DC area Pricescope member "working" gathering Sunday, 8/21, 11 - 4....

[Kaleigh]

Bump!!!!

 

[Gemklctr]

Date: 8/21/2005 7:40:19 PM
Author: kaleigh
Ok I want all the details, how was it???? Did you guys have fun????

I thought it went well and I certainly enjoyed meeting the crew (about a dozen). Thanks to Ira for coordinating. I''m sure others will chime in shortly, but some met earlier in the day, then the group met for lunch and I got to see my first Idealscope. Rings and loupes were passed around the table (somehow I now have an extra - loupe not ring - so PM me if you are missing one). Then it was back to the Show, where some of us met up with vendors we know, then I think some went on their own shopping excursions (ended up being an expensive one for me). Ira has photos to post at some point.

 

[belle]

yes, please tell us about it

 

[Regular Guy]

Yes, I think a good time was had by all, with a dozen of us showing for lunch, and with everyone kindly agreeing to name tags. The long table made for two sets of conversations, but such is life with a big crowd. Bob/GK was the other helpful gent at the gathering, and...telling my own story...he more formally introduced me to the jeweler not two blocks from my home (after lunch, we randomly ran into each other at the gem show). There, Buena Girl and I, out of a show of hundreds of booths, both somehow were drawn to the two showing larimar pieces, and we are now proud owners of this gem. Back to Bob...I know he introduced some of the crowd to the wholesaler area, which had more stuff.

At the booths, I had the first chance I''ve ever had to try out my idealscope. The atmosphere was accommodating for this, it was interesting to see, and the gem booth purveyors were typically interested as well. It will be helpful to do this again in a situation where diamonds that have been validated as well cut are also present, but..with both my chart, cz, and understanding of the expected view, I did find it helpful. More so, certainly, than the rap from one vendor...ideal, table and depth show it!

Back at the table for lunch, we did toast Leonid, for providing this site, and opportunity to meet. Also, I think we had in our hearts positive thoughts for those who could not join us, with health issues in close proximity. Pictures were taken by me...I''ll still need to down load, and also, am about to go on holiday, so it may be a bit.

Regards,

 

[Buena Girl]

I had a fun time! I finally got to try an idealscope

Here are a couple of things that I bought. The pendant is Larimar. I had never heard of it before. Here's a link. They said it was formed from volcanic activity.

The round stones are opals (I think from Brazil or maybe Australia). They blew me away when I saw them. So beautiful!!!


ETA: I must have been typing when Regular Guy posted. His link for Larimar is much better

Oh, and for anyone who loves the ocean, Larimar is perfect! You feel like you could just jump right in the stone and you would be in a beautiful, tropical water. In person, the colors in the stone are deeper and richer. They look a bit washed out in the picture from my camera flash.

 

[belle]

thanks for the report rg! it sounds like it was a great time. i''ll be looking forward to the pictures

 

[coconut]

I''m sorry to have missed you guys and all the fun.
It just didn''t work out for me... I got to the convention center way too late.
(around 2:30 oclock)
I barely managed to browe some isles... but didn''t make it to more than half the booths there.
Overall it was a very unique gem experience for me..
Initially, I was overwhelmed with the number of vendors there and I spent waaaay too much time at my first booth.... asking questions and checking out all different kind of stones... LOL...
I was really looking forward to studying some decent quality Emeralds but nice looking ones were ridiculously expensive.
(around $900/carat)

I purchased 3 things today
(1) A synthetic red color stone ring (1.5ct size) with trillion side stone in silver (rhodium plated) for ($5)
(2) A pair of 14kt white gold earing with a 1ct round CZ dangling from a small loop for ($65)
(I compared the CZ next to a diamond and I couldn''t tell the difference.. maybe it was the lighting but nevertheless was so sparkly)
(3) A Hawaiian Plumeria ring in white gold (different finish) with a tiny blue diamond stud in the center for $160

 

[Logan Sapphire]

I had a great time. Thanks to Ira for coordinating it!

My only purchase was a 15x loupe, but it was great fun looking, esp. at other PS members'' jewelry. LMurden''s new Quest ring was amazing!!!

 

[njc]

I had a fabulous time meeting everyone! I ran into DiamondLil and MissGotRocks on a corner waiting to cross the street trying to get to our lunch spot... we were all kinda lost and asking if the other knew where we were going!

As Ira mentioned before, the table ended up breaking into two seperate conversations... Beuna and her friend, Blue, Ira and I had a great time talking of all sorts of things. We all checked my e-ring out with Ira's idealscope which was pretty cool.

Before i left, i made a stop at the other end of the table to talk with everyone else. Like everyone always says, pictures NEVER do rings justice... way more daintier and gorgeous in person. Diamondlil's ring is a knockout... the bands are just so thin and delicate looking! They were passing rings around and checking out different combos... i think Logan put the nail in the coffin for MissGotRocks to get an eternity band. It did look great with her ring! And lmurdens ring... wow. I had a wonderful time comparing our rings and now wish i had taken pictures to share with you guys... next time! With her new setting, her center stone dwarfs mine, and my stone is actually a couple points larger! Another fun comparison was our colors... her "I" was just as bright and white as my "E". She has a great stone and a fantastic new setting!

OMG Beuna! Are those opals from a booth on the end, on the right side (your back facing where you come in)!??!?!?!?! The booth had nothing but opals?!?!?! If they are, that was my last stop before i left for lunch... i wanted to go back there, but of course didnt have time. THEY ARE GORGEOUS! I had never seen 'opal beads' before!!! I am SO freaking jealous now!

I cant wait to meet everyone again! Guess i will have to drag hubby along so i dont have to leave so early! I made it home with 20 minutes to spare... hee hee!

 

[lmurden]

Hey Everybody,

I had a great time on Sunday and I only wish I were able to talk to everyone indepth! Love seeing all of your Fabulous Rocks

! I bought some cheap pearls at the Gem Show and will have them strung when I get time. The pearls aren''t great but I want to make them into a chocker and I knew that I wouldn''t every wear a chocker after my wedding day so I said these should do and also I didn''t want to wear anything fake for my wedding. Anyway I will post pictures of the pearls later. Great to see everybody.

 

[Kaleigh]

Imurden,
Those pearls sound great for a choker!!! How many strands will you have for your choker??? I have a pearl choker and I love it!!!! So glad you had fun at the gem show.

 

[lmurden]

I bought four stands for $12 bucks! The choker will have three strands and the last strand will be for a bracelet.

 

[diamondlil]

Hi all.
What a fun day it was. As usual, it went way, way too fast. I hope we do it again so I can get to know those at the "other end of the table" better.

That was a hoot running into NJC on the street corner. If it had not been nearly 100 degrees out, the walk between the convention center and the restaurant would not have been so bad. Lunch was fun, and I really enjoyed meeting everyone. Lmurden''s new ring by Quest was outstanding.

Since I saw it in its "before" setting and now the new setting, I can honestly say, it does not even look like the same stone! It definitely confirmed my desire for a pendant with RB center and halo. Gemklctr''s wife''s fancy yellow RHR was stunning -- the perfect color of light yellow for my taste.

MissGotRocks, Gemklctr with wife, and I opted for an over-priced but air-conditioned taxi ride back to the show after lunch.

We spent the rest of the afternoon browsing the show. Hope to meet you all again soon.

I was so busy chatting and eating, I never used my camera!!!

Can''t wait to see your pics, Ira.

 

[Regular Guy]

Date: 8/22/2005 10:10:11 AM
Author: diamondlil

I was so busy chatting and eating, I never used my camera!!!

Can't wait to see your pics, Ira.

Well...I see lmurden has already discovered them. Regretfully, I'm not quite up to speed, without more experimentation to get my pics small enough for this board....so I've placed them in the Picture Gallery, with errors already there, too, but with fixes attempted. Go to: Galleries, Cafe, Hobby, and then sort date ascending to see the several I took from our gathering.

Thanks everybody. Forgot to add the one set of "gems" already shared, with raves, with family. Some light up pendants, featuring a skeleton, batman and a heart. Honey gets hers later.

Regards,

 

[mrssalvo]

Love the pics RG. It''s so much fun being able to see a face with a name. sounds like you guys had a blast.

 

[lmurden]

Ira, the pictures look great! Thank you so much!

 

[Blue824]

It was fun meeting all of you! Next time we should get a round table so there aren''t two seperate discussions

I had never used an idealscope before, so that was interesting. And the pictures of Lmurdens ring up here don''t do it justice, it is GORGEOUS in person, I loved it

I think everyone did, as so many people have commented on it so far.

Ira - Thanks for posting the pictures - they''re great!

Buena - I remember those opals! They were awesome, so glad you went and got some!! I had never seen anything like those.

I wish I had gotten more stuff, but it was a lot of me to take in! Maybe the next time I''ll go I''ll be more prepared! All I got was a peridot trillion that I''ll have set as a pendant when I get the chance. I have a habit of losing jewelry (shame on me) and used to have a great set my parents got me as a birthday present and lost everything except one of the studs

so I was looking to have something again made from my birthstone. There was one ring I almost got, and I had them take it out of the case and it was white gld with a small diamond, and ok, you know it is really bad when it doesnt sparkle in jewelry lights! I was shocked, and quickly walked away!

 

[lmurden]

Date: 8/22/2005 2:09:00 PM
Author: Blue824
It was fun meeting all of you! Next time we should get a round table so there aren''t two seperate discussions

I had never used an idealscope before, so that was interesting. And the pictures of Lmurdens ring up here don''t do it justice, it is GORGEOUS in person, I loved it

I think everyone did, as so many people have commented on it so far.

Ira - Thanks for posting the pictures - they''re great!

Buena - I remember those opals! They were awesome, so glad you went and got some!! I had never seen anything like those.

I wish I had gotten more stuff, but it was a lot of me to take in! Maybe the next time I''ll go I''ll be more prepared! All I got was a peridot trillion that I''ll have set as a pendant when I get the chance. I have a habit of losing jewelry (shame on me) and used to have a great set my parents got me as a birthday present and lost everything except one of the studs

so I was looking to have something again made from my birthstone. There was one ring I almost got, and I had them take it out of the case and it was white gld with a small diamond, and ok, you know it is really bad when it doesnt sparkle in jewelry lights! I was shocked, and quickly walked away!

Thank you so much!!! A round table it a must next time!

 

[lmurden]

I just couldn''t help it!

 

[lmurden]

More

 

[lmurden]

More

 

[lmurden]

More

 

[lmurden]

Last on!

 

[Buena Girl]

Yes, thank you Regular Guy for organizing the trip!

Coconut- By the time we finished Lunch, most of us were getting to the convention center around 2 or 2:30. You may have passed by some of us and not even have known it

I especially love your Hawaiian plumeria ring! I remember that booth well

njc- Yes, they are! But no need to be jealous, b/c I am now not sure if they are real opals.

See this link The colors still blow me away, though. If they are sims, they are darn good ones.

Blue824- L

VE your peridot, and can''t wait to see it set!!

I only got a chance to see lmurden''s ring and njc''s ring set up close. Both are G

RGE

US!!! I''m sorry that I did not get a chance to chat with everyone and see more of your spectacular rings up close. I was hoping to run into people again at the gem show, but the place is huge. We did run into Regular Guy at a booth near the Larimar booths!

I forgot to mention earlier about one ring I tried on. I thought it was kind of cool. It was called Happy Diamonds. The setting had a little bit of pave, and then in the basket area (instead of a larger diamond) there were 2 clear horizontal plates of either glass or plastic and in between those plates were several little diamonds that could slide around. I LOVE rings that are fun to play with!

 

[Gemklctr]

I think the photos tell the story, it was a great time. Thanks LM for posting them. I certainly enjoyed it, and the rings (LM''s, DL''s, MGR''s and LS''s on my end of the table) were even more lovely in person, as others have attested. I third the idea of a round table for next time, and maybe an early dinner rather than lunch so people don''t feel time pressure to get back to the Show and can display their acquisitions.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Hello - it''s Miss Got Rocks bringing up the rear! Working late today. I have three of the most horrible blisters you''ve ever seen from my shoes and walking what must have been nine city blocks to the Hard Rock Cafe - but it was well worth it. Thanks to GemKtchr we had a nice taxi ride back to the convention center.

We absolutely must have a round table the next time. I felt like I didn''t really get to visit with the other end of the table. LMurden was so much fun to talk to - her ring is absolutely spectacular. LoganSapphire was kind enough to share her SP eternity band with me several times - I LOVE IT! Her ring and earrings were lovely as well; I finally got to see a three prong martini setting up close. GemKtchr and lovely wife shared their stories and their ''behind the curtain'' look into the wholesale world. I didn''t buy anything at the show; really wasn''t in the market for anything in particular but had lots of fun looking at all the pretties. MissDiamondLil and I were tired pups at the end of the day but really had a nice time. Maybe the next time we can just meet without the show and hope even more of you can show up. It''s such fun to put a face to a name and a name to a PS name!

Again, hats off to Ira for arranging and for the pics - next time we''ll do a more ''formal'' pose.

 

[Logan Sapphire]

I handed over my Signed Pieces Raphael ring to Miss Got Rocks solely for the purpose of hoping that ice skating rink on her hand would rub off on my ring!

 

[Dancing Fire]

RG

i feel sorry for you

surounded by all those beautiful women

 

[njc]

Date: 8/22/2005 8:04:29 PM
Author: Logan Sapphire
I handed over my Signed Pieces Raphael ring to Miss Got Rocks solely for the purpose of hoping that ice skating rink on her hand would rub off on my ring!

HA! I love it!

 

[Patty]

Will someone please tell us who is who in these pictures?

Thanks!