Birthday BB bling!

[natsplat]

So! - today is my birthday, and my fiance bought me two of Barry's gorgeous rounds from his sale in August. Today, I take possession of them and so can show you...!

First up is an Orissa garnet, specs: 2.35 cts., 8.0mm. Apparently mined in the 1980s. Although I thought it would be on the dark side, it is going to make a stunning piece if cunningly set, I reckon:





Then the heliodor, specs: 1.40 cts., 7.3mm. From Mozambique. Barry promised top colour, and he is - as always - completely correct. I cannot see anything other than the most gorgeous yellow in this stone, and I wish I could only capture the sparkle and flash as well as the full saturation of the colour in real life. I need a new camera

 

[natsplat]

More pics:

 

[natsplat]

I am thinking of making a pendant with the heliodor and using my little spess as an accent stone, in a style not dissimilar to Bean's OEC pendant made by DanielM. I think this would work beautifully, and one would not outsparkle the other:



- but maybe I might regret not having such a lovely gem on my finger, so I could look at it more often...? I would wear it more often if it were a pendant though...

Thoughts? Thanks for looking

 

[happybear]

Happy birthday, natsplat!!!

Gorgeous presents! Look forward to seeing what you will be doing with them
I think a pendant would be lovely!

 

[JewelFreak]

Natsplat, happy birthday! Great birthday loot! Both are stunning stones & whatever you do with them will look wonderful. I visited that heliodor on Barry's site several times but decided I have too many other projects waiting. I see it with diamonds -- it's a beauty.

Love to hear what you decide to do with them both.

--- Laurie

 

[Kismet]

Happy Birthday,, natsplat! I love that sunny yellow heliodore. They look quite lovely next to each other too.

 

[kelpie]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATSPLAT!!!

I wasn't even looking at the stones but rather your beautiful manicure! But yes, now I can see they are awesome. The color of the heliodor really is amazing.

 

[diamondringlover]

Wow I love that red color

 

[Aoife]

Happy birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Natsplat......

That Orissa garnet looks beautiful against your skin, and the heliodor is very pretty too. Congratulations on your birthday, and your new, soon-to-be-bling!

 

[stargurl78]

Beautiful new stones, I love the red one and the yellow one is very pretty too! Hap-hap-happy birthday to you!

 

[lavatea]

Wow, that heliodore is a great color. I'm glad you posted your own pics of it, b/c I have a hard time "reading" Barry's pics, and we don't see many heliodores around here.

Actually, pics of both stones are going into my file for my rainbow stacker project. It's so helpful to get an idea of how stone types perform.

 

[brandy_z28]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY indeed!

That heliodore really is beautiful! The garnet is no slouch either!

 

[natsplat]

Thanks everyone - for both the lovely birthday wishes and comments on the gems I am very happy with them both: and I do especially like the garnet against my skin (thanks Aoife).

Jewel Freak: I like your idea of the heliodor with white diamonds - it would be more unusual for me, as I tend to think immediately of a non-diamond setting, but I do fancy that idea. I'd have to save for a bit, but it would be worth it.

kelpie: Thanks for mentioning my nails - I do them myself, so it is lovely of you to notice. I do like them with the colours of my new gems oh yes! - and I am getting my Tiffany O-ring necklace on Sunday

lavatea: I only wish I could really show you how very yellowy-yellow the heliodor is - it's like when you hold a buttercup under your chin! So beautiful! It would certainly work in your rainbow series. The garnet too maybe, if you don't mind a slight orangey undertone? (I certainly don't)

 

[lavatea]

Wow, color me dumb. I didn't realize heliodore is the same as golden beryl. I just went to Barry's site and did a search for heliodore and realized the fact. AND, there is a golden beryl listed on there that is a stone I've had bookmarked for my project for probably 3-4 months (or more!). Geez.

Anyway, now I'm even more grateful for your pics. I'm a little scared to leave the stone there b/c it's probably going to sell now that everyone's seen your gorgeous pics. But it's just not in my budget yet. I guess I'll get it if I get it.

 

[0-0-0]

Very nice heliodor!

 

[NKOTB]

Happy birthday! Both stones are awesome - still jealous you beat me to that heliodore by like five seconds. I think it looks great next to the spess, and would also look nice with diamonds around it. I think if you would wear a pendant more often, that's probably the best bang for your buck. Just wear it on a long enough chain that you can look at it when no one's looking.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Happy Birthday! Beautiful stones too.

 

[kelpie]

I am getting my Tiffany O-ring necklace on Sunday

)

Yippee! I think it's a great investment to protect your lovely e-ring. Enjoy the rest of your birthday!

 

[mariedtiger]

Beautiful stones, I liked seeing them together in one picture, they were jammin'

 

[minousbijoux]

Happy Birthday! I love that DF is right there with you on the love of stones! Good man and wise selection for a future hubby!

As to the heliodore - I love yellow stones because pure yellow, unless treated like beryllium infused sapphires, is fairly uncommon. That is only the second stone I would describe as a pure yellow. Very pretty like the sun

 

[natsplat]

Thank you everyone

lavatea: haha re yellow beryl. I only knew coz of how Barry sets his gem types out

NKOTB: Sorry about the snagging I promise I will treat it well, and take lots of photos. My continued thought about it is that I love it so much, it deserves to have a top-notch treatment. If I were made of money (or not as unmade of money as I am atm) I would choose to surround it by french-cut (or similar) diamonds like the reverse of this:

http://www.doverjewelry.com/catalog/rings/antique_platinum_european_diamond_sapphire_engagement_ring.html

with the inner bezel of 20k gold, and the rest in platinum. But I can't afford to do that - unless an amazing job comes in...! I will get my thinking cap on to work out how to do it on a beer budget...

minousbijoux: Thank you. I think that is why I'm doubly-hesitating over what to do with the heliodor - it's the first non-engagement gem my fiance has given me, plus it is a very special colour (much more special in actual life, even). I'd love to create something that I wear almost as much as my e-ring, which is why I was thinking pendant, you know?

mariedtiger: I like the colours together too! - I'm a sucker for bright colour combos. So many possibilities...! Enjoy your sister's wedding today (hopefully we'll get more neck/ear shots out of it too [/selfish] )

If anyone gets inspired to design something for my pretty heliodor, please speak up. Even if I can't afford to go through with it asap, I'm a good saver...

 

[lavatea]

That setting you linked is TDF. I love the french cut stones as a halo.

 

[Arkteia]

I did not see many heliodors, and yours is beautiful. I like the garnet's color, such deep-velvety, wonderful.

 

[NKOTB]

lol, no worries. I'm sure most of us agree, the only thing better than (or at least as good as) you getting something yourself is someone on PS getting it, appreciating it maybe even more than you would have, and taking lots of pictures! I look forward to the progress on both of these stones.

 

[marcy]

Happy birthday. They are lovely.

 

[natsplat]

Thank you we've been having a mini-heatwave in the UK at the moment, so I had a gorgeous leisurely picnic with my fiance for my birthday - bliss! (took the sting out of being a year older )

I've been looking at diamond accent/sidestones, and have a birthday discount at Leibish - their mini parcel of coloured tiny stones is just begging for me to snag it...! - but I wouldn't need all of those extra gems sitting around tempting me