Help with first cs purchase

[wopplybopper]

Hi all! Its my first time purchasing a cs and im hoping to get great advice from yall who have more experience than me! I was inspired by @icy_jade gorgeous ring and I’ve decided i would like a ring pendant convertible as well. Im not looking to spend too much on a stone maybe 2k USD but i would like it big enough to fit a design like this. What stones would yall suggest that fit this criteria?



Also could anyone recommend any good jewellery stores in Singapore? I live there but as this is my first purchase im not familiar with local jewellers. From what i understand, there isnt much local stock due to covid and i would probably have to source the stone from overseas. I would like to get it set locally though.

Thanks so much for the help im really new to this and would greatly appreciate any and all advice yall could offer.

 

[icy_jade]

i made the ring at Asiatique located in Lucky Plaza basement one. If you want a ring like mine, you can pop by Wriston’s shop. In fact I think he has a design like that in the store right now with peridot:

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What colors do you like and is the 2k budget inclusive of setting or just for stone? If all inclusive then u will need to up your budget a bit. If excluding then really quite a bit to choose from except the big 3...

 

[wopplybopper]

i made the ring at Asiatique located in Lucky Plaza basement one. If you want a ring like mine, you can pop by Wriston’s shop. In fact I think he has a design like that in the store right now with peridot:

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

What colors do you like and is the 2k budget inclusive of setting or just for stone? If all inclusive then u will need to up your budget a bit. If excluding then really quite a bit to choose from except the big 3...

Hi thanks so much for the reply. The 2k budget isnt inclusive of a setting its just for a stone. I understand I probably won't be able to get from the big 3. I think i lean towards colours like pink, red, blue and purple, but really im open to most colours, i just want a well cut stone. I recently read about a stone called tanzanite, would it be possible under this budget? How large a stone would i be able to get? Thanks for the recommendation I'll definitely get my stone set by wriston then.

 

[icy_jade]

I’m not too familiar but tanzanites can be pricey, at least for top color/cut so not sure if possible. I’ll definitely suggest dropping by to have a chat with him to see if he can advise you.

FWIW stones tend to be pricier if you buy from overseas though I understand if you are particular about cut and want to buy from overseas anyway. I’ll leave the other PS-ers to advise on the stones as it’s not familiar territory for me

 

[MissyBeaucoup]

You could also consider tourmaline, which comes in many colors.Or maybe zircon. I love garnets and they come in a wide variety, but I don’t see as many in the large 4-5 carat size.

 

[dk168]

Based on the inspiration ring and stone in the first post, personally, I would go for Aquamarine, Pink Tourmaline, Blue Green Tourmaline, Mint Garnet, and Imperial Pink Topaz; and may be Peridot and Chrysoberyl too.

DK

 

[wopplybopper]

I’m not too familiar but tanzanites can be pricey, at least for top color/cut so not sure if possible. I’ll definitely suggest dropping by to have a chat with him to see if he can advise you.

FWIW stones tend to be pricier if you buy from overseas though I understand if you are particular about cut and want to buy from overseas anyway. I’ll leave the other PS-ers to advise on the stones as it’s not familiar territory for me

From what i understand, the gemstones in Singapore tend to be more native cut and i think i prefer precision cut. If you have any recommendations for jewellery stores with well cut stones though id love to hear them!

You could also consider tourmaline, which comes in many colors.Or maybe zircon. I love garnets and they come in a wide variety, but I don’t see as many in the large 4-5 carat size.

Based on the inspiration ring and stone in the first post, personally, I would go for Aquamarine, Pink Tourmaline, Blue Green Tourmaline, Mint Garnet, and Imperial Pink Topaz; and may be Peridot and Chrysoberyl too.

DK

Wow looks like I have a wealth of options to choose from! Thanks for all the suggestions!

Based on the requirement I believe the aim is to go for the biggest stone with the available budget. Biggest sapphire for 2k would be somewhere around 3-4 carat yellow sapphire. But there are many semi stones with different colours after the big three. All above suggestions make sense. Garnets and spinels and zircon have a more rich color saturation compared to other semi stones. The picture you have attached seems to be really transparent. You can probably go up to as much as 10 carats on some semi-stones with the given budget. For reference below Burma Peridot of 10.5 carats will cost around 1.5k, and the red garnet of 7 carat will cost about 600 dollars.


Important question to ask is, are you looking for only the radiant cut as shown in the sample picture?

Honestly i havent quite decided on a certain type of cut or shape id be looking for yet, just trying to get a feel for the different options first.

Imperial pink topaz seems interesting, does anyone know of any reputable vendors with some in stock?

 

[dk168]

Imperial pink topaz seems interesting, does anyone know of any reputable vendors with some in stock?

Here is mine, cut by Jeff White, and he may still have some roughs left from the tray that he bought at Tucson in ? 2017!



The rough of mine:



Finished stone's glamour photo by Jeff:



It is still with Jeff, so no IRL photos, sorry!

DK

 

[qubitasaurus]

From what i understand, the gemstones in Singapore tend to be more native cut and i think i prefer precision cut. If you have any recommendations for jewellery stores with well cut stones though id love to hear them!




Wow looks like I have a wealth of options to choose from! Thanks for all the suggestions!


Honestly i havent quite decided on a certain type of cut or shape id be looking for yet, just trying to get a feel for the different options first.

Imperial pink topaz seems interesting, does anyone know of any reputable vendors with some in stock?

I am not sure this precision cut concept is real thing that is going to be useful for you in your conversations with singaporean jewelers. Sure you see PS use it all the time, and you will see claims from vendors here that they invented it. But I dont know how well you will go in a singaporean jewelery store asking for a precisions cut vs native cut stone.

It is a slightly hairy concept to say the least -- as people are often apt to create their own designs and then facet according to these designs. They dont publish the diagrams of exact angles for each facet. Now you have a stone whose facets are all perfectly cut to align with the angles of mystery design X. And PS will say (provided polish, meet points, symmetry look good) that it is precision cut. For starters you can see the untestability of this proposition.

In practice given a well cut stone you probably cant answer the question 'is it precision cut?'. Because this is like saying 'Yes, it is a perfect execution of mystery item X'. You can ask instead was it cut in the USA? And label all stones cut in south east asia as native cuts (for the most part this is actually exactly what is done here in practice. Admittedly efficient, but wandering arround asia saying this is like shopping locally while saying you dont want to buy anything local as you dont trust the craftmanship. Luckily instead of getting offended they mostly just wont understand you as it is a bit of a made up word.).

I am not sure how much precision cut is a word in the real world, and I would try to avoid starting a conversation with it in a Singaporean jeweler -- better to avoid the word and directlly vet for what you are actually looking for in 'something precision cut'. Theyll probably humour you, but it could create some confusion.

 

[minousbijoux]

I would simply say you're looking for a stone of ____ shape, well cut (i.e., symmetrical, centered pavilion, even girdle) with good polish. Then let your eyes be the judge.