First gemstone purchase - sapphire and spinel

[bling addict]

I just got a spinel and sapphire from Dan Stair -- and I LOVE THEM! Firstly I have to commend Dan, he answered all my questions promptly, gave accurate descriptions, and got them to me in Australia in AMAZING time - seriously it took 3 days!

The spinel is a 1.43ct octagon barion Cut - eye clean - 6.87 mm - it''s a darker spinel, that looks more blue in daylight, and purple under incandescent light

The sapphire is a 0.69ct round brilliant 5.29mm - eye clean, untreated from Tanzania- it is lighter coloured appearing greenish blue in daylight, and purplish blue under incandescent light.

I haven''t got many photos to share at the moment, I will try to get more over the weekend - you will see my photography skills are lacking, and don''t really do the stones justice, but you can see the different colours they appear, which is pretty cool!

First one is early in the morning in my bedroom - so daylight, but not direct sunlight

 

[bling addict]

This second one is also early morning daylight in the bedroom, not direct sunlight

 

[bling addict]

This one is at night, incandescent light. I will try and get some better pictures this weekend. Thanks for looking

 

[bling addict]

One more that maybe shows the purple under incandescent light a bit better - I really need to get some better photos!

 

[Linda W]

Beautiful stones BA. I love them. It looks like they really glow!!! How are you going to set them???



Linda

 

[bling addict]

Thanks Linda

They really are so pretty, the spinel has beautiful flashes of light/sparkle (I''m not up with the lingo!) that I have yet to be able to capture on camera...

I had originally been thinking of setting the sapphire in a ring, and the spinel as a ring or pendant, but now that I have them I am thinking of collecting a few more different coloured gems and making a coloured gems by the yard - like the diamonds by the yard, but they might be all different shapes and colours....I will ponder some more, and open to suggestions as I don''t have my heart set on anything yet!

 

[innerkitten]

Oh my goodness, those are really nice! Not bad for a first purchase

 

[pjean]

How exciting! Just beware - it''s addictive.

 

[geckodani]

Those are beautiful!

 

[FrekeChild]

Lovely stones!

I was hoping that blue octagon would go to a PSer!! Such a stunning stone! I can''t wait to see what you do with them!!!

(I heart Dan! He''s such a nice guy!)

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Very pretty, they look like they have tons of sparkle!

 

[movie zombie]

you''ve got the start of a color addiction!

movie zombie

 

[marcy]

They are lovely stones.

 

[bling addict]

Inner Kitten, PJean, GeckoDani, Freke, LTF, MZ and Marcy - Thank you all so much for your lovely comments! They sure are beautiful stones, and Dan Stair is wonderful , I have definitely been bitten by the colour stone bug!

 

[Lupinbunny]

They are both stunning! Way, way jealous of your sapphire!

 

[bling addict]

Thanks Lupin

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Love them both! What a great start to your collection!

 

[bling addict]

Thanks LTP! I love your e-ring in your avatar!

I have been thinking of setting the spinel in a bezel, but thought it might make it look too dark, and am a bit all over the place with ideas!

 

[simplysplendid]

They look very pretty! I love Dan''s work and have purchased from him several stones before. They make pretty and rather low cost jewelry!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 9/18/2008 5:57:46 PM
Author: bling addict
Thanks LTP! I love your e-ring in your avatar!

I have been thinking of setting the spinel in a bezel, but thought it might make it look too dark, and am a bit all over the place with ideas!

Thank you - and I love the idea of bezeling pretty much anything! That spinel is just fantastic and it''s shape will work SOOOOO well in a bezel!!

 

[Catmom]

Ruh Roh, now you''ve done it! Pinks will be next, then greens and on and on and on. I love the color of both of them, they''re beautiful blues!

 

[gladyskristen]

Hi bling addict,

Really lovely stones! I''m also considering buying stone from Dan. How much did it cost to have it shipped down under and which mode of payment did you use? I''m in Sydney right now.

 

[bling addict]

Thanks again LTP;
Catmom/Michelle - Thanks - I''d say you''re right - won''t be long before I start collecting other colours!
Gladys - I paid by paypal - nice and easy; and Dan offered to options for mailing - normal mail which he covered the price of (i.e complimentary) or US$25 for Global Express Insured - which was the option I chose, and which I paid a few dollars less than his actual cost. I definitely recommend him, I love my stones, and he answered my emails really quickly, and the whole process was very simple

 

[Love in Bloom]

Oh wow bling addict...I love those blues!

 

[Kelli]

I love both of your new beauties!

 

[bling addict]

Thanks LIB

your Tanzanian Rocks were definitely some of the ones that got me more interested in coloured stones!
Thank you Kelli!

I have taken some more photos of the stones outside - which is quite a mission because I live in a small dark apartment so were carrying my rocks around in the hope I''d get a sunny day while I was out and about - my husband officially thinks I''m a bit nuts!

Sadly, my photo taking skills still leave a lot to be desired....

This first one was taken outside, but on a very overcast day (I also haven''t worked out how to post more than one photo in a post)...

 

[bling addict]

This is the sapphire outside on a sunny day but under my shadow.

 

[bling addict]

Spinel indoors again, but I think a bit better than previous photos...
Also just noticed my hands look like crocodile skin - sorry, should have moisturised!

 

[bling addict]

Sadly I don''t have a good photo of the spinel in the sunlight and this one it has fingerprints all over it, because I dropped it in the dirt at the botanic gardens!! But thought I''d post it to give some idea of the colour in the sunshine. Thanks again to everyone for your lovely comments