How MANY Colored Stones Do You Have?

[iLander]

Okay, ladies, I can tell you are burdened by all these magnificent stones. The sheer quantity must troublesome! You poor things!

As a service, I will gladly dispose of these excessive stones, in a safe manner, for you. Yes, that's how much I love you guys.

No, it's not an imposition. I'm willing to do this for my friends.

Just send them on down, and the feel the relief start rolling over you.

 

[royalstarrynight]

haha iLander, you're so funny!!

I only have my first stone. I miss it because it's off with the ring designer.

I want to mash all these different ideas and then realize it doesn't look right.
Blahh I need another stone to play with for all the other ideas. I can see how this could become dangerous.

FK, What a beautiful collection!!

Gene, You get to enjoy the beauty of the stones everyday especially well cut ones! I'm jealous.

 

[ForteKitty]

Haha, thanks guys!! I know most of the specs, or at least close to most of the specs to most of the gems.

Forte Kitty:

What is the bright orange stone in the top right corner? Is it a spess or a fire opal?

Yes, it's a Mexican Fire Opal from Barry.



So, going from top to bottom, right column to left column:

Column 1:
-Fire opal from Barry- tall odd shape cab, not sure how I'm every going to set it but the color is amazing. I like to set it out and just stare at it sometimes.
-5.10ct, 10mm spess from Litnon. Pure orange yumminess. Native cut, but no window. I may have a setting that might fit, but I need to take it in.
-4.75ct, 11.2x9mm spess from Dana. holy amazing cut. Have not found a setting worthy of it yet, but I am still looking.
-2 spess from Litnon, I do no remember their specs because it came in a pack of 3 and they were all different sizes.
-2.8ct spess cushion from Barry, looks like lava, can't remember measurements. It shares its box with a .60ct champagne oval diamond. They will be set in a pendant, E-W, spess on top and diamond on bottom.
-1.05ct Q-R Transitional diamond

Column 2:
-pair of 4.5mm spess from Prima.
-3.2(?)ct, 8mm spess from Dana. Thought I had a home for it but it was too fat on the bottom. Gonna keep looking.
-Cushion cab from Barry, with two trillion peridots from Tan.
-3.something carat supernova mint tourmaline from Barry. Two cushion mint tourmalines from Gem Trader. I have since acquired two more supernovas that match them completely, and all of them will go into a pendant/earring set.
-7mm blue-green tourmaline from Barry.
-Amethyst cab from Barry.

Column 3:
-Tanzanite sim cushion (sorry, but they're tougher than real tanzies and sparklier)
-Tanz sim oval (see above), with real tanz oval from Tan. I got two of them and used the pear for a pendant for my cousin.
-6mm blue-green tourmaline from Tan, surrounded by different colored sapphires. My eyes were too picky and none of them matched enough for sidestones.
-1.9(?) blue-green tourmaline from Jeff White. Gorgeous stone, I plan on setting it this year with trillion diamond sides.
-7.8mm Cuprian blue-green tourmaline from Barry. Horrible picture of it. Not pictured is its caribbean blue half sister. It is 7.8mm and wonderfully vibrant.
-7.5mm darker blue-green tourmaline from Barry. Horrible pic of it too.

Column 4:
-7.5mm red garnet from Barry. Really pretty red, doesn't black out. 7.5mm tanzanite from Tan. Gorgeous blue color, but I'm afraid to set it.
-6mm blue sapphire from Gene & 6mm purple sapphire from Gene. The blue one is currently perched in an empty setting and the purple one will go into a halo pendant!
-6.5mmx5.5mm .86ct (?) blue tourmaline from Barry with just a tiny hint of green. 90% blue. With 1.8ct sleepy pink cushion spinel from Tan. There are also a pair of 0.35ctw trillion diamonds that I rescued from an ugly setting. They will be paired with the elongated blue tourmaline one column to the right.
-My holy grail of blue tourmalines, a 6.5mm from Barry. It is vibrant windex blue and just glows. I might have a setting on its way to me right now, hopefully it works. Will find out tomorrow!
-7mm green-blue tourmaline. Beautiful color in person, ugly picture.
-9x7mm cushion/oval zircon from Dana.

Column 5:
-3.9ct rubellite tourmaline. Precision cut but I am horrible and can't remember the cutter's name anymore. I'm sorry!
-1.98 red spinel (YAY she's set!!) From Prima.
-7mm sleepy orangy pink spinel from Tan. LOVE this one, already have a fishtail plat setting for it. With 7x5.5mm pear sleepy spinel, and also 6.8mm malaya garnet from Barry.
-4mm pair of hot pink spinels from Prima.
-bunch of zircons from Dana.
-8x6mm blue tourmaline from Barry. Supernova, almost pure blue. I need to find a setting for her.

Column 6:
-2.4ct cushion Tanga garnet from Barry and 2.6ct Tanga garnet from Barry. (weight approx) With 2 squares of neon Chrysoberyls from tan. I believe they are 3mm each.
-My trio of Mahenge spinels. All from Tan, all native cuts, but the colors are gorgeous and the windowing is minimal. Believe they are each between 1.4-1.6ct.
-Another Mahenge spinel from Tan, cushion. With a 1.6ct Merelani mint garnet from Weblorn on ebay. It is a gorgeous and sparkly mint!
-candy apple red spinel from Weblorn around 8.5mm x 5.5mm, with two Tsavorite garnets. One from Weblorn, one from Tan. Both around 1.4ct.
-4mm pair of Tsav garnets from Prima
-cushion & pear blue tourmaline from Litnon.

Column 7:
-3.3ct spess pear from Tan, huge cushion topaz from Barry.
-3.29ct mahenge spinel from Tan, smaller spinel pear from Tan, 3ct tourmaline oval from Tan, and Oregon Sunstone from Dana.
-1.65 (?) Tsav from Gene. I got this from Arjunajane when she listed it. Lucky me! 7mm mahenge spinel from Tan... Beautiful saturation in this one, beautiful color. Reddish-pink. NO idea what to do with it, but I'm willling to wait to find a perfect setting. two more Tsavs from Tan, one is a 1.6ct w/ AIGS papers because it was so clean I wasn't sure it was real! The other one has a very strong blue but is somewhat included.
-3.6ct Tsav pear from Tan, cushion from Tan.

The rest are all Mahenge Spinels, Tsavorites Garnets, Merelani mint Garnets (there's a 3ct trillion in there somewhere), and purple/lavendar/blue spinels. And a couple of Chrysoberyls and Sphenes. The big trillion is a 5.29ct Chrysoberyl and the big oval is a 3ct Sphene from Tan. Almost a neon, but not quite. Really pretty tho and will be a pendant.

Sorry, I got tired of typing!!

 

[minousbijoux]

I love how you describe them - it is clear that many of them are your special babies! Rock on, FK!

 

[cherrytomato1]

Hmmm, thanks to PS and a new addiction to the pre-loved forum I have the following still loose:

a 7mm round Barry Bridgestock Pink Tourmaline
a 6.5 mm round Barry Bridgestock Umbalite Garnet
a 11mm pale lavender round Dan Stair Amethyst
a 1 ct unheated cushion cut tanzanite from odessygem
a 9 x 7 mm oval golden zircon - unknown cutter

A small collection that I'm hoping to get set soon!

 

[Jereni]

So far, I have 11, though I will probably sell 2 of them, bringing it back down to 9. ....And I have my eyes on about 3 more already. Sigh.

I have 2 from Barry, 2 from PT, 1 from Gene, one from John Rhoades, 3 from Prima Gems, 1 from GemArtServices, and then my sapphires from my husband's aunt but I'm counting those as one.

 

[Arkteia]

too many for my jewelry box! I need to downsize. Several times. I planned to buy only one stone, a Russian amethyst, and many stones later, still have not found it...

 

[JewelFreak]

OK, Arkteia, when you downsize, call me! I'll be at your door in a nanosecond.

Let's see...I have
the spinel in my avatar, from Roger Dery
a peach-ish cushion tourm from Westview
a pretty pretty round Zambian amethyst from TGT
a pair of RB blue zircons from Gemfix
2 tiny indicolite baguettes from Ed Bristol
a rectangular octagon green tourmaline also from Ed
9 princess Montana sapphires 2mm from Gemline
a pair of Malachite ovals from Barry
pair of chrysos from Minou
a blue-green tourm from NKOTB

I think that's all, unless topaz earrings & a blue zircon pinky ring from HoW count. Have to get photos of some, but I'm thinking of selling 2 or 3 to finance something I'd like better.

--- Laurie

 

[packrat]

Two. Yellow Barry chrysoberyl and mint Barry tourm. I sold all the others to get my AVC three stone. I miss some of them.

 

[pregcurious]

Red spinel oval (~2 ct) from Bruce Bridges
Blue/grey star sapphire from TGT
Welo opal pear from ACS
Peach/pink color shift sapphire round (1 ct) from Peter Torraca
I'd like to purchase a emerald cut blue/green tourmaline, or an emerald

My priority is to reset my ering (avatar) _again_, and then move to the red spinel, which I love. I like to stare at it, and recently got a cheap UV LED flashlight that shows its faint fluorescence. It will go in a 3 stone ring with white diamond sides, or a art deco style halo.

I am thinking of putting the peach/pink sapphire in a white diamond halo with pink gold.

The blue/grey star sapphire is for my sister.

I have no idea what to do with the Welo opal pear. Pendant? It has a white base, so it looks a lot like Australian opal.

 

[distracts]

Oh gosh, ForteKitty, I want to come play at YOUR house! Or even in your bank vault.

 

[distracts]

3 sapphires (e-ring, three-stone RHR, and unset)
4 tsavorites (earrings, pendant, and stone waiting to be set)
2 mint garnets (pendant and NEW RING)
3 pink garnets (one Barry round in a pendant and two completely unmatched but similarly sized and colored asschers that I don't think I will ever set but enjoy looking at because of the cut differences)
4 pink spinels (all unset, will be an earrings/ring/pendant set)
2 purple spinels (need to sell both as it turns out I strongly dislike all purple gemstones)
1 peridots (unset cushion)
1 green tourmaline (ring)
3 chrysoberyls (sidestones for three-stone RHR, small solitaire)
2 spessartite garnets (unset pear and a round I intend to sell)
some random number of "starter stones" that I need to sell or give away.

So really 28, with three(+) that I intend to sell, 13 set, 9 that I intend to set, and 3 that I don't intend to set but to keep as curiosities. The gem boxes of the unset gems are lined up on their sides on a shelf above my desk so I can see them all the time. I guess it helps in that regard that I work from home most of the time.

I'm not counting cabochons. Between what I collected on my own and what was in my grandmother's silversmithing supplies that she gave me, I have gobs of nice cabs. A ton of Kingman turquoise, a bunch of lapis (my grandmother had a really good lapis contact), carnelian (I don't know how to judge carnelian but I don't think it's especially fine - I like it anyway because it has such a rich color), and other things. Including lots of my nemesis, amethyst. Then a few nice gemmy ones I've bought on my own - a tsavorite that I've posted here before, an amazing minty peridot (one of those freebies Dana included - best freebie ever, I drool over it all the time), and a spessartite garnet with a pretty creamsicle color. All the cabs I'll set on my own. Just have to come up with ideas and in some cases more skills.

I have enough now that I'm starting to get pickier. I've only bought one stone since October, and it was on my list of stones I'm specifically looking for! (It was the spessartite pear - wickedly lopsided and windowed, but what color! Every single other faceted spessartite I've had the displeasure of owning has turned poop-colored in most light, except the round I have, which is one of those darker orange ember-looking ones, and looks horrible with my skintone. This one is traffic cone orange in ALL light! Now that I know they really do exist, I have a better-cut one on my list.)

Years ago I posted photos of my collection but have since removed them and won't do it again

I am always SO sad that this happened before I joined!

 

[JewelFreak]

FK, your blue spinel & diamond ring haunts my dreams! I'm in looooove!

Most of you seem to have your stuff in the bank. I can't picture myself toddling there whenever I want to wear something -- afraid it would all just gather dust in its vault. Besides my stones, I have a fair bit of very good jewelry I've adopted through the years, mostly from estate jewelers, a few heirlooms. Fire concerns me more than theft -- never been a break-in around here but there's always a first time, especially as the area is being developed at a gallop. I waffle on the subject.

--- Laurie

 

[innerkitten]

Loose stones, I'm going to guess about 25 maybe 30.

 

[erinl]

I have about 25-30 as well. None of them are set

 

[kgizo]

I also use to go back and forth to the bank and found it very frustrating. In our garage we have a closet and I bought a gun safe. That are pretty cheap at Costco and they deliver. It's fire safe and would be very frustrating to thieves. I like that it is large enough that I can put any type of tray or jewelry box into it. I've organized my trays and now just swap one out every week or two. It's worked so well I've designed the same closet into the house we are building. I like it in a closet so that the safe isn't visible if you leave the garage door open.

I probably have about 30 stones and most are set into jewelry.