Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question...

[stargurl78]

I'm trying to decide on a round aqua stone to put in the Iolani setting from Sally at HOW. I love Freefly's ring and I want something just like this in white gold with an aqua:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/just-back-from-thailand-with-new-ring-from-sally.126901/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/just-back-from-thailand-with-new-ring-from-sally.126901/[/URL]

Anyways, I've narrowed it down to 2 choices that I have purchased from Gemfix. The first is a 8.75mm stone that is fairly light in color but still very pretty. I really like how much the cut shows in this one and the lightness doesn't bother me. The second is a 7.4mm stone and it is more saturated but I feel like the edges can get very dark (the stone seems a tad shallow, maybe this is why?). Not sure if a bezel would help to fix this?

I'm wondering if the 7.4mm would be smaller than I'd like but I'm also thinking that a 8.75mm stone in a double bezel could be very large on a size 4.25 finger. I do like big rings though so I might be ok with it. I just can't seem to visualize it and I don't have any similar rings for reference (my e-ring is a 6mm round solitaire and all of my other set stones aren't round or bezeled). Does anyone know how much a double bezel adds to the finger coverage?

I love the proportions of Freefly's ring but I'm not sure the mm size of a 1.76ct OEC (maybe I should ask in a different thread)...

I think an 8mm stone would have been the perfect size and I wish I would have snagged this one but I saw it after it was sold
http://www.acstones.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=26&idproduct=3829

So from the photos below, which stone would you choose? Also, if you've seen any aquas around 8mm, feel free to post them too... Sorry for all the questions, I appreciate your advice!

ETA: I just wanted to add that I can't return the larger aqua because I'm past the return policy. So if I choose the smaller stone, I'll put the larger one in a simple pendant or sell it. If I make up my mind by Wednesday and choose the larger stone, I can return the smaller one and save my money. I guess that really doesn't matter though, I just want to choose the best stone for the ring setting.

 

[stargurl78]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

Warning... LOTS OF PICS (Sorry!)...

 

[stargurl78]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

Some more...

 

[stargurl78]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

These are the last ones, I swear

 

[VapidLapid]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

I can see why you like the cut on the bigger one. Still I think the smaller one with better color will please more and longer.


eta, just saw that last photo. Woah, that is some tilt window, and at what must be only one degree off from the stone's axis. And the periphery then does blue out silent. Is there a third choice?

 

[stargurl78]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

VL, I really wish there was a third choice but I think I've looked at just about all of the colored stone vendors sites and can not find any other options. I also contacted several vendors on here (Gary Braun, Gene Flanigan, Jeff White) to see if they had any rough that would work but no such luck. And I'm supposed to send my final stone to Sally next week but I suppose I could put it off a tad longer if necessary.

I think I would be happy with either stone but I'm worried that the lighter stone could be too large and the darker stone could be too small (and I'm also worried about the other issue mentioned with the smaller stone).

 

[VapidLapid]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

Wow. I just looked all over at every cutter website I have bookmarked every reseller everywhere, what a dearth of aquas out there, especially rounds, and as always especially in nice colors. There was a nice john dyer one but it was sold and the color was weak. theres a ok richard homer (if ya like them concaves, I dont) a bit smaller than youd want. and really that was about it. I started thinking blue zircon, but you say you want aqua and likely thats the right thing for you - you know you best. so then I came back here and read the fine print - you already have the larger one and it is past return time. hmm. Just as I was about to say the 7.4 one would likely close up the tilt window in the bezel ( no idea though on the peripheral light performance). All things considered I would go with the larger one, likely it will deepen slightly in the bezel. Unless you want to go zircon, or wait for a more right stone to turn up. Sorry none of my answers is what you want to hear.

 

[VapidLapid]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

Oh and I found this 8.3mm 3.80 ct zircon that I thought would be great

 

[0-0-0]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

I think I would pick the larger one too. I think it's more likely that the color will deepen once set vs making the window less noticeable. And if I have learned anything here it is that bigger is almost always better.

 

[talamasca]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

Personally, I prefer the ligher and larger one. Love the setting too

ETA: Does Barry have any more aqua?

 

[JewelFreak]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

Since you said the light tone of the larger one doesn't bother you, then I'd vote for that. If it were my ring, though, I'd look for something with more saturation even if it means delaying setting it. You will be wearing it for a long time, plenty to regret using an aqua that doesn't send you to the moon. Once you have one that does thrill you, the wait to set it will seem worth it.

The setting is so lovely (like all of Sally's designs), it deserves a beautiful stone. VL's zircon idea is worth looking into -- that's a nice one she put up.

 

[stargurl78]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

So it seems like the vote so far is for the larger stone. I honestly don't mind the lighter color even though I know its not considered to be as desirable. My only concern is that it might be too large in a bezel. Does anyone know how much the bezel will add to the size?

VL - I would definitely be open to zircon, or maybe even a light blue sapphire if the price is right. What vendor has that zircon listed? So zircon isn't too fragile for a ring?


Please keep posting your opinions everyone!

 

[VapidLapid]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

zircon is a 7.5, so hard like garnet. It is brittle and so can chip. Since this would be in a bezel it should be fine, especially if you are not hard on your jewelry. The one I posted the picture is around $500 which I think is crazy. Had it not been 2 am I would have gone looking for another. Now it is 11 am and I see that gemfix has a few blue zircons that might work for you, and under a hundred bucks!

http://www.gemfix.com/zircon_blue.html

Also find that richard homer has two round blu zircons
http://www.webgraphicsengineering.com/Gemstones/detail.cfm?zNum=6172
http://www.webgraphicsengineering.com/Gemstones/detail.cfm?zNum=6171

sure there'll be a premium for the cut.

 

[chrono]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

I'm with VL in the opinion that the smaller one has better colour than the large aquamarine which will be more pleasing in the long run but the ease with which the window tilt shows bothers me. How much mm is added to the final size of a bezeled ring depends on the bezel itself. I've seen some very wide bezels and I've also seen some barely there bezel ring settings. My concern with bezeling a zircon is that even though the girdle is protected, the crown area is still open to chip damage and/or facet wear although it will not be immediate.

 

[stargurl78]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

talamasca - I missed your post! I will contact Barry to see if he has any more rough but I know he doesn't do custom orders and I can never seem to remember to get on my computer on Wednesday evenings when he does his drops.

VL - Thank you so much for searching for those stones! After looking at the zircon stones, I think the color might be too "turquoise". I'm looking for more of the pale blue color of the aqua.

Chrono - Thanks for your reply, I would definitely be nervous about putting zircon into a ring plus I'm not loving the color as much. I have emailed Sally to ask her how much the bezel on that particular ring will add to the size. If you had to choose from these 2 stones, which would you choose?

Does anyone know of any round bezel rings on here that have stones that are either of these sizes? Or are there any other Iolani rings besides Freefly's?

TIA!!

 

[T L]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

I think all beryl have very large tilt windows, that's just the nature of low RI material. I like the color on the smaller one better. What I do see is more of a fisheye window. It's a window that is more pronounced in portuguese cuts, and it looks like a fish eye that rolls when you tilt the stone, even the slightest bit.

Can you also cup the stone edges in your fingers or a piece of foil. That might give you a better idea of how they'll look in a bezel.

 

[stargurl78]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

Thanks TL. I agree that the tilt window shows somewhat in both stones, but definitely more in the smaller one.

I know that the color is better in the smaller stone, I'm just not sure I'll be happy with its size, since I tend to like larger rings. Why can't I find a stone that is the best of both worlds!?

I'm going to try the foil trick when I get home tonight to get an idea of how the stones would perform in a bezel. Thank you for the tip!

Still not sure if the better color is worth the loss in the size... Ughh I'm so indecisive

 

[T L]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

Thanks TL. I agree that the tilt window shows somewhat in both stones, but definitely more in the smaller one.

I know that the color is better in the smaller stone, I'm just not sure I'll be happy with its size, since I tend to like larger rings. Why can't I find a stone that is the best of both worlds!?

I'm going to try the foil trick when I get home tonight to get an idea of how the stones would perform in a bezel. Thank you for the tip!

Still not sure if the better color is worth the loss in the size... Ughh I'm so indecisive

If both do not meet your requirements, you should return them. Aquamarines are very plentiful, and you can find more, especially from other precision lapidaries. You really should be 100% happy with a gem, and not give in to it's faults, unless you paid very little for it, which I doubt you did.

 

[jstarfireb]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

The color of the smaller stone is nicer, but as everyone has been pointing out, that's one heckuva tilt window. I would also keep looking or maybe ask someone to custom cut one for you. Peter Torraca comes to mind since he always seems to get a nice supply of aqua.

 

[chrono]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

I agree with the last few posters - given the choice, I'd pick a third aquamarine to set (return the smaller one and keep looking).

 

[stargurl78]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

Thanks TL, jstar, and Chrono! You guys are right, I'm planning to return the smaller stone. The tilt window bothers me, and more than that I think it is just a tad smaller than I want since I'm really going for a chunkier ring. I'm going to take the lighter stone to some local stores to see how it looks in some of their white gold settings to get a better feel of whether or not I'd be happy with the color of the stone next to the white gold. And if not, I'm just going to have to wait it out.

jstarfireb - I'm glad you mentioned Peter because I just realized I forgot to contact him in my search so I just sent him an email. Unfortunately I did not have any luck with any of the other well-known cutters. Most of them have told me that aqua with decent saturation is very rare these days

 

[stargurl78]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

Woo hooo! Peter said he has some unheated greenish-blue rough that he thinks will work for the stone I'm looking for I think I prefer the aquas with a bit of green in them so hopefully it will be the perfect fit.

Jim Rentfrow also responded today that he thinks he might be able to obtain some aqua but won't be back in town until September. Does anyone know about his prices? I don't really want to wait until September so I told Peter I'd like to work with him but I'm still curious about Jim's prices. I was perfectly fine with Peter's quote though.

 

[jstarfireb]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

Yay! I'm glad my lead worked out for you. Now for my finder's fee, I would like an unheated blue-green aqua...

Seriously though, Peter's a great guy and an awesome cutter, and I'm sure he'll make something nice for you. I hope you like the blue-green unheated color. I do, and I actually prefer it over the blue heated aqua, but I don't have any.

I haven't bought anything from Jim yet, but his cutting looks very nice.

 

[T L]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

Woo hooo! Peter said he has some unheated greenish-blue rough that he thinks will work for the stone I'm looking for I think I prefer the aquas with a bit of green in them so hopefully it will be the perfect fit.

Jim Rentfrow also responded today that he thinks he might be able to obtain some aqua but won't be back in town until September. Does anyone know about his prices? I don't really want to wait until September so I told Peter I'd like to work with him but I'm still curious about Jim's prices. I was perfectly fine with Peter's quote though.

Did Peter say how saturated they were, or what the tone was like? I would check just in case, so that meets your personal preference.

 

[stargurl78]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

jstarfireb - Haha I'll tell Peter to send a blue-green stone your way! You're right, Peter is so nice, this is the first time I have contacted him and he responds to emails SOOO quickly and is so friendly.

TL - Peter asked me to send him some photos of stones that I like the color of. So I did that and he responded that it seems I like I want a medium to well saturated aqua and he has some unheated blue-green rough that should work perfect for a round stone around 8-8.5mm. I asked him whether or not it was *too* green and he said the GIA description would be close to "slightly greenish blue 4/4". I think he assumed I wouldn't know what that meant (and he is right, I have no clue) so he added "I'd just simplify it to: you'll like it ". Ha ha. So I'm optimistic at this point, I just hope he is able to get the desired size from it. He said he should have it done within the next week or so, I can't wait!!


Thanks to all of you for convincing me to move on from the 2 stones I posted and start over!! I wouldn't want to regret putting a stone that I'm not 100% happy with in that beautiful setting.

 

[stargurl78]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

Quick question - is an aqua stone that is medium-well saturated going to look like the blue topaz that you see all over the stores? I don't care for that super turquoisey color so I'm just curious...

 

[chrono]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

I doubt an aquamarine is going to look super neon-y like a topaz unless you have major money to splash around and with excellent contacts. Or unless it's a synthetic beryl.

 

[stargurl78]

Re: Which round aqua would you choose? And a bezel question

I doubt an aquamarine is going to look super neon-y like a topaz unless you have major money to splash around and with excellent contacts. Or unless it's a synthetic beryl.

Thanks Chrono! I definitely don't have major money so I guess I won't have to worry I figured it wouldn't be super neon-y but just thought I'd check, I'm still a newbie at all of this!