Aquamarine

[lavatea]

What do you think of this stone?

TIA!

 

[lavatea]

Also, will someone remind me, irregardless of color, which stones are appropriate for a daily wear ring?

 

[chrono]

Corundrum (sapphire), spinel and chrysoberyl are great for everyday wear.

 

[lavatea]

Wow, that''s a pretty narrow list.

What do you guys think about getting a softer stone, holding your breath everyday, and just replacing it when/if it becomes necessary?

I''m having such a hard time with this!! And I know it should be fun. I need to just relax, I guess. I think my biggest problem is being overwhelmed with color/cut choices. Especially if I don''t stick to school colors and expand my parameters...

 

[chrono]

I wear my spessartite garnet almost every day but it requires extra care. I remove the ring as soon as I am home. I only wear it to work or some other leisurely activity. I never wear it to do anything that involves dirt, sweating, or physical exertion to lessen the risk of damage.

 

[Kismet]

Aquamarines aren''t going to break if you look at them funny. The facets will get worn down over time so they may require repolishing. It really depends on how hard you are on your jewelry and what kind of work you do. If you do a lot of work with your hands then the abrading process will happen faster than if you just sit at a computer and type all day. I don''t think aquamarines have cleavage so you do have to overly worry about smacking it and having it split in two (nicks would be a different issue).

 

[Michael_E]

I had a client once who worked in a store which sold plumbing stuff. She insisted on wearing her aqua ring every day at work even though one of her jobs was keeping all of the little bins filled with the small iron parts used in plumbing. She would just pound that ring every day and then she''d bring it over to have me replace or repolish the stone once a year. It would get frosty from small abrasions and nicks, but she never broke a stone. I think that if you are not doing something exceptionally rough, that wearing and aqua daily would not pose too much of a problem. Replacing or repolishing it after 5 pr 6 years is also inexpensive, in case it should need a bit of a touch up.

 

[ruffysdad]

A lot depends on the setting too. If you have the stone set so it''s protected you can wear it in more situations. Most stones, IMO above a 7 on the Moh''s scale are suitable for daily wear if they''re set in the right kind of mounting. That opens up a lot more stones like, garnets, aqua, topaz, zircs and others. In the right setting even the quartz and opal can be ok as long as you''re aware that you may need a re-polish down the line.

One thing about the aqua that you''ve posted that you may want to consider is the background that the stones were photographed against. White backgrounds are used a lot on darker stones to reflect the light into them and make them brighter. Grey backgrounds will intensify the color in stones that are more pale and black heightens the contrast so that even the most pale stone shows more color than will appear in sulight on your hand. There''s nothing wrong with that as long as the buyer is aware of the effect that the background is having on the stone they are looking at. I like that they took a shot with the stone held between their fingers. Either way, if the stone floats your boat in person, then it''s the right one. Check for a return policy though.

 

[movie zombie]

what is the line across the middle of the stone?

mz

 

[T L]

It''s pale and grey, but 99% of aqua on the market typically is. Are you looking for a high quality colored gem, or just one with lots of sparkle? If just sparkle, that gem will work in the sparkle area, but you have to keep very light aqua very clean. It can start looking waxy if you don''t.

 

[Stone Hunter]

Date: 5/7/2010 10:51:03 AM
Author:lavatea
What do you think of this stone?

TIA!

Dana has a good return policy. His photos aren''t always that great. So go more by his description. I''ve bought some stones from him and I''ve returned some stones from him. You really have to see the stone in person to decide.

For my taste the stone looks light -- but it looks like a classic Aqua color.