Let's talk about CS projects in progress

[dk168]

I am getting a lab Sapphire from Gary, a royal/medium blue in Asscher cut, 8mm in size.

I had planned to get a stone like this in real/mined stone, however, this kind of blue is not high on my list of colour preferences.

Instead of spending thousands on a real/mined stone, I am getting a lab stone instead, after seeing a gorgeous one listed on Gary's site recently, and he has more of the same materials in hand.

I shall spend the money saved on something else, and no doubt there will be something else!

DK

 

[dk168]

Just bought this from JD from his eBay shop, a 5.55ct Electric Blue Topaz, L10.3 x W8.7mm.





DK

 

[CHRISTY-DANIELLE]

Progress Pics on my emerald + spinel ring that is inspired by older Victorian pearl cluster rings.

Were still not there yet but close!
There's a few changes that I made to this design but I'm going to leave them a surprise until it's finished!

Oooh I love this!!

 

[LemonMoonLex]

@TheGarnetGirl plus 1 on those shoulders. Gorgoeus.



Have you asked Brad at the Gem Trader? He has had a few and I inquired about setting one once and he referenced his dealer who sets them. He has a ton more stock than he can list and it sounds like a good source.

Good thinking! Brad would be the perfect person to source me a rhodo! He has some very unique and dreamy cubes that I've been meaning to nab but I just keep placing it on the back burner AgH!
Thank you for reminding me!!!

 

[pearl_clutcher]

I'm in the process of setting a lil 2.1ct minty tourmaline into a 14K necklace designed by Cheyenne Weil. She does lost-wax casting and designed it from the ground up. We settled on a design of kelp fronds, to pick up some of the sea-green colours in the stone. Here are some sketches, and the wax model in progress:

 

[voce]

I'm in the process of setting a lil 2.1ct minty tourmaline into a 14K necklace designed by Cheyenne Weil. She does lost-wax casting and designed it from the ground up. We settled on a design of kelp fronds, to pick up some of the sea-green colours in the stone. Here are some sketches, and the wax model in progress:

That's a lovely design! What metal would you be casting it in? Ever thought about getting earrings to match?

 

[LemonMoonLex]

I'm in the process of setting a lil 2.1ct minty tourmaline into a 14K necklace designed by Cheyenne Weil. She does lost-wax casting and designed it from the ground up. We settled on a design of kelp fronds, to pick up some of the sea-green colours in the stone. Here are some sketches, and the wax model in progress:

Oooh kelp fronds...
Love that design!

It's very organic & let's the stone itself unfurl it's own magic.

 

[pearl_clutcher]

That's a lovely design! What metal would you be casting it in? Ever thought about getting earrings to match?

It's going to be in 14K yellow gold. And I would love earrings to match! Drop earrings would be lovely... but one thing at a time (as I remind myself).

 

[Pennyc]

The zircon pendant arrived from Daniel M today! It's so perfect! I'm thrilled

This is beyond gorgeous the colour and style. I love zircons he has done a brilliant job with this I bet it sparkles like crazy in the sun.

It's set!! My baby paraiba in the flower halo ring!

This is so lovely and delicate. The colour is so intense. I wish I had the dainty fingers to pull off this lovely type of ring.

Just bought this from JD from his eBay shop, a 5.55ct Electric Blue Topaz, L10.3 x W8.7mm.

What a fabulous colour what are you planning to do with it?


My Jedi/parabia ring arrived last night at mums she is bringing it over this morning. I have to not open it when she is here as she thinks I spend too much money on jewellery. I will be dying. Will share pics when I can hustle her out

 

[dk168]

@Pennyc as it is not an expensive stone, and very sparkly on its own, I am thinking of having it set in a metal halo in Rhodium-plated Silver to keep the cost down.

This will be the second stone to be set in silver, after my late grandmother's blue step cut stone of unknown type. I am hoping the bench I am using could test and let me know what it is, or what it is not.

DK

 

[Pennyc]

@Pennyc as it is not an expensive stone, and very sparkly on its own, I am thinking of having it set in a metal halo in Rhodium-plated Silver to keep the cost down.

This will be the second stone to be set in silver, after my late grandmother's blue step cut stone of unknown type. I am hoping the bench I am using could test and let me know what it is, or what it is not.

DK

I am looking at setting some more things in silver I have a few and I really do like them can’t wait to see it

 

[Pennyc]

It’s arrived!!!!!

Love love love it. It is a horrid cloudy day in Melbourne need to get it out when the sun comes back but couldn’t resist a couple of pics

Couldn’t resist one with the UV light for the Jedi spinel

 

[YC]

It’s arrived!!!!!

Love love love it. It is a horrid cloudy day in Melbourne need to get it out when the sun comes back but couldn’t resist a couple of pics

Couldn’t resist one with the UV light for the Jedi spinel

So neon! Just saw your photo of the gem vendor's IG page

 

[dk168]

This is a (bad) pic of the step cut blue stone of unknown type that my late paternal grandmother gave me years ago as mentioned earlier.

It has a small window, and I can see surface abrasions on the stone under a 10x loupe.

Not going to spend a lot on having it re-cut or re-setting it as I seriously doubt if it is worth much if anything as she did not like me (and I did not sucked up to her).

However, I kind of like the colour (medium pale blue-purple) and step cut, despite the window.

I am planning to set it in a chunky metal halo with a comfort shank 4mm at the top, 3mm at the bottom, in Rhodium-plated Silver to keep the cost down.

I was toying with the idea of a 5-stone with baguettes of reducing length on the sides in Moissy, however, it will bump up the price and the Moissy may outshine the centre stone.



DK

 

[Pennyc]

Yay the sun came out

 

[YC]

I went to my jeweller today to look for ready-made ring settings for a couple of loose stones.
After much procrastination, I chose the following for my unheated purple (approx 3 ct) and blue (approx 3.5ct) sapphires, mainly for (ahem) bigger finger coverage and the fact that the stones worked better with these 2 settings.

 

[icy_jade]

Bumped into @YC when I went to pick up my new rings today at the same jeweller. Admit to nudging her towards the bigger rings, lol lol.

So she actually saw my rings before I did and I got pics from her minutes before I reached the shop...



Clearly I was incentivized to walk faster after that.



Just to show the lovely detailing...


Edit: 3 ct and 5.1 ct unheated sapphires

 

[Chasiu]

Just received word that my emerald & spinel three stone ring is ready to be shipped!



...and I am also getting ready to ship my 3 Paraiba ovals off to be set in a haloed three stone

 

[Hivona]

I'm in the process of setting a lil 2.1ct minty tourmaline into a 14K necklace designed by Cheyenne Weil. She does lost-wax casting and designed it from the ground up. We settled on a design of kelp fronds, to pick up some of the sea-green colours in the stone. Here are some sketches, and the wax model in progress:

I luuuuuuv her work and plan on sending stones her way eventually! This will be amazing!!

 

[LemonMoonLex]

Riding the emerald & spinel wave...

My ring is finished!!! I'm in love!
Emerald center, spinel halo with two little rose cut diamonds in the band.

Quick story!

Dan messaged me with the finished listing & I panicked for a second because it looked as if setting my reddish-pink spinels darkened them to a wine color & threw the whole design off. I mean the gold color no longer worked and the emerald tone was all wrong!

I was honestly freaking out and was so scared that I had finally made the wrong choice when it came to gold color vs. stones! So I messaged Dan & expressed my worries which I happily found out to be false when he reassured me that it was just the lighting & that my spinels did infact keep their pinky color!

Lighting can do a lot y'all!

I've said it before & I'll say it again, Dan's pictures are not always the most flattering or do his pieces the most justice.

Original listing photos I freaked over:




Realistic image of the ring & what the stones look like in person:



In conclusion, I am so happy with the ring! It is exactly as I envisioned & I cannot wait to update the thread with handshots of my own!

 

[natasha-cupcake]

Wow! That ring is super pretty!! I love it. I can't wait to see what it looks like on you.

 

[voce]

So happy to see your beautiful rings @Chasiu @TheGarnetGirl but I'm so worried right now because Dan has not been responding back when I asked about my own dragonfly ring this week.

 

[LemonMoonLex]

So happy to see your beautiful rings @Chasiu @TheGarnetGirl but I'm so worried right now because Dan has not been responding back when I asked about my own dragonfly ring this week.

Oh no! That's not good.
How many days has it been since you messaged him? I would give it a week and if he hasn't responded back send him a message of concern.
Or if you only sent one message I'd follow that up with another voicing your concern!

 

[voce]

Oh no! That's not good.
How many days has it been since you messaged him? I would give it a week and if he hasn't responded back send him a message of concern.
Or if you only sent one message I'd follow that up with another voicing your concern!

Well, the last time I heard from him was Oct 21. I asked about the status of the ring and he said it's "almost ready" but needed to ask the casting company about the legs for the dragonfly. However, he has not actually sent me pictures of the second CAD, and it's been 6 weeks since the first CAD, which I requested to be changed.

I wrote him again 2 days ago, and have not heard back yet. I don't suppose he'd answer back on a weekend, so I'll have to try again sometime next week.

 

[LemonMoonLex]

Well, the last time I heard from him was Oct 21. I asked about the status of the ring and he said it's "almost ready" but needed to ask the casting company about the legs for the dragonfly. However, he has not actually sent me pictures of the second CAD, and it's been 6 weeks since the first CAD, which I requested to be changed.

I wrote him again 2 days ago, and have not heard back yet. I don't suppose he'd answer back on a weekend, so I'll have to try again sometime next week.

I'm sorry. That sounds frustrating.

If you're relaying how you feel & getting zero answer after a week I know I wouldn't like it either.
I wonder sometimes if he bites off more than he can chew when it comes to custom projects.

Please keep us updated & I hope it's all resolved quickly!

 

[Chasiu]

Well, the last time I heard from him was Oct 21. I asked about the status of the ring and he said it's "almost ready" but needed to ask the casting company about the legs for the dragonfly. However, he has not actually sent me pictures of the second CAD, and it's been 6 weeks since the first CAD, which I requested to be changed.

I wrote him again 2 days ago, and have not heard back yet. I don't suppose he'd answer back on a weekend, so I'll have to try again sometime next week.

Oh no, sorry to hear that you have been having difficulty getting any sort of response Hoping that he's just holding off on responding until he has a big update for you.

 

[2Neesers]

Riding the emerald & spinel wave...

My ring is finished!!! I'm in love!
Emerald center, spinel halo with two little rose cut diamonds in the band.

Quick story!

Dan messaged me with the finished listing & I panicked for a second because it looked as if setting my reddish-pink spinels darkened them to a wine color & threw the whole design off. I mean the gold color no longer worked and the emerald tone was all wrong!

I was honestly freaking out and was so scared that I had finally made the wrong choice when it came to gold color vs. stones! So I messaged Dan & expressed my worries which I happily found out to be false when he reassured me that it was just the lighting & that my spinels did infact keep their pinky color!

Lighting can do a lot y'all!

I've said it before & I'll say it again, Dan's pictures are not always the most flattering or do his pieces the most justice.

Original listing photos I freaked over:




Realistic image of the ring & what the stones look like in person:



In conclusion, I am so happy with the ring! It is exactly as I envisioned & I cannot wait to update the thread with handshots of my own! ♥

Your ring is so beautiful and I can’t wait to see your hand shots!

 

[LemonMoonLex]

Your ring is so beautiful and I can’t wait to see your hand shots!

Thank you!
I can't wait to see it in person either!!

 

[YC]

I went to my jeweller today to look for ready-made ring settings for a couple of loose stones.
After much procrastination, I chose the following for my unheated purple (approx 3 ct) and blue (approx 3.5ct) sapphires, mainly for (ahem) bigger finger coverage and the fact that the stones worked better with these 2 settings.

Collected my rings.

 

[voce]

I've got the second CAD for my dragonfly ring, and I think it's pretty cute. I am keeping my fingers crossed this one will get finished in November.

The colors in the CAD look a little jarring, but I 100% trust that it will look better once done with the real stones.