So.. I got STUFF...lol

[Arcadian]

and lots of it!

Ok first up, the tourmalines. The left stone was uber cheap. basically they told me to keep it, we'll refund you and call it a day. You can see why they said it too. but its a true blue tourmaline. Maybe I'll have it recut (maybe not, it may not even be worth bothering)

The one on the right was from AJS. I've held to it for a few days, and I have to admit, its not love.



Here it is in the setting



This however IS love. I really think I want to bezel this in yellow gold maybe even pink gold!!




The big group shot.

1.06ct dematoid garnet, 2ct brownish peach spinel, 2.04ct Chrystoberyl (slightly sleepy), 2.95ct lavender spinel, 1.14ct pink spinel, 2.21ct tourmaline

-A

 

[Arcadian]

ok so, settings. I should be ashamed of myself but here's most of them.



I've got one more on the way and I'm done (I really do mean it this time)

I've got 2 custom projects in the works, those things to fill so that should keep me busy...

On the settings. the diamonds are all the standard stuff. you know, they look fine to me. As long as they're ok with my naked eye I'm good. Some of the settings do have thinner bands (much thinner than I've seen and would have liked) especially 1 that I had purchased from diamondmount. I can live with that for now..the output wasn't that major so not too many complaints. But it will have me considering other options for sure.




-A

 

[ooo~Shiney!]

Oooo ~ I LOVE these kinds of threads!
I LOVE that Demantoid, colors like that make me go

 

[Arcadian]

thanks. The dematoid was from someone I purchase most of my sphene from on ebay. I did pretty good pricewise and the color and cutting are both very acceptable. (I need another one tho )


-A

 

[Aoife]

Oh. My.

That's almost too much bling for one post! I can't wait to see what you do with all your lovelies.

 

[ForteKitty]

whoa... that IS a lot of stuff! Can we see more pics of your mahenge? where did you get it?

 

[packrat]

Awesome! I love all your new pretties! The stones all came from different vendors I'm guessing?

 

[Arkteia]

The Dem. is awesome!

 

[Arcadian]

Packrat, of course they came from different vendors...lol

The spinel (except the pink one) and the chrystoberyl came from Jewelsapphire. They have an ebay store but I purchased directly from their website (some stones are great looking, some are so so). the greenish tourm is from ajs. the other bluish (black lol) was a test buy (you see WHY it was too!)

The mehenge is from Tan, its the 3rd I've purchased so far. I don't know why I wasn't bid against more (could have been 'one of those weeks') I don't think I have any single shots of it, I'll have to check my camera though. Its pretty and close in size to the other I have from him.

The dematoid is from exportgems. You really have to know what you 're going to get with them and be able to read their pictures and descriptions. I've had good luck with them though.

one setting is from diamondmounts, its the 9x7. the rest are LOGR. I know some feel you don't get good quality with an auction but thats not true. Those are all auction settings.

I now have to reformulate my wishlist to fit my current condition.

-A

 

[T L]

ok so, settings. I should be ashamed of myself but here's most of them.



I've got one more on the way and I'm done (I really do mean it this time)

I've got 2 custom projects in the works, those things to fill so that should keep me busy...

On the settings. the diamonds are all the standard stuff. you know, they look fine to me. As long as they're ok with my naked eye I'm good. Some of the settings do have thinner bands (much thinner than I've seen and would have liked) especially 1 that I had purchased from diamondmount. I can live with that for now..the output wasn't that major so not too many complaints. But it will have me considering other options for sure.




-A

 

[T L]

Arcadian,
Do you have the original vendor photo of the AJS tourmaline? How does it compare?

My two favs are the lavender spinel and the demantoid.

 

[Arcadian]

Arcadian,
Do you have the original vendor photo of the AJS tourmaline? How does it compare?

My two favs are the lavender spinel and the demantoid.

It dosen't quite look the same which is why I had to ask Arnold how it looked to him.

Here's their picture

I'm no doubt going to be sending it back because it dosen't really suit the setting or me even. and to my eyes its a definite difference. I can understand how these stones can be hard to photograph, which was why I had to ask Arnold what it looked like.

BTW thanks. I used your lavendar spinel as the golden standard I now have 2, the newest is my favorite though.

-A

 

[Arcadian]

ok so, settings. I should be ashamed of myself but here's most of them.



I've got one more on the way and I'm done (I really do mean it this time)

I've got 2 custom projects in the works, those things to fill so that should keep me busy...

On the settings. the diamonds are all the standard stuff. you know, they look fine to me. As long as they're ok with my naked eye I'm good. Some of the settings do have thinner bands (much thinner than I've seen and would have liked) especially 1 that I had purchased from diamondmount. I can live with that for now..the output wasn't that major so not too many complaints. But it will have me considering other options for sure.




-A

I pinky swear I'm stopping. (I couldn't help it, they were really reasonable!!)

-A

 

[T L]

Arcadian,
Do you have the original vendor photo of the AJS tourmaline? How does it compare?

My two favs are the lavender spinel and the demantoid.

It dosen't quite look the same which is why I had to ask Arnold how it looked to him.

Here's their picture

I'm no doubt going to be sending it back because it dosen't really suit the setting or me even. and to my eyes its a definite difference. I can understand how these stones can be hard to photograph, which was why I had to ask Arnold what it looked like.

BTW thanks. I used your lavendar spinel as the golden standard I now have 2, the newest is my favorite though.

-A

No, it doesn't look the same at all!! That's a bit disconcerting.

Which lavendar spinel of mine are you talking about (I have a million by now LOL!) Thanks for the kind words.

 

[Arcadian]

No, it doesn't look the same at all!! That's a bit disconcerting.

Which lavendar spinel of mine are you talking about (I have a million by now LOL!) Thanks for the kind words.

I believe its an oval one that you have. I fell in LOVE with that color. I got close...lol To deepen the color a bit I'll have to bezel mine though. I will see where my funds are for custom work after christmas.

-A

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Holy moly, Arcadian! There are some serious stunners in that group shot (demantoid, lavender spinel, and mahenge specifically), and WOWSERS at all of those settings! I'm struggling to fill 5 at the moment - can't imagine how long it would take to fill those puppies!!!

Can't wait to watch your progress and stone hunts!

 

[Largosmom]

Oh wow...loving the demantoid...got stuff too, but camera battery is out, will have to post this weekend when I get home from my travels this week.

Laura

 

[AustenNut]

Wow, Arcadian. I particularly like the chrysoberyl, demantoid, and mahenge, but dang, you've got a heck of a lot of settings! I hope you enjoy filling them!

 

[LD]

Arc you're a woman after my own heart! How exciting to have so many projects on the go! It's now a question of "where do I start?"!!!! Lucky you.

I agree about the Tourmaline - it's much less vibrant that the photo from AJS suggests. In my experience their photos do lighten and make gems seem more vibrant. They do have a good returns policy so at least that's something. Having said that, I actually do like it in the setting

I'm with you on TL's lavender spinel. It's one that makes my heart sing and I desperately want one also!

 

[Lovinggems]

I love the pink one, and the demantoid looks like a fresh light lime green, must really sparkles.

 

[Arcadian]

Thanks all.

LD, when I received the lavender spinel in the mail I was jumping up and down. lol (TL, you just don't know what you started woman!) The chrystoberyl is much prettier in the sun, but its a bit moody.

The dematoid is sooo pretty! It switches from lime to a blueish green depending on the light. I'm on the hunt for another

Lauren, I have to admit I hadn't planned on getting so many but well...you know... I figure it will take me a good solid year to 18 months to get them all filled. Thats good for me and my gem budget (if I don't go crazy that is) It also makes me stick to what I know will fit in these too..lol.

I will be sending the tourmaline back. I knew it wasn't just me, and I wanted y'all to see what I was seeing because what I saw in the picture and what I received didn't compute. I still think its a nice stone, just not what I had expected.

-A

 

[chrono]

I can see the lavender spinel is a rose gold setting too. Arcadian, you can open your own setting store with the amount of empty settings you currently have! As for your tourmaline from AJS, you’ve made me reconsider purchasing from them. I was considering a few stones from them but after seeing how the latest 2 stones from them by 2 PSers turned out quite different (less saturated), I am not willing to take the risk of international returns.

 

[Kismet]

Wow, you don't mess around when buying stuff do you? I love that demantoid... very pretty.

 

[brandy_z28]

Holy mackerel!! You don't kid!!

I that demantoid and spinels!

 

[T L]

LD, Arcadian,
Thanks for the kind words.

Arcadian
My spinel is actually violet and it turns more blue in sunlight, if that's the one I'm thinking of that is in a rose gold setting. It's darker in tone than your lavender, and has no pink, although it has pink sparkles. I see pink in Arcadian's new spinel. From my understanding, lavender is actually a much lighter shade of violet. That's why I was confused, because I do have some lighter lavender spinels too.

 

[RockHugger]

Uh yeah you did! Lol plan on opening a jewelry store one day?!


They all look beautiful!