its here! 8.18 spess

[movie zombie]

website description of the stone:

"A visually pure orange hue defines the finest in spessartite. Spessartite is a "hard" garnet, 7.25 on the Moh''s scale and is the 4th most brilliant gem. Flawless! Nigeria. Dimensions: 11.6x10.2mm. "

this spess is also 8mm deep.

it arrived yesterday and i have 7 days to preview it and decide. what''s to decide?! its GORGEOUS. no yellow, red, or brown...just pure orange with a great cut. i don''t have a digital camera and am not sure if our cell phone camera can capture a worthwhile photo but we may try. the picture at the website is not the stone in my possession. the website photo shows the spess in his book, ''Secrets of the Gem Trade''...yes, this is a stone from R. W. Wise.

originally, i was afraid it would be ''too big''. i''m no longer concerned with that as it faces up quite nicely on my hand.

my question now is re 8mm deep: does anyone have a larger stone such as this mounted? and if so, how?

i would prefer to wear this stone 24/7 but may have to settle just for every time i leave the house. i''m inclined to a bezel but do think its a pity to cover the beautiful pavillion, which to be quite frank, is where all the weight is.

originally was going to do mokume gane but now have opened my mind to other alternatives because this stone is just so gorgeous.

any thoughts?

peace, movie zombie

 

[chamelyin]

HI Movie Zombie

Wow! That sounds really stunning, and just what you were looking for, but bigger!!
Please, oh please get pix some way some how soon... I can''t get to the WR Wise website (too imaptient to download the latest viewer), and besides, want to see YOUR stone.

The only ring I have that''s even close to being that deep is a pair of old emerald cut amethysts set in a flat edged 4 corner prong over a simple basket. You can see the pavillions..sort of... like through rectangular windows on the sides of the ring. No pix (sorry!) of that one yet.

I know you loved the George Sawyer H makume gane, but I think your suspicions may be right in that the subtlety may get lost in this stone''s fire...and size

I still love the makume gane look too. Maybe same, but in one color? Platinum/silver/white gold would make this stone pop, I betcha. I found this: http://www.krikawa.com site to be very inspirational.

Have fun! Take pix! I''m SO excited for you

Chamelyin

 

[movie zombie]

chamelyin, yes, it is exciting!

the stone at the www.rwwise.com website is NOT the stone i have on preview, even though the description is for the preview stone. richard says the picture is of the 7 carat that he sold about 4 years ago. he says the stone i''m previewing is the best he''s seen thus far. the website picture shows yellow and brown that i think is the result of the lights when taking the photo. my stone has none of those colors and is pure orange..which only shows slightly in the website picture.

i agree that the ''pop'' feature is greater with the cool colors! i''m also now considering going over to a james binnion mokume gane setting.

i want to continue to wear my original plain 2 mm gold band with the new ring/rings. but there is plenty of room for this stone, especially if i set it east-west.

i cannot begin to tell you how great this stone is! and as an oval, it is a rather ''round'' one...which i really really like. not long and skinny but has the illusion of being more round. it really is magical to look at!

peace, movie zombie

 

[movie zombie]

hey, i just checked out http://www.krikawa.com

wow! this is some great stuff i had not seen before!

thank you!

peace,movie zombie

 

[chamelyin]

Ohhhhh MZ,
I Loooooove ovals.. my very favorite shape of all time... especially the ''fat'' ones. If I didn''t feel strongly about using my great grandmothers OMC RB, I''d be shopping for a fancy green diamond oval. My jeweler had one during the holidays... about 3.2 gray/green/yellow... which I know sounds icky, but it did dance with all those cat''s eye colors we like. Then I saw a picure of a chameleon!
Don''t you think that would be appropriate for me??

And a mere 20K/Carat too... once you locate one.

Thanks you too for the j binnion work. Beeeeutiful!

One of those would frame & carry that spess just perfectly. I''d be one of those rings that one would feel propelled to stop and ask about while you two are having dinner at a lovely restaurant.


-Cham

 

[valeria101]

Date: 4/8/2005 11:52:33 PM
Author: chamelyin

Then I saw a picure of a chameleon! Don''t you think that would be appropriate for me?? And a mere 20K/Carat too... once you locate one.

There are smaller chameleons on the face of the Earth... and lighter ones too

No good ?

 

[valeria101]

Date: 4/8/2005 10

:33 PM
Author:movie zombie

it arrived yesterday and i have 7 days to preview it and decide. what''s to decide?! its GORGEOUS

[...]

originally was going to do mokume gane but now have opened my mind to other alternatives because this stone is just so gorgeous.

any thoughts?

After this description it sounds like you must have that one or bust

Congratulations !

How about a wider mokume band ? perhaps a substantial ring like the fancy yellow posted by the same Richard Wise yesterday ? The pattern of the metal would stand out big time on a wider band.

 

[movie zombie]

how did i miss that yellow diamond ring posted yesterday by richard?! love the setting but don''t think it provides the protection the spess probably needs. richard thinks a full bezel is in order......and i tend to agree.

yes, the wider mokume gane band might just do the trick. however, and this is a big however, i wear a 5.75 - 6.25 ring size. and the size of this spess means i''d have to go north/south setting for sure in order to see the pattern around the sides. also, because of the stone''s depth at 8mm, its going to be a rather high bezel, even if sloped up from the band rather than the more tube type bezel setting i see used for smaller stones. now that i''m thinking about it, that might actually have some design possibilities....

both binion and sawyer carry similar mokume gane woodgrain styles: to me, sawyer appears more suble and binnion more bold.

richard wise says he does mokume but i haven''t seen an example of it yet......says his is more along the lines of the binnion style.

i really like the idea of the cool metals but i''m also a big red gold fan....

got a cd for the computer today from james binion with pictures that are close ups of the rings. so many choices!

peace, movie zombie

 

[valeria101]

Doesn't David Emslie (and Fedaikin ?) do Mukume as well ? You could probably have some choice for the type, density and colors of the model.

Wouldn't a full bezel be havy ? On that HUGE stone, I would probably think of the lightest type of bezel - perhaps something with n open bottom like the Lucida. I don't think the collet around the girdle can be mokume (but maybe it can... I can't know that); the band surely can. Granted, my hands are rather small so I might not quite realize what this stone looks on yours.

Anyway, I do not want to become hate-able for all those weird ideas... just one:

It just struck me as the closest full bezel version to Richard's yellow wonder...

 

[movie zombie]

valeria,

the weider, the better! i really like that setting you''ve posted. don''t hesitate to post more ideas, or send them to me via private e-mail.

the depth of this stone is what is going to be tricky. and i''m worried about it looking bulky. placing the stone on my finger and looking at it from the top and sideways, i really don''t notice depth. the fat oval shape masks it somehow.

peace, movie zombie

 

[MINE!!]

OOOOHHHH!!! You got the stone.. awesome.. and you love it? awesome... I am so jealous.. I want mine... LOL...

I am glad to hear that your stone is beautiful... Keep us Up to Date on choosing the setting!!

 

[innerkitten]

Congratulations! I''m also a spessartite fan

 

[movie zombie]

innerkitten, you love them all! and i can see why! so many stones, so little $$$$.

we may end up having richard wise do the setting as well..... no hurry so i can explore the options. but did talk with richard yesterday via phone and he sent me some pictures. will continue to explore a bit with binnion but this stone really is special and i want to show it to its advantage.

still working on pictures.


btw, dealing with richard wise has spoiled me for dealing with other vendors, both on and off line. not only does he take my calls, i don''t end up feeling rushed or like i''m wasting his time with my novice questions.

peace, movie zombie

 

[chamelyin]

Val:

Been on vacation. I just wanted to thank you for the link to Ice Store''s Chameleon diamomds...the matched round pair & the radiant in that deep olive green almost made me cry! Gorgeous, and just what I''m looking for. Anyone have experience dealing with them?

Thanks

 

[MINE!!]

PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES!!!! Have you decided how you are going to have it set yet?

 

[valeria101]

Date: 4/13/2005 11:51:37 PM
Author: chamelyin

Val, Anyone have experience dealing with Icestore?

Not long ago someone posted a pinky ring with a pink cushion diamond from them (this ring talked about on this thread).

"Fancy Diamonds" and "Diamonds by Lauren" and "KashmirBlue" list chameleons every now and then... I would ask for options - even if just because no two such diamonds are alike

Otherwise, those pieces you mention are quite gorgeous !

 

[Matata]

MZ,

Two more setting possibilities that appear to protect the stone. The first is a 5.43c spessartite; pic is from the agta.org site, 2002 spectrum award winner.

 

[Matata]

This is a tsav from the same site. No specs on the stone.

 

[movie zombie]

its official: we''re keepiing the 8.18 spess!!!!

called richard wise yesterday to 1-thank him for letting me preview it and for being available to answer questions during the preview period and 2- to tell him there was no way he could get that stone back from me....he''d have to pry it from hands...! i''ve been muttering things like ''my precious'' periodically [lord of the rings influence?!].

i have not yet decided on a setting. have talked with binnion''s gallery, sawyer''s gallery, and with richard. i think what is going to happen is that the spess will NOT be set in mokume gane. yes, i know that was my ''dream'' but i never thought i''d have a stone like this one so i''m going to [i think] set it as an e-ring. then, lucky me!, we''re going to get the matching mokume wedding bands.no pictures yet! hubby tried to take pictures with my loupe and his cell phone but says they didn''t turn out well. at least he tried. will see what we can sort out to get something to post soon.

no decisions yet re how to set this beauty....and i''ve not been in a hurry but now i''m not sure i want to wait until december to have it finished. so, please keep the ideas coming.

matata, i LOVE the spezz you posted! very simple and clean lines, elegant and yet the stone is protected.
valeria, hubby likes the looks of the lucida ec ring you posted...he''s wanting something ''organic''...asked him what that meant and i think its the ''rounded'' look......

i think what will happen is that i''ll collect pictures and sent them to richard to design something for me. in our conversation yesterday he said it would help him to get inside my head about what i like and what i''m looking for. i''ll send the spess back to him [anticipate separation anxiety] when i give him the deposit to start the design. maybe start this process in may?!

i''m consideriing mixing the metals for the setting: gold band with white metal prongs and/or bezel or the reverse. i know richard like the look of gold with spess but i really like the contrast of the warm orange with the cool white metals. all white metal would also be ok with me.

i''m really getting excited now that i''ve found ''the'' stone! please keep sending ideas for setting or any thoughts you might have regarding same.

thank you to pricescope for providing a place where i was able to learn something about this process....and if it weren''t for pricescope, i''d never have connected with richard wise.

and thanks to all of you that have sent encouragement and ideas! i welcome any more thoughts, ideas, pictures, etc. that you can send.

peace, movie zombie