How much do you let others sway your CS preferences?

[Lady_Disdain]

I find that, often, what changes are not my preferences but my perception. For example, someone might tell me a stone I love might black out. I still like some dark gems, but that comment would allow me to see something I had missed in my assessment.

 

[jstarfireb]

I'm not swayed much, but I do get introduced to new stones here. For example, I never knew green garnets existed before PS, and now they've taken the place of tanzanite as my favorite stone. Some stones tend to be a bit of a fad here, but I won't buy a stone just because "everyone's doing it." It has to be something I really love. The aforementioned green garnets are examples - they're huge on PS and I love them - but the flip side of the coin is that I will never be into Mahenge spinels, chartreuse chrysoberyls, or spessartite, no matter how popular they are on PS.

PS also introduced me to precision cutting, and I had never heard of that before, since all my previous stones were commercial quality cuts. In that sense I was swayed by PS and haven't looked back!

Very few of my stones are top color, as I tend to prefer lighter shades and focus on cut and clarity at the expense of color, and I don't mind seeing a bit of grey in my stones. So in that sense I'm not swayed, because in general my stones are not what the majority of CSers would recommend or buy for themselves.

 

[deorwine]

Hm, so no one is going to admit to being swayed towards asschers and Mahenge spinels except for me? (And I didn't even end up buying an asscher in the end!) Now, now... with all the asschers and Mahenge **** I see around here there must be others

I do see what a lot of people are saying about PS/CS being a good place to hone one's eye. I definitely feel like (and can see from my little collection) my eye has gotten a lot more discerning since I started lurking on here regularly. (Of course, it also means that a large part of the time, I've priced myself out of the market I am comfortable affording, as we're trying to save money! ) And part of that does mean going along with fads, sort of -- like, I wouldn't have realized just how much better a Mahenge spinel was than the (extremely included, not even greatest color, probably extremely treated) small ruby pendant I have until I had my eye a little better trained. And yes, precision cuts, a new thing for me, yay! (Although color is king for me, and I'm totally happy with a native cut stone that has great color.)

I think for me... my strongest preferences are least likely to be changed. (Preference for green over purple in blue stones; green over purple in general; a love for primary colors that, alas, most of the world shares; preference for fancy custom cuts.) My weak preferences, like what I think of oranges-yellows (honestly, not much until it turned out my daughter's favorite color is orange) or non-very-fancy-cuts-like-asscher, are the most likely to be quite challenged.

 

[LD]

Hm, so no one is going to admit to being swayed towards asschers and Mahenge spinels except for me? (And I didn't even end up buying an asscher in the end!) Now, now... with all the asschers and Mahenge **** I see around here there must be others

I avoid asschers like the plague because IMHO they show dust and get mucky too quickly. They also are not the best (in coloured gemstones) for reflecting light/colour. Of course there are exceptions but it's not a cut I actively chase. If the colour/gemstone is right and it happens to be an asscher then I may be swayed but I most definitely haven't been swayed towards them to seek one out!

 

[marcy]

I like everyone's input and opinions but I know what in like. My favorite gems are sapphire, spinel and garnet and those are pretty much all I buy and where. I have aqua and tanzanite too but they set in my jewelry box. It's not that I don't like them but they aren't my favorites. I think my tastes expanded here but if i really like something I am going to buy it or keep it anyway.

 

[jstarfireb]

Regarding asschers, I suppose PS introduced me to them as well, but starting with diamonds. I actually like the cut more for diamonds than colored stones, but I specifically sought out one colored stone asscher because I couldn't afford a diamond.