First timer to colored gemstones

[Skidiamond41]

Hello all. I’m interested in putting together a couple necklaces for two of my friends. One of my closest friends recently gifted me a hand me down necklace. She gave me her blessing to do whatever I wanted with it. Well the necklace was given to her by her ex husband who happens to be my brother. It didn’t feel right to keep it so the necklace found a new loving home. I used the funds to fund a fun project of mine (5 stone ring that will be eventually turn into diamond earring for my girls and a necklace for me, diamonds are my twins birthstone ). But I’d like to repay my friend and get her and our other friend birthstone necklaces. So this is what I’m looking for but have no idea where to start or what vendors to look into:

1) a very dainty emerald(emerald cut) set east west in a delicate yellow gold chain. Maybe also bezel set?? No idea…
2) a round garnet and round aquamarine bezel set each as a sliding pendant on a delicate gold chain.

I have no idea even as to how much I can expect to pay for these types of things but I can say my budget will be tight and I may need to save some additional funds to do this. But I’d like to at least start the research. This is my research stage.

 

[Autumn in New England]

What fun projects you have ahead of you, @Skidiamond41! Are you in the US? I would take a look at JTV if you're in search of mid-quality gems on a budget. They have all shapes and sizes in a wide range of price points. Good luck!

 

[Skidiamond41]

Thanks!!

I’ve been poking around and I am curious is there a stigma on lab created emeralds? A lot of the emeralds I see that are clear are lab created. Natural ones tend to be a little cloudier. It seems like aquamarine and garnets are a little easier to shop for.

 

[chrono]

I think it is important to start to think about the budget right now. There's the stone cost, necklace, setting, labour, etc. With a known budget, we can then breakdown how much to allocate for what and perhaps it might even be more beneficial to find a ready-made item rather than custom.

 

[demantoidz]

Thanks!!

I’ve been poking around and I am curious is there a stigma on lab created emeralds? A lot of the emeralds I see that are clear are lab created. Natural ones tend to be a little cloudier. It seems like aquamarine and garnets are a little easier to shop for.

It's personal preference. I have nothing against synthetics but I wouldn't buy them for myself. Don't think I'd call that a stigma. For emeralds especially, where so many undergo invasive treatments to improve clarity, synthetic is a solid option. I would rather have a synthetic emerald than reconstituted or dyed emerald.
A minimally treated emerald with nice color can be very expensive. If lighter toned, more affordable, but probably still more expensive than synthetics. Do you know your friends thoughts on synthetics?

 

[Skidiamond41]

So I think my friend would appreciate a nice quality natural emerald. When I say quality I think medium tier. But again I have no idea if a small medium tier natural emerald is attainable in what my budget is.

For both necklaces I’d be looking at small dainty stones, emerald maybe 5x4mm emerald cut (guessing this would fall in the delicate dainty category for being set east west), and the aquamarine and garnet maybe 4mm rounds… I think the max budget would be $600-$800 total for both necklaces with a higher percent of the budget going towards the emerald necklace. Chains I’m thinking 14k gold and max 16” basic chain. Ideally they’d could stack with other necklaces.

I’m not ready to pull the trigger right now as I’m still in the info gathering stage. But I would like to give it to them this summer when I see them next (we live in varying parts of the US and only get together 1-2 times a year).

 

[demantoidz]

So I think my friend would appreciate a nice quality natural emerald. When I say quality I think medium tier. But again I have no idea if a small medium tier natural emerald is attainable in what my budget is.

For both necklaces I’d be looking at small dainty stones, emerald maybe 5x4mm emerald cut (guessing this would fall in the delicate dainty category for being set east west), and the aquamarine and garnet maybe 4mm rounds… I think the max budget would be $600-$800 total for both necklaces with a higher percent of the budget going towards the emerald necklace. Chains I’m thinking 14k gold and max 16” basic chain. Ideally they’d could stack with other necklaces.

I’m not ready to pull the trigger right now as I’m still in the info gathering stage. But I would like to give it to them this summer when I see them next (we live in varying parts of the US and only get together 1-2 times a year).

To give you an idea, these emeralds were priced at 695$ per carat. 5x4 is about half a carat based on the info in the post, so about 350$. They are lighter toned in color than trade-ideal so they are affordable, but minimally treated (oil only) and very pretty. With a different origin (Zambia) and moderate treatment (like Opticon resin - stable unlike oil, reversable, and accepted by many on a budget) you might be able to get a darker more classic emerald green, but I'm not sure where.

Tandi Hufnagel on Instagram: "ALL SOLD Glowy Muzo Emeralds! These beauties have great clarity and saturation. It’s notoriously difficult to capture emeralds in photos - these pics get close to real life! You can see the great glow and neon color -

304 likes, 11 comments - desertrose_gems on February 8, 2022: "ALL SOLD Glowy Muzo Emeralds! These beauties have great clarity and saturation. It’s notoriously difficult to capture emeralds in photos - these pics get close to real life! You can see the great glow and neon color - however they...

www.instagram.com

Someone here bought one of those in the IG post and shared it in this thread.

eBay emeralds

Hello. I have always thought that I didn’t like emeralds but I’m realizing that some are actually quite nice. I especially like the glowy, bluish green ones. I’m not ready to buy right now but I was looking at eBay options and I’m curious if it’s possible to determine a decent emerald in the...

www.pricescope.com

There are many types of garnets so which garnet variety is something to think about as some are more expensive than others (e.g. rhodolite, tsavorite, mali garnet, spessartine...)

Considering hassle and setting costs that comes with buying loose, I would probably go with something ready-made, but others can direct you better than me.

 

[chrono]

Considering hassle and setting costs that comes with buying loose, I would probably go with something ready-made

Agree with this.

 

[Skidiamond41]

Are the best options for preset ready-made going to be Etsy? Or are there other vendors out there that I should look into? I know in the diamond world where I would look but no idea when it comes to gemstones.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Are the best options for preset ready-made going to be Etsy? Or are there other vendors out there that I should look into? I know in the diamond world where I would look but no idea when it comes to gemstones.

What an excitting project
Looking forward to seeing how they turn out

 

[demantoidz]

Are the best options for preset ready-made going to be Etsy? Or are there other vendors out there that I should look into? I know in the diamond world where I would look but no idea when it comes to gemstones.

Here are two vendors many have used here

Some inexpensive (silver) garnet pendants here

View Necklaces and Bracelets by CecileRaleyDesigns on Etsy

Shop Rare Loose Gemstones for Sale & Custom Jewelry Design by CecileRaleyDesigns located in Jersey City, New Jersey. Smooth shipping! Has a history of shipping on time with tracking. Speedy replies! Has a history of replying to messages quickly. Rave reviews! Average review rating is 4.8 or higher

www.etsy.com

and here

AfricaGems.com

AfricaGems.com offers FREE SHIPPING on all gemstones, loose gemstones and gemstone jewelry like gemstone rings, gemstone engagement rings, gemstone jewelry and fashion rings. Fine faceted gems, gemstone rings and loose gemstones on SALE now. Find your dream natural gemstones for color, cut...

www.africagems.com

Mostly synthetic emerald pendants

AfricaGems.com

AfricaGems.com offers FREE SHIPPING on all gemstones, loose gemstones and gemstone jewelry like gemstone rings, gemstone engagement rings, gemstone jewelry and fashion rings. Fine faceted gems, gemstone rings and loose gemstones on SALE now. Find your dream natural gemstones for color, cut...

www.africagems.com

And as was mentioned above, JTV is an option. Worth browsing etsy.