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"Orange-ish" memento sapphire

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FireGoddess

FireGoddess

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Jan 25, 2005
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I would love some info from you colored gemstone mavens!

I was in Montana having a reunion with my best girlfriends and one item on the itinerary for our week was to go to Gem Mountain where you can go sifting for your own sapphires. My best one was about 1.7 ct which they said would end up being about 0.5 ct (at most) after cutting and heat treatment. They also weren't sure if it was going to go blue or yellow after heat treatment...and apparently it ended up going 'orange-ish'. I haven't seen the stone yet (it's getting sent out to me tomorrow) but I would like to do something special with it as a memory token of the trip with my best friends...which was the whole point of getting it faceted in the first place.
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I was thinking a ring for the most impact, as the stone will likely be pretty small. Any ideas? I will post pics of the stone once I get it. I'm fine with the ring being simple and not flashy - I don't think I want to go flashy at all. But something interesting or meaningful...I'm all ears! I also wear mostly white metal....so I'd like to stick with that, unless yg would bring the stone color out more.

Thanks in advance!
 
Ho fun!


What color is it now? Love the steel-like tones of Montana sapphire...


Whichever it ends (if you do cook it)... how does an 'etoile' band with a couple of tiny diamond sprinkles sound?
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If the stone ends up a warm color, it could be circled by a rim of yellow gold - the look is quite nice, IMO.


Just an idea
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If very small, I'd ask about a buff top cut too (LINK)
 
An etoile-like band is a very good idea Ana!

The original color of the sapphire was a pale blue, but at one angle you could see a flash of yellow, which is why they told me at Gem Mountain that after heat treatment it could be a yellow stone. The stone has already been heat treated and faceted, and is on its way to me! That's how I learned by phone this morning that my stone came out orangey.

One of my friends had 2 stones treated and faceted, and hers both came out darker blue. (All of our stones were pale blue at first...though I did get an itty bitty pink one (!) it was too small to be faceted.) They are all on their way to me...will take pics before I send her stones off to her.
 
Did you find many stones at Gem Mountain? I have been thinking of taking a vacation in the area and stoping to look for stones. There is also a place that has a horse back trip up into the mountains, and then you spend a few days digging along the stream bed for sapphires.
Did Gem Mountain sell and already heated rough stones?
 
Date: 3/29/2006 8:14:00 PM
Author: PrecisionGem
Did you find many stones at Gem Mountain? I have been thinking of taking a vacation in the area and stoping to look for stones. There is also a place that has a horse back trip up into the mountains, and then you spend a few days digging along the stream bed for sapphires.
Did Gem Mountain sell and already heated rough stones?
Click to expand...
We did find quite a few sapphires. About half were deemed ''cuttable'' and half weren''t. Most were tiny. I cut the biggest one I found, which was 1.7 ct. My friend found a 2.7 ct rough stone. One guy sifting while we were there found a really nice 10+ ct stone. His was the biggest found while we were there (2 hours or so?)

I wonder how big the rough is in these ''pre-dug'' buckets as compared to ones that you can dig yourself. Maybe not as big? I can''t recall whether they sell rough stones heated/unheated or not. They definitely sold finished pieces and all were stones that came from Gem Mountain.

They do their own heat treating and cutting as well as shipping stones off to China to be heated and cut. The price is much cheaper (and turnaround time much slower) for stones to be sent to China but that''s what we had done.

Here''s the info on the place we went.
Gem Mountain
3835 Skalkaho Rd
PO Box 148
Philipsburg, MT 59858
1-866-459-GEMS
www.gemmtn.com
 
Another idea could be the Etoile engagement ring setting, a semi bezel with a wider band. If the yellow gold would be most flattering for the stone, you could still do it with a white metal band that would match all your other jewellery.

Looking forward to the pictures of the stone, what a great momento!

I wish you well,

Bridget
 
the color you described appears at their website...and it isn''t bad! which pail package did you opt for?

movie zombie
 
MZ we did the lucky 7 bucket thing - 7 buckets (they''re pretty big) for $60. There were 4 of us girls plus 2 kids, and we split the last bucket among the 4 adults. Very fun - and laborious.
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I wish my lil pink sapphire had been bigger - I woulda loved it if I coulda had one of those for my ring!!!
 
Sounds like a lot of fun. I have been thinking of Montana for a vacation, and doing a bit of "mining" would be fun. I have cut some Montana sapphires from time to time. They are never too big however. I have heard that they can sell the cut stones and jewelry at a much higher price in Montana, than other places. There used to be a few places where you could head off and do a little mining on your own along some streams, but I believe I have read that this land is now closed to the public.
 
I'm so excited!!!!! The sapphires arrived.

My friend's 2.37 ct rough turned into a gorgeous blue 0.69 ct steely blue sapphire. Gorgeous.
Her 1.54 ct rough turned into a fascinating 0.47 ct orange/yellow sapphire. Orange in the middle, and some yellow and blue on the sides!
My 1.7 ct rough turned into a 0.53 ct steely blue sapphire!!! Not as saturated a blue as hers, but gorgeous.

When I started the thread, I assumed the orangey sapphire was mine, because they told me it was a possibility when inspecting my rough...I was very surprised to find out mine was in fact one of the blue stones, not the orange one!

I will try to take some pictures soon...but I am so happy - for some reason I really wanted mine to come out blue - I love the lighter blue of Montana sapphires!!!

So...I'm thinking some sort of etoile type white gold band with the Montana blue sapphire in the center. Whaddaya think?!

(edited for spelling!)
 
Wow, that sounds gorgeous! How exciting!
 
One more thing I was thinking - part of what I love about Montana sapphires is their lighter/medium blue color, and I''d like to preserve that...would putting the stone in a gypsy setting (the etoile-like band) make the stone look significantly darker because no light is getting to it? That could be a concern for me...
 
Ooooo, FireGoddess, the whole experience sounds so cool and I''m happy for you that your stone turned out blue! Can''t wait to see the pics.
 
it does indeed sound like it was a great trip and that the stones have been worth it. can''t wait to see pictures.

movie zombie
 
''Guess what small orange sapphire came to mind when I saw this ring!
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It is made by Chris Correia - listed at Pearlmans''. I don''t know if these can be customized, but if you will have a ring made on order, who know... ideas can''t hurt
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oooh sapphire "mining" sounds like so much fun- too bad I don''t live anywhere near Montana!

pictures?!?!
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Thought this could be a potential setting...from Stuller...

The color of my stone is a little darker than the one in the setting...will try to take pics this weekend!

70849stuller.jpg
 
Or maybe a simple bezel like the one on the right? I don''t know! I want some pizzazz...but not a ton.

carellecosmo.jpg
 
I took pictures of the sapphs this weekend! Will try to post them (hopefully some came out- it was hard!) after I get a crown put on this morning. And I don''t mean one for my head.
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Date: 4/7/2006 7:05:25 PM
Author: FireGoddess
Or maybe a simple bezel like the one on the right? I don''t know! I want some pizzazz...but not a ton.
Click to expand...

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Whose rings are those?? The simple bezel looks really nice!
 
Oh I do want to see your pretty sapphire, what a great way to remember the trip! I hope you are feeling all right after your trip to the dentist!
 
what a fun trip! I think I saw a Disovery channel bit about that mine...
 
Date: 3/29/2006 9:58:24 PM
Author: movie zombie
ana posted this in another forum/thread: http://www.adamasfinejewelry.com/02_stack/stackable.htm at the bottom of the page are smaller color stones set in white gold.


movie zombie
Click to expand...

Hehehe - I loved seeing a link to Adamas Fine Jewelry - they are located 1/2 a mile away from my house.
Very nice folks.

Scintillating...
 
Okay, here are my pics! They aren''t the best, the day was gloomy and rainy, but it''s the best I could do. In this post will be a pic of my friend''s blue sapph and orange sapph.

pjgsapphs.jpg
 
Without further ado, here are a few pics of my sapph!!! It''s 0.53 ct.

Somebody help me with potential settings!!!!!

mybluemontanasapph.jpg
 
The stone came out beautiful! I just love the colour of montana sapphires, theres something so unique about them. I want to go dig through the dirt now!

I have a ring with a ~.50 ct pink sapphire that I bought from a local jeweler. The setting seems to show the smaller stone to advantage. Can''t wait to see what you decide on!

pinksapphirecampingring.jpg
 
Thanks Rhapsody! I''m so undecided about the setting - I don''t want to spend a lot or go custom (way too much $$$ for a stone that cost me a grand total of about $40) but I would like something nice. I do like the Stuller bezel setting with the two small side diamonds, but I''m worried that a bezel would hide what already is not a huge stone!!
 
So so fun! DH is always trying to talk me into going to Montana...That would be one way!

I like the etoile or stuller idea the best! That stone is such a pretty color. I think the bezel would accentuate that.
 
firegoddess- the stone came out adorable! how fun... I really think I like the bezel setting for it.. hmm
 
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