If you wanted small, what colored stone would you get?

[velouriaL]

I have a friend who honestly wants to have a very small stone for her e-ring. She''s thinking about getting a sapphire, but I was thinking, are tehre any stones that look particular nice even when they''re small? Also, since a lot of her budget wiill be freed up by not getting something small (less than 5mm), maybe she has some other options. Paraiba tourmaline, maybe? I would say demantoid, but she''s not really into green.

Any ideas?

 

[Matata]

Here''s a link from another thread that shows various colors in smallish sizes....niiiice.

 

[MJO]

Date: 6/13/2005 1:35:31 PM
Author:velouriaL
I have a friend who honestly wants to have a very small stone for her e-ring. She''s thinking about getting a sapphire, but I was thinking, are tehre any stones that look particular nice even when they''re small? Also, since a lot of her budget wiill be freed up by not getting something small (less than 5mm), maybe she has some other options. Paraiba tourmaline, maybe? I would say demantoid, but she''s not really into green.

Any ideas?

What do you concider small? Under 1 ct? Smaller Mandarine Garnet (under 2cts) is very reasonable. Top Paraiba even small (1/2ct) can still cost $10,000/ct. More blue/green stones are much less. I have seen nice slightly included blue/green under 1ct for a few hundred/ct.

 

[velouriaL]

She wants something under 5mm. I''m not sure what her budget is, but I know it''s a lot more than what your average 5mm sapphire would cost, so she''s looking at her options.

 

[movie zombie]

matata, those are really nice rings!

my fear in a small stone would be getting one too dark. i might be tempted by a champagne diamond if i was going 5mm.

or check this out:

http://www.rwwise.com/index_content.html

red ruby 5.1mm and red red red!

peace, movie zombie

 

[MJO]

5mm sapphire is a little less than 1ct. I have seen small mandarin garnets very cheap. Stones under 2 carats are under $100/ct

 

[TKC]

Date: 6/13/2005 2:10:07 PM
Author: velouriaL
She wants something under 5mm. I''m not sure what her budget is, but I know it''s a lot more than what your average 5mm sapphire would cost, so she''s looking at her options.

Hi Velourial, what kind of cut is her preference? What color? And, most important, what kind of gemstone is her favorite?

 

[TKC]

What about this color of spinel?

 

[TKC]

What about Alexandrite? Here is a small Alexandrite. The actual color is very slightly greener.

 

[marriahlyn]

I would go for a small intense yellow diamond. Does she not want a diamond??

 

[TKC]

Change color to Purple.

 

[widget]

I''d probably want to avoid stones that are too dark, and look for those with the most sparkle: colored diamonds, some of the garnets: (spess, gross, etc.) and what else? Zircon, maybe?

widget

 

[valeria101]

Whatever that is, great color for such size requires that the material is as good as it gets - perhaps not hard to locate or overly expensive because of size, but still very nice.

Until now, alexandrite sounds great ! It doesn't have to be dark and drab, there should be some around that aren't - either light colors or intense... It helps if you can't decide on a color too

Is your friend inclined to browsing the net for inspiration ?

You may hear 100 times that alexandrite is not very well cut as a rule, and round nearly non-existant, but...

There are a couple more at Multicolour, although the nicest colors are not round. It nearly is incredible how many different looks come with Alexandrite

Well, this is not round, but how often do you find alexandrite in a precise, modern fancy cut ?

obviously, this is not a large stone, but it would make a unique, dainty ring.


Just an idea, it doesn't help that I am among those who think small is good as a general rule

 

[pyramid]

If she has a budget for it what about a small pink diamond. If I was doing it I would go for something other than sapphire as people will assume sapphire is not really expensive in a small size.

 

[MJO]

If she gets an alexandrite try and get one over 1ct. They are very rare in clean stones and good color change. Below is the link to one that seems to be reasonably priced for an alexandrite.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10190&item=4980470461

 

[velouriaL]

These are some good ideas. I think widget is right, that the best way to go is with something light and bright. Alexandrite would be nice, too, provided that it isn''t drab...

Some great eyecandy is coming out of this thread!

Anyway, I''ll pass on the info to her.

 

[MINE!!]

Date: 6/14/2005 10:53:16 AM
Author: MJO
If she gets an alexandrite try and get one over 1ct. They are very rare in clean stones and good color change. Below is the link to one that seems to be reasonably priced for an alexandrite.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10190&item=4980470461

MJO.. I do not question you... I know you are an expert.. maybe I am seeing something weird.. is that stone really supposed to look that way?

 

[valeria101]

Date: 6/14/2005 11:01:20 AM
Author: velouriaL

Alexandrite would be nice, too, provided that it isn''t drab...

Luckily, the light color ones are not the most expensive - don''t ask me why some very dark, uninteresting stones do get top price ...

 

[pyramid]

Anyone know what price range a 5mm pink diamond would be in. I don''t mean the top of the range colour ofcourse - unless her budget could stand that and that was what she wanted. Is a 5mm pink outrageously expensive in any colour range?

 

[valeria101]

Date: 6/14/2005 11:30:45 AM
Author: pyramid
Is a 5mm pink outrageously expensive in any colour range?

No. "Faint pink" comes close to colorless, but the color is really light. Than there are those brownish pinks that are somewhat less expensive.

Now, a certain geenie is finally out of the bottle: lab made pinks (link) are out there allright although in small batches. I would not call that "inexpensive" - it just so happens that the prices are about a tenth of the cost of their natural counterparts. It does take some stretch of the imagination for me to agree that a dot-sized diamond is worth a fortune because such stones are not that "wearable". So these newcomers make allot of sense, IMO.

It is amazing how much the web puts up in plain view. As far as I know, these three rings make a great lesson about pink diamonds. Take a look: 0.7 cts FDOP (the stone was about 5k unset), 1 ct FBOP (14k set), 0.4 cts FIPP (30k) and one more of the kind. These are great if you want a conversation piece on the finger, of course. It may be sort of cat and mouse game if such unusual taste is more or less rare than the stones themselves.

 

[widget]

Author: valeria101
Luckily, the light color ones are not the most expensive - don''t ask me why some very dark, uninteresting stones do get top price ...

I''d always thought the degree of color change in the lighter stones is lower...could be wrong, of course...

widget

 

[valeria101]

Date: 6/14/2005 11:49:48 AM
Author: widget

Author: valeria101
Luckily, the light color ones are not the most expensive - don't ask me why some very dark, uninteresting stones do get top price ...

I'd always thought the degree of color change in the lighter stones is lower...could be wrong, of course...

widget

No, you are not... at least not as far as I know.

It would help to have a standardized list of names to call colors sometimes: this time I had in mind a muddy, dark alexandrite that needs allot of excuses to be considered attractive and may not seem so at all to someone oblivious to the pedigree. Between those "too dark" that need a flashlight to show the color, and the "too light" that need a loupe, it is a bit puzzling to me why the flashlight is preffered

I have never seen small alexandrite showing strong color (not too dark, but still no-excuse green & pink). Aparently such things exist, just nowhere near.
Do you believe this one ?

 

[MJO]

Date: 6/14/2005 11:01:43 AM
Author: MINE!!

Date: 6/14/2005 10:53:16 AM
Author: MJO
If she gets an alexandrite try and get one over 1ct. They are very rare in clean stones and good color change. Below is the link to one that seems to be reasonably priced for an alexandrite.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10190&item=4980470461

MJO.. I do not question you... I know you are an expert.. maybe I am seeing something weird.. is that stone really supposed to look that way?

Believe me, I''m no expert. I know this stone. I''ve seen it in person. Alexandrite doesn''t take good pictures and I know Judi just takes the picture and doesn''t retouch it. That stone has a magnificent color change. The color in the picture looks very brownish green. In real life it is much better. Her descriptions are much more accurate than her pictures which is much better than the opposite to me.

 

[widget]

Regarding looking for small bright stones for a ring...here''s a future project of mine.

This is a rather flattering extreme close-up of a small antique pinky ring of mine. The sapphire, to my very unprofessional eye, is about 4mm. One jeweler looked at it and guessed that the sapph is a replacement stone, probably for a diamond.

In any case, in real life, the sapphire looks like a "black hole".

I''d love to someday replace it with a round (another problem?) intense colored diamond, either yellow or pink, but haven''t pursued it so far, thinking that such a small ring doesn''t merit such an expensive "improvement"...

widget

 

[widget]

Author: velouriaL
...the best way to go is with something light and bright.Anyway, I'll pass on the info to her.

Ooooh, speaking of light and bright...maybe she should consider having a stone cut for her...by someone like Michael E or Richard Homer!

ME cut me a small aqua that sparkles like crazy (modified barion cut), and RM's concave cuts sure seem to do the trick!

First, she's got to figure out what color she likes best...and also, since this is to be an ering and needs to be durable, she might be better off sticking with corundum if fancy diamonds are too pricey...

(always thinking...

)
widget

(Edited to add) Hmm...just looking at my previous post and "future project".....maybe I should listen to my own advice!

 

[TKC]

I think a pink sapphire with this kind of cut would be perfect

The size is a little bit bigger than 5 mm (5.31 x 5.22 x 4.11). This is an unheated pink sapphire with a little bit orange hue.

 

[BWise]

I would stay away form the darker shades such as the blue sapphire. The dark color doesn't show well on smaller stones.
If you can get a color preference for her, there might be many choices.

Green or blue, or the beatiful peacock blue - Tourmaline (or like the one you got yourself!)
Yellow or pink - fancy sapphires
Orange or red - Spessartite (if you can find as MINE's gogerous color)
Violet, pink or blue - spinel (they are very brilliant)!

Mmm, I am picturing something small but with such vivid, strong color that it almost talks to you.

Good luck!

 

[velouriaL]

Nice pink sapphire!

Hmm... maybe a "sky blue" sapphire could do the trick, especially if it were cut by Michael E with a few extra facets or whatnot... I wonder if you can concave cut stones that small?

 

[MINE!!]

Date: 6/15/2005 12:24:29 PM
Author: velouriaL
Nice pink sapphire!

Hmm... maybe a ''sky blue'' sapphire could do the trick, especially if it were cut by Michael E with a few extra facets or whatnot... I wonder if you can concave cut stones that small?

I heard that you could but the effect was not as good on the smaller stones.

 

[Upgradable]

Date: 6/14/2005 11:48:50 AM
Author: valeria101

Date: 6/14/2005 11:30:45 AM
Author: pyramid
Is a 5mm pink outrageously expensive in any colour range?

No. ''Faint pink'' comes close to colorless, but the color is really light. Than there are those brownish pinks that are somewhat less expensive.

Now, a certain geenie is finally out of the bottle: lab made pinks (link) are out there allright although in small batches. I would not call that ''inexpensive'' - it just so happens that the prices are about a tenth of the cost of their natural counterparts. It does take some stretch of the imagination for me to agree that a dot-sized diamond is worth a fortune because such stones are not that ''wearable''. So these newcomers make allot of sense, IMO.

It is amazing how much the web puts up in plain view. As far as I know, these three rings make a great lesson about pink diamonds. Take a look: 0.7 cts FDOP (the stone was about 5k unset), 1 ct FBOP (14k set), 0.4 cts FIPP (30k) and one more of the kind. These are great if you want a conversation piece on the finger, of course. It may be sort of cat and mouse game if such unusual taste is more or less rare than the stones themselves.

This is the 1 carat valeria posted. I''m in love!!!!