Queston...

[Arkteia]

I am always looking at my sapphire from Gary Braun and feeling a touch of remorse. He is lying there in the box, alone, patiently waiting to be set... and someone always comes in front of him.

It is really a nice stone. Trust me, I love sapphires and hence I bought only two and sent back a few. He has everything a sapphire should have. The color is velvety blue, there are some silk inclusions in it, a tad of violet so there is not a hint of grey. He holds color in all lights.

But I had bad experience with Jeff White's sapphire. A beautiful stone, unheated, well-cut, the only difference is that it changes its color in different lights but it would be OK had it not been spoiled by a halo setting. It is just a halo, not a bezel, but closing it from all sides darkened the stone and drastically decreased its performance. I am looking for a different setting for the stone but first I want to set Gary's sapphire.

Here are pictures. Taken at the time when I wanted to pair it with orange spessartites. Now I decided to go the traditional way and use diamonds but I need lots of advices as to what I can do and what I can not do with it. Can it stand halo'ing? Two large trilliants on the sides? Is it better to go with small round brilliants?

 

[Arkteia]

Please keep in mind that the picture was taken at poor lighting with my photographic skills. Trust me, it is beautiful stone.

For a while I had "Kylie" halo in mind but it has a lot of metal underneath the stone and this may obscure access of light.

I really liked AGBF's tanzanite ring which is featured in her "red stone" thread but I can not give link to the thread because it is too long. The ring is closer to the end of it. It has two pear-shaped diamonds as side stones. Her stone has a better shape, though, mine is elongated like a potato.

I would like to get some links but most of all, advices on what to do and what not to do. I do not mind a simpler setting as long as it does not make the stone underperform.

 

[athenaworth]

I just looked back and your JW sapphire is gorgeous. Just saying.

For your current, have you thought of a smaller halo? Or even one that's raised a little.

 

[Arkteia]

www.pricescope.com/forum/colored-stones/help-me-find-a-red-stone-a-red-spinel-or-a-ruby-t155192-300.html

This is AGBF's thread. On page 11, there are several rings that I like. Her tanzanite ring is interesting but the stone in it it is much better proportioned. In my case, two trilliants or trapezoids or even half-moons could strategically improve the form of the stone but I am afraid they'll close it too much.

Athenaworth - the stone cut by Jeff is very pretty but it is a color changer and haloing it made things worse. I am not posting it here. Sooner or later, I'll have to reset it. The stone that I feature here is not a color changer and holds its color in all lights which by itself is a blessing. It also is dark enough (I like dark blue sapphires) but not overly dark.

I am afraid that even a bridge underneath an elevated halo may show as an area of darkness but I may be wrong... This is why I am posting my question here. I want to hear PS-ers' opinions on what could be OK for this stone and what I should not opt for.

By the way, most of my stones are on the darker side, I just like them this way so most of them can not be bezeled. So I am constantly facing the problem of setting/performance. I love Iolani setting by Sally but in my whole jewelry box, there is only one stone that can potentially be set this way.

 

[jstarfireb]

Your sapphire is such a gorgeous velvety blue!

I like the idea of an oval with pear, trillion, half-moon, or even tapered baguette sidestones. I think the sidestones have to be relatively small but not too small in order to make it work, maybe about 1/3 to 1/2 of the length of the oval. Also, while blue and orange is a pretty combination, I probably wouldn't want any color in the sidestones to compete with your sapphire, so I think diamonds, white sapphires, or white zircons would be really pretty.

Something like this would also be nice:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Gorgeous-7x9mm-...Fine_Rings&hash=item3f0c163a4c#ht_7624wt_1037

 

[Arkteia]

Thank you, Jstarfireb!

I have decided to go with diamonds, not orange stones. I just had no new photos of this sapphire.

This ring by LOGR is not bad at all but my sapphire is around 6.4 x 8.6 I do not know if it would fit or need to be customized. I put this setting on my watch list just in case... I never worked with LOGR.

 

[T L]

I love that sapphire. Absolutely gorgeous!!

To know if a bezel wouldn't darken it too much, surround it in some aluminum foil (shape the foil around the stone).

Does your stone have silk? It has a velvety glow in your photos.

 

[Arkteia]

Thank you, TL!
YES, it has silk . Unheated, untreated, I had it AGL-certified,, absolutely gorgeous .

 

[pregcurious]

I think someone suggested on another post to put a circle of foil around a stone to see how it would perform in a halo. I don't know if this works, but perhaps it would give you an idea?

 

[LD]

I would stay away from a halo - especially as you've had a bad experience with one unless you would consider having it sitting above the halo OR having an airline? I know this is a different stone to your JW one but if it's temporarily put you off halos then going down a different route makes sense.

Pears or trillliants will work well if you turn the sapphire North/South and I love the classic look it can achieve. I also like the look of traps but the setting needs to be good so that the straight line of the traps is tucked slightly under the edge of the oval to achieve a continuous flow (same with trilliants actually).

Hope that helps.

 

[Arkteia]

Thank you, LD! I think I shall go this route... Looking at the stone and having some experience with bezels and halos, I feel that staying away from halos would make sense.

 

[dragonfly411]

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/tanzanite.163692/

Crasru - what about something like the setting in the link above but perhaps a bit thinner in the shank, in white gold? I really love this type of design for blue stones.

 

[Arkteia]

Perhaps the side diamonds should be a tad larger but I like the design...

What do you think of this? Too simple? Mind you, I have a much larger stone...

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/for-those-who-are-worried-about-getting-a-smaller-stone.155914/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/for-those-who-are-worried-about-getting-a-smaller-stone.155914/[/URL]

 

[jstarfireb]

I like that ring in part because they're all the same type of cut. I don't think I'd like an oval center stone with emerald-cut sidestones.

 

[sarahharris]

That is a beautiful sapphire stone. It's a shame that you say it's being darkened so much by the halo setting.

Is it necessary to have a halo? I would suggest just simple prong setting so the sapphire is raised slightly above the setting allowing all its brilliance to shine through.

And I would ditch the orange side stones and go for diamonds. The color takes away from the blue, whereas the white of the diamonds will make it stand out even more. Go for small side stones, they don't need to be huge.

Hope this helps!

 

[pregcurious]

I think a simple three stone with round, half-moon, or trillions would look good.

 

[cokitty]

What about these simple three stone with half bezels.