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New member: How did you build your collection?

RedSpinel

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Apr 28, 2012
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211
Hi..
I just found this forum last night when doing a google search for "Fading Kunzite/Hiddenite." So prior to that I didnt realize there was a gem/jewelry forum(s).

So I'll give a little background of myself:

I have always been interested in gemstones since I was a kid and my family drove to the mountains of NY and found a road side gem store in the 70's. I remember my grandad giving us his collection before he died in the early 90's, but it was all rough stones.

Then in the mid 90's, I started looking deeper into gemstones, and started learning much more about them, which is obviously VERY, VERY helpful if you are going to try and collect them by yourself! You certainly need to do a lot of learning or else you're doomed to buy some "less than ideal" specimens. Even after learning a lot of info, you might still get burnt here and there to be honest!

But I started collecting cut/faceted gems in the mid 90's, and I continued buying stones whenever I could afford to, but I'm not exactly Donald Trump either, so I had to control my urge to spend more than I could afford. It was hard, because there is always another great gem right around the corner, even though many dealers would have us believe that if we dont buy right now, they are all going extinct!

I bought a few stones from a larger relatively local jewelry store's colored gem 'expert'. Thats an expensive way to go though! So I then discovered the "Gem Shopping Network", which was on our cable TV network for a few years, then disappeared. They used to have a few private dealers who would lease time on their channel, and these guys(and gals) would regularly take requests, and you could tell them what type of gem you wanted, what size, what quality, how much you wanted to spend, etc., and they would show what they had in your range, and if you liked it you bought it. But they also showed other stones from $2 - $120,000! I did buy a pink spinel early on from one private dealer which didnt measure right on a refractometer, so I sent it back and got a refund. But that was rare. Back then, they were selling top quality, pure blue Tanzanites every day, for $500 per carat! Then it went up to about $700. But it was fantastic material, and true-blue, although you could also buy cheaper violet stones too for less $$. They still had the nicest Tanzanites I've seen. But they arent on anymore, and havent been for 8 years or so around here.

The other TV gem stone channels on now leave a lot to be desired to put it mildly. So then I switched to the internet for4 my new sources. That was tough, because there are an endless number of Thailand internet/Ebay gem dealers, and most sell cheap stones. But I did find a few decent ones, who sold good stones, and some cheap stones, and since it was on Ebay, they were auctions, whcih meant you'd sometimes get really lucky and be able to buy a nice stone for a few dollars! In fact, I bought a 19ct. Kunzite recently for $5.99! It was clean, well cut, large and if I had to give it a scholastic grade for color, it would be a B-. That was the first stone I've bought in a while. But I've also paid hundreds of dollars for single stones from Thailand dealers too.

I've tested every stone I own in a refractometer, and they all are true. I tried to figure out the actual value of my collection vs. the price I paid for everything, and although it's very subjective, I'd conservatively estimate the amount I paid for it is about 1/5 the actual value overall. Some stones I got unbelievable cheaply, and other I probably paid their true value, but by far and away I bought most of them for much less than they would be sold for in any US store.

But then I became worried about my collection, because due to it's increasing value, it would be a popular item for a thief, so I had to break down and put it in the safe deposit box at the bank, where it sits now. So now I cant look at it whenever I want, but at least its safe.

So how did you start collecting, and how do you do it?
 
Welcome, RedSpinel!

I enjoyed reading your story.

I myself have had a fascination for gems since childhood. I would admire the jewelry of my mother and grandmothers. My mother didn't have much when I was a child, but I thought her aquamarines were absolutely beautiful. One of my grandmothers had a pair of opal rings, which had once no doubt been very beautiful, but which had soon crazed because she wore them while doing the dishes/gardening/etc. Then my mother introduced me to a friend of hers, a crystal healer. I had never met anyone like her at that point - her hair was wild, her attire was a gypsy/hippie ensemble, she wore an eyepatch (!), and she told me stories about spiritual adventures that fascinated my impressionable mind. She was also not adverse to wacky tobacky (she didn't introduce me to that, though). She had a little shop with beautiful crystals and stones - rock crystal, flourite, dioptase, obsidian, calcite, rose quartz, and a huge amethyst which she claimed had once saved her life by shielding her from intense negative vibrations. I ate it all up. One gem she did not like was opal, which she considered a stone of bad luck. That did not scare me away, though.

I wouldn't say that her world view has stayed with me (or my mother) - but the love of gems has. From my early twenties and onwards, I would go to Hamburg for a huge annual fair. Every year, I'd bring home a cut stone or small but nice crystal specimen. And every year, I could have spent ten times what was within my budget. But bringing home a small emerald, sapphire, or tanzanite would thrill me to no end. Sometimes, I kinda feel that I can't justify this hobby - after all, the stones have no practical function, and I don't even buy gems with the intention of having them set. Some I would like to have set, and I have a custom made tsavorite pendant which I enoy wearing. But others I keep in their box to be admired as little unions of human skill and miraculous nature.
 
Yeah, I too had many hippy friends growing up in the 80's, and into the 90's. One couple were hard core Grateful Dead-heads, who followed the Dead around the country til Jerry Garcia died in '95, and I even went with them in '93 to see the dead in Nassau County Colosseum , Hempstead NY, Long Island, and we were there for like 8 days sleeping in their '78 VW convertible bus. We sold veggie stir fry and veggie chili every day(they are vegetarians). They seemed to believe in crystal healing, but I never really bought into that too much. But you pointed out that the lady you knew said Opals are bad luck, and maybe that would explain why I seem to sometimes have bad luck, considering Opal is my birthstone!

When I started collecting gems, I had no plan of selling them, or even mounting them, although I have bought several that have been mounted and given away as presents, which gives me the excuse to go buy another stone to replace the mounted one. I've also given away quite a few to my nieces, sister in law, friends, mother, girlfriends, etc. That too would give me the excuse to find replacements!

But I never had an "exit strategy" for gemstone collecting, in that I never had a plan to eventually sell any or all of them. That irks my mother a bit, because is her eyes, there's no point in buying something and collecting it if you cant sell it later. I cant count the number of times she's said, "So maybe you should try to sell some of those stones you have", or "how do you plan on selling those gemstones?" Sometimes it's "Why dont you try and put some of those gems you own on Ebay and sell them."

She used to collect coins, and she sold them all years ago, so her mindset is to collect in order to make money off of the collection. But she also collects small bells, but doesnt sell them, so maybe I should start occasionally suggesting to her that she sell her bell collection....Then maybe she'll finally get the point of why I dont want to sell MY collection!
 
Great stories, ladies!

I have always loved colored gemstones in jewelry. I didn't start to buy loose gemstones until about 10 years ago. I actually bought my first "bag" of assorted gemstones from an online gemstone store when I was pretty depressed about an issue that happened at work. I ordered 100 carats of flawed or imperfect gems and got a heart shaped crystal dish to put them in. I was kind of shocked at how little of space 100 carats of assorted gems takes up in a dish. I had fun going through the gemstones trying to see if I could figure out what they were. I quickly ordered another bag of assorted gemstones and then starting buying tiny, tiny gems of all types of assorted gems. I tried to buy inexpensive gems trying to get one of each for the gem dish. I think the most expensive gem in the dish is a .15 ct champagne diamond. I got it on sale and used a discount coupon from one of the TV jewelry sites. It ended up being about $20 so you know what quality that diamond is but it is a cool color and very sparkly.

After enjoying my "prozac in a dish" as I call my gem dish for a few months, I decided I would try to make my own earrings. I started ordering pairs of topaz, garnet, iolite and either the snaptite settings or those setting that are pre-notched and only require pliers. I quickly decided I did not have the skills, patience, dexterity or eyesight to mount gemstones. I took all my settings and gems to a local jeweler and had a great collection of assorted stud earrings for awhile.

My next wild and crazy if not delusional idea was to have a RHR with every type of gemstone. I was trying to do this massive project on the "cheap" though so what I did was buy the loose gemstones and then find a ring online on sale that the gemstone would fit in. That way I could get the side stones and ring sizing for free. I'd get the ring, take the ring and loose gemstone to a jeweler and he would replace the center stone for about $20 to $40. The center gemstone the jeweler removed from the ring then went in to my gem dish.

Of course I quickly grew tired of having a mediocre collection of colored gemstone rings. I would sell my rings and earrings at work and then use that money to move on to another project.

Then I decided I wanted some nicer RHR so started going to a jeweler in a nearby big city that has (IMO) some very lovely sapphires. I pick out the loose stone and then pick out a ring to mount it in. They have a great upgrade policy there so I have recently been working on upgrading the stones and even some of the rings to get my sapphires all up to the 1 ct. range.

Right now I only have 2 loose gemstones that I want to keep out of the gem dish. I have an ametrine and a pink sapphire still in a gem case. Usually when I buy a loose gemstone now it's for a piece of jewelry I already have in mind.

Marcy
 
marcy|1335733070|3183574 said:
Great stories, ladies!

I have always loved colored gemstones in jewelry. I didn't start to buy loose gemstones until about 10 years ago. I actually bought my first "bag" of assorted gemstones from an online gemstone store when I was pretty depressed about an issue that happened at work. I ordered 100 carats of flawed or imperfect gems and got a heart shaped crystal dish to put them in. I was kind of shocked at how little of space 100 carats of assorted gems takes up in a dish. I had fun going through the gemstones trying to see if I could figure out what they were. I quickly ordered another bag of assorted gemstones and then starting buying tiny, tiny gems of all types of assorted gems. I tried to buy inexpensive gems trying to get one of each for the gem dish. I think the most expensive gem in the dish is a .15 ct champagne diamond. I got it on sale and used a discount coupon from one of the TV jewelry sites. It ended up being about $20 so you know what quality that diamond is but it is a cool color and very sparkly.

After enjoying my "prozac in a dish" as I call my gem dish for a few months, I decided I would try to make my own earrings. I started ordering pairs of topaz, garnet, iolite and either the snaptite settings or those setting that are pre-notched and only require pliers. I quickly decided I did not have the skills, patience, dexterity or eyesight to mount gemstones. I took all my settings and gems to a local jeweler and had a great collection of assorted stud earrings for awhile.

My next wild and crazy if not delusional idea was to have a RHR with every type of gemstone. I was trying to do this massive project on the "cheap" though so what I did was buy the loose gemstones and then find a ring online on sale that the gemstone would fit in. That way I could get the side stones and ring sizing for free. I'd get the ring, take the ring and loose gemstone to a jeweler and he would replace the center stone for about $20 to $40. The center gemstone the jeweler removed from the ring then went in to my gem dish.

Of course I quickly grew tired of having a mediocre collection of colored gemstone rings. I would sell my rings and earrings at work and then use that money to move on to another project.

Then I decided I wanted some nicer RHR so started going to a jeweler in a nearby big city that has (IMO) some very lovely sapphires. I pick out the loose stone and then pick out a ring to mount it in. They have a great upgrade policy there so I have recently been working on upgrading the stones and even some of the rings to get my sapphires all up to the 1 ct. range.

Right now I only have 2 loose gemstones that I want to keep out of the gem dish. I have an ametrine and a pink sapphire still in a gem case. Usually when I buy a loose gemstone now it's for a piece of jewelry I already have in mind.

Marcy


I'm actually a guy, but thats OK!^^

I did a similar thing when I first started. My 1st stone was actually a fairly expensive blue star sapphire that was about 3.7ct which I had mounted in a mens 14kt gold ring. I believe I paid $100 per ct for that stone. Then I somehow lost the ring after more than a decade a few years ago! I had worn it almost non-stop the whole time, then one day, it wasnt on my finger, and I had no idea what had happened!

But after that, I started buying cheaper stones like swiss and London blue Topaz, citrines, rhodolite garnets, amethyst, etc. I would put them in little gem containers with clear lids that fit into trays, and as I got more experienced, and my tastes got more expensive, I would remove the cheaper gems from the jars and replace them with the nicer ones. Then I would usually give away many of the gems I paid less than $10-$40 for to my nieces and friends and mother, girlfriends, etc.

I've probably had 8 stones mounted, but I have a serious distrust of some of the local gem setters. My start sapphire was chipped on the side, but the wealthy, private owned jewelry store completely gave me the runaround, and never ended up replacing the stone.Then I had a nice 6ct opal mounted in a necklace for my mom, and the guy cracked it! There was a fissure goinjg right down the middle after he was done, but he tried to claim he thought it was there to begin with, which was BULL, because I had large pics of that stone from when I bought it, and I had looked it over thoroughly with a loupe...... So once again, I was stuck with it! Fortunately, it never actually cracked apart, and its still in 1 piece.
 
Oops, sorry Red Spinel. :wavey:

How awful that you lost your blue star sapphire ring. Maybe you'll find it someday. I hope so. That is exactly what I've done with a lot of my inexpensive gems or jewelry is give them to nieces, sisters and friends. That is too bad you've had bad luck with chipped and cracked stones. A few of the mall jewelers have cracked stones of mine - mostly cheap ones though. I did buy a 1.10 princess cut tsavorite at a remount sale one time and the jeweler cracked it in half when mounting it. They wanted to find me another stone but I wasn't about to leave that kind of money tied up with them trying to find me another gemstone I liked. I had them refund my money. There is a guy in town that I've had great luck with and he is generally cheaper than the other local jewelers.
 
I first started buying colored gems and diamonds in gold and platinum on ebay before the economy went bad. Got some fantastic deals with authentic gemstones, vintage diamonds and some so- so gems. Then I started buying at pawn shops. After that I bought from reputable sellers on the other forum who were looking for funds for other projects. Still later I bought gems from reputable gem sellers and gem cutters and had them mounted in rings with diamonds. I used to buy a new gem or ring about every 2 months, resold those I outgrew and bought more. Now I buy a new gemstone or ring about every 6 months. I am choosier now and have sold off many of my rings and gems. Every time I want something new I remind myself that I have way too much. Seriously I have gems unmounted, and rings I never wear. It has to be very special to peak my intersts now.
 
LisaRN|1335762792|3183796 said:
I first started buying colored gems and diamonds in gold and platinum on ebay before the economy went bad. Got some fantastic deals with authentic gemstones, vintage diamonds and some so- so gems. Then I started buying at pawn shops. After that I bought from reputable sellers on the other forum who were looking for funds for other projects. Still later I bought gems from reputable gem sellers and gem cutters and had them mounted in rings with diamonds. I used to buy a new gem or ring about every 2 months, resold those I outgrew and bought more. Now I buy a new gemstone or ring about every 6 months. I am choosier now and have sold off many of my rings and gems. Every time I want something new I remind myself that I have way too much. Seriously I have gems unmounted, and rings I never wear. It has to be very special to peak my intersts now.


Well lets say you get tired tired of a stone or 2, and instead of just giving them away, you decide to sell them. Where do you go to sell them, Ebay? Here? Pawn Shop? I wouldnt imagine you'd get much at a pawn shop. You might not get much on Ebay either, as it seems to be a crapshoot. I havent sold any gems on Ebay, but I've bought quite a few fro the more reputable dealers, but I've either bought or seen other people buy nice gems for an absolute steal because nobody happened to be paying attention to that particular stone, and many times stones will go ridiculously cheap! I mentioned on another post here that I recently picked up a 19.85ct Kunzite for $5.99 which is fancy shaped(kinda shield shaped), and very clean, as I cant see any inclusions in the large pictures, and the color saturation is ok, not real dark but not too light.

So every once in a while if you pay attention and place small bids on many stones and then just wait and check your Ebay account once a day, you wont win most of them, but you certainly will walk away with some nice stones for dirt cheap! If I wouldve gone and found that same size Kunzite of the same color and quality at a local jeweler, I'd easily pay at least $400 - $500!

I bought a 2.87ct orange sapphire(Be treated) about 6 years ago, and got it for $19... Its clean, bright, not too light or dark, and pretty well cut. I got another 10ct Kunzite years ago for about $10 with decent color, cut and cleanliness.

So the point is, if you or I were to go and sell OUR stones on Ebay, there's always that chance that people are sleeping or something and not paying attention, so that we end up not getting squat for stones we might have paid good money for......
 
marcy|1335733070|3183574 said:
Great stories, ladies!

I am also a dude. :tongue:

Btw. RedSpinel, it's nice to hear I'm not the only guy here who enjoys wearing coloured stones!
 
Kim Bruun|1335821027|3184279 said:
marcy|1335733070|3183574 said:
Great stories, ladies!

I am also a dude. :tongue:

Btw. RedSpinel, it's nice to hear I'm not the only guy here who enjoys wearing coloured stones!

Sorry Kim! :wavey:
 
Many PSers sell their excess stones here on PS in the Pre-loved section (with a link to DiamondBistro). This way, while it is not a guarantee, both the buyer and seller know there is a certain level of trust and honesty on the part of both parties. There is no fee for this service.
 
Kim Bruun|1335821027|3184279 said:
marcy|1335733070|3183574 said:
Great stories, ladies!

I am also a dude. :tongue:

Btw. RedSpinel, it's nice to hear I'm not the only guy here who enjoys wearing coloured stones!

I'm just about to get myself a new necklace....

Many years ago I saw pictures of green Zoicite with ruby inclusions, but I never saw any for sale anywhere. Its the same gem family as Tanzanite, but its not transparent. It can be used like Lapis Lazuli or jade or the like, but I think its prettier than jade.

So anyway, I'm on Ebay the other day, and I find this dealer I've never seen before and he's in the US somewhere. He has several pear and oval shaped, large polished cabochons of green/ruby Zoicite, so I found a few I liked, and bid $7.99 on one of them. It is 56cts, and about 40mm x 26mm x 5mm I think. I found out this morning that I won it! The shipping is only like $2-$3 too, so I paid only about $10 - $11 total for it!

I will probably get it made into a simple pendant with just a ring through a drilled hole.

Here's the Ebay item number: 280869152450
 
RedSpinel|1335925675|3185304 said:
Kim Bruun|1335821027|3184279 said:
marcy|1335733070|3183574 said:
Great stories, ladies!

I am also a dude. :tongue:

Btw. RedSpinel, it's nice to hear I'm not the only guy here who enjoys wearing coloured stones!

I'm just about to get myself a new necklace....

Many years ago I saw pictures of green Zoicite with ruby inclusions, but I never saw any for sale anywhere. Its the same gem family as Tanzanite, but its not transparent. It can be used like Lapis Lazuli or jade or the like, but I think its prettier than jade.

So anyway, I'm on Ebay the other day, and I find this dealer I've never seen before and he's in the US somewhere. He has several pear and oval shaped, large polished cabochons of green/ruby Zoicite, so I found a few I liked, and bid $7.99 on one of them. It is 56cts, and about 40mm x 26mm x 5mm I think. I found out this morning that I won it! The shipping is only like $2-$3 too, so I paid only about $10 - $11 total for it!

I will probably get it made into a simple pendant with just a ring through a drilled hole.

Here's the Ebay item number: 280869152450
I picked up one of those ruby in zoisite pendants set in sterling silver at a local craft fair a few years ago. It is a lot of fun to wear, particularly in the sun. I checked mine under UV light, and it has a lot of red fluorescence which really kicks it up a notch.

Come back with photos of yours, please.
 
RedSpinel|1335925675|3185304 said:
Kim Bruun|1335821027|3184279 said:
marcy|1335733070|3183574 said:
Great stories, ladies!

I am also a dude. :tongue:

Btw. RedSpinel, it's nice to hear I'm not the only guy here who enjoys wearing coloured stones!

I'm just about to get myself a new necklace....

Many years ago I saw pictures of green Zoicite with ruby inclusions, but I never saw any for sale anywhere. Its the same gem family as Tanzanite, but its not transparent. It can be used like Lapis Lazuli or jade or the like, but I think its prettier than jade.

So anyway, I'm on Ebay the other day, and I find this dealer I've never seen before and he's in the US somewhere. He has several pear and oval shaped, large polished cabochons of green/ruby Zoicite, so I found a few I liked, and bid $7.99 on one of them. It is 56cts, and about 40mm x 26mm x 5mm I think. I found out this morning that I won it! The shipping is only like $2-$3 too, so I paid only about $10 - $11 total for it!

I will probably get it made into a simple pendant with just a ring through a drilled hole.

Here's the Ebay item number: 280869152450

Zoisite with ruby was something you could always expect to find tumbled specimens of in New Age shops here in Denmark when the fad was at its peak - and not surprisingly so. The material is striking, affordable, and not too rare.

I think it's interesting that you have chosen a pear, or rather, you should give consideration to how you will wear. The pear, after all, is a very feminine shape, IMO (I should probably not get into why). When I had my tsavorite pendant made, I elected a round stone, and the goldsmith told me that as a man, that was pretty much my only option: "Oval stones are for women only." I was actually rather offended, and nearly told him: "Listen Mister, I'll wear a frickin' tiara if I feel like it!" On the other hand, while I love coloured stones, I don't want to wear something that looked like I borrowed it from my mother. For my own part, I feel that serious consideration should be given to jewelry design - if I'm going to be wearing purple sapphire, I am already flirting a bit with gender roles. But that is just me. Others should wear what they love and feel comfortable with.

However, with the pear, the simpler the better, I would say - perhaps a hole drilled in it and hung from a leather cord is your best choice.
 
Interesting post about how one views certain shapes as feminine or masculine. Do you think that perhaps something rounded is tagged as feminine while something pointy or with "harder" angles is perceived as masculine? If so, then cushions (square or rectangular) and trillions open up a male's choices when it comes to wearing gemstones.
 
Kim Bruun|1335947441|3185521 said:
RedSpinel|1335925675|3185304 said:
Kim Bruun|1335821027|3184279 said:
marcy|1335733070|3183574 said:
Great stories, ladies!

I am also a dude. :tongue:

Btw. RedSpinel, it's nice to hear I'm not the only guy here who enjoys wearing coloured stones!

I'm just about to get myself a new necklace....

Many years ago I saw pictures of green Zoicite with ruby inclusions, but I never saw any for sale anywhere. Its the same gem family as Tanzanite, but its not transparent. It can be used like Lapis Lazuli or jade or the like, but I think its prettier than jade.

So anyway, I'm on Ebay the other day, and I find this dealer I've never seen before and he's in the US somewhere. He has several pear and oval shaped, large polished cabochons of green/ruby Zoicite, so I found a few I liked, and bid $7.99 on one of them. It is 56cts, and about 40mm x 26mm x 5mm I think. I found out this morning that I won it! The shipping is only like $2-$3 too, so I paid only about $10 - $11 total for it!

I will probably get it made into a simple pendant with just a ring through a drilled hole.

Here's the Ebay item number: 280869152450


Zoisite with ruby was something you could always expect to find tumbled specimens of in New Age shops here in Denmark when the fad was at its peak - and not surprisingly so. The material is striking, affordable, and not too rare.

I think it's interesting that you have chosen a pear, or rather, you should give consideration to how you will wear. The pear, after all, is a very feminine shape, IMO (I should probably not get into why). When I had my tsavorite pendant made, I elected a round stone, and the goldsmith told me that as a man, that was pretty much my only option: "Oval stones are for women only." I was actually rather offended, and nearly told him: "Listen Mister, I'll wear a frickin' tiara if I feel like it!" On the other hand, while I love coloured stones, I don't want to wear something that looked like I borrowed it from my mother. For my own part, I feel that serious consideration should be given to jewelry design - if I'm going to be wearing purple sapphire, I am already flirting a bit with gender roles. But that is just me. Others should wear what they love and feel comfortable with.

However, with the pear, the simpler the better, I would say - perhaps a hole drilled in it and hung from a leather cord is your best
choice.



I guess I'm glad you mentioned that! But maybe not, I dont know......

I was completely unaware that the pear shape was considered a feminine shape, and shouldnt be worn by men. I've seen a guy or 2 wearing pendants that were pear shaped, or at least I think I remember seeing that... I actually dont even have a necklace, although I used to have a simple gold chain, I dont even know where it is right now, and I havent worn it for ages. I've thought about having a stone or 2 from my collection mounted as pendants, but I've never done it.

I dont want to be doing too much "gender-bending", so I'll need to rethink the pear shaped Zoisite necklace. The one thing I thought might make up for the possible femininity of a pear shape is the fact that the stone is large. Its about 40mm x 26mm.

So a jeweler pointed that out huh? Who knew!

Oh yeah! About 4-5 years ago, I bought a beautiful 1.9ct Tsavorite, with perfect color saturation, Vs clarity, and bright..... But......It's a heart shaped stone! So I cant make that into personal jewelry! The only reason I bought it was that the price was just too good to pass up, and I've never seen another Tsavorite of the same size anywhere near as cheap as I got this for... So although I am not a huge fan of heart shaped stones, it's a great addition to my collection as an example of a great quality Tsavorite.
 
@ RedSpinel: Okay, maybe I should rephrase myself: I consider the pear to be a more feminine shape than the more neutral round, for instance. But that is just my opinion. Just like it was the goldsmith's personal opinion that oval stones were for women only - I'm pretty sure I've seen vendors describe some of their oval stones as "ideal for a men's ring".

I certainly didn't mean to scare you away from wearing a stone that you enjoy. I'm sure you are able to judge for yourself whether it suits you. My only point was that certain shapes are more difficult to incorporate into a piece of jewelry that is intended to be masculine (or at least gender neutral) - which you point out youself with the heart shape. Of course, the heart shape also carries with it the symbolism on top of the geometry. The pear doesn't, at least not to the same degree.

I get what you're saying with the tsavorite. I have a sapphire in a lovely shade of rosy pink. And I think I can pull off a little bit of pink - but on top of pink, it's pear shaped... But it's in need of a recut anyway. ;)
 
Kim Bruun|1336033510|3186427 said:
@ RedSpinel: Okay, maybe I should rephrase myself: I consider the pear to be a more feminine shape than the more neutral round, for instance. But that is just my opinion. Just like it was the goldsmith's personal opinion that oval stones were for women only - I'm pretty sure I've seen vendors describe some of their oval stones as "ideal for a men's ring".

I certainly didn't mean to scare you away from wearing a stone that you enjoy. I'm sure you are able to judge for yourself whether it suits you. My only point was that certain shapes are more difficult to incorporate into a piece of jewelry that is intended to be masculine (or at least gender neutral) - which you point out youself with the heart shape. Of course, the heart shape also carries with it the symbolism on top of the geometry. The pear doesn't, at least not to the same degree.

I get what you're saying with the tsavorite. I have a sapphire in a lovely shade of rosy pink. And I think I can pull off a little bit of pink - but on top of pink, it's pear shaped... But it's in need of a recut anyway. ;)



Yeah, you can get away with being a man and wearing a little pink every now and then, but if it is also a potentially feminine shape as well, then maybe it's over the line a little bit, and could be either kept as a part of your collection or given to a girlfriend.

Or, as you said it may need recutting, so you can compensate for the slightly feminine aspect of its color(pink), by having it cut into a masculine shape! Like maybe.........shaped like a deer rifle, or cut into the shape of "Yosemite Sam" with a little sign hung underneath that say's "Back Off!" like you see on mud flaps on 18 wheelers! :naughty:

With either of those choices, you'd have the color of pink to show a softer side, but with a shape that shows masculinity, so what you'd end up with is a great combination that would be both timeless and classy! :mrgreen:

(Just kidding of course!)

I've never had any stone re cut, and I'm not even sure where to take it to get it re cut in the first place, and I'd be a little leery of leaving it up to the local chain jewelry stores. But I've had not so great luck with a more upscale private jeweler, so who knows! I guess if a pear were to be re cut, it would maybe be best to cut it into a round, because if you tried to cut it into an oval, you might have to sacrifice even more material than with a round, all depending upon the dimensions of the pear. But I'm not a cutting/faceting expert, so......
 
RedSpinel|1336059265|3186616 said:
Yeah, you can get away with being a man and wearing a little pink every now and then, but if it is also a potentially feminine shape as well, then maybe it's over the line a little bit, and could be either kept as a part of your collection or given to a girlfriend.

In my case, it would be a boyfriend... ;)

Actually, the reason I would like to have it recut at some point is that it has a fairly large window. But if I'm going to lose some carat weight, I'm thinking I might as well kill two birds with one stone and have it recut into a shape wearable by me. Like I said, I'm okay with doing a little gender bending (which wearing a pink sapphire in itself would be in my book), but I don't want something that looks distinctly feminine.

I'd be very interesting in seeing what you end up doing with the zoisite w. ruby. The material itself does have a coarseness to it, which you can choose to view as masculine. I can definitely envision it looking cool hanging from a leather cord around the neck of a tanned surfer. :))
 
I guess I'll have to cringe and leave it at a jewelery store to have a hole drilled at the top of it, and a gold gold hoop mounted in the hole, so I can attach it to a chain. Hopefully I'll get it back in 1 piece!

Speaking of pink, it has a little smearing of pink in it(the Zoisite)
 
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