Inexpensive pink/lavender spinel stacking ring advice

[recordaras]

Hi guys,

I think I need your help here. I want to get an inexpensive silver stacking ring (under $100, and the cheaper the better) to wear as a stand in and RHR. I've narrowed the stone down to a pastel pink or lavender spinel, and about 4mm in diameter. For the ring, I'm looking at a silver bezel setting no less than 2mm wide. I have to admit that it took me a while to decide on even those parameters, and now that I've started searching on etsy I'm even more confused!

At this size, would it make sense to have the etsy jeweler source the stone, or buy it myself and ship to them? And if buying myself, where can one find small stones? I think I've gone through the whole list of recommended vendors from the sticky post, and none of them have anything that small.
I've also searched etsy for "spinel bezel ring" and "spinel stacking ring" without much success, so it looks like I'll have to go custom.

Also, HOW does one choose an etsy seller, when there are so many of them, and they all seem to make gorgeous rings?? I'll gladly take any advice on that as well.

All in all, I'm pretty confused right now, and will be very grateful for any advice.

 

[mochiko42]

I agree it may be cheaper to buy a ready-made ring if your budget is about $100.. but having said that, I did notice a cute pink spinel on Gem Line's site for $35:

http://www.litnon.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=9870

I think that your budget would narrow the list of Etsy vendors you could consider. (e.g. Julia B would likely be out of your budget range, as would Sally at HoW). You would have to check with the vendors directly, but you could try Daniel M or Onegarnetgirl or JanishJewels which seem to have rings for around $100-$200.

Good luck with your search!

 

[FrekeChild]

Why such specific parameters?

 

[recordaras]

I agree it may be cheaper to buy a ready-made ring if your budget is about $100.. but having said that, I did notice a cute pink spinel on Gem Line's site for $35:

http://www.litnon.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=9870

I think that your budget would narrow the list of Etsy vendors you could consider. (e.g. Julia B would likely be out of your budget range, as would Sally at HoW). You would have to check with the vendors directly, but you could try Daniel M or Onegarnetgirl or JanishJewels which seem to have rings for around $100-$200.

Good luck with your search!

Thank you so much!
I've actually since touched base with a wonderful etsy vendor who didn't have anything in stock, but offered to order in some stones from Gemselect for me. I was going back and forth between two sapphires and some spinels, and finally decided to do the spinels. It will take some time for them to get shipped, but I will definitely share the resulting ring.

 

[recordaras]

Why such specific parameters?

Do you mean the size, or the stones?
Size-wise I'm playing some mind games with myself: I'm going to be resetting my e-ring soon (which is what prompted me to get the stand in, and might also explain why my budget is so limited!), and I wanted something that was significantly smaller than my current stone so that my e-ring doesn't feel small when it comes back.
As for the shank width, I currently have a super narrow setting and HATE it with a passion - it is incredibly uncomfortable, so I now assume that anything under 2mm will be similar.

Spinels came up primarily because of your "learner stone" thread pictures - they are the perfect pastel colors that I love, and then I found out that they were also durable enough for daily wear.

 

[FrekeChild]

4mm is really quite small for a colored stone, so you're not likely to find a precision cut one within that size parameter. As for stacking bands, there are tons of jewelers on etsy would would be thrilled to make one for you. Also, diamonds always look bigger than colored stones because they reflect so much light. My 6mm medium green emerald looks much smaller than my 6.2mm princess diamond. The green absorbs more light and the white reflects more light.

Sounds like you've already got the wheels rolling!