Just For Fun

[voce]

I got out rings from my safe to play with earlier this weekend. I couldn't decide which color family is my favorite; too many to pick from! Curious to see whether other people are equally indecisive. And, since I had fun playing with the eye candy, I thought I'd share. I'm quite proud of this little collection I've put together over the past two years.

TEAM TURQUOISE
I was looking at the paraibas first. However, the camera would overexpose them under sunlight due to the black background, so I had to put these rings on to get a better picture...


Since I wore one on each finger, I thought I'd take pictures of other color families, too. Next up!

TEAM RED DELISH


Unfortunately, the light source (the sun) was not constant, so the light setting isn't the same from picture to picture. Second picture more diffused sunlight, first picture more direct sunlight.

Next contestant!

TEAM PRETTY PINK SPINEL



Finally...last but not least, we have:

TEAM SAPPHIRE BLUE


Here, the second picture is in more direct sunlight, the first more diffused.

Okay, that's enough typing from me. Let's see the votes! Please do vote, even to let me know I'm not alone in being unable to pick a favorite.

 

[arkieb1]

I think it's a toss up between team paraiba and team sapphire, but I suspect like me your Iphone camera badly washes out the red colour so it doesn't make it fair or real to what our eyes actually see. My new Iphone makes reds look meeeh even when they are nice decent reds.....

 

[JackTrick]

My goddd. What a collection! I adore them all, but my personal favorite is Team Pink Spinel because every ring there absolutely radiates personality!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

oh how i love that crown ring
but still voted team turquoise

 

[voce]

I think it's a toss up between team paraiba and team sapphire, but I suspect like me your Iphone camera badly washes out the red colour so it doesn't make it fair or real to what our eyes actually see. My new Iphone makes reds look meeeh even when they are nice decent reds.....

Actually I've never owned an iPhone! Goes back to easy back when when the first iPods/iTunes wouldn't sort my foreign language songs in any order that makes sense. My phone is a Google pixel, which imo has better camera software than iPhone. I'd say the first red picture doesn't match what my eyes see, but the second one is pretty close. I named them red delish because it's close to reddish; they are close to red but not quite. The ruby on the middle finger is pretty straight red in diffused lighting but turns up pinkish in direct sunlight .

 

[Niffler75]

Aaaargh, can't decide between the turquoise and the blue. I'll have one of each please!

 

[Lexililac]

I vote for the Reds, not because Im European and immediately a "Commie", no I love the ruby as well as the breathtaking flower ring with the lavender rounds!! Love lavenders so much

 

[Acinom]

Close call between turquoise and blue. What a collection!!! Just stunning.

I voted turquoise

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Deliciousness overload! Can't decide!!

 

[missy]

All stunning!
But if I had to choose I am Team Turquoise!

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

Argh, I can't answer yet!
Too many fabu colors.
I am now in the throes of a crisis of indecision!

 

[elle_71125]

Team Turquoise! My second choice was pink spinels.

 

[leslie1956]

Team turquoise followed by team sapphire as a very close second

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Though the red ring with the lavender halo and green band made it really hard for me to decide - I ultimately went with team turquoise because that multicolored halo paraiba ring killed me, sent me to heaven, revived me, and killed me again! What a collection!

 

[deorwine]

I know you will be shocked that I picked Team Red Delish! I was totally expecting to pick Team Sapphire Blue because let's face it, Team Blue Sapphire is basically a description of me, but the spinels and ruby are just killer! As you know I love that jedi spinel of yours to bits and pieces, but that ruby! Both the ruby and its setting are just phenomenal!

 

[voce]

My goddd. What a collection! I adore them all, but my personal favorite is Team Pink Spinel because every ring there absolutely radiates personality!

Well, I agree these are more unique face up. (One of the ruby rings and one of the sapphire rings have the personality in the gallery, which I deliberately chose not to share here.) Only the crown ring and the tiny Mahenge spinel with tsav trillion sides were custom CAD designs. The two rings on the pinky were bought as-is, one off LoupeTroop and one from Yvonne's shop, and the Mahenge spinel tourbillion ring was also bought as-is, so it's more a sign of my penchant for buying rings with more personality.

I vote for the Reds, not because Im European and immediately a "Commie", no I love the ruby as well as the breathtaking flower ring with the lavender rounds!! Love lavenders so much

Oh, thank you! One day, I will have a lavender family, too, I hope. Right when I was getting ready to set like 5 lavender spinels this year, coronavirus crisis hit, and I diverted my spending elsewhere.

Close call between turquoise and blue. What a collection!!! Just stunning.

I voted turquoise

The fact that you voted turquoise comes as no surprise
After all, you DID start BOTH the paraiba and zircon threads.

 

[voce]

Team Turquoise! My second choice was pink spinels.

I was wondering which you'd pick as the top choice. I think my pink spinels aren't hot hot pink, so they're less of a competition for you. I just can't justify spending a premium on hot pink since my preference is red, so I don't have any super drool worthy pinks.

Though the red ring with the lavender halo and green band made it really hard for me to decide - I ultimately went with team turquoise because that multicolored halo paraiba ring killed me, sent me to heaven, revived me, and killed me again! What a collection!

I guess you found more pictures of that ring? If not, search "Easter paraiba", since that's how I came up with the CS halo arrangement. It was my first and finest (most saturated) paraiba, so it's special to me.

I know you will be shocked that I picked Team Red Delish! I was totally expecting to pick Team Sapphire Blue because let's face it, Team Blue Sapphire is basically a description of me, but the spinels and ruby are just killer! As you know I love that jedi spinel of yours to bits and pieces, but that ruby! Both the ruby and its setting are just phenomenal!

Woah, shock indeed. Second reaction: I'm tickled. You're talking about the 5-stone ruby ring, right? Would you like to see more pictures? I designed a very unique gallery for it that I'm not planning to share on a public forum because I don't want anybody else to have it. But the most of the design in the setting is in the basket/gallery.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I was wondering which you'd pick as the top choice. I think my pink spinels aren't hot hot pink, so they're less of a competition for you. I just can't justify spending a premium on hot pink since my preference is red, so I don't have any super drool worthy pinks.


I guess you found more pictures of that ring? If not, search "Easter paraiba", since that's how I came up with the CS halo arrangement. It was my first and finest (most saturated) paraiba, so it's special to me.


Woah, shock indeed. Second reaction: I'm tickled. You're talking about the 5-stone ruby ring, right? Would you like to see more pictures? I designed a very unique gallery for it that I'm not planning to share on a public forum because I don't want anybody else to have it. But the most of the design in the setting is in the basket/gallery.

That ring really is special! I think it’s the prettiest one from your incredible collection. The colors just get me - it’s an explosion of color but it’s done really well with some thought put into it. It’s the kind of colored ring you can wear all the time - casually, at a brunch, even at work! I have a soft spot for color though I don’t currently own a lot of CS but I do have plans to create my own color explosion earrings (I usually wear a ton of earrings) which will use different shapes and colors (I’m also crazy about asymmetry!) and I’m going to use your ring as inspiration for colors that go together! Absolutely love it!

 

[voce]

That ring really is special! I think it’s the prettiest one from your incredible collection. The colors just get me - it’s an explosion of color but it’s done really well with some thought put into it. It’s the kind of colored ring you can wear all the time - casually, at a brunch, even at work! I have a soft spot for color though I don’t currently own a lot of CS but I do have plans to create my own color explosion earrings (I usually wear a ton of earrings) which will use different shapes and colors (I’m also crazy about asymmetry!) and I’m going to use your ring as inspiration for colors that go together! Absolutely love it!

Oh, I suppose a "rich b_tch" can wear it casually to a brunch, but I only wear it occasionally, as it's very bright, and I don't want to get robbed at some places I go! Also, I'm not sure what you mean when you say stuff like "crazy about asymmetry"; English is not my first language, and I'm constantly making fun of it to my partner. Does this mean asymmetry drives you crazy and you can't stand it, or asymmetry drives you mad with love?

With my Easter paraiba ring, the particular selection/arrangement of which CS to use, and the selection pattern, is super symmetric. There are triangles, rectangles, and hexagons in the CS halo, if you follow the individual colors. My personal taste is for organic asymmetry but a high degree of symmetry when it comes to geometric designs.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Oh, I suppose a "rich b_tch" can wear it casually to a brunch, but I only wear it occasionally, as it's very bright, and I don't want to get robbed at some places I go! Also, I'm not sure what you mean when you say stuff like "crazy about asymmetry"; English is not my first language, and I'm constantly making fun of it to my partner. Does this mean asymmetry drives you crazy and you can't stand it, or asymmetry drives you mad with love?

With my Easter paraiba ring, the particular selection/arrangement of which CS to use, and the selection pattern, is super symmetric. There are triangles, rectangles, and hexagons in the CS halo, if you follow the individual colors. My personal taste is for organic asymmetry but a high degree of symmetry when it comes to geometric designs.

I meant I love asymmetry! I do like very symmetrical designs as well, but if the piece is multicolored I do like some level of asymmetry (even if the assymetry is only in color, or if there’s an ombre effect, or if in a pair of earrings one side is a long earring and the other is a cluster/stud). An item on my wish list for example is to get a ring, probably with a green CS (peridot being most likely but possibly if I get a good deal I might spring for an emerald since I absolutely love them) with half a clustery micropave halo (so a halo that hugs along the stone on one side and ‘unfurls’ into a flag or leaf shape. I want it to look as though someone just pulled a sheet off my stone like you pull a sheet off a person to wake them up in the morning).

Oh of course it would depend on where you go! I just meant that if I had something that bright and colorful I’d wear it everywhere, though I’m lucky I live somewhere that’s quite safe and I don’t have to worry about personal safety too much Also I think you could dress this ring up or down as much as you wanted - for such a ton of different colors it really feels like it could go with everything.

 

[voce]

I don't think I live anywhere particularly unsafe, but I shop where my groceries are cheapest! We (my family) came to this country with almost nothing, and try as I might, I just can't substitute my eating habits for those of rich people (which I perceive as vegan, organic; very common in the homes of Beverly Hills kids I used to occasionally tutor)! There are a great many Asian vegetables that not even Whole Foods has! I also think that my ruby engagement ring is worth a fair chunk of change and would be more devastated to lose that than any paraiba ring. I usually wear at least one RHR, and can wear lots of rings at work; I just take some off to not look too ostentatious (my partner's description) when I go shopping. I never wear rings while doing chores like cooking or cleaning.

 

[Cockatiel]

I love them all of course, but I voted Turquoise. And I'm not a paraiba person normally (sacrilege....)! I'm so in love with the camellia ring in particular.

 

[pebbles7]

Breathtaking collection ! Such a hard choice. I choose my colors according to the seasons and since it's almost summer and the beaches are open, I would go with I team turquoise and then team sapphire blue. In the fall it would be team red all the way. The spring would be for the pinks.

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

Stunning collection! I may have to look 20 more times.
I'd like to hear about Team Goldsmiths, who assembled these beautiful and original rings.

 

[deorwine]

Woah, shock indeed. Second reaction: I'm tickled. You're talking about the 5-stone ruby ring, right? Would you like to see more pictures? I designed a very unique gallery for it that I'm not planning to share on a public forum because I don't want anybody else to have it. But the most of the design in the setting is in the basket/gallery.

I know, right? I mean, don't get me wrong, Team Sapphire Blue is a strong second, but you just have such beautiful red gems Yes, the 5-stone ruby ring! The top is also lovely -- very elegant and timeless.

 

[voce]

Stunning collection! I may have to look 20 more times.
I'd like to hear about Team Goldsmiths, who assembled these beautiful and original rings.

You're going to hear about two jewellers over and over, so I'll say that I'm going to abbreviate Cecile Raley Designs as CRD and Enhoerning Jewelry as EJ.

Team Turquoise was exclusively made by CRD.

Team Pretty Pink Spinel was made by CRD, with the exclusion of the top ring on my middle finger, which was done by Ivy & Rose.

Team Red Delish is 3 rings by EJ, and 1 ring (Clarisse ring, the one with an oval surrounded by red spinel ovals and pears, then white diamonds) by CRD.

Team Sapphire Blue is all EJ except for the pear solitaire, which is from Natural Sapphire Company back when I was a newbie and it was my first purchase of CS.

 

[Musia]

My second choice was and still is Team Pretty Pink Spinel. Pink, green, blue, lavender and white is my favorite color combination. But I voted for you fabulous paraiba + something deliciously greenish on your index finger collection. Tourmaline is my birthstone and I dream of buying just one beautiful stone for myself in future.

 

[voce]

My second choice was and still is Team Pretty Pink Spinel. Pink, green, blue, lavender and white is my favorite color combination. But I voted for you fabulous paraiba + something deliciously greenish on your index finger collection. Tourmaline is my birthstone and I dream of buying just one beautiful stone for myself in future.

That something deliciously greenish is also a Brazilian paraiba. They also come in green, you know; green paraibas come cheaper than the iconic blue. If it weren't green, I wouldn't have been able to afford a paraiba > 1 ct.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

So, it turns out my eyeballs are greedy, I still can't decide.
I love 'em all

 

[Bluemuse]

So many gorgeous colors and rings!!
I’m in the turquoise/blue camp!!
Then there’s the gemmy yumminess of the multicolor CRD rings! So creative and pretty! Must spark a happy feeling when you wear them! Sorry I can’t just pick one!
Enjoy your beautiful collection! Much to be proud of!