How to set these Russian Demantoids?

[tara3056]

Hi everyone - long time, no see! I've taken a long break from Pricescope, during which time I have only acquired a very limited number of new stones, and none that I have set. However, I have a real weakness for Russian Demantoids. Unfortunately, they are difficult to find in larger sizes (and typically unaffordable when you do see them), so I've only managed to collect several smaller stones. I'd like to set them into a pendant, but I'm not having much luck in finding a design that I like that incorporates a number of smaller stones vs emphasizing a central, larger stone. In terms of style, I am mostly drawn to vintage Edwardian pieces, followed by some Art Nouveau and Art Deco pieces. I prefer platinum, like halos, and think almost every colored gem piece is better with diamonds for contrast

So far I have 8 demantoids. All are Russian with horsetail inclusions. Some are explicitly unheated; others with low heat. They are not perfectly matched, but I think the varying colors are still complimentary. (The 2 tiny yellow stones are 2.8mm topazolites / yellow andradites) Probably 3 of them are superior over the others in terms of color, but they're all appealing to me. One of the pictures is blurry, but I'm including it because it shows the neon-ness these garnets exhibit with indirect sunlight shining in from a window. They look even better and much more sparkly/fiery outside of the case, sitting on my hand - really earning the 'diamond like' description - but I was too scared to attempt a picture for fear I'd send the little stones flying.

The sizes are:
4.4mm x 3
3.7mm
3.8mm
3.2mm x3

I'm still hoping to find a 5+mm stone at some point, but I've already been waiting awhile with no luck.

If anyone has any designs they've seen that incorporate a bunch of smaller stones (preferably vintage-y), I'd love any help I can get in trying to come up with a way to set these lovelies!

 

[tara3056]

And for the record, I don't care for the Marquise-like shape I have them laid out in, nor do I have to include the topazolites in the design (though would consider it if I found a design I liked that could use them).

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Tara I don't have any suggestions but wanted to say those are very lovely demantoid garnets .

 

[elle_71125]

What a gorgeous collection of demantoids.

These may be totally different than what you're going for but you've got to start somewhere right.

 

[freezing_in_MO]

Lovely stones!

Have you checked Romanov Russia? Their Etsy shop is at https://www.etsy.com/shop/RomanovRussiacom

Here are a few examples from their current inventory:

 

[pwsg07]

Lovely stones!

Have you checked Romanov Russia? Their Etsy shop is at https://www.etsy.com/shop/RomanovRussiacom

Here are a few examples from their current inventory:

My favourite is the necklace in the last photo.

 

[valeria101]

Would add diamond & demantoid melee toward a circle pin / pendant - more modern than this WWW

 

[chrono]

I looked to Romanov for inspiration as well for antique designs.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

Your stones are so beautiful! Wow. What a collection.

I only have three design suggestions, but I figured I'd share them anyway. I could definitely see some diamond melee incorporated into these as well. I cannot wait to see your finished piece!







ETA: I realize a stick pendant may not totally be your style but with your stones having such a pretty graduated size, it made me think of it. Maybe you could add some Edwardian touches to it to make it more your style. Just talking out loud. haha

 

[tara3056]

Thank you all for the designs you posted! None of them are *quite* right for my stones and taste, but they have given me a lot of ideas and I've enjoyed looking at the Romanov Russia site and a couple of others for inspiration. SparkliesLover, the first pendant you posted is very much my style and I could easily imagine incorporating my stones into it but think I'd need to pick up 1 more ~4.4mm for the 4 flowers, then 1-2 more of the smaller stones depending on if I went with the 3.2 or 3.7mm size + a larger central demantoid (or could do diamond, but I think the dem would look nicer). I liked this design so much I tried to do a quick mockup of where the dems would go. The only concern I'd have is if it turned out to be quite a large pendant. I don't think I'd wear it much if it was wider than about 0.75" and I'm just imagining the design might necessitate a bigger pendant? I do like that this design incorporates diamonds and that the demantoids wouldn't have to be so well-matched because they're kind of spread out. It's just vintage-y enough for my taste

 

[tara3056]

Here are a bunch of other layouts I tried with my stones - some with a placeholder of another stone variety, since I didn't have enough demantoids to mock it up using all dems.

1. I could see this with one of those vintage-style twin drop necklaces

2. A linear drop pendant or maybe vintage-y key design?

3. Straight linear drop with all the stones - too long though, I think and culling a few would let me match them better.

4. Sill playing with variations on this theme

5. With a placeholder central tourmaline that measures 4.9mm - this seems like a do-able size in terms of finding one and it being affordable.

6. A little fancier, but now with the placeholder central tourmaline AND 2 placeholder tsavorites up above (and wow, you can really see the tsav/dem difference with the tsavs being so much bluer. They don't glow like the dems IRL though) ... I really, really like this idea. Arguably it might be a bit fancy for my typical daily clothing, but eh, most of my jewelry is halo'd with diamonds and a bit on the fancier side.

7. Back to the bar pendant theme but having culled it down to the 5 best stones. I don't know if I'm much of a linear bar person, though? Maybe some fancy platinum scrollwork could be added around the sides to soften up the overall look?

8. All the better stones laid out on my hand. I've considered doing a 5 or 7 stone ring with them but there are 2 issues with that - I'd probably need 1 larger central stone, and I'd be terrified that I'd damage them far too easily in a ring, and these babies are not easily replaceable.

Appreciate any feedback

 

[foxinsox]

Nothing useful from a design point of view but OH MY GOODNESS those garnets are so fantastically green They're so beautiful. Can't wait to see what you come up with for them

 

[tara3056]

Bumping to see if anyone else wants to chime in about the layouts I posted

 

[valeria101]

#3

The layout would be shortened by off-setting the stones somewhat

°•°•°•°⊙

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

I like number 6, the fancy flower but that's very much just how I roll though!!!!

It's sooooo pretty and I adore the greenness of it all!!!

 

[chrono]

I like the twin drop (not too dangly and it will be well balanced in weight) and the fancy circular. I was wondering about replacing the tsavs in the fancy circular with a contrasting colour.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

I love seeing all the layouts! That must've been fun. I think my favorites are 5 and 7. I definitely think you could add some scrollwork along the sides to make the overall shape and style more to your liking. Details go a long way!

I also really like how you "inserted" your stones in the first design I posted. I think that looks wonderful! If you like the overall idea, you could totally modify the design to make it smaller. For example, you could: remove the halo around the main stone and/or remove the diamond "leaves" from below the mid-size stones, thus making the "arches" come in closer. I'd play around with sketching it if you think there's something there. If not, I think you have some other lovely ideas.

 

[tara3056]

Thanks guys! I think I'm narrowing it down to either the double drop or the fancy circular layout. I never really liked double drops before at all, but it somehow seems to fit these stones. Here is one that I just found today that I think could be really lovely with slight modifications (I don't like how long and stiff the two "strings" appear, and I'd add 1 more smaller demantoid to each drop) The metalwork suits my aesthetic well, though.

 

[valeria101]

This is very good !

I have always suspected that the stiff ends of such chains are meant to prevent the ends from turnign upside-down (briolettes excepted, of course - WWW) - a question for the maker.

If the concern is real, perhaps you could have the entire chain in the needed relatively rigid style (an extreme example - WWW), or including patterned sections resembling the modified ends.

Just a thought ...

 

[MissyBeaucoup]

What beautiful stones! I really love the design SparliesLover posted, where the diamonds highlight the green of the garnets. I also like your #6 and the double drop idea. Happy designing! Whatever you choose, it will be spectacular!

 

[kgizo]

Welcome back to PS! I love those stones!!!!! Really looking forward to seeing how your project progresses. I see you are close to a design, but will throw in some suggestions since you aren't completely final on something.
1. Look at antique brooches for elements/sections you can use since they have melee size stones.
2. Have you seen JbG mosaic pieces? You could do a mix of your demantoids and diamonds.
3. Put the demantoids in the fan element of these earrings and do a rock crystal or pearl drop.

4. I have these YR earrings. You could do a similar style with the demantoids and put a bezeled diamond in the center.

 

[freezing_in_MO]

I love 5 and 6, especially the latter. You have some stunning stones!