Rosa
Shiny_Rock
- Joined
- May 29, 2008
- Messages
- 164
Hi there,
I have been a longtime lurker on Pricescope, which I discovered a few years back after my now-hubby proposed and we needed diamond education and stumbled across this fabulous site!
This may be a long question, but please bear with me! My question today concerns finding a ruby or red spinel pendant/enhancer.
My father gave me a strand of pearls that had been my mother''s (actually, he gave them to her as a wedding gift!) so they have a lot of sentimental value for both him and for me as my mother is deceased. He also gave me some money to buy something to "attach" to the pearls, with the idea that it could also be "attached" to a gold chain - I think from looking online this is called an "enhancer" and he specifically said that he would like it if I would get a ruby for this purpose b/c my mother''s name was Rosa (hence my forum name) and she loved the color red.
So, I have started reading the posts on rubies and learned that:
1) they are more expensive than I suspected
2) a buyer must be very careful with rubies as most all of them seem to have been at a minimum heated, and many if not most on the market have also been "healed" (I would be ok with the use of a little heat but don''t like the idea of flux-healing)
3) a lot of Pricescopers seem to like red spinel as an alternative, although one really detailed & informative post by Raddygast from 1/30/2005 at 3:59:47 AM (sorry, don''t know how to get a link to it in here) said it was fairly difficult to find what he wanted.
I had my heart set on ruby, but after reading all this can probably learn to love a red spinel. I do have the time to devote to the search, but would love advice from you all on how. I looked at some of the sites mentioned in the colored gem forums (e.g. Palagems, Art Cut, RW Wise, Winfield''s) but my head is swimming and many places do not list prices.
For the size of the pearls, the stone would need to be at least 1 carat - 2 carats in size. I would like to use 18kt yellow gold (the clasp on the pearls is yellow gold, and I have a lot more yellow gold chains if I choose to wear it with those as a pendant.) Lastly, I would like to dress it up with some diamonds!
I really think this style is elegant and timeless (photo has an emerald, but imagine with a red stone) - and any shape could be set in this type of setting - oval, pear, cushion, etc.: http://www.firenzejewels.com/diamonds/info/15-Pendants-133-3599-000-Lady-s-diamond-and-emerald-18k-white-gold-pendant-000-.html
Advice please! Ruby or spinel? What kind of budget? (fyi, I have $2000 from my dad but could add some to that.) Buy something premade or try to buy my center stone and have someone create it for me? All input is welcome...
Many thanks in advance! p.s. I live in NYC - so in theory, that should give me a good selection, right? Any suggestions as to places on 47th St?
I have been a longtime lurker on Pricescope, which I discovered a few years back after my now-hubby proposed and we needed diamond education and stumbled across this fabulous site!
This may be a long question, but please bear with me! My question today concerns finding a ruby or red spinel pendant/enhancer.
My father gave me a strand of pearls that had been my mother''s (actually, he gave them to her as a wedding gift!) so they have a lot of sentimental value for both him and for me as my mother is deceased. He also gave me some money to buy something to "attach" to the pearls, with the idea that it could also be "attached" to a gold chain - I think from looking online this is called an "enhancer" and he specifically said that he would like it if I would get a ruby for this purpose b/c my mother''s name was Rosa (hence my forum name) and she loved the color red.
So, I have started reading the posts on rubies and learned that:
1) they are more expensive than I suspected
2) a buyer must be very careful with rubies as most all of them seem to have been at a minimum heated, and many if not most on the market have also been "healed" (I would be ok with the use of a little heat but don''t like the idea of flux-healing)
3) a lot of Pricescopers seem to like red spinel as an alternative, although one really detailed & informative post by Raddygast from 1/30/2005 at 3:59:47 AM (sorry, don''t know how to get a link to it in here) said it was fairly difficult to find what he wanted.
I had my heart set on ruby, but after reading all this can probably learn to love a red spinel. I do have the time to devote to the search, but would love advice from you all on how. I looked at some of the sites mentioned in the colored gem forums (e.g. Palagems, Art Cut, RW Wise, Winfield''s) but my head is swimming and many places do not list prices.
For the size of the pearls, the stone would need to be at least 1 carat - 2 carats in size. I would like to use 18kt yellow gold (the clasp on the pearls is yellow gold, and I have a lot more yellow gold chains if I choose to wear it with those as a pendant.) Lastly, I would like to dress it up with some diamonds!
I really think this style is elegant and timeless (photo has an emerald, but imagine with a red stone) - and any shape could be set in this type of setting - oval, pear, cushion, etc.: http://www.firenzejewels.com/diamonds/info/15-Pendants-133-3599-000-Lady-s-diamond-and-emerald-18k-white-gold-pendant-000-.html
Advice please! Ruby or spinel? What kind of budget? (fyi, I have $2000 from my dad but could add some to that.) Buy something premade or try to buy my center stone and have someone create it for me? All input is welcome...
Many thanks in advance! p.s. I live in NYC - so in theory, that should give me a good selection, right? Any suggestions as to places on 47th St?