I cheated and I'm proud of it...bless my heart!

[mrs-b]

Thank you so much, @Tigerlilyrosepetal - me too!

Thank you, @MamaBear - that's so encouraging! I never thought I'd hit "fabulous" or anything like it with this one!

Ooooohhh - @lulu_ma! Your pieces are faboosh - I will LOVE seeing where you land with your sapphire/diamond cluster! Learn from my mistakes: "Spend the money. Get the great sapphire."

 

[Autumn in New England]

@Autumn in New England - thank you for all your help and encouragement in my other thread on the colored gems forum. You were a huge help and so encouraging when I was ready to throw my hands in the air and just "sell her on". I'm very happy with where I landed and I really appreciated your input.

Thank you! <3

Oh my goodness... would you look at her! Swooooon!! I can't believe that stone ever blacked out. It's a gorgeous, almost iolite shade. And let me state this for the record - I don't think that's cheating. No one thinks it's dodgy when we cup yellow diamonds or use rose gold to improve saturation for a padparadscha. In fact, I've seen folks set blue diamonds with a blue rhodium plated cup. It's essentially an illusion, but what I like is that it doesn't devalue the stone like treatment.

So sweet you thought of me.

I'm just tickled for you... hope she brings you a lifetime of happiness, my friend! That dress is something else.

 

[mrs-b]

Oh @Slickk! You always make me chuckle! One man's avowal is another jewelry collector's confession! But from what I'm reading on this thread, it's not so much a confession as a natty idea! I thought I was ahead of the game here, but apparently I'm late to the "make the most of the color you've got" party! I - literally - had 2 months of angst over this ring. I wish I'd known what can be achieved with a little lateral thinking! Colored gems are just not my area; I love 'em, but I know nothing about 'em! So this was all new to me, and I'm very grateful for the folks here who held my hand after the initial shock of realizing I'd bought something quite different to what I *thought* I'd bought, and particularly for Amy, who apparently knows all the tricks and isn't afraid to use them!
On a different note - I've lost a lock on your countdown. I hope time is passing quickly and that your vacation is coming up very soon, if not already upon us! ox

Thank you so much, @BoulderGal. She is a different looking stone altogether in 95% of lighting situations now. She had "a little blue, sometimes" before. Now - inside or out - she's showing blue consistently. Apparently, she just needed a little help.

Yes! That's it in a nutshell, @Lisa Loves Shiny! She really did - and I'm so chuffed!

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Thank you, @springerspaniel - and thank you for your encouragement! ox

@MissGotRocks - "Tomfoolery" - I love it! And I agree - there are no rules here, just what hits the spot for each of us individually.

@AllAboardTheBlingTrain - it never occurred to me that people might use color enhancement in the setting of colored diamonds! I thought I was being very cheat-y! Maybe...not so much?

Using yellow gold cups for yellow diamonds and rose gold cups for pink diamonds is extremely common!

Actually, on an unrelated note, I was at this super high end jeweler’s a few weeks ago, just browsing, and I noticed they’ve started doing something with their coloured stone jewelry where they colour the gold prongs (and sometimes the whole setting) to the exact colour of the coloured stone. So, an emerald ring set in an emerald green setting. It looked really cool and made the emerald REALLY pop! Im not sure how it was done because it didn’t look like enamel (it was shiny, the way gold is) but I didn’t know it was possible to tint rhodium like that. Either way, it looked incredible.

 

[caf]

Gorgeous! Enjoy it.

 

[Bron357]

Love the ring. Nothing wrong with thinking outside the box, it’s the result that counts.
And the heart pendant is also lovely but the ring kiss kiss kiss

 

[Rubies-R-Me]

Wow!! A true case of "turning 2 frowns upside down."
Both of your redo's look great and it's wonderful how things that were just meh have turned into marvelous. Well done!!

 

[mrs-b]

A few more photos and my camera isn't picking up color well on another very overcast day. But I just love it, so...here are a bunch more! Unfortunately, the drabness of the day stops me from getting that sharp, crystal clear look, but hopefully on Tuesday when the sun is meant to come out!

For anyone interested, the setting is in platinum and the polish is very high. Gorgeous finish.







This super-blurry one just because it's a better representation of color:

 

[RunningwithScissors]

I love both these pieces!

I admire the way you think creatively to find solutions to jewelry problems. For example, I'll never forget how you figured out to set your charm bracelet in a straight line because the dangling of the charms bothered you (the dangling would have bothered me too, but I would have never thought of eliminating it). A "simple" solution, but not one I'd ever seen before, and well, kinda genius. And the way you designed your larger hoop earrings with hinges and unique closures and just the right amount of weight. Now this sapphire ring takes the "bling-genuity" (bling + ingenuity) to another level. You had a problem to solve, you ruminated on it, and dang if you didn't figure a perfect solution.

Love the design of the setting too, the ratio of diamonds in the cluster to center is just right, and the scalloped (or tuliped?) sweep of the sides flowing up into the cluster is beautiful.

Enjoy!

 

[mrs-b]

I love both these pieces!

I admire the way you think creatively to find solutions to jewelry problems. For example, I'll never forget how you figured out to set your charm bracelet in a straight line because the dangling of the charms bothered you (the dangling would have bothered me too, but I would have never thought of eliminating it). A "simple" solution, but not one I'd ever seen before, and well, kinda genius. And the way you designed your larger hoop earrings with hinges and unique closures and just the right amount of weight. Now this sapphire ring takes the "bling-genuity" (bling + ingenuity) to another level. You had a problem to solve, you ruminated on it, and dang if you didn't figure a perfect solution.

Love the design of the setting too, the ratio of diamonds in the cluster to center is just right, and the scalloped (or tuliped?) sweep of the sides flowing up into the cluster is beautiful.

Enjoy!

Thank you so much, @RunningwithScissors! It's not a perfect sapphire. It's not even a very good sapphire. But it's definitely blue and nobody will ever have to say to me "So - what color is that meant to be?"

She's blue.

 

[mrs-b]

@MiniMinerva - thank you so much! I'm having a tough time capturing its lovely color while the weather is so bleak. But I'm hoping I might have some rather better photos this week coming. Fingers crossed!

Thank you, @Lookinagain. I'm looking at it in a completely different light these days because - hey! what girl doesn't need a boost from time to time, right?

Thank you, @caf - I will!

 

[mrs-b]

@Autumn in New England -

Awwww - thank you! I'm so glad you like her! I think I'm going to call her Pacific, because she's a true deep ocean blue, and because I love ocean swimming so much and always have, and because the Pacific is the blue that connects the US and Australia. So Pacific has gone from a frightening disappointment, to something so significant to me as to represent something deeply precious and important. And for that reason alone, if nothing else, she's a good ring to be the one piece I have with my DH's birth stone, and which connects my husband and I. Somehow, somewhere in my head it all ties together.

And now, back to the setting adventures of Violet Pearegarde!

 

[mrs-b]

I was at this super high end jeweler’s a few weeks ago, just browsing, and I noticed they’ve started doing something with their coloured stone jewelry where they colour the gold prongs (and sometimes the whole setting) to the exact colour of the coloured stone. So, an emerald ring set in an emerald green setting. It looked really cool and made the emerald REALLY pop! Im not sure how it was done because it didn’t look like enamel (it was shiny, the way gold is) but I didn’t know it was possible to tint rhodium like that. Either way, it looked incredible.

I. Want. This.

 

[mrs-b]

Thank you, @Bron357! Definitely thinking outside the (jewelry!) box on this one! I think we got there in the end. <3

@Rubies-R-Me - LOL! "From meh to marvellous" - I like it! I've always said that one of my strongest suits is my ability to make a silk purse from a sow's ear, but calling my new ring Sooie - which kinda crossed my mind! - seemed like crossing a line!

 

[Autumn in New England]

@Autumn in New England -

Awwww - thank you! I'm so glad you like her! I think I'm going to call her Pacific, because she's a true deep ocean blue, and because I love ocean swimming so much and always have, and because the Pacific is the blue that connects the US and Australia. So Pacific has gone from a frightening disappointment, to something so significant to me as to represent something deeply precious and important. And for that reason alone, if nothing else, she's a good ring to be the one piece I have with my DH's birth stone, and which connects my husband and I. Somehow, somewhere in my head it all ties together.

She IS a mysterious ocean blue! I'm so glad you've come to find happiness with her (and her new wardrobe). Wear Miss Pacific in good health and happiness!!

And now, back to the setting adventures of Violet Pearegarde!

She's being set as we speak.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I. Want. This.

The jeweler is called House of Rose (their website is therose.in) but what they have online is a collection where the coloured stones are set in matching coloured prongs, not that the whole setting is in coloured metal. And they also don’t have any info at all about the treatment of the stones, so I don’t know how good the stone quality is. They’re a bit rich for my blood, I don’t have anything by them. Still, I’m sure they can answer those questions if you ask them, or make you a custom design. Most jewelers in india are very happy to go custom.

 

[mrs-b]

And this will probably be about as good as it gets. What a beauty she is!

 

[mrs-b]

The jeweler is called House of Rose (their website is therose.in) but what they have online is a collection where the coloured stones are set in matching coloured prongs, not that the whole setting is in coloured metal. And they also don’t have any info at all about the treatment of the stones, so I don’t know how good the stone quality is. They’re a bit rich for my blood, I don’t have anything by them. Still, I’m sure they can answer those questions if you ask them, or make you a custom design. Most jewelers in india are very happy to go custom.

I Just tooled around their site for a good long while. What temptation!!

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I Just tooled around their site for a good long while. What temptation!!

I feel like I should point this out since I brought them up earlier… I probed their site a bit further, and wow, I don’t think they certify their jewelry with any trustworthy lab! On one of the pages it said something about a DGLA certificate. Kinda shocking given their prices!! Maybe they do GIA once stones are of a certain size…

I think I’ll stick to my local jeweler after all but the eye candy is lovely.

 

[mrs-b]

Sunshine here in Boston! What I've found with Pacific is that she does well with a slight tilt. Straight on seems to dilute the color, but slightly tilted brings out her best. There are also one or two fuzzy photos here, included because of the way they show her color in certain lighting conditions. As with most colored stones, indirect ambient lighting is her very best friend.