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My hard-to-photograph sphene and demantoid ring from Cecile Raley Designs

voce

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I just started collecting gemstones and rings this year. I joined PS forums and looked up many vendors to see what they have in inventory. When I saw Yvonne's green colored stones, I immediately wanted a green sunflower ring. Demantoid would have been out of my budget for a center stone, so when I found this sphene, which I had heard had even higher dispersion than demantoid and can flash green, in Yvonne's shop, I decided to go for it. I had also wanted to work with Yvonne, since she has a lot of nice designs and was quite nice when I asked her about some other gemstones in her shop before I finally pulled the trigger.

A green sun, to me, is symbolic of my happy childhood. When I went to kindergarten the reports were still hand written, and my teacher had written that I was very mischievous but creative, as I had deliberately colored the sun green in my drawings, even though my favorite color had been red. I don't really know that my coloring the sun green was a true indication of my creativity, but when my mom showed me the report she kept for so many years after I was already an adult, my teacher's comment made me happy. I have been praised here and there on my creative writing, and I want to become a writer of fantasy novels someday after I retire.

Anyway, back to the ring. 14kt yellow gold, sphene center, demantoid garnet for sunflower petals. I think the proportions are excellent, and the setting and milgrain work exquisite.

First off, Yvonne's picture:
il_570xN.1631591349_r7cn.jpg
I have trouble photographing the ring on my phone camera because all the brilliant flashes of light throws the focus off, I think. This is the best I could do outdoors and indoors:
IMG_20180815_123812769.jpg
IMG_20180815_124102759.jpg
IMG_20180815_124643234_LL.jpg
Note to self: if I am going to spend this much money on jewelry/gemstones, I should really consider upgrading my cell phone so I can have a better camera to photograph them with.
 

Mrs_Strizzle

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So pretty and unique, as well as a touching story! Wear it in good health.
 

Rubybrick

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It’s so lovely, and a sweet memory! Wear in health!
 

natasha-cupcake

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I love your ring! It's so bright and sunny. That's a ring I'd wear if I was ever in a bad mood. I can't imagine looking at that ring and not feeling cheered up. Enjoy! A Yvonne Raley ring has been on my jewelry wish list for a while now. Her designs are beautiful and the color combinations she comes up with are just out of this world!
 

princessandthepear

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What a great story and what a lovely ring! I'm not very familiar with these gems. You have inspired me to learn more about them.:read:
 

leslie1956

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I loved hearing your childhood story, Voce, now I understand why you chose those warm yellow and green colors :)

I'm fortunate enough to own a number of pieces from Yvonne, she has never disappointed me!
 

voce

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So pretty and unique, as well as a touching story! Wear it in good health.
Thanks, Mrs_Strizzle. You have a lot of pretty stones, I wish you would put them in settings to wear and show us more! :geek2:

It’s so lovely, and a sweet memory! Wear in health!
Thank you, Rubybrick. I would like to see more posts of your finds on PS, too. =)2
 

voce

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I love your ring! It's so bright and sunny. That's a ring I'd wear if I was ever in a bad mood. I can't imagine looking at that ring and not feeling cheered up. Enjoy! A Yvonne Raley ring has been on my jewelry wish list for a while now. Her designs are beautiful and the color combinations she comes up with are just out of this world!

Thanks natasha-cupcake, I do agree that Yvonne has a lot of beautiful designs and good color combinations. I didn't know until I read her blog. Which designs of hers are on the top of your wishlist?
 

voce

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What a great story and what a lovely ring! I'm not very familiar with these gems. You have inspired me to learn more about them.:read:
Thanks, I'm glad you think so. I honestly have never considered sphene (aka titanite) until stumbling across a thread on PS. Even then, I would not trust most jewelers to set them, given how soft they are. I knew that Yvonne had done sphene before from her blog, so I trusted that her setter would do a great job--and he did.
 

voce

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I loved hearing your childhood story, Voce, now I understand why you chose those warm yellow and green colors :)

I'm fortunate enough to own a number of pieces from Yvonne, she has never disappointed me!
Haha, leslie, I've noticed you own many of her pieces. Your demantoid and paraiba eternity ring, I love, as well as your paraiba and hauynite combination rings. Your handshots from the Yvonne Raley thread gave me a good idea of what her designs would look like when worn.
Am I allowed to get mock angry with you for hogging the hauynite? :razz:
 

natasha-cupcake

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Thanks natasha-cupcake, I do agree that Yvonne has a lot of beautiful designs and good color combinations. I didn't know until I read her blog. Which designs of hers are on the top of your wishlist?
I tell you, I have a hard time coming up with a favorite. I love all of the floral designs and can't decide which one I like the best. I also don't know if I want a smaller center stone or a larger stone. Her designs look so pretty with both large and small centers. I love the Edwardian ring, too. As far as colors and specific stones, I'm going to leave that up to her when I'm ready. I'll decide whether I want to go blue/purple/green or red/orange/pink and let her put something together.

I don't have the budget set aside yet, so I guess I have plenty of time to mull. :roll2:
 

voce

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I tell you, I have a hard time coming up with a favorite. I love all of the floral designs and can't decide which one I like the best. I also don't know if I want a smaller center stone or a larger stone. Her designs look so pretty with both large and small centers. I love the Edwardian ring, too. As far as colors and specific stones, I'm going to leave that up to her when I'm ready. I'll decide whether I want to go blue/purple/green or red/orange/pink and let her put something together.

I don't have the budget set aside yet, so I guess I have plenty of time to mull. :roll2:
In my case, I look at what she has on Etsy and 'favorite' the ones I like for the center stone. My budget and what she has available is what determines what I pick for the center stone. If it weren't for the budget, I would go demantoid and sapphire all the way :lol-2:!

The color combos you mentioned above are both good. I'm new to CS and jewelry in general so I've been trying to pick up a little of every variety of CS. My first stones were ruby and sapphire. Sphene, demantoid (in small sizes), paraiba (courtesy of DF), chrysoberyl are my most recent acquisitions. I would love to know what you already have, and what stones would give your collection even more variety. :geek2: I do not remember coming across any threads where you posted your CS.
 

Lisa Loves Shiny

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Beautiful ring- I bet that sphene is a sparkle bomb.
 

derbygal

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I love your ring!
 

ZestfullyBling

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Love your ring. I bet that spene sparkles like nobody's business. ..and the piercing green demantoids awesome combo!! So pretty!:love::dance:
 

voce

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@LisaRN @derbygal @ZestfullyBling thank you for the kind words :geek2:
The sphene is indeed sparkly...so sparkly my crappy phone camera can't capture a sharp picture of it!
 

peacechick

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I love the story! We have a love of fantasy novels in common :love: Take good care of your wonderful sphene flower!
 

arkieb1

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Congrats I love flower rings!!!
 

Hivona

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It’s gorgeous!!! I don’t have demantoid, sphene, nor an Yvonne piece but all are on my list! I’ve heard how notorious sphene is to set so it’s nice to see she’s willing to do it! I’d love a demantoid ring someday as I love green gems! Thanks for sharing! It is lovely!!!
 

voce

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I love the story! We have a love of fantasy novels in common :love: Take good care of your wonderful sphene flower!
Thanks, I will do my best to baby this ring. It's my first ring with a stone less than 7.5 for hardness. Yay for another fantasy reader!

Congrats I love flower rings!!!
Thanks, I love them, too.

It’s gorgeous!!! I don’t have demantoid, sphene, nor an Yvonne piece but all are on my list! I’ve heard how notorious sphene is to set so it’s nice to see she’s willing to do it! I’d love a demantoid ring someday as I love green gems! Thanks for sharing! It is lovely!!!
Thank you, Hivona. I hope to have a super-saturated garnet like the one in your avatar, too, someday. That's going to have to wait until next year at the earliest. As it stands, I've just about busted my entire gemstone budget for the year (decided to splurge with birthday money this month), and I'm on gemstone ban until Christmas. Any money I have from now until Christmas will be to set stones or to save up for a special ruby from Bron.
 

Acinom

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Congrats! What a sunny beauty
Such a beautiful design and colour combo
 

Hivona

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Thanks, I will do my best to baby this ring. It's my first ring with a stone less than 7.5 for hardness. Yay for another fantasy reader!


Thanks, I love them, too.


Thank you, Hivona. I hope to have a super-saturated garnet like the one in your avatar, too, someday. That's going to have to wait until next year at the earliest. As it stands, I've just about busted my entire gemstone budget for the year (decided to splurge with birthday money this month), and I'm on gemstone ban until Christmas. Any money I have from now until Christmas will be to set stones or to save up for a special ruby from Bron.

Is @Bron357 selling some of her rubies?! :geek2: Yeah my gem budget is drained! I need to work some extra hours!
 

voce

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voce

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Is @Bron357 selling some of her rubies?! :geek2: Yeah my gem budget is drained! I need to work some extra hours!
Around when @Bron357 decided to raffle her beautiful chipped ruby, I emailed her, and she graciously agreed to set aside a similar sized (around 1ct) ruby for me, lucky me. :geek2: :geek2: :geek2:
I don't think that means she has decided what to do with the rest of her rubies yet.
 

natasha-cupcake

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In my case, I look at what she has on Etsy and 'favorite' the ones I like for the center stone. My budget and what she has available is what determines what I pick for the center stone. If it weren't for the budget, I would go demantoid and sapphire all the way :lol-2:!

The color combos you mentioned above are both good. I'm new to CS and jewelry in general so I've been trying to pick up a little of every variety of CS. My first stones were ruby and sapphire. Sphene, demantoid (in small sizes), paraiba (courtesy of DF), chrysoberyl are my most recent acquisitions. I would love to know what you already have, and what stones would give your collection even more variety. :geek2: I do not remember coming across any threads where you posted your CS.

I'm new to colored stones and jewelry, too. I have a big wish list, not a stash, unfortunately! So far I only have one colored stone, a smallish pad sapphire. Here's the thread on it:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/calling-all-pad-experts….240341/

I don't have it set yet. As far as my wish list goes, in addition to any Yvonne Raley design, I'd love an oval ruby, a round bright blue sapphire, a smallish emerald cut emerald, an oval or round pink or red spinel, and a round chrysoberyl. I'd like all of these in various settings, depending on the stone/shape. I'm thinking some as solitaires with or without side stone diamonds, and others in bezel and/or halo settings. I don't know if I'll wear them as right hand rings, or possibly as alternate engagement rings. Of course, as alternate engagement rings, I would need appropriate alternate wedding bands. And maybe a stacker or two...

Imagine the possibilities, and the damage to my wallet, too!! How deep does the rabbit hole go?:mrgreen2:
 

Mrs_Strizzle

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Thanks, Mrs_Strizzle. You have a lot of pretty stones, I wish you would put them in settings to wear and show us more! :geek2:


Thank you, Voce. I've been collecting gemstones for 15 years-ish and up until recently have been perfectly happy just to pull them out and play with them now and then. It was kinda like therapy to me, ha. But now I'm on PS and inspired to create some custom jewelry. Right now I am trying to design (on paper) a bangle with my tiny FCDs and also thinking of a multi colored pink spinel "diamond by the yard" necklace. I will be reaching out for advice when I'm closer to pulling the trigger on these. Sorry, not trying to hijack your thread!
 

elle_71125

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Yay! You have it! :D I've said it already but just love this ring. It's just makes me so happy. The colors are just so cheerful!

I loved your childhood school story. Isn't it the little things that make us so unique (like your green sun). Now you have a gorgeously unique ring to bring you joy and be your own personal sun. :mrgreen2:
 

leslie1956

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Haha, leslie, I've noticed you own many of her pieces. Your demantoid and paraiba eternity ring, I love, as well as your paraiba and hauynite combination rings. Your handshots from the Yvonne Raley thread gave me a good idea of what her designs would look like when worn.
Am I allowed to get mock angry with you for hogging the hauynite? :razz:
You have every right to be mock angry at me because I have hogged the hauynite, lol! I consider myself very fortunate to have so much of her work :) Thanks for your kind words!
 

Sabrina31

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I really love how light hearted and happy that ring looks, i hope it brings you tons of joy @voce
 

Batgirl76

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Such a happy ring and story :)
 
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