Citrine Asscher

[Porridge]

So ever since HotPozzum posted her citrine asscher here, I have been dreaming about its lemony sunshine goodness! I enquired at Bespoke Gems about the original one that she sent back. Doug Menadue was an absolute delight to work with. He answered all e-mails pretty much immediately, and gave such informative answers to all my questions. He had some more rough of that colour and offered to cut it into an asscher for me.
I was asking so many questions, and I mentioned I would love to learn to facet someday, so he sent pictures of the process for me! I'll share a few here.
I will definitely be buying from him again and would recommend him to anyone.
Thank you HotPozzum!

Need setting ideas please!! I had assumed YG would be the way to go but it doesn't actually look that great with it. Silver highlights the bright colour more.

It's 8mm. And I'm in love

ETA These are all Doug's pics. My camera is on the blink and I'm horrible at photographing gems. It is so bright IRL!

The rough...

Work in progress...

Nearly there...

DONE!!

 

[Honey228]

I love! I want!

I can''t wait to see the color when you get it.

 

[Porridge]

Thanks Honey! I actually have it! I just can''t take any pictures of it

I promise to try when I get my hands on a camera. Maybe the phone pics will turn out, I''ll try that later. The sun is actually bravely trying to poke through the layers upon layers of cloud here

I''m looking at Sally''s elixer setting for it...

 

[ma re]

If the tone of color is light I agree that white metal would create a better contrast, but be prepared for a potential hint of brown that may show as a result of white metal. Yellow gold could also work, but IMO it would need to be with some sort of a surface finish, so that different textures create different shades of yellow. Two-tone or even rose gold might also look nice, it all depends on the design and feel/look you''re after.

 

[Porridge]

Oh ma re I was hoping you would see this, you always have great setting advice.

From browsing settings, I''m think I''m looking for a kind of fresh, daytime, summery feel. I saved a lovely LOGR asscher setting here, but now that I have the stone I think a diamond setting is too "evening" for it, IYKWIM. The stone really shines in daylight. Not so much for evening light. I think just metal alone, with a smooth finish. Which leaves me at white metal.

I can''t see brown IRL, just in the pictures. It does pick up surrounding colours though.

Really I''m just talking myself into sally''s elixer setting

It wasn''t a very expensive stone, and I don''t have much of a vision so I don''t think there''s any need to go custom.

Still, bring on the advice please!! I''m hopeless at visualising how things will look, I need all the help I can get.

 

[D&T]

Porridge! I love it!!!! my DDs birthstone and I sooo want another Citrine and asscher

best of both world. Ooooh and the elixir

have you also taken a look at Sally''s Honey Lotus setting that she has done for an asscher ? its set kite set though not sure if you liked that or not with the citrine.

 

[Stone Hunter]

That''s very cool. Thank you for sharing those pictures.

Does it look more yellow or more orange/brown in person?

 

[Porridge]

Oh my goodness D&T I did not see that...YUM!!

Doug still has HotPozzum''s original stone about two thirds of the way down this page

 

[Porridge]

Date: 1/16/2010 9:08:12 AM
Author: Stone Hunter
That''s very cool. Thank you for sharing those pictures.


Does it look more yellow or more orange/brown in person?

Thank you stone hunter. It''s a very definite yellow in person. There is no hint of orange at all. It''s like...well to be honest it''s kind of the colour of yellow washing up liquid! KWIM? It does have a very "liquid" quality to it, very much enhanced by the asscher cut. Like liquid sunshine

I can''t see brown in daylight but I can see some in evening light. It''s more of a dark yellow than a brown.

It''s picking up the peach from my shirt at the moment which is making for a very interesting colour combo! It''s making me consider your rose gold suggestion ma re!

 

[ma re]

So you think something casual would suit it better than formal (i.e. you''d more like it that way)? In that case I''d go for something simple, open, airy, something that''ll let as much light in as possible, and something that''ll let the stone shine (like the sun

). Seriously, lighter yellows look their best in open settings, that accentuate their "bling potential", cause lack of strong color saturation showcases the brilliance and crystaline (or as you say, watery) transparency. I''d also consider setting it at an angle (like a kite), cause that way it looks less "serious" and formal, or using some pastel colored side stones (maybe something lavander-ish...) for the same purpose.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

I''d love to see it next to rose gold or brushed/matte finish yellow gold

GORGEOUS!

 

[Honey228]

Hm, well my personal dream is a yellow asscher in LOGR''s white gold tapered baguette setting. But I haven''t seen a Sally YG piece that I didn''t love!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Beautiful! I just love that stone, and Doug''s cut is lovely!

 

[Porridge]

Yes ma re more casual than formal is exactly what I mean. I would be open to kite setting. I took a trip to my local custom jeweler today just to see what he said but he wasn''t there

I''ll go back during the week. Meantime I keep getting drawn back to sallys settings

That LOGR baguette setting is beautiful! But I think I''m going to stay away from side stones for this particular piece. I want it to be all sunshine.

 

[ma re]

Would you consider yellow gold prongs, and having the rest in white? Not so much because of the color of the stone, but to make prongs as invisible (unnoticable) as possible. Just throwing out ideas... I''d also suggest having the shank''s surface slightly curved, maybe not completely domed, but curved just as much so that it''s not completely flat, like here:
http://cdn.overstock.com/images/products/P10449649a.jpg
I''m guessing such a shank would work better than a completely flat, modern one, considering that gentle and warm color. When it comes to type of the prongs, I think flat ones that "fold over the corners" are best as they let the stone be the star. Standard round-ish prongs, or even claws, somehow tend to get in the way of step cuts such as asschers.
Would you consider something like a split shank? Setting your asscher at an angle in a split shank could look really great. Maybe it would work even with a double split shank (3 "fingers" on each side). This might help you visualize (eventhough it''s a marquise...):
http://www.diamondsbylauren.com/images/06/12/5529e.JPG

 

[Nomsdeplume]

Its beautiful. Love those asschers!

 

[Porridge]

Thanks LTP and kribbie!! I really can''t say enough nice things about Doug. He''s got some lovely lapis that I''m craving right now...

ma re - all great suggestions, especially the prongs, I wouldn''t have thought of that. I like the split shank - I think thinner bands would be nicer than thick. That could look great.

 

[virgoruby]

Beautiful stone! Good luck in finding the perfect setting!

 

[chrono]

Cool pictures! I guess we won''t know for sure until you get the stone but I''m thinking yellow gold to play up the sunshine colour.

 

[Arkteia]

Beautiful color!

 

[mochi]

Oh, very pretty...

 

[packrat]

I like Sally''s Christie setting too link

 

[GliderPoss]

Porrige, thank you for your kind words! Full credit to Doug, he is terrific to work with.

I am so pleased you got a lovely citrine asscher too. Yours seems a tad lighter than mine in Doug''s pics...

I too am yet to set mine. Been rather distracted lately by my new bling my hubby bought me over the new year (yes, a teeny diamond - I went over to the dark side...LOL) so that kinda put off any new projects for a while.

Can''t wait to see it set, I agree the rose gold will make it "pop" and give it an interesting peach glow which would be lovely.

 

[LD]

I absolutely adore the colour! It looks like a mixture of vanilla and honey - good enough to eat!

For me, this gemstone is crying out for yellow gold due to its warmth. I would worry that if you put this with a white metal it would make the Citrine look much cooler and less warm. I can''t wait to see what you do with it!

 

[Lovinggems]

Beautiful colour, agree it looks like honey.