Finally some photos (please forgive my amateurish attempts)

[virgoruby]

First up is my first & the only project in 2009 - a lotus ring, designed & made by my local jeweler who specializes in ethical jewelry; she was so lovely to work with..
The stone is rhodolite garnet (1.9ct, 7.5mm), which came from North Carolina, dug out & cut by Mr Mastercutgems (aka Dana).

 

[virgoruby]

Another pic of the lotus ring..

 

[virgoruby]

And another..

 

[virgoruby]

Next up are a few of my recent stone purchases from mastercutgems:
2 Spinels (blue: 2.045ct, 6.9x7.1mm; pink/red: 1.32ct, 7x5.3mm)

 

[virgoruby]

I''m thinking of setting the pink/red spinel in a LOGR ring.. though I have to find another jeweler who could set the stone.. as I don''t think I can ask the ethical jeweler to do it..

 

[virgoruby]

Peridot (3.3CT, 9mm):

 

[virgoruby]

A pink princess cut tourmaline from CustomGemstones (1.66CT, 6.9mm) - it''s more bubblegum pink & v. pretty in real life.

 

[virgoruby]

And finally, a blue green, rectangular cushion tourmaline from PrecisionGem (1.91ct, 8.87x6.25mm): I thought it might be a tad too dark, but decided to get it cos it was reduced - also thought I''d check out Gene''s precision cutting which is highly praised here. Well, am pleased to say that it has much better color saturation IRL than in the photo (& an amazing cut).
Thanks for looking!

 

[Kismet]

Very pretty all of them. I especially like the blue spinel; is the color in the picture accurate? I can''t say I''ve heard of an ''ethical jeweler'' before. What does that entail?

 

[CNOS128]

Beautiful!
Where did you get your peridot? The color is lovely!

 

[Arcadian]

amazing stones! the pink spinel will look lovely in that setting (I have one thats similar) All your stones really look great!

-A

 

[Arkteia]

Beautiful. I like your red tourmaline most. What a rare color.

 

[Fly Girl]

Lovely ring and you have some great stones. Awesome colors. Don't worry about the pictures. Most of us here are amateurs at photography. Try to get enough light so there is no vibration to blur the picture, or use a tripod. Use the camera's macro setting. Then I crop away most of the background so people can focus on the pretty stone. There are lots more tips out there, but that's pretty much just what I do.

Thanks for sharing photos of your pretties.

 

[virgoruby]

Thanks everyone for your kind comments!
Kismet - the blue spinel is very flashy and bright, but does go slightly darker in different lighting conditions. I love it though.

TheBigT - I got the peridot from mastercutgems; am sure Dana has more peridots in his inventory.

Arcadian - I think I saw a pic of your spinel ring.. thought it was v. pretty!
Crasru -thanks for your kind words.
Fly Girl - thanks for your useful tips re photographing gems.

Moving on to the question on Ethical jewelry...
Ethical or fair trade jewelers strive to be socially and environmentally responsible; they use materials (gold, silver and gems) from traceable sources, ensuring that workers are paid fairly, their working conditions are safe, and the mining process is environmentally sustainable. For example, my local ethical jeweler sources their gold from small co-operative mines in Argentina (Eco Andina), whilst (as far as I am aware) many other fair trade jewelers source precious metals from the Corporacion Oro Verde in Colombia. These mines do not use toxic substances such as cyanide and mercury in the extraction process, which is often used in mainstream mining, damaging the environment and risking workers'' welbeing.
In addition, ethical jewelers endeavour to source gemstones from traceable mines/organisations, however, the fact that there is no regulatory body certifying fair trade gems makes it difficult for the jewelers to ensure that the gemstones are ''ethically sourced, responsibly mined, and deliver economic justice to all the people involved in its production''.. They generally support Kimberley process as well, which aims to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate trade, though it must also be noted that there has been criticisms on its effectiveness due to lack of transparency..

 

[oddoneout]

Beautiful lotus setting. Great collection too.

 

[blithesome71]

Wow! Your gems are all pretty! I esp. love the Lotus Ring, it really suits your rhodolite very nicely.

 

[chrono]

Oh my, so many lovely stones. You''ll be running out of fingers soon.

 

[Lovinggems]

Lovely ring and stones!

 

[virgoruby]

Thanks oddoneout, blithesome71, Chrono and Lovinggems!
I''m so glad that I could finally contribute something to this forum..

I find this forum sooo fascinating.. it''s so informative & everyone seems so helpful & lovely.
It''s also great to see cutters/vendors and collectors having meaningful discussions/arguments on gemstones..

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Beautiful ring!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Love it - the rhodolite color is TDF, and that setting shows it off to perfection

 

[marcy]

Wow, what a great collection of lovely stones.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I love the lotus ring, its quite a work of art!

 

[virgoruby]

Thanks for your kind words Bella_mezzo, AmberGretchen, marcyc and MakingTheGrade. I really love my lotus ring - it''s so delicate yet well constructed.

I''ve only started collecting colored gemstones recently, so I still have a long way to go.. It all started with a ruby ring which I bought from an online designer jewelry store.. to my horror, I found surface fractures on the stone less than a year after purchasing the ring.
I was so upset, I sent the ring back to the jeweler to have a look at it & possibly fix the flaws; however, much to my disappointment, the SA told me that the ''marks'' (ie surface fractures) were internal inclusions and that there was no way of polishing them out.. I then asked the SA whether there was any treatments on my ruby, to which she said she would ask the buying team, but never came back to me.. however, I suspect the ruby is fracture filled.. The attached photo is the ring in question, though it''s only showing feather inclusions and not the surface fractures (I''m still learning how to photograph gemstones..) - I have to say that the surface fractures are not that noticeable to the naked eye, nevertheless they bug me to no end...

I have now come to see this rather an unpleasant experience as a blessing in disguise, as it prompted me to research into colored gemstones, which in turn led me to Pricescope; I am totally enamored by the beauty and complexity of colored gemstones & would love to learn more about them.

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

 

[gemgirl]

What beautiful stones! They''re all lovely clear colors. What fun you''re going to have setting them all.

 

[T L]

Very pretty!! If you use the macro mode on your camera, you might be able to get better closeups.

 

[mochi]

Very pretty collection.

 

[virgoruby]

Thanks gemgirl, TL & mochi.
TL- thanks for your tips, though I must say I''ve been using the macro (flower) mode on my camera - maybe my pocket sized digital camera (Canon Exilim) has its limitations...

 

[stepcutnut]

What a gorgeous collection!