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My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14kyg

katharath

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Hi everyone! I have a new piece and I'm so incredibly excited over it, I had to share. I feel like it's one of the nicest pieces I've done yet, and it took a lot of time to put together - I'm very pleased with it. (When I say "a lot of time" I'm not referring to production time - Yvonne was quick as usual! It just took awhile to put everything together as far as gathering gems, see below).

Here are the stats, and then I'll share the backstory if you feel like reading it; if not just jump ahead to the pics :)

Setting is 14k YG, Camellia style, by Yvonne Raley
Center gem 5.3 mm round mahenge spinel (sourced by Yvonne)
Middle layer melee Burmese spinel 2 mm rounds (sourced from Jeff Davies)
Outer layer tiny .08 diamonds (PS quality but maybe hard to tell as they're so small, lol)

Ring info - the total size across is 11mm, the top shank is 3 mm tapering to 2 mm at bottom. This ring is a size 9.

Here's the backstory on the gems involved plus the setting -

I've been holding onto this little round Portuguese cut mahenge for about two years now, it's a special one. Jaimeen (at Prima) told Yvonne that it was the most saturated smaller mahenge he'd ever seen; that's always stuck with me because we all know he's a mahenge authority. He told Yvonne to keep it, but she didn't, so I snapped it right up. I've been wanting to do something special with it for ages but didn't know what. Then I recently saw Jeff Davies post this amazing Burmese spinel melee that looked just like mahenges - better than any spinel melee I've ever seen, this stuff was crazy good - bright open color, sparkly and excellent cut, generally unlike any Burmese spinels I've seen, period. (Yvonne agreed that they were amazing; she had sent me a couple of parcels of her own melee to view, and she has some beautiful stuff too; but the color match in the parcel from Jeff was simply fantastic with my mahenge. I really lucked out! And I'm grateful that Yvonne was fine with using my melee).

I loved the camellia style since I first saw it, and I got to see Yvonne's ring in person - that cemented it for me, I knew I wanted one. And when I saw these Burmese spinels, I knew that they would be perfect with my mahenge in this setting.

I think I was right. I love this ring! Not only do the melee match very well - they even shift when the mahenge does so that they always look matched, even in different lighting. Seriously I feel so lucky to have found them! It was worth waiting two years (after getting the mahenge) to find them, lol.

I just got it today but I took a ton of pics. It is a saturated neon pink with some red, and it can look pinker or redder especially when it fluoresces in sunlight. I tried to get pics of how it looks in every daylight situation. It is a sparkle bomb and so BRIGHT and colorful!

Also including Yvonne's pics (shown first) bc they are excellent IMO. They show everything about it very well. The detail and milgrain is sooo nice.

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katharath

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

Pics galore...yes they're all handshots, sorry, lol. But they show the slightly different shifts.

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katharath

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

More, showing redder now

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katharath

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

Couple of side and further away views, plus group shot of my mahenge and Burmese pink/red rings

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lovedogs

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

wow, LOVE this ring! Just an elegant design, and I can't believe how well matched the mahenge and burmese spinels are! It's seriously incredible! Yvonne did a great job, her detail work is always impressive. congrats on an amazing addition!
 

katharath

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

Last pics, some fire shots just for fun! These were sparking like mad in the sun, there are some with 6 lasers!

And last thing - I'm also having Yvonne make dangly earrings for me using Burmese pears, a tiny pair of OMC diamonds (2.6 mm each) and the remainder of my Burmese spinel 2 mm parcel, the same as the gems in the ring. They should be finished soon, they are meant to be close in color to this ring although not exactly matching. (The spinel melee of course will match, and they will use diamonds and 14k YG like the ring). Can't wait to see them and wear along with this ring! I'll post pics of them too when completed, shouldn't be long now.

Thanks for looking, hope you've enjoyed the pics!!

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minousbijoux

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

Nice job! I would say that it is indeed an extraordinarily close match for stones from such disparate areas. I love the layered look in the petals, the tapering of the band and the sleek low profile. Beautiful.
 

katharath

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

lovedogs|1439677875|3914982 said:
wow, LOVE this ring! Just an elegant design, and I can't believe how well matched the mahenge and burmese spinels are! It's seriously incredible! Yvonne did a great job, her detail work is always impressive. congrats on an amazing addition!


Thank you lovedogs, glad you like it! The funny thing is that I bought this parcel to go into earrings, I wasn't even thinking of using the mahenge with them - until I saw them in person. Then it hit me, oh wow, these would be perfect! I couldn't believe my luck when I saw how well they went together. I'm glad you think so too :)

And yes, the fine detail work is very nice, I was impressed.
 

katharath

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

minousbijoux|1439678426|3914987 said:
Nice job! I would say that it is indeed an extraordinarily close match for stones from such disparate areas. I love the layered look in the petals, the tapering of the band and the sleek low profile. Beautiful.

Oh I'm happy you saw this, I was about to message you a link, lol!! Thank you Minous, I always love to hear your thoughts. I know I sound crazy excited about this ring - but I feel that I put a lot of thought and effort into this one, so it is a relief to have it come out well. Whew! :)
 

kgizo

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

Fantastic ring! Well deserved for your patience in finding the perfect melee and setting for the cener mahenge.
 

Garnetgirl

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

What a beautiful ring - looks great on your finger. The stones really match well together, too.
 

dk168

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

It's pretty, thanks for sharing.

DK :love:
 

katharath

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

DK, kgizo, garnetgirl - thank you all for taking the time to comment, glad you like it :)
 

Lovinggems

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

Gorgeous design and those pinks are to die for.
 

Sungura

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

Wow wow wow. That pink is so neon. I really like the spinels in yellow gold. I'm so glad you got that melee from Jeff and put it to good use you must have snapped it up realy quickly. I only noticed it once it was sold and I hoped it found a good home. Thanks for sharing all the pics. I especially love when you stacked your mahenges together what a stack!!!!
 

derbygal

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

That is just my style. I love it! :appl: :appl: :appl:
 

mochiko42

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

katharath|1439677283|3914972 said:
Pics galore...yes they're all handshots, sorry, lol. But they show the slightly different shifts.


AAAAAAHHHH!!! That is seriously beautiful. I admire your patience in waiting for the right stones and setting to all come together. It was worth it! What an overload of fantastic neon candy pink. (Running out of superlatives to describe how happy I feel to see such a pretty ring! I'm so glad you shared the photos!)

Once your earrings are done you need to share some photos of your jewelry suite. It sounds like it will be all kinds of amazing. :)


PS. -- it reminds me a bit of the Camellia pendant with emeralds that I bought from Yvonne. Sure you don't want to make a Mahenge/Burmese spinel pendant to complete your collection? :angel:
 

katharath

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

Derbygal and lovinggems - thank to both for the compliments!!

Sungura - thank you, and glad you like the ring stack :). I actually didn't get the exact parcel Jeff listed on FB, I wasn't quick enough! I saw it and messaged him right away to ask if he had more, and he did, thank god!! He had three more parcels, one of which was exactly perfect. I really wish I would've bought another of the parcels though, I am kicking myself now because...(see next comment, lol)

Mochiko -...I would LOVE to make a pendant like yours, but I'm out of my melee! I only had 20 in my parcel, 8 went in the ring and 8 are going into the earrings. I sent the whole parcel/extras to Yvonne just in case, but I'll keep any unused as replacement gems if needed. I remember your gorgeous pendant, if the opportunity arises I will try to make one to match my other pieces. That's a really great idea! And thank you for your kind words! I will post pics of the earrings for sure, I wish they were finished too...I'm so impatient, lol.

Here's the earring info - a pic of the style I'm doing, and I'll add pics to show how they are going to be laid out. But keep in mind that the middle pic is in HORRIBLE indoor lighting, I wasn't going for color accuracy at all, I just wanted to compare possible layouts. So I'm doing the style shown, but using the same 2 mm Burmese melee in the outer 4 petals on top, 2.6 mm OMC diamonds in the middle, and Burmese pears in the bottom dangle. I don't have pics of the diamonds I'm using bc I bought them from Yvonne minutes after she listed them; she pulled the listing for me and I didn't think to save the pics. I have the stats though. They're G color and VS, OMC rounds.

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Acinom

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

Stunning stones and setting!! The color of the stones is amazing and a perfect match indeed. I really like this setting design from Yvonne and it looks so beautiful on you.

And wow! You are having dangling earrings made as well. Looking forward to see those.
 

_lovesvintage_

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

Beautiful!!! Love how your persistence finally paid off in such a lovely ring and future earrings to match. Looks meant to be on you! :)

Are you only supposed to post in CS? I thought any jewelry reveal goes under SMTB. Just wondering if I misunderstood anything. I guess I am trying to get you to post there too. :)
 

Lisa Loves Shiny

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

katharath-Your ring is beyond gorgeous! Love the glowy color of the spinels, the diamond accents and the rich, buttery gold. Looks perfect on your hand.
 

lilmosun

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

Be careful not to blind people as you walk by :love:

So jealous of your incredible pink spinels and yet one set in another gorgeous camellia ring (isn't it a great setting?). Can't wait to see the earrings completed - hopefully you will post shots of the earrings on!! Someday, I will learn to beat you at grabbing one of Yvonne's small killer lots - haha (kidding - truly so happy when I learn you were the buyer of something I missed).
 

NKOTB

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

Awesome!!! I love that design, and your stones look amazing in it. I'm so glad it all came together for you. :appl: :bigsmile:
 

MollyMalone

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

Well worth the wait, it's smashing -- no wonder you are thrilled!
 

katharath

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

Mollymalone, NKOTB, LisaRN - thank you all for commenting, so happy that you all like the ring :)

Acinom - heard from Yvonne that earrings should be ready hopefully this coming week!! Shouldn't be longer than another week or so, anyway. Yay!!

Lovesvintage - you know, I've always been too intimidated to post in SMTB; I've never posted ANY of my pieces there! CS has always felt like "home" to me here on PS, so I stick to it. I guess I feel like SMTB is for phenomenal pieces, and maybe mine don't quite fit into that category yet. I don't know, maybe I'm overthinking it, lol. Maybe I'll be brave and branch out a bit...when my earrings are ready, perhaps I'll post them plus my ring pics in the same thread over there. Thanks for the encouragement :)
 

katharath

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

lilmosun|1439737282|3915147 said:
Be careful not to blind people as you walk by :love:

So jealous of your incredible pink spinels and yet one set in another gorgeous camellia ring (isn't it a great setting?). Can't wait to see the earrings completed - hopefully you will post shots of the earrings on!! Someday, I will learn to beat you at grabbing one of Yvonne's small killer lots - haha (kidding - truly so happy when I learn you were the buyer of something I missed).

Oops, missed you in my last big reply post!

I will definitely try to at least get a halfway decent ear shot with the new earrings. I'm not great at taking ear shots but I'll do my best, lol.

I know the feeling, I miss out on nice pieces of Yvonne's all the time too! (Although these small pink spinels didn't come from her, but the mahenge did). Yvonne has a lot of fans these days, there's a lot more competition when buying from her. I've noticed that just in the last couple of years, it's become harder to get her best stuff. It was definitely easier when I first started buying from her. But I'm so glad that her business is doing well, she works so hard and completely deserves it!! I do check her site regularly, and if I see something that I like, I buy it immediately - no time to sit around and think about it, or it will be gone.

I agree with you, the camellia setting is very nice. Don't you have one as well? I thought you had one with a paraiba in it - is that right or am I mixing you up with someone else? I know we've discussed her camellia setting in the past though. We really need to start a thread dedicated to camellia rings, bc I think there are starting to be a lot of us that have one, lol.

Thanks for your post, you know I always enjoy chatting with you :)
 

JulieKae

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

Wow!! It was meant to be, cannot believe how well matched those gems are and I love everything Flower.
Funny that you posted the Sapphire earrings below (I own those) Such similar taste - if you ever decide to part with the ring you know who to contact :) Congrats on such a special piece.
 

katharath

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

Thank you Julie!! I'm so glad that you like the ring, I love to hear your thoughts too :)

That just kills me about the sapphire earrings, it's yet another example of how we think alike when it comes to this hobby!
 

mochiko42

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

JulieKae|1439774080|3915402 said:
Wow!! It was meant to be, cannot believe how well matched those gems are and I love everything Flower.
Funny that you posted the Sapphire earrings below (I own those) Such similar taste - if you ever decide to part with the ring you know who to contact :) Congrats on such a special piece.

Umm... can I be second in line? :naughty:
 

Stone Hunter

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Re: My Camellia ring - mahenge+Burmese spinels+diamonds, 14k

WOW patience really does pay off. Your new ring is STUNNING! :appl: :appl: :appl:
 
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