Long-awaited pictures of JW blue-green tourmaline...plus much, much more (collection pics!)

[karee888]

This setting is beautiful! May I ask where you got it?

 

[geckodani]

Beautiful, beautiful - GORGEOUS! I love your collection - and that tourmaline really does seem to glow!

 

[Harriet]

Lovely tourmaline!

 

[stepcutnut]

Beautiful collections

 

[mochi]

Your collection is so pretty! Lovely stones.

 

[T L]

BEG,
Thank you so much for posting pictures of your new tourmaline as well as your other beautiful gems. I have to admit that I''ve been eagerly awaiting these photos more than anythng else, and it was worth the wait. It''s gorgeous!! Now you need to get that puppy set so that you can enjoy it all the time!!

 

[Catmom]

Oh I LOVE your new tourmaline. Of course all your other babies are equally as gorgeous!!

 

[mercoledi]

Ooh, pretty! The tourmaline is a great color. Can you tell us more about the alex?

 

[AmberGretchen]

BEAUTIFUL collection - that tourmaline is just lovely, especially - so lively and beautiful

 

[cushioncutnut]

What a lovely collection! I would definately agree the tourmaline just glows!!!!

 

[T L]

BTW that tourmaline is just screaming and yelling - "BEZEL ME!!!"

 

[coatimundi_org]

Lovely BEG!!

 

[dancingflame]

Oooo, the tourmaline is amazing!!!

 

[T L]

BEG,
Another question, since your settings are mounted so lovely, and you live in my area, do you mind sharing the jeweler who set them. I keep telling my jeweler "pointy" prongs, but they just don''t get it.

 

[mommy2iz]

omg - that tourmaline color is fantastic!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Hi ladies! Sorry I haven''t been around today - I''ve been trying to get back into class mode again (and actually go to class!). First, thank you ALL so much for your compliments - thanks to

Freke
Akmiss
Arjunajane
Blingaddict
Ma re
PrettyBlues
Loriken
Karee
Geckodani
Harriet
Stepcutnut
Mochi
Tourmaline_Lover
Catmom
Mercoledi
AmberGretchen
Cushioncutnut
Coatimundi
Dancingflame
Mommy2Iz


Freke, how is your venues search going? Any luck?

Arjunajane, in my experience, Jeff''s gems have been on the higher end of those I buy. I definitely spent more on my morganite and my two tourmalines than on my other gems from Barry or Dan (with the exception of the sapphire from Richard Homer - that one was the most expensive of all of mine, I think). I think they''re all fantastic cutters, but my JW stones do have incredible life. I don''t know if that''s due to any disparity in cutting skill though - I know both Barry and Dan have very high quality stuff - it''s just that I happened to buy stones that were less expensive for my projects from them. Sorry for the ramble! But yes, Jeff''s are a little more expensive, but well worth it I think! (oh and Jeff has very very expensive stuff- but I can''t afford it right now! He does have very pretty ones, like this tourmaline, for much lower prices - think under $500, and not in the thousands)

Ma re, thanks for your suggestions! You''re right - opals are rather fragile, and I''d hate to damage it. Unfortunately, and I don''t know why, but I''m just not attached to pendants. I have my one three-stone that I wear ALL the time, and hate the bother of switching it out, which is why i felt the ring might be better. I REALLY like the idea, though, of wearing it with pearls - I''m definitely going to think that over a lot. The tends to show much more blue and green, so I was thinking white gold - especially since it has a lot of white in it - I think it''d look very clean and simple (and I definitely agree on keeping the setting minimum!). For rings, I was toying with the idea of a split-shank, but I don''t know - do you think the stone is durable enough? Bezeling would definitely be the safest...

Karee, thanks! I''m not sure which setting you mean - but I got the sapphire setting from James Allen (it''s their 1.8 mm common prong), the garnet''s setting is an LOGR (Lord of Gem Rings ebay seller - I''m going to order another one, actually, for the blue-green tourmaline), and the setting for the green tourmaline is from another ebay seller whose name I can''t remember (but if it''s that one you like, I can find out for you - just let me know!). And the opal''s setting is what came with the ring a long time ago - that ring was my youngest great-aunt''s, who gave it to my other great-aunt, who gave it to my grandma, who gave it to my mom, and finally I got it!

Mercoledi, I''m afraid I can''t - I don''t know anything about it myself, other than that my mom''s friends FIL bought it for her in Turkey years ago. Lucky woman actually has more alexandrites! Set into a pair of earrings and a pendant, I think - this one was from a brooch. Other than that, and that it''s about 9 mm, I have no idea - but I''m going to take it to my jewelers on Friday and see if they can tell me anything, so I''ll let you know

Tourmaline_Lover, I didn''t know you were in my area! My jeweler is Steve Quick Jewelers - they''re up in Lincoln Park at Clark and Fullerton (actually a block north of Fullerton) I''m not sure if I''m allowed to give the specific address but you can find them easily online. They''re very nice and their jeweler did my pointy prongs on my green tourmaline, and I''ve had very good experiences with them - I chatted with one of the owners last time I was there about their royal asschers (I know, diamonds, blah, haha) and I liked how friendly and professional they were. I''m probably heading back on Friday - they have a pair of earrings they were re-posting for me that I need to pick up. And this blue-green will definitely be bezeled! I saw that LOGR has a bezel cushion setting - I''m think of ordering that one and just customizing it for my stone size. I''m very excited!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Arjunajane, I don''t have any profile pics of the opal - I think I deleted the ones I had because they came out badly. I''ll take some more this weekend but in the meantime, here are a couple more of the opal itself

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Another

 

[ma re]

Date: 1/7/2009 2:06:27 AM
Author: Brown.Eyed.Girl

Ma re, thanks for your suggestions! You''re right - opals are rather fragile, and I''d hate to damage it. Unfortunately, and I don''t know why, but I''m just not attached to pendants. I have my one three-stone that I wear ALL the time, and hate the bother of switching it out, which is why i felt the ring might be better. I REALLY like the idea, though, of wearing it with pearls - I''m definitely going to think that over a lot. The tends to show much more blue and green, so I was thinking white gold - especially since it has a lot of white in it - I think it''d look very clean and simple (and I definitely agree on keeping the setting minimum!). For rings, I was toying with the idea of a split-shank, but I don''t know - do you think the stone is durable enough? Bezeling would definitely be the safest...

Wether a ring would be a good idea I''ll let you judge for yourself after reading this:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/gem-horror-stories.92501/

Yes, an accident may happen even if you set it into a pendant, but it''s not only about chipping or breaking - maybe even a bigger issue here is called micro scratches (and don''t be fooled by a "micro"). Opal set into a ring would, especially in case of frequent wear, soon gather hundreds (or thousands) of micro scratches that would dull it''s appearance, just like they do on a plain metal wedding ring that loses it''s shine after just a few weeks. It''s play of color would obviously also suffer and become more dull. And yes, opal can be repolished, but bear in mind that it''s one of the trickiest of stones to cut and/or polish for the very reason of fragility. So every time you''d want it repolished you''d risk damaging it in the process.

Of course, if you''re keen on a ring, by all means get one, cause jewellery is meant to be worn, just accept the fact that it will show wear much more quickly that way. A prong set, split shank one is not something I''d go for, however. Definately a bezel and as low of a profile as possible.

If you''re not a fan of pendants, a clip brooch might be a good idea, cause with a slight modification they can be worn as either brooches or pendants (even on pearl strands).

 

[mariedtiger]

I love love love your collection and that tourmaline is truly heavenly. So beautiful.

 

[Dreamgirl]

Wow, everything is incredibly gorgeous! You are a lucky girl

 

[icekid]

I''ve been waiting for your JW tourmaline photos, BEG. And they certainly don''t disappoint; I just adore that color. Not to mention the rest of your collection

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Thanks MarriedTiger, Dreamgirl, IceKid and SanDiegoLady!

Dreamgirl, I love your signature (Little fingers CAN support big diamonds)! I totally agree!

SanDiegoLady, thank you! I love my Citizen! It is actually my only watch, because I stupidly lost my first nice watch on my 21st birthday (it was a really simple Seiko). I still regret that. But I really love this - it''s very versatile, and easy to read (which is important for me with my terrible eyesight!).

Ma re, I knew opals were much more fragile than most stones, but I didn''t realize how much of an effect micro-scratches could have! Thanks for telling me! My mom rarely wore the ring, so that''s probably why I didn''t think about it, since it still looks so good.

Do you know if I need to go custom for setting an opal, either into a pendant, or ring? I haven''t seen any stock settings geared towards opals, and it seems that a regular setting wouldn''t work, since the opal is much flatter. But I could be wrong on that.

 

[ma re]

Date: 1/8/2009 6:22:34 PM
Author: Brown.Eyed.Girl
Ma re, I knew opals were much more fragile than most stones, but I didn''t realize how much of an effect micro-scratches could have! Thanks for telling me! My mom rarely wore the ring, so that''s probably why I didn''t think about it, since it still looks so good.

Do you know if I need to go custom for setting an opal, either into a pendant, or ring? I haven''t seen any stock settings geared towards opals, and it seems that a regular setting wouldn''t work, since the opal is much flatter. But I could be wrong on that.

THIS site shows you what an impact of micro scratches looks like on stones with hardness similar to that of opal. I also remember seing an opal similar to yours that''s been worn in a ring on one such website, before and after repolishing - pictures do tell a thousand words. Since your mom rarely wore the ring it''s in a great condition, but that can change easily.

As for the setting, I don''t know the dimensions of the stone, but I''m guessing it couldn''t fit in most stock settings (of course, I could be wrong). Measure it and browse around the net for settings to see what you come up with. Also, good point about the shape of the stone, but I think many prong settings can accomodate a relatively flat stone, and my guess is bezels can also be adjusted. But I''m no jeweller so be sure to check this with an expert.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Thanks Ma re! I''m taking the ring to my jewelers tomorrow to see if they have anything - I''ll keep you updated!

 

[glitterata]

What a beautiful color! Lovely collection, & lovely hands.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Thanks Glitterata! What a nice compliment!

 

[shinyrocks]

Ooooo. I''ve been away too long!!!! That tourmaline is stunning! I saw it on his last list. Glad to see a PSer pick it up (mainly because I get to live vicariously through your pictures

Congrats on an awesome pick up.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Wow, great stones. Love them all.

 

[arjunajane]

Hey BEG, I''m sorry I only just remembered that I asked you questions here!

Thankyou for the great info on JW, I really appreciate it. And the pretty extra opal pics, have you decided how to reset it yet?

Do you mind if I ask while I have you here, the legacy LOGR, how many mm does it measure ? And if you don''t mind, your ring size that you wear it on in the pic?
I''m currently trying to decide on whether something is suitable for a ring for me, and trying to gauge how sizes look on others'' hands - but its not easy lol!
Hope you don''t mind,
TIA!