my mint tourmaline asscher is here!!

lavatea · Aug 25, 2010

I haven't checked the mail in a few days, so I'm not sure when it came exactly, but my mint tourmaline asscher cut by the fabulous Jeff White was in the mail today! It was dark out when I got the mail, so the photo shoot will have to wait until tomorrow. I think it looks better in person than even the vendor photos make it look.

stats: 1.27 cts, 6.2 mm

The stone got a stress fracture after it was cut. You can see it over on the right side in the picture, but it is very, very hard to pick out in person. It is definitely eye clean at a normal viewing distance.

I'm so in love.

kenny · Aug 25, 2010

Mmmmm. Yum Yum Yum!

Brown.Eyed.Girl · Aug 25, 2010

Beautiful color! I love its glowy-ness

Lovinggems · Aug 26, 2010

I like the colour and it's so bright!

diva rose · Aug 26, 2010

Love it!

Largosmom · Aug 26, 2010

I really like the color! Congrats.

MakingTheGrade · Aug 26, 2010

Yay! It's lovely!

JewelFreak · Aug 26, 2010

Beautiful color!! How do you plan to set it?

packrat · Aug 26, 2010

It's gorgeous! Looking forward to more pics and what you decide to do w/it!

T L · Aug 26, 2010

Did Jeff discount it because of the stress fracture? Just be careful when setting that stone because the fracture is along the edge.

shinyrocks · Aug 26, 2010

It's a beauty! Congratulations

davi_el_mejor · Aug 26, 2010

what a beautiful stone! The color is so fresh and invigorating. It'd be a great pick me up stone for when you feel a little sad

jleb · Aug 26, 2010

Propagation of tourmaline stress fractures while cutting is a guaranteed way to improve you vocabulary of oaths and curses

They appear out of nowhere, usually when your too far in to the stone to fix it. However in this case, since it's not on one of the small corner facets it most probably will not be an issue in setting it. That's a beautiful stone and has all the performance you'd want on an Asscher.

lavatea · Aug 26, 2010

TL - He was very up front and honest about the crack and did discount it. He also tirelessly answered a bunch of nervous questions from me about it.

I have a spot reserved with Julia to have the stone set. We haven't finalized design plans (and I'm always looking for new ideas), but I'm imagining a thin bezel with a split shank. Something simple probably. We have discussed the possibility of small sidestones or beads of gold as accents.

What color gold do you guys think? I'm waiting to hear back from Julia about her recommendations. We may do a two-tone look. I know I don't want white metal (at least around the stone), but I can't decide if rose, yellow, or green gold would look best.

jstarfireb · Aug 26, 2010

It's gorgeous! I love asschers and green stones. I think your stone would look good with rose gold, which tends to bring out these minty green colors well. Julia set my prasiolite asscher a few months ago in a simple bezel setting. I couldn't afford an entirely gold ring, so we did a green gold bezel and accents with a silver split-shank. Here's a picture if you haven't seen it already. FWIW, I don't think green gold would really complement the color of your stone, but I just wanted to show you what Julia did in a similar style to what you're looking for.

Laila619 · Aug 26, 2010

Ohh, it's beautiful!

Arcadian · Aug 26, 2010

Very lovely! Thats a great color!

-A

LaurenThePartier · Aug 26, 2010

Very lovely tourmaline!

During setting, my jeweler cracked my afghan tourmaline that had a hairline inclusion in the same location. However, I worked with Julia on bezel setting an asscher and she was excellent. Make sure she's well aware of the fracture, though, and send pics to her (your own) just so she can see what she's going to be working with.

I also have a bezel split shank that Julia did in full 18k gold for my grossular garnet asscher and it's one of my favourite rings ever. For yours, I think a two-tone look would be gorgeous!

mochi · Aug 26, 2010

That's a pretty stone, the color is amazing!

lavatea · Aug 26, 2010

Thank you all!

jstarfireb - I'm pretty sure your ring is in my setting inspiration folder.

Are those sidestones or gold accents on the side?

I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to take pictures today. I think I should have time tomorrow.

jstarfireb · Aug 27, 2010

Glad to hear it - she did such a fabulous job with mine! LTP's yellow grossular asscher was the inspiration for mine, but she had a double bezel and no accents on the sides. The accents are 18k green gold, same as the bezel, and they're actually sitting on the inner band rather than raised up between the split of the shank. Julia used her creative license in deciding to put them there, and they look really great.

movie zombie · Aug 27, 2010

mint Mint MINT! no matter which gold you pair it with it will be lovely.

MoZo

chictomato · Aug 27, 2010

Its a pretty asscher the step cut shows up nicely

lavatea · Aug 27, 2010

Ok, I did two photo shoots today. Most of the pictures are from the first shoot. I didn't even think about what shirt I had on until I looked at the pictures. I'm wearing a bright blue shirt and you can see the reflection in the stone. Oops.

Prepare for photo overload!