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Red Garnet Ring

mintbark

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 26, 2019
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119
For the longest time a ruby with two diamond baguettes was my dream ring (was my original dream engagement ring until I discovered ruby prices have 10x in the last 5-10 years). Since then, I've decided to go heirloom on the engagement ring and but I still wanted a large "ruby red" ring. I've considered spinels (too expensive for something that's not sapphire/emerald/ruby - in my mind they're still the color stone queens even if it's not true), lab rubies (the ones I've seen are generally meh? -- any really good sources for lab rubies?), and garnets (most are either too dark or too purple).

Anyways, I found a vendor who had really pretty red garnets that looks great from a lot of different angles, the ring is still a WIP but I wanted to share some pictures of the stone itself. It's 3.7 carats and roughly 9.2mm long by 8mm. The pictures didn't come out great since they're screen shots from videos. In the group of 4 if you orient the hand fingers up, my garnet is bottom right. The top one left is a spinel, top right a ruby, bottom left is a smaller garnet.

For the setting, I'm thinking 18kt gold with double eagle prongs on the corners. I wear a size 4 so anything more will probably overwhelm the ring.

Screen Shot 2020-04-13 at 14.55.12.png Screen Shot 2020-04-13 at 14.55.19.png Screen Shot 2020-04-13 at 15.01.21.png Screen Shot 2020-04-13 at 14.55.39.png Screen Shot 2020-04-13 at 14.55.48.png
 

mintbark

Shiny_Rock
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Sep 26, 2019
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119
The pictures turned out extra terrible, any advice?
 

chrono

Super_Ideal_Rock
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The garnet does look very much like the rest. How is it indoors?
 

mintbark

Shiny_Rock
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Sep 26, 2019
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119
These should be better quality. The first two are under something that looks like incandescent light/indoors. The third one is dusk, and the last one is daylight. (These are screenshots of looping videos from my phone)
IMG_3318 2.PNG IMG_3321.PNG IMG_3319.PNG IMG_3320.PNG
 

Rfisher

Ideal_Rock
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Oct 19, 2013
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Are you getting to see the loose stone in person before it’s set?
Is the vendor (where these pictures are taken) near you geographically?
 

mintbark

Shiny_Rock
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Sep 26, 2019
Messages
119
Unfortunately not, they're on the other side of the country.
 

Rfisher

Ideal_Rock
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I love the shape and crown of your stone, especially compared to the other three.
If the lighting environment at the vendors is drastically different than your own, no amount of accurate photography/monitor depiction matters. Sometimes it will just look different in real life just due to geographical location.
Congratulations to you on moving forward on a dream ring inspiration!
If a garnet is what you want - wonderful!
Initially reading that a ruby ring was your desire, rationalized spinels wasn’t your jam, and then were on to garnets as the answer - my first reaction was “uh oh!”
Then I realized the pictures you have posted - on my monitor, the ruby looks very very close to the color of the garnet. If this makes your heart sing, that’s all that matters!

I hope you do come back and post photos of the finished ring on your hand!
 

mintbark

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 26, 2019
Messages
119
I actually bought a rhodolite from Finewater gems but realized that although it's pretty it's too purple to satisfy my red thirst. It's really pretty if I look at it on its own, but a little disappointing compared to what I'm looking for. I had given up on garnets until I saw this one. I've committed to this garnet ring so I'm definitely buying it (a complicating factor is that I like big stones which becomes exponentially more expensive). Though sometimes I wonder if I should have gone for lab ruby instead? Anyone have any experience with lab rubies?

Interesting enough I tried on my dream ruby ring in real life at Harry Winston's and I was underwhelmed (they were also looking for a quarter of a million!), it could be the sticker shock that ruined it for me. I know that they cost an order of magnitude less with any other vendor but the price to gem ratio just doesn't work for me.
 

pwsg07

Brilliant_Rock
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Nov 21, 2016
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739
Go to the fabulous fashion jewelry, they have some suggestions for lab stones. I have a lab ruby that I bought at the gem show. It is the colour of the pigeon’s blood but it is not well cut. Precision gem also custom cuts lab stones
 

mintbark

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 26, 2019
Messages
119
@Batgirl76 I've seen the geolite site but it's always looked too pink for my tastes. I did ask for a quote to get a custom cut lab ruby from one of the precision cutters, but ultimately something mined felt more special even though the stone itself might have been prettier. I also have a large synthetic ruby and it definitely looks like costume jewelry, the quality of the setting definitely does not help.

@Rfisher thanks for opening the listing up! It's interesting to see the different lab rubies.

One thing I've learned in all this is I definitely need to buy the setting first then get the stone because custom settings are expensive.
 

Rfisher

Ideal_Rock
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And here’s a 5+ct rhodolite
In very bright and direct lighting and the best I could get it to look ever
23FBFFE6-2E38-43A8-8FDB-7063FB6B6C90.jpeg 74624791-4941-4AA0-9A64-AC803D4D728E.jpeg
Vs vendor pic 00553EFD-0052-4E88-B5A8-044B4DD27C1C.jpeg

So I’m really interested in seeing yours.
 

chrono

Super_Ideal_Rock
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My concern is you want red RED and garnet is going to have a rough time doing that. Even spinel and ruby are going to have a rough time unless it is uber expensive. Therefore, I don't know the quality of the spinel and ruby the vendor is using as comparison. Are they red RED? I don't know. Such quality is extremely difficult to procure.
 

mintbark

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 26, 2019
Messages
119
Hi @chrono, what would you recommend for a great red gem? Top quality rubies are not in the budget and I'm not willing to pay top quality red spinel prices. If I had to choose, I prefer deeper red vs. pink/purple.
 

chrono

Super_Ideal_Rock
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In this case where size matters, budget and quality, I might consider synthetic. I love large bright reds but sadly, not in my budget either, hence I don't own any ruby. Garnet just doesn't do it for me because I can't handle the shift and how the larger ones tends to be overly dark. Perhaps you are all right with how garnets perform.
 

Rfisher

Ideal_Rock
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Oct 19, 2013
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Wait until the garnet you said you already bought arrives and view it in multiple environments.
then come back with your pictures to show us and let us know what you do and don’t like.
I think there’s an opportunity - with that new information - that someone here can guide you on which specific synthetic ruby to lean towards or maybe even a natural ruby that leans towards ‘garnet looking’ that’s not the trade ideal that’s mostly recommended and sought after - but just may be what you are looking for.
 

mintbark

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 26, 2019
Messages
119
Here's to hoping I love my ring and am happy with it for a good long while, I'll definitely update with pictures when I get it, it'll be a while
 

mintbark

Shiny_Rock
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Sep 26, 2019
Messages
119
I saw this today from PrecisionGems. It looks too perfect? Not like what I imagine a ruby to look like. I'm more confident in my garnet decisions :). Maybe if I become friends with a bunch of billionaires I'll start loving this look more :lol:


But I love these and I'm not sure what the difference is other than the cut and the fact that the lab ones are sparklier?

 
Last edited:

voce

Ideal_Rock
Joined
May 13, 2018
Messages
5,161
The reflections to the eye from the garnets don't look a pure vivid red, as the Precision Gem lab ruby and the Yavorskyy rubies exhibit. Under direct sunlight, a red garnet will black out (more extinction across the stone under direct sunlight), whereas due to chromium content, a ruby should theoretically look better under the sun. In other words, about the worst a ruby could look, like the Yavorskyy rubies, is about the best a garnet could look. I've tried many fine garnets and never came across a single one as consistently red in all lighting as my ruby. It took a while before I became resigned that I'll never love a red garnet as much as red ruby or spinel. I've seen some unappealing red spinels that behave like garnet, and I suppose there must be some unappealing rubies out there (Yavorskyy 10 ct ones included). But, no garnet can hold a candle to the finest of rubies and red spinels.
 

mintbark

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 26, 2019
Messages
119
@voce definitely! And if I didn’t love big stones so much I’d get a ruby Or spinel but at the sizes I’m looking for they’re unfortunately not in budget.

I got the CAD for my ring today, any suggestions?

478B4379-C111-4A9B-936D-A1551F4C6D91.jpeg
 

voce

Ideal_Rock
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May 13, 2018
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@mintbark it looks like a perfectly nice solitaire, but I would want the band to not look so plain. Have you thought about getting it engraved (which wouldn't show up on a CAD anyway) or making it a diamond studded band?
 

Rfisher

Ideal_Rock
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Oct 19, 2013
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I’d prefer to see your ring setting inspirations before I gave my opinions on your CAD.
~always on team yellow gold tho ~
 

mintbark

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 26, 2019
Messages
119
I didn't have an inspiration pictures, this is one of the vendor's designs, modified to be a split prong. You can see the model ring here https://www.freemanjewellery.com/co...oducts/four-claw-isela-solitaire-ring-setting.

I was thinking of making the prongs a bit thinner and adding a slight taper. I considered adding baguettes, but I want to keep the cost of the overall ring reasonable. Also I wear a size 4 so there's not a ton of finger real-estate around. I'd like this ring to be an everyday ring.
 
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