New to forum seeking advice

[peonygirl78]

Hi everyone. I've been a lurker for a couple of weeks. I lost my engagement, wedding, and mother rings about 2 months ago. After the initial mourning period (especially for my wedding band because it was my Grandmother's and can not be replaced); I started looking for other rings. Unfortunately due to my husband not insuring all my rings; its only my engagement ring and probably my wedding band we can replace right now.

So after reading through hundreds of these posts; I finally purchased a stone that I love. Its an aquamarine (yes I have read that they may be too soft for engagement rings on here; however that was what my last one was and its my birthstone - its what I wanted).

So I am attaching my stone and I would LOVE some help figuring out what type of setting to use for this stone. I really want something simple in yellow gold (that's what my husband has for his ring b.c my Gram's was yellow gold). Before I purchased a stone, I thought I wanted a pave band because I think they are very romantic looking however now that I have the stone - I think that would be too much.

So now I think I want just a thin yellow gold band for the ring and my wedding band. But does anyone have any suggestions? Truthfully, I really have no idea what I'm talking about. I don't believe I realized that people bought their own gems and made jewelry - and the beautiful rings I've seen on here - there's nothing in stores that look like that!

So I'm open to any suggestions or help.

Also for the setting - do I need it custom made or do they have "premade" settings? I guess I'm unsure of how to proceed after this as well.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Aoife]

So you are the one who bought that! I had been kind of casually watching the page and was hoping that stone was purchased by a PS'er. Please post some IRL photos when you get a chance.

For setting advice, you might want to post the dimensions here so that some Colored Stone experts familiar with aquamarines can advise you.

I'm so sorry that you lost your rings, I'm sure you will get some very helpful feedback here.

 

[chrono]

I'm very sorry to hear about your rings. If you post the dimensions of the aqua, we will be able to advice if a calibrated setting will fit.

 

[peonygirl78]

Thank you for the replies! The stone's color is really what caught my eye and I wanted something that sparkled more than my last stone. Here is what was said about the stone:

Cut/Shape: Radiant Cut
Weight: 4.18ct
Measurements: 10.3x9 mm
Clarity: VVS

I'm open to any help or suggestions that anyone can send my way! (while I see all the other beautiful stones that I never knew existed!)

 

[chrono]

The best fit will be something 10x9 mm which is not a calibrated size. I don't know your budget for the setting but you can have something custom made through Etsy which has many different vendors with varying price points.

 

[T L]

I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of your rings, especially your grandmother's ring. What is your budget?

If you do use an aqua, a protective setting would be better, like a half bezel. Not sure of your taste, is it more traditional, modern, eclectic. Do you have examples of rings you do like?

 

[peonygirl78]

I'll have to find the ring I saw last night on here. In my mind, the ring had prongs to keep it in place and a thin gold band. (of course I don't know anything about the work under the stone or anything like that - I'm someone who completely needs to be taught and do some reading on my own).

I'll have to look at the half bezel - I'm not sure I am familiar with it.

Let me see if I can find some examples of what I'm looking for at least in my mind lol which may be completely wrong

 

[LD]

This is a more square shape than yours but is also an aqua set in a setting bought from either LOGR or Lan.bo4 from Ebay (can't remember which). The vendor customised it to fit my stone. The only thing I would change is to make the band thicker as it's a bit skinny and light but I think you can have it done in yellow gold as well.

 

[minousbijoux]

LovingDiamonds, I lurve your ring; if I ask nicely and use my inside voice would you give it to me?

 

[JewelFreak]

I'm so sorry you lost your rings, especially the grandmother ring. Family pieces mean so much. But I think you'll get much pleasure from the acqua you bought. It would be nice to see what style of setting is up your alley.

LD, I'm gonna steal that ring from you!

--- Laurie

 

[Lovinggems]

Lovely aqua, sorry about the lost of your rings.
There're some good Etsy vendors that can make you a custom setting at reasonable costs, just search the color stone forums for inspiration.

 

[peonygirl78]

Thanks so much for the posts! Believe it or not, I've been looking all day for a ring that matches what I have in my head - but I can't find one - grrr - I think I've looked through every piece of eye candy here

In my mind, I want a thing band, yellow gold, and I was hoping to use a prong setting - I think I'm going to spend a couple more hours tonight looking for something to post...

Thanks for all the responses - hopefully I'll have something by morning.

 

[movie zombie]

while i have a prong set aqua, i wouldn't have an aqua as an e-ring prong set....too much exposure for damage. however, you could get creative with the prongs and either have them more like a bezel and/or have more of them.

aqua is rather ok on the moh scale coming in at 7.5-8.....but its chemical structure allows it to fracture much as does emerald....both from the beryl family. while harder on the moh scale than garnet, its propensity to fracture is greater.

MoZo

ps sorry about the loss of your rings......however, your new stone is a looker!

 

[peonygirl78]

Okay this is a ring that I like a lot - and at first I liked the stones on the band but now I don't know if they'll be too much - any thoughts?


Oh yeah I want the ring to be yellow gold ? do you think that will look okay?

 

[minousbijoux]

So I would suggest looking at that ring and visualizing it with the shape of your stone - would you make it an east/west? If not, would you want anything between the stone and the shank? Personally, I don't think there is any color of gold you could go wrong with for that stone (okay, green gold wouldn't work), and I agree that your stone is so handsome that you don't need any pave or engraving on the shank to detract from it. [Disclosure: I have a bias for elegant simplicity; while I really admire the halos and such for others, my personal preferences are to let the stone shine and not detract from it with diamonds]

After your losses, I believe this ring will have lots of good kharma for you.

 

[Roger Dery]

aqua is rather ok on the moh scale coming in at 7.5-8.....but its chemical structure allows it to fracture much as does emerald....both from the beryl family. while harder on the moh scale than garnet, its propensity to fracture is greater.

Hi Mozo - and peonygirl78,
There is a little more to the durability of gemstones than only the hardness scale (Mohs) we use in the trade. Aquamarine does have a very similar chemical structure to Emerald; both being in the Beryl family. However, Emerald contains Chromium and/or Vanadium as its coloring agent, while Aquamarine is normally colored by Iron. Both Chromium and Vanadium will create fissures or fractures in Beryl which of course is an inherent weakness. But in Aqua, Iron does not have the same effect. Therefore, Aquamarine is seen as significantly more durable than it Emerald counterpart.

And, as an anecdote, we have handled just over 5,700 gemstone repair projects since I started keeping records of them (1994). We have found that Aquamarine holds up fairly well, and when they show wear, it is the effect of abrasion across the table, crown or exposed girdle areas of the stone. From time to time we do see them arrive having been chipped, probably from taking a sharp blow of some kind. But in my recollection, I don't believe I have seen one fractured. Not that fracturing doesn't happen, it is only that I haven't seen it yet.

MoZo, please accept my apology for stepping on your toes here, but having handled so many repair projects over the years, I felt that my experiences may be of some use.

 

[peonygirl78]

Thanks for all the great replies. Sorry its taken me a couple days to say thank you. Anyway - I get the stone tomorrow -hooray. I don't know if I'm allowed to ask on this site but thought I would anyway:

I would like to be able to take the stone to a jeweler in NC - I have been doing some research and found one that everyone (online) seems to speak highly of -- Jewels that Dance (asheville).

Has anyone worked with them or worked with anyone else in NC?