Finished! Green tourmaline stone in ebay halo setting (plus short review of vendor)

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

So here is the story with pictures following.

I purchased a setting from an ebay jeweler from China (jewe2004) and asked them to customize it so that it would be a size 3.5, and so that it would fit a 6.5 mm round stone. Based on this, I bought from Barry Bridgestock a beautiful 6.5 mm green tourmaline from Namibia.

Unfortunately, when the setting came in, it came in too small (my 5.52 mm sapphire didn''t fit in it). I took it to the jewelery store where I had my garnet ring set a few weeks ago (Steve Quick Jewelers in Chicago), and they said that maybe the jeweler could bend back the prongs so that the tourmaline would fit - if it didn''t fit, I asked them to go ahead and set the smaller sapphire in it instead. I also asked them to claw out the double prongs.

I got a call that the ring was done and went to pick it up. They did manage to set the tourmaline, although it is set much higher because of the size difference. I wasn''t too happy about the ebay seller (I messaged them and they said the setting would fit a 5.5-6.5 mm stone...which isn''t really true since a 5.52 mm didn''t fit) but I didn''t want to send it back since I wanted this tourmaline set. Anyway, the jeweler did a great job and the ring came out well so I''m definitely happy with Steve Quick.

So now, here are pictures.

First, the setting as shown on the ebay listing

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Barry Bridgestock Green Namibia tourmaline - 6.5 mm, 1.18 ct

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Finished ring - apologies for crappy lighting/picture quality - taken in my kitchen since it''s dark outside!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

2

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

3

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

4

 

[marcy]

Brown eyed girl, your ring turned out LOVELY. It looks great.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Thank you Marcy! I was just about to head over to the Colored Stones to play catch-up

Okay, picture of all my ring projects since I discovered Pricescope (woohoo!) - not counting loose stones that I haven''t set yet!

 

[trillionaire]

FABulous!!! Looks like an emerald!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

One last one!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Thanks Trillionaire! Barry''s work is amazing - I love the color of the stone!

 

[Linda W]

It''s beautiful, I love the setting too. I agree, it does look like an emerald.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

Oooh! It is stunning, they all are!

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Beautiful. I actually love the fact that the stones seems to overlap the halo a little. I think it worked out great.

 

[GliderPoss]

Brown Eyed Girl - do you mind if I ask where you got the setting for the blue stone from? I am very keen to reset my Ruby into something similar. Was it from an Ebay seller?

Thanks very much.

 

[joflier]

The color looks so amazing against the white gold! I think it turned out great!

 

[mochi]

Goodness!! It turned out magnificently!! And your other rings are gorgeous as well. Absolutely stunning!

 

[bebe]

Gorgeous!!!

And you have more ? unset ?

 

[FutureELK]

That turned out BEATIFUL! I love the combo of the WG and the green, very stunning!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Linda, thank you! The color is amazing - Barry actually gave me two different tourmaline options and I went with this one - I''m so glad I did! It''s so sparkly and deep deep green

DiamondDana thanks! My slow but steady start at building a good collection

There are definitely some ring collections on PS I aspire to!

LtlFirecracker thanks! I''m glad the jeweler was able to work things out - at the last minute, I called them and asked them not to set my smaller sapphire in. If the tourm didn''t work, I was going to shop for another stone

Probably good for my wallet it worked out, lol

HotPozzum, the setting for my blue sapphire is from James Allen. It''s their (common prong setting with 18kt white gold, width of 1.9 mm. They also have a 2.2 mm version. The sapphire is a 1.21 cushion to give you an approximation of stone size/band width. And, I loved James Allen - definitely more expensive than my eBay settings for this tourmaline and my garnet, but the quality is superb and the customer service was great. I definitely recommend them!

Joflier, thank you! I really like the contrast between the green and the white as well!

Mochi, thanks! And I have to say, I''m loving that new avatar - and the stone! I soooo want to get an aqua Asscher of my own now!

Bebe, thanks! I have 3 more stones that are unset - a dark pink tourmaline cushion cut by Jeff White (I''m saving that one for when I have the money to really splurge on a spectacular setting...I''m thinking split-shank), a large (4.33 ct.) Jeff White pale pink morganite asscher (also saving that one), and a smaller round sapphire cut by Dan Stair, which *almost* went into this setting but which I''m waiting on to set, since I already have a sapphire ring. Photos of the tourm and morganite attached - the morganite photographs well, but the tourmaline comes out a little darker than in real life

FutureELK, thanks so much!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Thanks SDLady!

My gem collection makes me happy

I can''t quite bear to set my JW stones though...I like looking at them loose too much

 

[Dandi]

It turned out beautifully!! Your collection is exquisite, BEG! Lucky girl

 

[MMT]

Wow it''s gorgeous, I love you whole collection

 

[onvacation]

Your rings look beautiful together, Brown.Eyed.Girl! Do you have a favorite you find your self wearing most often?

 

[geckodani]

It''s lovely! The color is just amazing!

 

[EricaR]

The green color is so deep and almost mysterious! I absolutely love it.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Wow, very pretty rings. Even though I love diamonds, your colored stones look so much more vibrant and stand out amazingly next to the diamond halos.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

BEG, your collection is just gorgeous! Love the pic of the three together!!!!

 

[Rhea]

That green is amazing! Congratulations on your new ring.

 

[kcoursolle]

I''m green with envy, what a beautiful ring and collection!!!! I love the stones you chose!