February 2019 Colored Stone Purchases

[voce]

Tucson, Valentine's Day sales, and other buying opportunities abound. I'm patiently waiting on a number of my gems to be set this month, so please help me ensure the wait by posting pictures of the beauties that you have acquired recently!

I'll confess that I wasn't supposed to be buying any more gems, but I have a soft spot now for red and pink spinels. It will take me quite a while to work up the funds to set these.

 

[elle_71125]

OMG it was you!!! I had an appointment this morning and when I got back I check Yvonne's page (and her "sold" page because that's how I roll) and this pair was the first thing I saw. They are so gorgeous and I totally would have bought them. So thank you for removing temptation from my life.
Now, I'll just wait to see all your pics and how you eventually set them.

 

[strawrose]

Does receiving it in February count? Yvonne Raley’s indicolite/lavender spinel/paraiba tourmaline lily ring.

 

[voce]

Does receiving it in February count? Yvonne Raley’s indicolite/lavender spinel/paraiba tourmaline lily ring.

So pretty, and I just LOVE that finger coverage!

 

[strawrose]

So pretty, and I just LOVE that finger coverage!

Thanks! Are you planning to make earrings with those gorgeous stones?

 

[sapphiremomma]

Does receiving it in February count? Yvonne Raley’s indicolite/lavender spinel/paraiba tourmaline lily ring.

WOW! I love this ring so much!!! My favorite color combos!! It looks stunning!

 

[Bron357]

Just the purchase of a ring mount to set one of my 3 carat sapphires. But I’m currently wrestling with “which one to set, which one to sell”.
One is like a 9 out of 10, the other a 7.5 out of 10. Do I keep or sell the best one? Still can’t decide.
The one in the photo is the 7.5 out of 10 one!

 

[voce]

Thanks! Are you planning to make earrings with those gorgeous stones?

I don't have pierced ears, and DF thinks that's for the best . My first thought when I saw these was that they would make excellent side stones for my silver spinel, which I had bought during a Christmas sale.

After checkout, I thought to myself, “they would look great with a Paraiba.”

But no no no, I can't afford a third Paraiba stone when my first two aren't set yet. So I will sit on them until I am 100% sure about the decision I come to.

 

[kgizo]

Does receiving it in February count? Yvonne Raley’s indicolite/lavender spinel/paraiba tourmaline lily ring.

Fabulous!!

 

[voce]

Just the purchase of a ring mount to set one of my 3 carat sapphires. But I’m currently wrestling with “which one to set, which one to sell”.
One is like a 9 out of 10, the other a 7.5 out of 10. Do I keep or sell the best one? Still can’t decide.
The one in the photo is the 7.5 out of 10 one!

Holey moley, that's a great ring mount, Bron! Is that one of the pair? How much of a price difference would there be? I would go with the 9 in the ring and the 7.5 on a bracelet, if I want to keep both. It's a tough call which one to sell, and I would base it off of how much money it could generate to fund other projects.

 

[kgizo]

@voce Gorgeous stones!! Do you like lavalier style necklaces?

 

[strawrose]

Just the purchase of a ring mount to set one of my 3 carat sapphires. But I’m currently wrestling with “which one to set, which one to sell”.
One is like a 9 out of 10, the other a 7.5 out of 10. Do I keep or sell the best one? Still can’t decide.
The one in the photo is the 7.5 out of 10 one!

It’s gorgeous! How can you be undecided? 9/10 of course!

 

[elle_71125]

Does receiving it in February count? Yvonne Raley’s indicolite/lavender spinel/paraiba tourmaline lily ring.

Holy gorgeousness!!!! I love the double milgrain on the petals. It's the perfect touch.

 

[voce]

@voce Gorgeous stones!! Do you like lavalier style necklaces?

That's a great idea. I like the look on other people. Personally, I don't know if I'd wear that style necklace anytime soon, because I have a DDD bust at the moment (working to lose some of that and fat in other places too before I get married).

 

[strawrose]

@kgizo @elle_71125 thanks! This is my first multiple stone ring that doesn’t include diamonds.

 

[leslie1956]

Does receiving it in February count? Yvonne Raley’s indicolite/lavender spinel/paraiba tourmaline lily ring.

That is a stunning Lily ring, straw rose, the color combination is perfection

 

[leslie1956]

Tucson, Valentine's Day sales, and other buying opportunities abound. I'm patiently waiting on a number of my gems to be set this month, so please help me ensure the wait by posting pictures of the beauties that you have acquired recently!

I'll confess that I wasn't supposed to be buying any more gems, but I have a soft spot now for red and pink spinels. It will take me quite a while to work up the funds to set these.

Perfect VD colors, voce! For the sake of my budget, I’m glad that I didn’t see those pear shaped beauties first

 

[voce]

@kgizo @elle_71125 thanks! This is my first multiple stone ring that doesn’t include diamonds.

Colored stone melee make jewelry so much more unique than diamonds just by virtue of the color. It's fun and addicting to get new color combinations.

 

[Bron357]

Holey moley, that's a great ring mount, Bron! Is that one of the pair? How much of a price difference would there be? I would go with the 9 in the ring and the 7.5 on a bracelet, if I want to keep both. It's a tough call which one to sell, and I would base it off of how much money it could generate to fund other projects.

Yes, it one of the pair and finding that ring mount really solidified my desire to keep one. But It’s complicated. The issue is that an almost matched pair of 9mm rounds is rare and probably shouldn’t be split up. Moreso depending on their origin the keeping as a pair could be even more important. I felt “better” when I just thought them pretty sapphires. Now I’m all a dither. I do want to keep one. The 7.5 /10 one is a different cut, it’s like an OMC with a tiny flat cutlet (?) and it has a slight variation in colour towards one side.

 

[strawrose]

Yes, it one of the pair and finding that ring mount really solidified my desire to keep one. But It’s complicated. The issue is that an almost matched pair of 9mm rounds is rare and probably shouldn’t be split up. Moreso depending on their origin the keeping as a pair could be even more important. I felt “better” when I just thought them pretty sapphires. Now I’m all a dither. I do want to keep one. The 7.5 /10 one is a different cut, it’s like an OMC with a tiny flat cutlet (?) and it has a slight variation in colour towards one side.

Maybe keep the 7.5 as a pendant stone?

 

[voce]

Unless you're going to wear them as earrings, I think you should still keep them together in the same set, with one in a ring and the other as a pendant or a bracelet.

 

[kindred]

@voce - I am completely in love with your profile pic stone. Like, I wish I could steal it kind of love.

@strawrose - What a beautiful and unique ring!

@Bron357 - It doesn't sound like you need the money from the sale of one of the stones. Why not keep them together? Maybe someday you'll pass them down to someone who will adore them. If not, keep the 9/10!
BTW - Did you ever hear back about the couple of stones that you were sending to a lab?

 

[Hivona]

I bought two so far in February. I have only received one so far. Barry’s picture of an aquaprase and a zircon from Bespoke Gems. It is out of this world & I’ll start its own thread for more pictures!

 

[2Neesers]

Great idea for a thread @voce ! You all have been busy buying beautiful gems and pieces so far in February .
I have been trying to start a buying ban for myself since the beginning of the year, but I have been very bad . I apparently have no will power when it comes to pretty gems. I have a few February purchase to add.
An Afghan Tourmaline and pink garnet are on their way to me from Steve at Westview Gems, two of my favorite types of gems .

As well as an 11mm cushion faceted opal from Bob at FlatFacets. It will be my first faceted opal and I’m excited to see it!

I also have a Aquaprase from Barry at AC Stones coming like @Hivona

I recently took a rock polishing/cabbing class at local jewelers studio and have a new found appreciation for cabs and unusual stones. I have a carved garnet and agate coming from Barry that I thought looked neat and I hope to learn to set myself in silver bezel pendants, some day.

 

[elle_71125]

Great idea for a thread @voce ! You all have been busy buying beautiful gems and pieces so far in February .
I have been trying to start a buying ban for myself since the beginning of the year, but I have been very bad . I apparently have no will power when it comes to pretty gems. I have a few February purchase to add.
An Afghan Tourmaline and pink garnet are on their way to me from Steve at Westview Gems, two of my favorite types of gems .

As well as an 11mm cushion faceted opal from Bob at FlatFacets. It will be my first faceted opal and I’m excited to see it!

I also have a Aquaprase from Barry at AC Stones coming like @Hivona

I recently took a rock polishing/cabbing class at local jewelers studio and have a new found appreciation for cabs and unusual stones. I have a carved garnet and agate coming from Barry that I thought looked neat and I hope to learn to set myself in silver bezel pendants, some day.

Whoa, you really have had a busy February. I can’t wait to see what you think of the faceted opal in person. It looks gorgeous! And the garnet cab has such an interesting texture going on. I don’t know what it is but I really like it.

 

[Hivona]

Great idea for a thread @voce ! You all have been busy buying beautiful gems and pieces so far in February .
I have been trying to start a buying ban for myself since the beginning of the year, but I have been very bad . I apparently have no will power when it comes to pretty gems. I have a few February purchase to add.
An Afghan Tourmaline and pink garnet are on their way to me from Steve at Westview Gems, two of my favorite types of gems .

As well as an 11mm cushion faceted opal from Bob at FlatFacets. It will be my first faceted opal and I’m excited to see it!

I also have a Aquaprase from Barry at AC Stones coming like @Hivona

I recently took a rock polishing/cabbing class at local jewelers studio and have a new found appreciation for cabs and unusual stones. I have a carved garnet and agate coming from Barry that I thought looked neat and I hope to learn to set myself in silver bezel pendants, some day.

Oh you got that carved garnet from Barry! I almost put it in my cart but decided against it because I just didn’t want to spend too much! I’m curious how you like it in person!

 

[2Neesers]

Whoa, you really have had a busy February. I can’t wait to see what you think of the faceted opal in person. It looks gorgeous! And the garnet cab has such an interesting texture going on. I don’t know what it is but I really like it.

The garnet cab has a smooth and polished dome on top, and then has the design you see drilled out on the underside. I thought I would spice things up with something different . I’ll report back to let you know what I think when I receive the faceted opal!
@Hivona I’ll add pictures of the carved garnet once it’s here too!

 

[strawrose]

Great idea for a thread @voce ! You all have been busy buying beautiful gems and pieces so far in February .
I have been trying to start a buying ban for myself since the beginning of the year, but I have been very bad . I apparently have no will power when it comes to pretty gems. I have a few February purchase to add.
An Afghan Tourmaline and pink garnet are on their way to me from Steve at Westview Gems, two of my favorite types of gems .

As well as an 11mm cushion faceted opal from Bob at FlatFacets. It will be my first faceted opal and I’m excited to see it!

I also have a Aquaprase from Barry at AC Stones coming like @Hivona

I recently took a rock polishing/cabbing class at local jewelers studio and have a new found appreciation for cabs and unusual stones. I have a carved garnet and agate coming from Barry that I thought looked neat and I hope to learn to set myself in silver bezel pendants, some day.

Why am I always drawn to tourmaline? All those stones are fascinating! Do you have other fantasy cut stones? How did you set them if you do?

 

[2Neesers]

Why am I always drawn to tourmaline? All those stones are fascinating! Do you have other fantasy cut stones? How did you set them if you do?

Hi @strawrose ! I am drawn to tourmaline too and can’t quite explain why. They’re just so pretty . I only have one other stone that would be considered a fantasy cut, a concave cut elongated cushion tourmaline from Gene and it’s in a split shank ring setting. I think when the cutting gets more adventurous, it would be harder to find just the right setting.
I absolutely love your new ring from Yvonne . It is perfection and looks gorgeous on your hand!

 

[strawrose]

Hi @strawrose ! I am drawn to tourmaline too and can’t quite explain why. They’re just so pretty . I only have one other stone that would be considered a fantasy cut, a concave cut elongated cushion tourmaline from Gene and it’s in a split shank ring setting. I think when the cutting gets more adventurous, it would be harder to find just the right setting.
I absolutely love your new ring from Yvonne . It is perfection and looks gorgeous on your hand!

Thank you!

I have a fantasy cut stone coming soon, once the cutter gets over their Tucson hangover. I should create a thread asking how PSers set their masterpieces.