What color gold for alexandrite?

[jstarfireb]

I''m jumping on the Etsy bandwagon and ordering a Lotus ring from Heart of Water Jewels, like MakingTheGrade''s beautiful ring. Sally has a gorgeous 4mm alexandrite on hold for me, which is one of my favorite gemstones (and happens to be my mom''s and my husband''s birthstone). It''s a natural stone of Indian origin. According to Sally, the color change is really easy to bring out. It''s blue/green in natural/fluorescent light, purple in incandescent, and also in incandescent lighting shows flickers of red!

I was planning on having it made in white gold to provide a neutral contrast for the color change. I have another alexandrite ring in white gold, and the colors look nice together. However, I''ve been increasingly intrigued by rose gold these days, and I''ve also been wearing a lot more of my yellow gold pieces lately. So I wanted to get your opinions on the color of gold to set the stone in. What do you think? White, rose, or yellow gold?

The stone I''m getting is the center one in all of these pictures (it seems to show less windowing than the other two).

 

[jstarfireb]

More pictures showing the color change...

 

[jstarfireb]

Purple!

 

[jstarfireb]

Green!

 

[LD]

Oh please not rose gold. Yuck! (Sorry!)

All my alex is either set in yellow or white (it looks great in both). Rose gold in my humble opinion, would clash.

I know rose gold is fashionable but I do think it's limiting and doesn't compliment many stones. I do however set pink gemstones in rose gold but that's about it. Just my opinion!

I've posted pictures of some of my Alex collection before and if you search on my name you'll see photos of white and yellow gold pieces.

 

[jstarfireb]

LovingDiamonds - I think that''s just the kind of advice I need! I''m just loving rose gold right now and need some convincing that it''s not the right metal for alex. I think a deep eggplant purple stone like amethyst would look good in it, but probably not alexandrite.

I pulled this pic from another thread:

WOW! You have quite the collection! Did you get the chevron ring on your index finger from Khazargems? I have a chevron ring just like it in white gold!

I''m probably leaning toward white gold right now, but your yellow gold pieces are also really nice!

 

[LD]

lol that's an old picture! I've added to the collection now!!!

I've personally seen Sally's white gold and it's WHITE. It's actually some of the whitest gold I've ever seen and the contrast would be sensational. I haven't seen her yellow gold but I'm betting it's a rich warm colour - so again, in the Lotus setting would look phenomenal. I don't think you can go wrong with either metal in all honesty.

The chevron isn't from Khazargems - I've had it for years and to be honest can't recall where I got it!

ETA: Check with Sally whether the central Alex has inclusions will you? In the first couple of pictures it looks like it might have some silk fairly visible. In Alex, it can realy help the colour change but it can also take over and make the gemstone look cloudy. It's difficult to tell from the photos. You're right that it's less windowed than the other two so would probably be my choice too.

 

[kas baby]

you''re not the only one to be jumping on the etsy bandwagon! that lotus setting is just to die for and Sally is just so nice

white gold gets my vote. I think it would look really crisp with the alexandrite- yum! I would have to agree with lovingdiamonds that rose gold is best with pinks and whatnot

good luck with your decision making!

 

[packrat]

I think it would look fabulous in a wg lotus!

 

[jstarfireb]

LovingDiamonds - thanks for the advice! I did check on both the window and the eye-clean issue, and Sally said the following:

"You know, windowing seems common in this stone. These are nicely cut, but in the close up shots you can see the window. To the naked eye, they look sparkly and the inclusions in the middle stone don't show."

My thought is that there's some silk in the center stone that's adding to the color change, but not detrimental to the naked eye based on what Sally says.

ETA: It's only 4mm as well, so I doubt I could spot the inclusions in a stone of that size.

 

[jstarfireb]

Oh, one more thought. With the stone being 4mm and the lotus ring being an extremely thin band (1mm), I''m a little worried that my size 6.75 finger will dwarf the ring. Should I get it as a pinky ring? Or keep it as a regular ring, but maybe stack it?

Kas baby and packrat - thanks for the input! I think the WG is probably the way to go. Anyone else want to weigh in?

LovingDiamonds - here is my chevron ring from Khazargems. Very similar design! The stone unfortunately has a large window; otherwise I think the color change is good. But I have to hold it up against a white background because of the windowing.

 

[jstarfireb]

Another photo of my chevron ring showing the color change, the window, and a little S-shaped inclusion...

ETA: I believe the stone is native-cut. Per the vendor, it's from the Vishakhapatnam mine in India.

 

[jstarfireb]

SDLady - I don''t think Sally works with palladium, but I could check. Thanks!

 

[chrono]

I think the reason for the common windowing issue is that cutters want to maximize the carat weight hence cutting a shallower stone. Alexandrites are very expensive so if anything can be saved, the cutter is not going to remove it. I am concerned that the there may be too much contrast if a dark alexandrite is placed in a white metal. I’d go for a softer yellow gold setting. The purple should look good in yellow and the blue/green is also complimentary in yellow.

 

[jstarfireb]

Thanks Chrono! I like the one I have currently in white gold, but I see LD''s pieces in yellow and really like them too! Maybe I''ll ask Sally what she would prefer. It''s tough because I wear a lot more white/silver-toned jewelry, so I think I''ll get more use out of white, but I''ve been wearing my yellow gold OEC ring a lot (which may look nice stacked with this).

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Maybe two tone? The lotus/head in white and the band in yellow?

 

[D&T]

Love yellow gold... especially when the purple hits it just right, it''s yummy!

 

[LD]

I was having a mooch around Sally's Etsy site yesterday and noticed she had used a lotus ring in a stacker and even though I didn't think it should work, it did! What colour are your other stackers? It would be nice to be able to wear it that way in case it feels too small when you get it. My fingers are a size 6 now (and getting smaller) and I'm used to fairly big rings so 4mm would feel a bit on the small side although having said that the lotus does give nice finger coverage. Definitely think I would go with the most versatile option if you can.

BTW the colours in the photo are very typical of Indian Alex. That mine isn't mining anymore and there were some phenomenal stones that came out of it. Some of the daylight green was stunning.

 

[jstarfireb]

D&T - I have some amethyst set in yellow gold, so I know what you mean!

Making the Grade - That''s a good idea that I hadn''t though of. My little OEC is in a 2-tone setting.

LD - I actually don''t have many stackers! I''m new to the whole stacking ring concept. I dug through my ring collection and found a bunch that could theoretically function as stackers. Gold ones are on the top; white/silver ones are on the bottom:

1) YG band/WG head OEC diamond, 0.25 J-K/VS
2) Marquise cut ruby with channel-set diamonds in curvy YG setting
3) Tiny bezel-set diamond, YG band/WG bezel
4) Trillion ruby in YG
5) Trillion light colored tanzanite in YG
6) Channel-set diamond band, WG with YG ribbon-like accents
7) Sterling silver amethyst bezel (I see this as the most "appropriate" stacker)
Green tourmaline, "scissor cut" in non-rhodium-plated WG (so it looks more yellowish)
9) Fake alexandrite in WG
10) Alexandrite chevron ring (would have to be stacked on the bottom, but I like the idea of keeping both alexandrites together)

 

[D&T]

NICE collection!!! gorgeous.

 

[jstarfireb]

Thanks D&T! Which do you think would look good with the alex lotus?

 

[LD]

For someone who doesn''t do stackers you''ve got a finger full there lol!

I agree that the amethyst is the ring that I''d put next to the lotus. Check out Sally''s Etsy site because there may be a couple of rings she could made for you with reasonable gemstones but in all honesty I think I''d be guided by her.

 

[jstarfireb]

Date: 6/29/2009 5:26:06 PM
Author: LovingDiamonds
For someone who doesn''t do stackers you''ve got a finger full there lol!

LOL! Well, until now I just wore them all individually. It never occurred to me that smaller rings could be stacked. So that''s what I mean by not doing stackers.

Thanks to all of you! I think if I want to stack with the amethyst, I''d do WG to match the sterling. I could probably get the amethyst ring rhodium plated to be a more exact match too. I also think the tourmaline would stack nicely with it. Lots of options here!

 

[T L]

Date: 6/29/2009 3:05:14 PM
Author: LovingDiamonds
Oh please not rose gold. Yuck! (Sorry!)

All my alex is either set in yellow or white (it looks great in both). Rose gold in my humble opinion, would clash.

I know rose gold is fashionable but I do think it''s limiting and doesn''t compliment many stones. I do however set pink gemstones in rose gold but that''s about it. Just my opinion!

I''ve posted pictures of some of my Alex collection before and if you search on my name you''ll see photos of white and yellow gold pieces.

Okay, slight hijack here, but I need to know when LD is going to open her own gem museum!! I am just in awe of her collection!! You name it, she has it, and not just one, but twenty or more!!

Drooling!!

Hijack over.

I think yellow or white compliments alexandrite.

 

[jstarfireb]

I know!!! I seriously want those rocks!

 

[Barrett]

very nice...India has some decent stones..most everyone wants brazilian ones but india is not bad at all...love your stones jstar!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[VRBeauty]

Yellow gold if it's a well saturated stone with strong color change.

White gold if the stone is more subtle.

I'm with LovingDiamonds re the rose gold... I'm not sure what aspect of the alexandrite a rose gold setting would flatter? Rose gold might flatter an exceptional alexandrite, but it would detract from most natural alexandrites available to us mere mortals!

 

[ma re]

Date: 6/30/2009 2:07:11 AM
Author: VRBeauty
Yellow gold if it''s a well saturated stone with strong color change.

White gold if the stone is more subtle.

I''m with LovingDiamonds re the rose gold... I''m not sure what aspect of the alexandrite a rose gold setting would flatter? Rose gold might flatter an exceptional alexandrite, but it would detract from most natural alexandrites available to us mere mortals!

^Ditto, it depends on the stone''s tone of color. And two-tone is not a bad option either, if it''s doable. I''d personally (if I were a woman, which I''m not) probably go with YG since it''s my favorite metal, but looks like you can''t go wrong with this stone either way.

 

[jstarfireb]

Thanks amguy! All of these alexandrites are Indian, including the one in my current chevron ring. I was also told the best color change now comes from Brazil, but the Brazilian stones tend to be a lot more expensive!

VRBeauty and ma re - The idea about rose gold came to me because I think purple stones look nice in rose gold (like amethyst), and so do green ones (like tourmaline), but I guess these shades of green and purple are too different. I''ll just have to enjoy my little pink tourmaline in rose gold for the time being! I think this stone has a nice strong color change based on the pics, which would lend it toward yellow gold. Looking at LovingDiamonds''s collection a bit more, I think WG flatters the purple color better, whereas YG flatters the green color better.

I asked Sally about the gold color, and she believes yellow gold complements the stones more and mentioned that it''s making a comeback. She also mentioned two-tone. I''m currently thinking about a yellow gold head with a white gold shank. But my other two-tone rings are the opposite (like what MTG suggested, white gold head with yellow shank), so it''s hard to envision this. I think this would flatter the stone best while still allowing me to wear it with silver/WG pieces. It''s just hard for me to go away from white gold because I like it better and wear it a lot more!

 

[brandy_z28]

Date: 6/30/2009 12:19:57 PM
Author: jstarfireb
Thanks amguy! All of these alexandrites are Indian, including the one in my current chevron ring. I was also told the best color change now comes from Brazil, but the Brazilian stones tend to be a lot more expensive!

VRBeauty and ma re - The idea about rose gold came to me because I think purple stones look nice in rose gold (like amethyst), and so do green ones (like tourmaline), but I guess these shades of green and purple are too different. I''ll just have to enjoy my little pink tourmaline in rose gold for the time being! I think this stone has a nice strong color change based on the pics, which would lend it toward yellow gold. Looking at LovingDiamonds''s collection a bit more, I think WG flatters the purple color better, whereas YG flatters the green color better.

I asked Sally about the gold color, and she believes yellow gold complements the stones more and mentioned that it''s making a comeback. She also mentioned two-tone. I''m currently thinking about a yellow gold head with a white gold shank. But my other two-tone rings are the opposite (like what MTG suggested, white gold head with yellow shank), so it''s hard to envision this. I think this would flatter the stone best while still allowing me to wear it with silver/WG pieces. It''s just hard for me to go away from white gold because I like it better and wear it a lot more!

I''m puzzled by that as well jstarfireb. I''ve seen lovely amethysts and green stones set in rose gold. I''d have thought for sure that RG would be an ok choice too for an alex.