Rubellite... gold or silver?

[Luke76]

Dear friends,
my name is Luca, I am Italian. I love collecting gems.
I have recently bought a rubellite. The stone, certified by an AIGS gemologist, is about 1 carat, oval shape, dimension= 7.2x6.2x3.4 mm.
I was told that the gem is unheated (unless I know that most rubellites are heated and irradiated, and that it is impossible to detect the treatment) and from Brazil. It is eye clean, as you can argue from the pics below.
The gem has a deep puplish red color. I think that it could be define a "raspberry rubellite tourmaline".
I read that this color is quite rare and valuable.
Thus, I thinking to mount this gem in white gold pendant for my wife. What do you think about this stone?
Do you think it's "enough" valuable to be mounted in gold? Or silver might be more suitable?
Thanks!


Here some pics
Cold artificial light


Daylight


Ciao

 

[chrono]

Rubellite is given such a name because those with top colour are an intense red, very similar to a ruby. Many rubellite today are unheated and some are irradiated but it is difficult to detect. This particular rubellite seems to show a lot of darkness in the pictures. Is that the same in person?

 

[Luke76]

@Chrono: thanks for your reply...
Yes, the stone had a dark tone. I would define as "stpR 7/5, strongly purplish-Red, dark tone, strong saturation".
Anyhow, here another pic


What do you think? Is it a good stone?
Should I have this stone mounted in gold?
Thank you in advance for your precious advice

 

[chrono]

I would set it according to how much you love the stone, your setting budget, and what metal colour suits it best.

 

[Luke76]

Your answer is really reasonable.
I wonder if I would overestimate the gem, having it mounted in gold.
Anyhow...
I guess that the setting depends on several factors, not only on the quality of the gem.

 

[Acinom]

I agree that you should spend an amount on the setting that is related to how much you love the stone, i.e. what it is worth to you. I sometimes set cheaper stones in expensive settings just becomes I love them.

I have chosen a platinum setting for my rubellite:

 

[nojs]

You know you can always rhodium plate silver, which will make it similar in color and use to white gold. Some people argue against rhodium plating silver because the plating will wear off and the unplated parts will tarnish. I think this is not a problem, since you can always re-do the plating. I rhorium plate all my nice silver pieces, because I don't like them tarnished.

Another issue is cost of labor. If you pay for custom setting, the cost of labor is likely to be more than cost of material. Therefore it might make sense to get custom pieces from more expensive materials.

 

[Michael_E]

It may be attractive to use yellow gold for the parts of the piece which are going to hold the stone, while using silver for the bulk of the piece. In my opinion, the yellow gold tends to bring out the reddish tones in these colors of rubellite, while silver settings tend to bring out the bluish tones. While rhodium plating is very white and bright, it also requires the use of a nickle preplate and so if a person is sensitive to nickle it's best not to go that way, perhaps going with one of the new, non-tarnishing silver alloys.

 

[nojs]

While rhodium plating is very white and bright, it also requires the use of a nickle preplate and so if a person is sensitive to nickle it's best not to go that way, perhaps going with one of the new, non-tarnishing silver alloys.

Is this always the case? I'm pretty sure my silver pieces have not been treated with nickel, to which I'm very allergic to. I think I would have noticed (at least when the plating begins to wear off) plus the gold smith I work with has never indicated such a thing.

 

[freezing_in_MO]

Would you consider rose gold? Depending on the exact tint of the rose gold, it could pair beautifully with the stone. The tint could vary greatly, from apricot to pink. For example, MC2's rose gold is very warm toned.

Here is an example (from http://www.burdeens.com/p/1431-18k-rose-gold-rubellite-ruby-diamond-mother-of-pearl-bloom-pendant-necklace) where the gold is barely pink:


Depending on the setting you use, you may be able to reuse it again later for a different stone if you have doubts about this one. I agree with everyone who says that you should invest in the setting based on your love for the stone. The price of the stone is a fraction of the cost of the piece of some truly beautiful pieces. Again, see MC2

 

[Michael_E]

Is this always the case? I'm pretty sure my silver pieces have not been treated with nickel, to which I'm very allergic to. I think I would have noticed (at least when the plating begins to wear off) plus the gold smith I work with has never indicated such a thing.

You could ask your jeweler, but every rhodium solution that I've ever used warns against plating over sterling. The copper in the sterling is dissolved a little and gets into the solution wrecking it. Since the solution is very expensive it's always preceded by a nickel "strike coat" or a very thin layer of plated nickel. Let me know what your jewelers says, I'd be interested if they do it in a way that doesn't use nickel, please send me a note and let me know what they do, thanks!

 

[Luke76]

Thanks to everyone for your kind reply...
And sorry for the delay in my response. But it's hard with the time difference.
I guess the the first point to consider to decide the setting of this stone is how much I like it.
I like this gem, with its deep purple color. It's for my wife and I am planning to have it mounted in a pendant.
@Acinom: your ring with rubellite is really stunning.
@Nois: I think I will use white gold or Rhodium-plated silver... since the gem is a little bit dark, I think that this kind of metal would be suitable to have a good and pleasant pendant...
@freezing_in_MO: I like rose gold... but my goldsmith does not work with this kind of metal and I had some troubles to have gems mounted in rose gold in the past...
@ Michael_E: your idea is very good and creative... however, a such setting might increase the budget...

Thank you all!!!!
Ciao

 

[Luke76]

Dear friends,
actually I am planning to have my rubellite mounted in a white gold deco style pendant...
I think that this kind of setting would maximize the light on my deep purplish red rubellite
Here another pic to give more justice to the stone

Here a deco style pendant that I found on the web

I tried to have an idea of the final results, by superimposing the image of the rubellite with a similar pendant that I bought several months ago (mounting a sapphire...). It's only a photoshop work but...

The result does not seem too bad to me...
What do you think?
Ciao

 

[Jambalaya]

Hey Luke, here is a link to my thread containing my rubellite stone bezel-set in silver. This might give you a further idea of what your stone might look like in white metal. I also considered changing the setting to yellow gold, but I think white metal makes this pink "pop" more than a yellow metal would.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/hot-pink-tourmaline-oblong-ring-approx-2-7-carats.216459/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/hot-pink-tourmaline-oblong-ring-approx-2-7-carats.216459/[/URL]

 

[Luke76]

I saw your ring... really nice, Jambalaya!
I do really agree that white metal may be more suitable to these stones
ciao