Who/what would you recommend?

[yennyfire]

I really want a 3/4 eternity band in rose gold with pink stones (I was set on pink sapphires, but I just saw some pink spinel that was lovely). I have a couple of questions:

1. Is it worth my buying a larger stone in the color I want and having it cut into .15 melee or am I better off having the jeweler source the melee?
2. Who would you recommend for a project like this?
3. Pros/cons of sapphire vs. spinel? I'm VERY new to colored gemstones and no almost nothing, other than what is pretty to my eye.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Aoife]

I would have whichever vendor you choose to work on your ring to source the melee. Cutting up a larger stone doesn't guarantee matching melee, if you could even find a lapidary who was willing to take this on. You could ask some different cutters, but I wouldn't source a stone on your own hoping to get usable melee out of it!

There are quite a few vendors who would be worth checking out, depending on the style you had in mind. Have you looked at Green Lake?
http://www.greenlakejewelry.com/gallery/gallery.aspx?galleryini=bands They have an almost overwhelming number of styles and designs listed, plus they will custom design for you if you don't see something that you like already listed. Michael E. at GemShoppe also has created bands for PScopers. Whiteflash and BGD both do some bands with pink sapphires that are lovely, although I don't know how much work Whiteflash does with rose gold.

The sapphire vs. spinel thing will generate some really strong opinions here! A lot of sapphires are heated or diffused. If that is important to you, you would need to ask vendors about the melee they use. I can remember a few months back someone listing a source for spinel melee, but I don't have the link. It would be one of those things to ask your chosen vendor, if they can even find spinel melee in the color you want. It certainly doesn't seem to be as common as sapphire.

Good luck, and I hope you'll post more details of your ring!

 

[yennyfire]

Aoife, thanks for your response and the suggestions for vendors. I'll definitely check Greenlake and Michael E. out. At the risk of sounding really stupid, what about heating sapphires causes strong opinions? Is heating stones a bad thing?

 

[Aoife]

Aoife, thanks for your response and the suggestions for vendors. I'll definitely check Greenlake and Michael E. out. At the risk of sounding really stupid, what about heating sapphires causes strong opinions? Is heating stones a bad thing?

Any discussion of heating sapphires is likely to produce some strong opinions here, so I'm getting ready to duck and run. Here's the short version:

It is not uncommon for sapphires to be heated to improve their color. Unheated sapphires with good color are rarer, and accordingly tend to be priced higher. Sapphires can be heated at comparatively lower temperatures to improve color, or at much higher temperatures with the addition of beryllium, and this causes a permanent change in the color of the sapphire, and is referred to as beryllium diffusion, and can create some intense colors. Whether any of this is a problem for you is an individual issue, but if a stone is treated or heated, you shouldn't be paying a premium for the stone. It's all about disclosure on the vendor's part, and what you personally find acceptable.

 

[yennyfire]

Aha, thanks for the quick version of the argument. I guess I have to think about what's important to me. Hmmm....

By the way, please pardon the horrific grammar in my first post. It should have been "know" not "no"...I really can speak English properly, lol! For some reason, I couldn't edit the original post.

 

[Largosmom]

Hi Yennyfire,

Many of the participants here prefer stones as they came out of the ground, with no treatment to improve them. Treatments include many different things...heating can change color and improve the clarity of the stones. Heating with other substances, including beryllium (Be), can do some amazing things to sapphires...changing their colors quite a bit. Be treated stones are generally less expensive than simply heated, or unheated stones. The reason is that they can use some fairly bad quality stones, then heat them with Be and they turn into something quite different. An untreated stone is generally more expensive because it started out as better rough, than treated stones. For sapphires, Be treatment is very common.

The point of all this is that you have to decide for yourself if you want something that is untreated, you will expect to pay a premium price. Heated stones are still not cheap, but less expensive, and Be-treated will be less expensive and have a wide range of fairly bright colors.

My e-ring sapphire is heated, I found I could not afford the size and color I wanted without at least that treatment.

Purchasing smaller, matching stones (melee), can be a challenge and letting the person who is setting the ring for you do that is good advice. Many of our favorite faceters here do have rough, but matching color on stones is definitely a challenge and even pairs can be hard. Someone who makes jewelry has an established business relationship with larger sources of cut stones will be able to do that for you.

Spinel is as good a stone for ring wear in terms of durability and color as sapphire. It is rarely treated (treatment won't really change it so is not worth the trouble, as I understand it), so less risky in terms of treatment. Both will be lovely and sparkly, though!

Good luck on your hunt!

Laura

 

[yennyfire]

Thanks for the great info Laura. I definitely need to do more research about the different treatments of stones and what I want and can afford.

 

[chrono]

Answers to your questions:

1. No.
A larger stone will be more expensive than multiple smaller stones due to rarity. A larger stone will cost more per carat than a smaller stone. Not only that, you'll have to add in the lapidary's cutting fee and because cutting melees aren't cost effective, he/she will charge so much more than trying to source your own melees. A cutter will charge based on the time it takes to cut a single stone. In short, it takes just as long for a lapidary to cut a 5 carat stone as it will take to cut a 0.10 carat stone. Do you see where I am going? Another factor you did not take into consideration is that when a large stone is cut into smaller multiple melees, you will lose the tone (becomes washed out pink or almost colourless) and the saturation will take a nose dive.

2. Highly discourage you from doing this if you can even find a lapidary who agrees to do this. Many will not unless you are willing to pay for the time it really takes him/her to cut the melees.

3. A sapphire is generally a little more durable than a spinel but on the other hand, spinels are generally untreated and less expensive. The other posters have already given good advice about treatment.

Your jeweller should be able to order sapphire or spinel melees from Stuller.

 

[yennyfire]

You've convinved me Chrono. I had no idea that cutting a larger stone into smaller ones could impact the color. I totally get where you're going about that and why having a larger stone cut wouldn't be cost effective.

I'll have my jeweler call Stuller. Thank you for your very valuable help!

 

[LD]

Just wanted to add that it's far easier to find pink sapphire melee than pink spinel melee of the colour you want and many vendors will be able to source sapphires for you.

With respect to treatment - for melee I'm not entirely sure it's honestly relevant. Just to clarify, I had BD sapphires and wouldn't buy a single centre stone that had been treated in this way. For melee however, I'd be a little less fussy. If I could find natural or natural/heated melee I'd go for it first but if I couldn't match them colourwise I could be tempted by BD sapphires.

Here's a link to spinel melee:

http://www.gemcal.com/cat--Calibrated-Red-Spinel--red_spinel_calibrated.html

 

[yennyfire]

Thank you LovingDiamonds! The stones on GemCal are just what I'm looking for (I think). I also want to check out pink sapphire melee and compare prices before I pull the trigger.

 

[Taylorbug!]

Thank you LovingDiamonds! The stones on GemCal are just what I'm looking for (I think). I also want to check out pink sapphire melee and compare prices before I pull the trigger.

Yennyfire....did you check out the sapphire eternity bands at Pearlmans?

http://www.pearlmansjewelers.com/se...signerID=&Category=13&Submit.x=76&Submit.y=17

 

[yennyfire]

Taylorbug, thanks to the link to Pearlman's. I have seen their bands, but I really want a 3/4 eternity so that I (or my daughter or granddaughter in the future) can size it easily. I guess I should call Pearlman's and see if they can help me with this, it certainly doesn't hurt to ask!