the rest of the gold and small diamonds from the setting? For the anniversary band, I should probably just fix the prong and reset the loose diamond so it can be sold. I feel like I am just scratching the surface of new jewelry, so dealing with selling older rings or loose parts is a complete knowledge void to me.
2) Birthstone rings representing my children. I’d like these in platinum also, one for each child, with different style and stone shapes for each one. Each ring not bigger than 4 mm wide so I could wear them stacked together on the same finger. They could have birthstones only, or with diamonds also, not solitaire style, but more like half eternity or 5-11 stone rings using channel or bezel set stones. I have also talked with my children about their input in designing them so a bit of their personality comes through as well since they will each be getting these eventually. Ideally something more than just a tiny stone on a plain thin band, but not too ostentatious where I don’t feel comfortable wearing them daily.
2A) DD-August. Peridot is the traditional stone and I like the grassier green color stones, but these don’t seem to be what I see set into bands in the smaller sizes. Also, I know they are a bit softer, but if set in channel or bezel, would that be enough to compensate? What about buying extra since they aren’t terribly expensive so they could be replaced if damaged? I’ll admit I am a bit of a purist, and would not want to use a different stone in a similar color for the birthstone. Using spinel, even though it has been added to August seems okay but just not readily associated as the birthstone.
2B) DS-June. I don’t like pearls or moonstone and want something faceted so Alexandrite it is. Actually, DH bought me a strand of pearls for my 30th bday when son was a few months old. First time wearing them, DS grabs and pulls on them. Thankfully they didn’t break and they went back the next day. Bless his heart, my DH tried, he just had no clue about what is practical for daily wear, or really about my personal style. Needless to say, I’ve been more vocal about that in the subsequent years! I have read practically every post here about Alexandrite in an effort to learn and the more I do, the more I want to use it. However, I’ve not seen any in person, high quality or not. Mass stores seem to only have synthetic, which is a no go. I’m not sure how to see any in person without just ordering some rings just to look at from a place that I can return. I fully realize this ring would cost quite a bit more than the one for DD, which is ok. My main concern is getting quality stone(s) that have good color and strong color change. I am concerned that doing multiple small melee might not be well matched to each other and have different color change abilities and look bad. Or, that if I did too small of a stone, it wouldn’t look like much at all. In order to make use of the stone’s abilities, should I do a bigger (3-4mm) small stone, and just deal with the multiple thousands of dollars it will cost? I’ve seen some beauties for a pretty penny on multicolor, but am nervous about the ordering and return process as well as how they look in real life with actual mixed lighting compared to pics. Analysis paralysis?
There are a few more jewelry pieces I’d like to get in the coming yesrs(diamond stud earrings, a ring with my and DH birthstone) but I feel like updating wedding set and birthstone rings are more of a priority. Any advice or reccomdations along with nudges into action are much appreciated! Pics of examples always welcome as well!
Thanks so much, and I look forward to this journey!
I had just started looking at what jewelers in my area were reputable when SIP started, and my researching nature led me here and I’ve tried to learn a lot in my spare time. I’m a mom of two, DD finishing up first year in college, and DS just graduated 8th grade. My hubs and I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in Nov. I love jewelry but am a practical person who does a lot with my hands and don‘t want to have to take off rings for most daily tasks such as cooking, regular cleaning, light gardening, and such. Heavy duty stuff or super dirty things I’m ok with taking rings off. I take necklaces and earrings off at night.
My ER was from a mall in Ohio, 1995. I can’t find the original paperwork but if I had to guess, it is a 0.7 Pear I VS2, with 6 prongs set in a band with 4 small graduated channel set diamonds on each side. I have a plain thin wedding band. We bought an anniversary band from Zales for our 10 yr anniversary, with three center prong set diamonds flanked by 3 smaller channel set diamonds on each side. The rings never lined up(of course) and I tried wearing the anniversary band on both sides of the pear but ended up damaging the prongs on both sides. They are all 14k yellow gold. One of the prongs on the anniversary band broke and a diamond popped out while making the bed but I was able to find it on the rug. Now, one prong on the pear is bent in addition to the notch from the anniversary ring. So, I have not worn any rings for the last year. I hate to say it, but hubs took most of that year to even notice. I don’t fault him too much, since it can come in handy on shopping trips that he‘s not a noticer. I also didn’t want to bring it up bc I didn’t want to seem pushy or materialistic, but time is up lol! Hubs has brought up a few times over the years as finances have gotten better to update and fix my ring but it has never happened, for one reason or another. I even started the process once 10 yrs ago with a small local shop to redesign the main ring but then we ended up moving overseas for a year and they were shut down by the time we returned. I had not really gotten far in the design process anyway, and have really put more thought into it now.
Ok, on to the projects at hand, not in any particular order.
1) Upgrade wedding set. I prefer Platinum, so a new set with a larger main stone(Maybe 2ct ?). I had thought I would visit places and try on a variety of sizes and styles to see what I liked the look and feel of, but with this was in early March and with SIP orders that came to a screeching halt. Turning to online research led me here, so I’ve just been trying to expand my knowledge and gathering ideas in my spare time. Just this week, some places are opening up a bit( I’m in CA) and some shops will allow appointments with extensive cleaning in between clients. I feel bad having a place go through all that for me when I probably won’t end up buying from them. Should I go ahead and visit some places, maybe larger chains rather than a small mom and pop jeweler? I do have a some ideas that I think I want to try, but cant really know until I try some options on. For those of you who designed a new ER, how did you come to know what you wanted? Is trying on options a good start? How did you make the leap from an idea of what you want to commissioning it to be made?
With this new set, there comes the question of what to do with the older rings? I am sentimental about my pear diamond, and even though it may not be the best quality, could see keeping it to remake into possibly a pendant later. But what to do with the rest of the gold and small diamonds from the setting? For the anniversary band, I should probably just fix the prong and reset the loose diamond so it can be sold. I feel like I am just scratching the surface of new jewelry, so dealing with selling older rings or loose parts is a complete knowledge void to me.
2) Birthstone rings representing my children. I’d like these in platinum also, one for each child, with different style and stone shapes for each one. Each ring not bigger than 4 mm wide so I could wear them stacked together on the same finger. They could have birthstones only, or with diamonds also, not solitaire style, but more like half eternity or 5-11 stone rings using channel or bezel set stones. I have also talked with my children about their input in designing them so a bit of their personality comes through as well since they will each be getting these eventually. Ideally something more than just a tiny stone on a plain thin band, but not too ostentatious where I don’t feel comfortable wearing them daily.
2A) DD-August. Peridot is the traditional stone and I like the grassier green color stones, but these don’t seem to be what I see set into bands in the smaller sizes. Also, I know they are a bit softer, but if set in channel or bezel, would that be enough to compensate? What about buying extra since they aren’t terribly expensive so they could be replaced if damaged? I’ll admit I am a bit of a purist, and would not want to use a different stone in a similar color for the birthstone. Using spinel, even though it has been added to August seems okay but just not readily associated as the birthstone.
2B) DS-June. I don’t like pearls or moonstone and want something faceted so Alexandrite it is. Actually, DH bought me a strand of pearls for my 30th bday when son was a few months old. First time wearing them, DS grabs and pulls on them. Thankfully they didn’t break and they went back the next day. Bless his heart, my DH tried, he just had no clue about what is practical for daily wear, or really about my personal style. Needless to say, I’ve been more vocal about that in the subsequent years! I have read practically every post here about Alexandrite in an effort to learn and the more I do, the more I want to use it. However, I’ve not seen any in person, high quality or not. Mass stores seem to only have synthetic, which is a no go. I’m not sure how to see any in person without just ordering some rings just to look at from a place that I can return. I fully realize this ring would cost quite a bit more than the one for DD, which is ok. My main concern is getting quality stone(s) that have good color and strong color change. I am concerned that doing multiple small melee might not be well matched to each other and have different color change abilities and look bad. Or, that if I did too small of a stone, it wouldn’t look like much at all. In order to make use of the stone’s abilities, should I do a bigger (3-4mm) small stone, and just deal with the multiple thousands of dollars it will cost? I’ve seen some beauties for a pretty penny on multicolor, but am nervous about the ordering and return process as well as how they look in real life with actual mixed lighting compared to pics. Analysis paralysis?
There are a few more jewelry pieces I’d like to get in the coming yesrs(diamond stud earrings, a ring with my and DH birthstone) but I feel like updating wedding set and birthstone rings are more of a priority. Any advice or reccomdations along with nudges into action are much appreciated! Pics of examples always welcome as well!
Thanks so much, and I look forward to this journey!
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