HELP!

[pitboss0612]

Hi all--

I have joined this site hoping for some help in picking out the perfect engagement ring for my girlfriend. I would like to propose around October and that I want to design her ring myself. I know I want to get her a tourmaline (around 3-4 ct) for the center stone--she is particularly fascinated by the ones with a neon green/blue hue. My research has shown me that these are called Parabia tourmaline and can be quite pricey for the size I would like (I can not afford $30k on just the center stone!). However, I have seen ones from Afghanistan and Africa which look almost identical and are more affordable. I am having a difficult time finding stones that are a color I think she'd like AND are the size I am looking for. I was wondering if anyone could tell me if it would be better idea to buy some copper-bearing tourmaline (or one of similar color) in the raw form and try to find someone to cut it for me? I know absolutely nothing about gemstones, only what she likes. Also, if anyone has any suggestions of reputable places I may purchase tourmaline from. I have only found a handful of sites online--besides Etsy & EBay , both of which I have read reviews from PS warning me to stay away from them!

Any help during this process would be greatly appreciated.

 

[FrekeChild]

Can you post a picture of what color you're looking for? What is your budget? I think we could probably find you something pretty awesome!

One thing to note is that tourmaline is not really an everyday wear stone, and I'd only really recommend she wear a large tourmaline ring when she leaves the house, and won't be doing anything that could potentially damage the stone - washing dishes, moving boxes/furniture, gardening, etc.

 

[pitboss0612]

Thank you!

I did not even think about the stone's hardness. She is Italian and gestures a lot when speaking, so I don't want to get her something which will break easily, even if she is only wearing it out. Most places I have seen have rated tourmalines 7.0-7.5, but I don't really know what that means. She is currently in medical school and I am pretty certain that she will usually only wear her wedding band daily (I have surmised this from comments she has made in the past).

I am able to spend around $8k-$12k on the center stone. I would like to find something as close to the colors of any of these tourmalines. Maybe there is another stone out there with a similar neon blue/green/Caribbean sea hue?












She actually had this ring as her desktop background for about nine months last year (which is how I found this site), if that's helpful at all.
http://www.pricescope.com/blog/jewel-week-tourmaline-diamond-ring

 

[GregS]

Your girlfriend has good taste. Unfortunately she likes an incredibly difficult stone to come by, in any price range. I have some suggestions though.

The past two times I have been to Intergem Andrew Sarosi has had a very nice faceted oval Paraiba in the 2 ct. range for approximately $11,000. So I recommend contacting him (he is on the recommended vendors list). Another vendor that I know has Paraiba is Constantin Wild. He has .75 ct. oval in the $3,000 range. Here's a picture, it's the lone stone on the right. It's either a really nice Cuprian or a decent Paraiba, it's hard for me to tell from the tiny picture.




And lastly, Leon Mege. I know you want to design the ring yourself but this ring is killer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_4gb7jC7iC4



A Paraiba cabochon would be the best choice afaic. It will be less susceptible to damage while still giving up that glorious color. Large (+1 ct.) Paraiba Cabochons of that quality are extremely rare. I have been looking high and low for the past several months for one for myself and have come up empty.

3-4 cts. would be awesome, but IMO unnecessary. Good Paraiba has incredible presence, small stones can still scream "color!" from across a room.

 

[minousbijoux]

Your girlfriend has good taste. Unfortunately she likes an incredibly difficult stone to come by, in any price range. I have some suggestions though.

The past two times I have been to Intergem Andrew Sarosi has had a very nice faceted oval Paraiba in the 2 ct. range for approximately $11,000. So I recommend contacting him (he is on the recommended vendors list). Another vendor that I know has Paraiba is Constantin Wild. He has .75 ct. oval in the $3,000 range. Here's a picture, it's the lone stone on the right. It's either a really nice Cuprian or a decent Paraiba, it's hard for me to tell from the tiny picture.




And lastly, Leon Mege. I know you want to design the ring yourself but this ring is killer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_4gb7jC7iC4



A Paraiba cabochon would be the best choice afaic. It will be less susceptible to damage while still giving up that glorious color. Large (+1 ct.) Paraiba Cabochons of that quality are extremely rare. I have been looking high and low for the past several months for one for myself and have come up empty.

3-4 cts. would be awesome, but IMO unnecessary. Good Paraiba has incredible presence, small stones can still scream "color!" from across a room.

This is great advice. And OP: this is from a guy who has stolen our hearts with the little cuprians (or real Paraibas? Sorry, can't remember the origin) he has recently acquired. So if someone knows how to do it, he is the man!

I acquired mine years ago and probably overpaid for them back then. I would also check out Swala Gem Traders and Africagems, both of which can be found in the pinned thread about vendors on the top of this page. From my own personal experience I've pretty much come to the conclusion that it is a rare cuprian that rivals a real Paraiba. Real Paraibas, if you could find them (and that will be a huge undertaking), would likely be more than $10K/carat eye clean. Excellent quality copper bearings are not quite as "lit from within" but still have glow and they will be much cheaper - more along your desired pricing.

I don't know what to say about cab vs. faceted, but since cabs tend to be slightly lower quality material in general, I agree with Greg that you would probably be able to find one in your price range more easily than a high quality, eye clean, faceted stone.

Be cautious, though! I hardly wear my ring any more for fear I will damage the stone since I whack things so much (I'm a hand talker too ).

 

[minousbijoux]

Did we scare you away?

I had a weird experience recently at gem shows, where vendors that know me bring out something special for me to see and on two different occasions from two different vendors, they brought out real Paraiba tourmalines to show. The thing is, they were just meh in quality. Just because something has the provenance/origin, doesn't necessarily mean its going to be good - and yet in one of these situations, the vendor was asking what I thought was a ridiculous price on a small cabbed and included, not very glowy Paraiba just cuz it was the real deal from Brazil. The reason I'm sharing this is to say that people may have examples of true Paraiba to show you, but just keep in mind that even the real thing comes in various quality levels, including crappy!

 

[GregS]

I was wondering the same thing, maybe it was something I said.

I don't care where a particular Tourmaline comes from, as long as it looks similar to this.

 

[FrekeChild]

Ack! I hope we haven't scared him away! Dude, I love that Leon Mege cabbed ring. I don't even like cabs, but the color and the black and white diamonds....

 

[pitboss0612]

Sorry! We just moved and setting up the internet took a bit longer than expected.

 

[pitboss0612]

So, the issue of finding a stone aside for a moment (I plan to follow up on Greg's leads--thank you all so much!), how much harder would a cabochon be than the faceted gemstone? Or is there only a slight difference and a tourmaline stone is not a good idea for a center stone on a ring? I don't really know what a 7-7.5 on the hardness scale translates into in real life.

 

[FrekeChild]

Since a cab is rounded, there aren't any corners or edges to chip or break off. So that makes it less susceptible to sustain damage over time.

 

[chrono]

A cabochon will hold up better than a faceted stone as there are no pointy facets to chip or abrade. Nonetheless, finding one of decent size will be more than your budget. Anything with even a hint of glow these days is very expensive. Paraiba International and Palagems are other options to include as possible vendors.

 

[pitboss0612]

Thank you you all so much. I am truly a novice and only have one shot at this!

I'm not very computer savvy and can't seem to find this approved vendors list that is pinned somewhere at the top of this thread? I also googled Andrew Sarosi and found that he passed away this past October. Would anyone know if maybe a business partner has taken over and I could contact them?

 

[pitboss0612]

Another thing I have been wondering is: would it be easier (more cost effective) for me to try to find some tourmaline in the raw and find someone to cut it? I have also found a stone that I think may work, except it is emerald cut and I know she is not a fan of that (I think the reasoning was that they don't have a lot of brilliance compared to other cuts like a cushion or asher I think like I said, I don't really know what I'm doing, so I REALLY appreciate the help). But the stone is about 5 carats and was wondering if it is possible at all to maybe have it widdled to a smaller cushion cut stone? Please excuse my naivety if both of those are completely ridiculous questions.

 

[chrono]

Here it is:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/can-we-start-a-new-thread-with-respected-cs-vendors.169561/page-4']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/can-we-start-a-new-thread-with-respected-cs-vendors.169561/page-4[/URL]

It is extremely expensive to recut good quality material. I am hesitant if someone is able to find rough or material that can be recut to 5 carats. It will either be super expensive, have major issues or the colour quality is suspect.

 

[GregS]

Another thing I have been wondering is: would it be easier (more cost effective) for me to try to find some tourmaline in the raw and find someone to cut it? I have also found a stone that I think may work, except it is emerald cut and I know she is not a fan of that (I think the reasoning was that they don't have a lot of brilliance compared to other cuts like a cushion or asher I think like I said, I don't really know what I'm doing, so I REALLY appreciate the help). But the stone is about 5 carats and was wondering if it is possible at all to maybe have it widdled to a smaller cushion cut stone? Please excuse my naivety if both of those are completely ridiculous questions.

Any pictures of this 5 carat stone?

 

[peacechick]

If she thinks a emerald cut is dull, she is definitely not going to like a cabochon at all. I'm curious about the 5ct stone you found too. Wouldn't it be terribly expensive to recut a paraiba though?

This is the best one from paraiba international for your budget, but you can see it is not any where close to Greg's beauties:
http://www.paraibainternational.com/product_info.php?product=3315

This one is sold but you can see the approximate value of a smaller, more saturated stone:
http://www.africagems.com/tourmaline-paraiba-ja901.html

Best let Greg help you hunt down the stone.

 

[peacechick]

Also, while I think nothing is like the glow of a paraiba tourmaline, I think a turquoise zircon might expand your options and be less costly? They also have the benefit of being extremely brilliant. Be warned though that they are thought of as brittle and not hardy e-ring material either.

Gemfix has lots of lovely zircons:
http://www.gemfix.com/zircon_blue.html

 

[pitboss0612]

Well, turns out someone else bought the 5.00 ct stone before I could, so that's not an option anymore. I've found two on Africa gems I like, but they are darker in color and look more green to me (and she loves green, but being born in May, I think she has enough emerald colored jewlery). Thoughts on the stones?

http://www.africagems.com/round-tourmaline-blue-green-ja-2341.html

http://www.africagems.com/tourmaline-blue-green-ja919.html

I have found one that is perfect on palagems, but can't see a price (being the perfect hue most likely means it's out of my price range, but still worth a shot!). It says I need to contact a local jeweler and then have them inquire about price. Is all that really necessary? Just for a price quote? Does anyone have any tips on how to find a reputable local jeweler?

Thank all of you so much for all of your help! Sorry about my intermittent replies--girlfriend and I are sharing a desktop since the move, makes it much more difficult to pursue ring shopping.

 

[Xrisus]

I'm not a jeweler, and I just called up Pala once to get a price on a stone. They gave it to me, but I don't know if that was a one time thing, or maybe they give jewelers something closer to wholesale so the jeweler can also make some profit for their time. I'd say it doesn't hurt to call Pala...but brace yourself for the price!

 

[digdeep]

Pitboss.......I know a vendor that has a 6+ carat pear shaped Paraiba described as medium intense color. I'm a klutz with photo's on here and don't want to post the vendor until you can review it and talk to him. It's under your budget at a range of 13-16K....I believe there may be a discount thus, two prices. Regular and discounted. Is there a way to communicate that is more personal than the comments of the forum?

 

[pitboss0612]

Sure, you (or anyone with leads which they don't wish to post) **edited by moderator. please read our policies about posting personal contact information on the forums**


Thanks for the tip, I will try calling tomorrow when it's not a holiday!


The two vendors I have spoken with, have both repeatedly try to steer me away from tourmalines. It is a bit disheartening. Am I out to lunch on this one? I have seen a few other tourmaline engagement rings online and no one has mentioned anything about chipping theirs (was wondering if this may be less of a possibility depending on the cut of the stone also?). I read on one of these sites that as long as the jeweler knows what he's doing and puts it into a "safe setting", you should be alright. As said previously, she won't be wearing it everyday.

 

[digdeep]

Info sent..........good luck!

 

[GregS]

Tourmaline isn't a good every day stone, so yes, I'm not surprised you are being steered away from them.

A cabochon would be less susceptible to damage for reasons stated above, that's why I posted a link to Leon Mege ring. Although cabochons aren't for everyone...

If your fiance has her heart set on Paraiba then I'm afraid she may be disappointed in those blue tourmalines from Africa gems, while nice, the will show a lot of green. And they will lack the brightness and glow of Paraiba/Cuprian tourmaline. Check out Swala gems in the recommended vendor list. The have a couple nice Neon blue Tourmaline's. Here's a link...

http://www.swalagemtraders.com/search-gems/results.php

 

[pitboss0612]

What if the stone is set in a bezel/semi-bezel setting? Would that help make it less susceptible to breaking?

 

[pitboss0612]

Greg, thank you so much for all of your help (and patience)!!

 

[GregS]

What if the stone is set in a bezel/semi-bezel setting? Would that help make it less susceptible to breaking?

The crown will most likely still be exposed, so it could suffer from facet wear.

I'm having my Paraiba set in a ring, low, so the crown is below the metal. But my stone is small at only 4mm, and I'm a man, so I can pull off a band that's thick enough to enable me to do that. It would be very difficult to encompass the crown, girdle and pavilion on a larger stone in a woman's ring while still remaining aesthetically pleasing.

That emerald cut stone on Swala is a peach, maybe a tension setting of sorts, a lot of metal a quick taper and some diamonds to soften all the metal required to pull it off...

 

[peacechick]

What about this one from Swala, Greg? It's the perfect Paraiba color right? I don't know the price as I'm not logged in, but if it were in my budget, this would be the one I'd jump on.

 

[GregS]

It's 18k...

 

[peacechick]

It's 18k...

*cool whistle* So that's what a real paraiba costs, eh?