New stacking rings and aqua ring

[LtlFirecracker]

My little stones from ACS and my aqua are done. Just got the e-mail from Sally at Hearts of Water yesterday. They are being shipped, but I thought I would put up the vendor shots.

The stones
1) Green tourmaline
2) Untreated Montana sapphire
3) Pink Spinel

They all between 4-5 mm in diameter. The spinel is set in 18 kt pink gold and the others in 18 kt yellow gold. I had them set into the lotus ring set. I am pretty happy with how they turned out.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Some other views

 

[LtlFirecracker]

One more of the stackers

 

[LtlFirecracker]

And my aqua that I got as a Christmas present. It is about 8x10 mm, I think it is almost 3 cts. I had it put in the Mandalay setting, but I asked Sally to make a few modifications. I asked them to put the aqua in a bezel because the stone needed to be darkened, and would also protect the stone. I also asked that they lower the setting a little. I think the changes helped make the ring more "my style" and love the way it turned out. This one is in silver.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Here is the last photo, hopefully I will have real life pics soon!

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Opps...here is the pic for real

 

[brandy_z28]

Love the rings LtlFirecracker! They all turned out beautifully!!

 

[mochi]

I was just admiring these on Sally website last night and hoping it was someone from here!!

They are absolutely lovely!!

 

[packrat]

Oh they''re all beautiful! Can''t wait to see handshots! Too bad Scotty can''t beam them over here!

 

[Fly Girl]

Gorgeous! Love all the rings and the colors. I''m sure you can hardly wait.

 

[D&T]

Amazing rings! they are all just gorgeous

and that setting for your aqua! its incredible. i love the design. I have a feeling that might get popular amongst PS

 

[marcy]

Wonderful rings. I can''t wait to see hand shots.

 

[Indylady]

I love the them all! Those stackers are gorgeous!

 

[katebar]

All of them gorgeous. Sally does such amazing work!

 

[Cind11]

They all look great! I particularly like the aqua!

 

[ma re]

Wow, nice rings! I remember when you were deciding on what to do with the aqua - turned out great!

 

[Catmom]

They are all lovely!

 

[Arcadian]

THose are simply gorgeous! I will certainly have to keep sally in mind for some rings I''m considering!


-A

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Brandy - thank you, I am excited about these

Mochi - I was going to Sallys site a lot too , I will post more pics...although Sally takes better pics than I do

Packrate - I know, waiting will be the hardest part

Flygirl - it will be hard to wait. But BF just asked me last night if I wanted to go to The Collector (Pala Gems store)....that will be a good distraction

D&T - thanks. I was a little nervous about the aqua ring, I wasn''t crazy about the original setting, but kept thinking "if only it were lower..." I wasn''t sure if my changes were going to work, but I love the final version. I would have never thought of this setting myself. I am so glad Sally took it upon herself to make other suggestions even though I told her I waned a pillbox.

Maycyc - Thank you, I will post hand shots

szh07 - Thanks - I am so happy that my little ACS stones are finally set.

katebar - Thanks - I am an official Sally fan now

Cind11- thank you very much

 

[simplysplendid]

They are very very beautiful. I am going to get Sally to set something for me one of these days..

 

[FireMonkey]

These little stackers are perfection!! I''m in love!

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Mr. Ma re: Thank you, I am glad I chose that setting

Catmom and Arcadian: Thank you very much

Simplysplended: I love her work, and I am sure I will be using Sally again in the future

Firemonkey: Thanks: I can't wait to see how they look on my finger

ETA: Probably won't get them till next weekend. It is going to be a bit of a wait.

 

[gailrmv]

Ltlfirecracker, I LOVE all your rings, especially the stackers!!!

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Date: 8/8/2009 8:56:53 PM
Author: TanDogMom
Ltlfirecracker, I LOVE all your rings, especially the stackers!!!

Thanks! I can't wait to see your aqua, I am sure it is going to look great from what you described. I was going for a fun "cocktail" ring I could wear going out, I think this will fit the bill. The stackers will be rings I can wear more often. I will probably wear them alone to work, and stack them on the weekends or for social events.

 

[gailrmv]

Date: 8/8/2009 9:14:29 PM
Author: LtlFirecracker

Date: 8/8/2009 8:56:53 PM

Author: TanDogMom

Ltlfirecracker, I LOVE all your rings, especially the stackers!!!

Thanks! I can''t wait to see your aqua, I am sure it is going to look great from what you described. I was going for a fun ''cocktail'' ring I could wear going out, I think this will fit the bill. The stackers will be rings I can wear more often. I will probably wear them alone to work, and stack them on the weekends or for social events.

I think those stackers will be perfect for everyday - alone or together - and definitely for going out! I love all of the rings!

I cannot decide what to do about my aqua. So I am working with Jeff White. i am so excited! He is just awesome. He has two roughs that will work. One will cut a 7mm asscher, the other 8-9 mm. I think that if I do prong set, I want the larger and if I do bezel set, then the smaller. So I am trying to figure out which setting before telling him which size I would like. I''d like to go look at asscher gems or diamonds in person to see what I think of the size, but I doubt any store near me has any selection (if they even have asschers at all) and with the baby, it will just be an ordeal. I don''t want to regret going too big or too small. If I go with the bezel setting, I''ll really need to up my budget on the setting to WAY more than I had wanted to spend... and with the smaller stone, I will be spending a lot more for setting than stone. I''m just not sure if that makes sense. But with the prong set ring, will I always be worried about the stone chipping? I don''t want it to look too much like an e-ring, which is what my husband thought when I showed him the sholdt prong set... he likes the bezel setting better. Decisions, decisions! I''d love to hear your opinion.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

TanDogMom,

The stackers will be fun to mix up. Especially since my sapphire just got loose in the setting and it will be a bit b/f I can get it fixed.

There are a few things I considered. One is how light my aqua is. It was kind of screaming "bezel me!" It is 8x10mm, so no exactly a small stone. The other thing was price. I didn't want a ring that was going to cost a lot of money. I was able to do this entire set of rings for less than $600 including shipping. If I had gone with gold, it would have probably been $100 more for the aqua ring. But I understand where you are coming from wanting to use a vendor you trust. I have some projects in mind where I want to do the same. For these stones, I primary goal to keep the setting costs low.

On the practical side, I can tell you that the baby is only going to get more active, and so are you. Much of your day to day life is going to be dressing, changing diapers, running around on the playground, preparing meals ect. I can tell you after a year of this, one of my friends had her e-ring reset into a bezel setting. Now your e-ring setting did not look like hers and I don't think that is going to be necessary for you, but an aqua might not do so well under those conditions. Once your kids get older, I think more delicate settings will become less of a concern.

If I was in your position, I would look at the color of the stone. If they were equal, I would get the smaller one and bezel it. The cost thing is painful to sallow. But I have looked, and I am not sure if there is much to be done if you want a custom setting. But this way, you will have paid for a ring you can wear almost everyday vs a ring that sits in a box and only comes out for special occasions. Hope this helps. I still want to see what direction you end up going.

 

[gailrmv]

Date: 8/9/2009 12:36:36 PM
Author: LtlFirecracker
TanDogMom,


The stackers will be fun to mix up. Especially since my sapphire just got loose in the setting and it will be a bit b/f I can get it fixed.


There are a few things I considered. One is how light my aqua is. It was kind of screaming 'bezel me!' It is 8x10mm, so no exactly a small stone. The other thing was price. I didn't want a ring that was going to cost a lot of money. I was able to do this entire set of rings for less than $600 including shipping. If I had gone with gold, it would have probably been $100 more for the aqua ring. But I understand where you are coming from wanting to use a vendor you trust. I have some projects in mind where I want to do the same. For these stones, I primary goal to keep the setting costs low.


On the practical side, I can tell you that the baby is only going to get more active, and so are you. Much of your day to day life is going to be dressing, changing diapers, running around on the playground, preparing meals ect. I can tell you after a year of this, one of my friends had her e-ring reset into a bezel setting. Now your e-ring setting did not look like hers and I don't think that is going to be necessary for you, but an aqua might not do so well under those conditions. Once your kids get older, I think more delicate settings will become less of a concern.


If I was in your position, I would look at the color of the stone. If they were equal, I would get the smaller one and bezel it. The cost thing is painful to sallow. But I have looked, and I am not sure if there is much to be done if you want a custom setting. But this way, you will have paid for a ring you can wear almost everyday vs a ring that sits in a box and only comes out for special occasions. Hope this helps. I still want to see what direction you end up going.

Ltlfirecracker-
I think your aqua is just perfect for everything you mentioned!My gosh you got a great deal on all those settings. After seeing them, it makes me think all the more about going with Sally or another Etsy vendor. The thing is, though, this stone is going to be really special and I want to make sure the setting is "mind clean" so to speak. I just love Pearlmans and I would love to work with them again. That would be sholdt, ritani, or another designer setting I guess. I would also feel very comfortable going with BGD but that would be custom, and of course, custom is always more and then the risk of any miscommunication not being discovered until it is too late. I just don't think I have the personality for custom!

I think you are entirely right about active lifestyle and being able to wear the ring every day. In retrospect my sapphire setting is probably not very practical, but it is exactly what I wanted and I'm ok with it being a special occasion ring. (I wear it when I'm going somewhere, at least a couple times a week, and I do baby it.) So maybe the aqua should be my everyday. The bezel idea is neat because not only does it protect the stone, but it also is totally different from anything I have. And the bezel will highlight the neat shape. What do you think about a semi-bezel setting? I like the look also, but might not be enough protection.

What do you think about the size, 7mm vs 8-9? I am sorry for the threadjack, hope you don't mind!

 

[LtlFirecracker]

I really don''t care if you thread jack, but I will go to your thread, you might get some other opinions that way.

 

[gailrmv]

PS Were these Gurham stackers inspiration for your project? I love them - but I love yours more!
Gurhan at Pearlmans

PS - I haven't updated my thread yet!

 

[chrono]

Your project turned out very well; especially the aquamarine ring. I hope the entire package gets to you safely soon!