Aquamarine ring

[vintagenancy]

Hello, this is my first post on Pricescope and after spending the last few days browsing the forum I have developed a sudden love for coloured gemstones . The 'vendor/owner' thread was amazing!!

I found this forum looking to come up with some options for a Tiffany legacy inspired ring with an aquamarine stone.

I really love the colour of the Tiffany stone and was hoping for a similar one, is a Santa Maria what I should be looking for?

I like the look of this ring but would prefer a smaller stone (and price ). The colour looks lovely to me (seems to be darker than the very pale aquamarines I've seen in stores and don't really like). The seller also has rings with smaller Santa Maria stones...But of course I know nothing more than what I like to look at so I'd love some experienced opinions .

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/41743140

I've read about (and seen) the gorgeous LOGR settings so would definitely consider also buying the stone separately at first (you do it in that order...right?).

 

[chrono]

I doubt that stone is really from the Santa Maria mine but if it is, then it's not a good example of what Santa Maria aquamarine usually conjures in my mind. It still looks somewhat pale on my monitor. I've seen quite a few good looking aquamarines that has neither the Santa Maria origin nor the pricetag - I'd suggest shopping for the stone first, then get the setting, which can always be altered to fit the gemstone.

ETA
It looks like the usual suspects do not have any aquamarines at the moment, at least not what you are looking for at the moment.
Precisiongems
ACStones
Customgemstones

 

[Arcadian]

I can only vouch for the craftmanship of the sellers settings as he's created one for me and its really gorgeous. The stone for the ring, I supplied to him so can't really speak to what types of stones he has. But I will say that to me, thats quite a pale colored Aqua. Santa Maria aqua is traditionally a darker blue.

Aqua is iffy. I would look around with some precision cutters. they can sometimes have some really nice stuff thats of a deeper color.

-A

 

[T L]

Hello, this is my first post on Pricescope and after spending the last few days browsing the forum I have developed a sudden love for coloured gemstones . The 'vendor/owner' thread was amazing!!

I found this forum looking to come up with some options for a Tiffany legacy inspired ring with an aquamarine stone.

I really love the colour of the Tiffany stone and was hoping for a similar one, is a Santa Maria what I should be looking for?

I like the look of this ring but would prefer a smaller stone (and price ). The colour looks lovely to me (seems to be darker than the very pale aquamarines I've seen in stores and don't really like). The seller also has rings with smaller Santa Maria stones...But of course I know nothing more than what I like to look at so I'd love some experienced opinions .

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/41743140

I've read about (and seen) the gorgeous LOGR settings so would definitely consider also buying the stone separately at first (you do it in that order...right?).

I've been to several Tiffany stores in my area, and none of them look Santa Maria colored to me. This is more of a Santa Maria color.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBbcsj_eDks

Although the gem in the above video has grey in it, it is that dark tone that is so sought after by aqua lovers.

 

[movie zombie]

there is santa maria and then there is Santa Maria.

not all stones coming out of that area/mine are going to be equal. some is going to be weak in color. for instance, my tourmalines from the himalaya mine in san diego county are no where near what the high quality pinks were that were taken out of that mine 100 years ago or more. while this particular aqua may be from that mine/area, it is not as noted by others the most desired color that has come from there.

the important thing is to NOT pay a premium price for a stone that is not a prime example. you will find vendors using saying that their stone is "santa maria" as a marketing tool to get a higher price.

what is important is that the color is what YOU want. personally, i'm not a fan of what i call the "high blue" aquas that are now so popular. i like a bit 'o the green in that blue.....but that's me. and i expect to pay less for such a stone.

 

[vintagenancy]

Thankyou for the replies, you've given me a lot to think about . I'm fairly sure that I will buy a stone first and go from there (thanks Chrono for the list of sellers).

what is important is that the color is what YOU want. personally, i'm not a fan of what i call the "high blue" aquas that are now so popular. i like a bit 'o the green in that blue.....but that's me. and i expect to pay less for such a stone.

I like the colour of this legacy in the 4th photo down https://www.pricescope.com/blog/march-birthstone-aquamarine (is this a high blue?). I can see now that I would probably be unhappy with the colour of the etsy stone as it is a bit too light. I do also love the greenish tone to this one which is completely different to the legacy
http://www.faceters.com/properties/pricing/beryl_aquamarine.shtml

I think I need to keep researching!

 

[0-0-0]

Whichever color you go for I strongly suggest getting a precision cut stone. IMO the quality of the faceting and polish makes a huge difference in aquamarines.

Check out Gemfix as well: http://www.gemfix.com/aquamarine.html

I saw aquamarine-525 when I visited the shop in July and it was one of my favorites for color, nicer than the photo suggests. IMO the color is nicer (shows less grey) than the Tiffany Legacy aquamarines I saw in stores.