Peach pink or bright red?

[Avondale]

I'm stuck. I'm working with Yvonne on a ring. I have browsed and browsed different colours of melee, I managed to narrow it down to just two options and then I became stuck on the tiniest detail possible.

Option #1
Peach pink spinel melee



Option #2
Bright red spinel melee



These are the photos Yvonne sent me. The other stones are 5mm spess and 3mm emerald melee.

While the spess and the emeralds look consistent in these poorer lit photos compared to their studio photos, the same doesn't equally apply to the spinels. Both look much better in their glamour shots, but I'm trying to take into account how they look in less than ideal conditions. After all, the ring won't enjoy perfect light all of the time, and in perfect light both look really pretty. Here are a couple of mock ups of the full design:



I have no idea which to choose. Help me get unstuck.

 

[MamaBear]

I think the red look lovely. Probably more balanced to my eye…. What a pretty ring!!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

the red seems to make the center stone pop

 

[Begonia]

the red seems to make the center stone pop

Agree!

 

[Garnet Gimlet]

I'm drawn to the red! But you can't go wrong either

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

I think your center stone looks happier with the peach.

 

[Autumn in New England]

I'm stuck. I'm working with Yvonne on a ring. I have browsed and browsed different colours of melee, I managed to narrow it down to just two options and then I became stuck on the tiniest detail possible.

Option #1
Peach pink spinel melee



Option #2
Bright red spinel melee



These are the photos Yvonne sent me. The other stones are 5mm spess and 3mm emerald melee.

While the spess and the emeralds look consistent in these poorer lit photos compared to their studio photos, the same doesn't equally apply to the spinels. Both look much better in their glamour shots, but I'm trying to take into account how they look in less than ideal conditions. After all, the ring won't enjoy perfect light all of the time, and in perfect light both look really pretty. Here are a couple of mock ups of the full design:



I have no idea which to choose. Help me get unstuck.

For me, it's not even a contest... #2 hands down. Even if this represents the stones at their very best, the more red spinel are much more saturated. This will be gorgeous!!

 

[Lunean]

I like the peach better too, it looks warmer to the eye

 

[Dreamer_D]

The mock ups are helpful because I suspect the colors are most accurate. I love the red spinels but they also draw my eye away from the spess. Not sure if that would happen in real life with the added dimensionality and sparkle. But it’s a consideration. The peach keeps the focus on the spess more.

I am going to make a lily pendant next year too! I have 3mm hot pink sapphires/rubies but that’s it so far lol.

 

[lovedogs]

Bright red by a mile!!!

 

[elle_71125]

Bright red, without question. It pops way more to my eye that way.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

red is actually my least favorite colour, yet as i said earlier i would go with the red

 

[Snowdrop13]

I think the centre stone looks better with the peach pink, the red sort of overpowers it.

 

[Avondale]

I love the red spinels but they also draw my eye away from the spess.

I think the centre stone looks better with the peach pink, the red sort of overpowers it.

This is basically my main concern. The focus on this ring is the spess. I'm making it to wear with this pendant:



I want the other stones to be complementary to it, not draw attention away.

For what it's worth, Yvonne said she likes the red spinels better, too. I believe she would've noticed if they were too distracting in the combination, and I'm inclined to trust her. After all, as of now, she's the only person who's seen it with their own eyes.

The red spinels are also very obviously wildly fluorescent. I just know they're gonna be a banger in any situation and in any light.

But on the other hand, the peach stones were my first choice, initially. When I started the process and did 12 (I kid you not) mock ups, before I even wrote to Yvonne, the peach spinels with the mint emeralds was what I wanted most. And then the red spinels got uploaded, and my husband saw them and said "that's the best, that's the one to get", and they entered the race, and got me here.

An additional factor in favour of the peach is the red spinels bump up the price by 200$. For four tiny 2mm stones. The pragmatic in me, who I've tucked neatly in the box in the back of my mind, is screaming and trying to get out.

I was hoping that a good night's sleep would dissipate the feeling, but it's still here - I just want both. In choosing one, I have to give up the other. It's not that I can't choose which one to wear, I can't choose which one to not have.

 

[dk168]

I voted for Peach Pink as they do not appear to overshadow the main stone with more subtle contrast.

Each to their own and all that.

DK

 

[Rfisher]

Do you have them in hand?

I don’t think one outstages the other, nor one shrinks back.

Just think one is a bolder look, one is softer.
Depends on what one feels that day.

Easy solution -
2 rings of this design (Yvonne does it so well )
One bold and one subdued

 

[Avondale]

Do you have them in hand?

They're literally half-way across the world.

Easy solution -
2 rings of this design (Yvonne does it so well )
One bold and one subdued

The husband offered precisely that.
Alas, there is only one spessartite.
Plus the beer budget, you know, there's that, too...

 

[Dreamer_D]

The easiest would be to see them all in person, but that sounds impossible or impractical at least. I think I would trust Yvonne in this case as she has a great eye and have the stones in person.

 

[fredflintstone]

Red.

 

[pearlsngems]

The peach pink stones allow the center stone to stand out.
The bright red stones are lovely, but they steal the show, IMO.

 

[MiniMinerva]

My eye sees the peach spinel as contributing to a floral pattern with central focus, and the red spinel as contributing to a concentric squares pattern with geometric focus. Personally I tend towards softer and harmonious pieces so I voted peach! I think the peach version would complement the spess in your necklace, and it also allows the gold to stand out relatively more as a cohesive structural element.

 

[Avondale]

A quick status update from me (although I still haven't made a final decision).

I'm currently leaning heavily into the peach spinels. On one hand, I love them in their own right, more than I like jedi spinels. On the other, they better fit into my original purpose which was to create a flowery background for the spess.

The reality is, if I opened etsy tomorrow and found all the red spinels had sold and were no longer an option, I wouldn't feel like I was missing out on something. I can't quite say the same thing about the opposite situation.

I'm still hesitant because the colour of the reds is objectively better, I know that. Every time I look at the mock up, my attention is instantly drawn to the vibrant red, it's just so very attractive. It's bold, it's a statement, and it's very difficult to let go of.

I also want to thank everyone for chiming in, it has helped me immensely to articulate my chaotic feelings and translate them into reasonable arguments I can apply logic to. Especially the comments that were extra analytical. I will update again when I've made a decision, but in the meantime any and all advice is still very much welcome.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Have you looked through all the 2mm melee that she has? I was looking last night and there are many lovely options. There are some purples that could also work. Also some pink/red sapphires that are much more reasonably priced if that is a factor.

 

[luckygreen317]

I'm stuck. I'm working with Yvonne on a ring. I have browsed and browsed different colours of melee, I managed to narrow it down to just two options and then I became stuck on the tiniest detail possible.

Option #1
Peach pink spinel melee



Option #2
Bright red spinel melee



These are the photos Yvonne sent me. The other stones are 5mm spess and 3mm emerald melee.

While the spess and the emeralds look consistent in these poorer lit photos compared to their studio photos, the same doesn't equally apply to the spinels. Both look much better in their glamour shots, but I'm trying to take into account how they look in less than ideal conditions. After all, the ring won't enjoy perfect light all of the time, and in perfect light both look really pretty. Here are a couple of mock ups of the full design:



I have no idea which to choose. Help me get unstuck.

#1 gives attention to the center stone
#2 is a balanced saturation of all three colors drawing attention to the design.

They are both pretty layouts, it depends on what’s most important.

 

[Avondale]

Have you looked through all the 2mm melee that she has? I was looking last night and there are many lovely options. There are some purples that could also work. Also some pink/red sapphires that are much more reasonably priced if that is a factor.

Yes. I went through the entire etsy store, several times. I have two separate collections for easy access to the melee that fits the 2 and 3mm slots. And the pink sapphires are there, too.

The 2mm purples I really like with the 3mm blue sapphires, but that needs a different centre stone, I believe. The orange is too contrasting. I have that variant, too, I can show it if anyone's curious as to how it looks.

The truth is, the pink sapphires, even though beautiful in their own right, can't hold a candle to the red spinels. And furthermore, I could never prefer them to the peach spinels, it wouldn't even be a contest. Which is why they were eventually ruled out, alongside many of the other options.

Technically the red spinels are still in budget. Almost at the ceiling, but just barely fitting in. What is most definitely not in the budget is paraiba melee. In fact, I think it's quite possible that a combination of paraiba and red spinels might be the perfect balance for a bold look with the spess, all gems highly saturated and even. But as beautiful as that would be, it wouldn't suit me. It would feel as if I was wearing someone else's ring.

 

[Rfisher]

Is the peach pink spinel you are looking at, is what she’s calling ‘imperial’?
If so - I used to own some and probably have a few pictures hanging around if that might help you get some insight? I also was going to pair it with spess!

 

[Avondale]

Is the peach pink spinel you are looking at, is what she’s calling ‘imperial’?
If so - I used to own some and probably have a few pictures hanging around if that might help you get some insight? I also was going to pair it with spess!

Yep! She has several imperials in different sizes, this is the 2mm one.

Pictures would be great! Also, just your own personal impressions - how did they behave in different light? I'm assuming they should do pretty well due to the lighter colour and the precision cut. I'm sure the spess and the emeralds will keep their colour and I want to pair them with something with the same level of consistency of performance.

 

[Rfisher]

Pictures would be great! Also, just your own personal impressions - how did they behave in different light?

Will do
I’ll be back.

 

[Rfisher]

I might be doing the vendor a disservice in comparing the color label imperial from shipment to shipment 4 years apart. I don’t know if or what range does exist for them to consider certain ones but not others for labeling ‘imperial’. She’s had other lots of peach, pink orange (or whatever mix) over the years that hasn’t been labeled imperial. So that’s an unknown, and might need to be taken into consideration.

If we are to assume imperial would be a narrow color description -
I don’t remember them looking like your photos of what you have provided.

This is a screenshot of the actual listing I bought from. I don’t remember them being this tone of pink forward, in any lighting.



In the listing that you have linked to in post #27- in the hand shot photo the vendor gives,
The ones I had definitely did not look like that. Not that pastel. Not that pink forward.

Here’s an old photo i took that has the imperial melee in the black gem box. (Spess melee in the baggie, and a pink/orange zoned spinel)


IIRC, I think they did go pinker in incandescent, but still more with a copper/rust/salmon component that pink isn’t the main color. And I think maybe even that the incandescent amps up saturation, too.

I don’t have them anymore.
In the for sale listing, I labeled them as “orange peach pink (imperial)” . I have no proof they were originally sold to me with that color description. However I do not believe I would insert pink into a listing description that the original vendor didn’t themselves.

I do notice you put pink in your verbiage as well.

Of course the lot that’s available today doesn’t have to have any bearing to a lot that was available four years ago.
But if I were to hazard a guess- your mock-up is too orange-ish dusty pink, rather than a peachy coppery orangish.

 

[Dreamer_D]

That pink is so nice. I am thinking a little of my neon pink/red sapphires and how they basically draw attention from nearly anything you put near them… I like what you have said about a more soft pallet that allows the floral pattern to stand out.