Setting ideas for my Gene yellow garnet...

[Jereni]

Hi all,

I've been struggling with how to set this stone for months I was lucky enough to get it from Gene back last June, and I absolutely LOVE it. It's a gorgeous golden yellow - SO sparkly.

Just over 2cts, yellow grossular garnet. It's between 7-7.5mm per side.

Gene's pic:



Mine:









The trouble is, I have no idea how I want to set it. I was originally thinking half moon sides, but I think I want to do something a little more dramatic. I'd love folks' thoughts on this! Should I halo it? Art deco? Thanks for any ideas!

 

[Jereni]

I should note, this has been the HARDEST of my stones to photograph, even harder than my morganite ring. In person the color is more yellow - very cheerful and the refraction is fantastic.

 

[heliotrope]

such a pretty stone!!

a classic legacy halo would look like this perhaps??

 

[Rosebloom]

I would do a high carat gold bezel. Yummy!!!

 

[NKOTB]

I have a yellow garnet of Gene's, too, and I was thinking of a yellow gold halo. Although I had also hoped for a beautiful yellow gold 3-stone setting on ebay, with bright diamond sides, but that didn't work out. It would have looked great, too.

 

[JewelFreak]

I fell in love with your garnet, Jereni. SO pretty! A couple of other ideas, cobbled together unskillfully via photoshop. Pretend they're yg.

 

[Lula]

I would do a high carat gold bezel. Yummy!!!

+1
I love these bezels from DBL:
single http://www.diamondsbylauren.com/ind...g-custom-bezel-ring-with-rounded-shank-so3789
double http://www.diamondsbylauren.com/ind...tom-double-bezel-ring-with-split-shank-so3924

It's a really gorgeous stone

 

[LD]

I love all the suggestions so far and really like your original idea (cobbled together by Laurie) of the half moons. The pillow shape of Gene's stone really lends itself to moons.

I love the idea of a Legacy setting BUT in yellow gold - I don't think I've ever seen one! I do think your stone needs yellow gold to keep the warmth.

 

[chrono]

Whatever you decide on, the stone screams high karat yellow gold with diamond accents.

 

[Jereni]

Wow, thanks so much for all the feedback everyone!!!

such a pretty stone!!

a classic legacy halo would look like this perhaps??

heliotrope, this is essentially the setting I was thinking of as a default.... Had this priced by Quest and everything.

But then I started guessing myself because I just felt like I should try to do something different with the halo, to put a different spin on it. And then I really started questioning the whole thing, lol.

 

[Jereni]

I fell in love with your garnet, Jereni. SO pretty! A couple of other ideas, cobbled together unskillfully via photoshop. Pretend they're yg.

JewelFreak, your Photoshop skillz are awesome! I had totally abandoned the idea of half moons but now that I see the mockup I sort of want them!!!

Question tho, do we think my stone is too small for half moons? That was sort of my concern. Its a decent size for a ring, but I def don't want half moons to overwhelm the center.... I have another cushion (the aqua) that is 8.5mm - such a nice large size - and once I got that one, I was starting to think maybe half moons look better with bigger stones. Thoughts?


Edited to fix typos.

 

[chrono]

I prefer half-moons with an elongated stone like ovals and rectangular cushions. What is your finger size?

 

[Jereni]

Ring size is 5.75. I hear you on the elongated stones ... I wouldn't want the half moons to look like shoulder pads on either side of the stone. That's always my worry with half moons.

 

[Jereni]

I love the idea of a Legacy setting BUT in yellow gold - I don't think I've ever seen one! I do think your stone needs yellow gold to keep the warmth.

Oh dear, really? Hmmm. Oddly enough I'd never thought about yellow gold for this ring... Because, well here's the thing. I, inexplicably, have always disliked yellow gold with yellow stones. I have no idea why. I know yellow stones often have yellow prongs, or the whole ring is yg, etc, but for some strange reason the combo has never appealed to me

I was thinking wg would let the color really pop but instead you think it would change the perceived color of the stone?

 

[LD]

I love the idea of a Legacy setting BUT in yellow gold - I don't think I've ever seen one! I do think your stone needs yellow gold to keep the warmth.

Oh dear, really? Hmmm. Oddly enough I'd never thought about yellow gold for this ring... Because, well here's the thing. I, inexplicably, have always disliked yellow gold with yellow stones. I have no idea why. I know yellow stones often have yellow prongs, or the whole ring is yg, etc, but for some strange reason the combo has never appealed to me

I was thinking wg would let the color really pop but instead you think it would change the perceived color of the stone?

Oh really? Before you take the plunge do you have a white gold ring or a white gold chain that you could wrap round the stone? My feeling is that a white metal would strip out all of the warmth and leave you with a very cold looking gem. That's only my opinion and if you wear white gold then there's NO WAY you should go with yellow. I'm just worried it may change the overall look of your lovely stone.

I love white gold (prefer it over yellow) BUT I've not been happy setting any of my yellows in white but then I typically like warmth to show rather than coldness. What's your preference?

By the way, on the moons, do you like rounded designs OR are you a sharp clean lines person? I think your stone is an excellent size for moons but it will look soft and pillowy! Actually you could probably compromise if you did this by having y/gold prongs for the central stone (maybe even a yellow head) but then the rest of the ring in w/gold??????

 

[motownmama]

I like the idea of moons, myself.

 

[chrono]

I am concerned that a white metal colour will make the garnet lose its oomph. If you want something different, how about rose or green gold? I like LD's suggestion of sitting it in a nest of white gold to see the potential effect.

 

[Jereni]

Before you take the plunge do you have a white gold ring or a white gold chain that you could wrap round the stone? My feeling is that a white metal would strip out all of the warmth and leave you with a very cold looking gem.

Good idea. I will put it next to some white gold tomorrow morning and post pics.

That's only my opinion and if you wear white gold then there's NO WAY you should go with yellow. I'm just worried it may change the overall look of your lovely stone.

Oh I like all colors of gold in general. I have both rose and yellow gold rings. Its the combo of yg with yellow stones that bugs me. But I also want to show the stone to its best effect.

By the way, on the moons, do you like rounded designs OR are you a sharp clean lines person? I think your stone is an excellent size for moons but it will look soft and pillowy! Actually you could probably compromise if you did this by having y/gold prongs for the central stone (maybe even a yellow head) but then the rest of the ring in w/gold??????

I like both rounded and clean lines, so the curvyness of the half moons would be fine.

 

[Kismet]

I love the idea of half moon sides too. Or maybe bullets... nothing that's too straight edged though.

 

[Jereni]

Whoops... Just noticed that I completely messed up all the quotation brackets on that last reply.

 

[corundum_conundrum]

You can't go wrong with such a fab stone, but I would also vote for some metal color(whether yellow or rose etc).

I think an under appreciated option is actually LOW carat yellow gold with a yellow center stone. High carat can look great, but I also fond of a two-tone yellow. Por ejemplo:

 

[innerkitten]

I fell in love with your garnet, Jereni. SO pretty! A couple of other ideas, cobbled together unskillfully via photoshop. Pretend they're yg.

Pretty stone! I don't have any new ideas to add but I like the bypass style above and also the idea of a gold bezel.

 

[innerkitten]

I love the idea of a Legacy setting BUT in yellow gold - I don't think I've ever seen one! I do think your stone needs yellow gold to keep the warmth.

Oh dear, really? Hmmm. Oddly enough I'd never thought about yellow gold for this ring... Because, well here's the thing. I, inexplicably, have always disliked yellow gold with yellow stones. I have no idea why. I know yellow stones often have yellow prongs, or the whole ring is yg, etc, but for some strange reason the combo has never appealed to me

I was thinking wg would let the color really pop but instead you think it would change the perceived color of the stone?

Oops just saw this. No yellow gold

 

[LD]

You asked if metal colour can make a big difference to how the stone ends up looking and I would say yes, it definitely does. In my experience, yellow is the most difficult colour to get right.

As I said before, my preference is always for white gold. I was absolutely set on having this diamond in white gold but honestly it just sucked the life out of it and turned it brown. I'm not sure if you can see it in the photos but yellow gold made it appear far more warmer and buttery (which actually was the colour I saw most of the time). I eventually went for a yellow gold head and white shank. I haven't regretted it BUT I also haven't worn it as much because I very rarely wear yellow gold.

Hope this helps.

 

[athenaworth]

Maybe I'm a little biased, but what do you think of something like this? Mine is a 6.5mm Gene

 

[Jereni]

That's so pretty athenaworth!!! I love the color of that stone!

 

[Jereni]

Ok this might sound crazy, but what about combining the idea of a halo and half moons?

Before you laugh, I actually did find some examples of this that look well done. This first isn't half moons, but it shows a cushion halo with sides and looks well proportioned...



I'm not necessarily thinking halo around the sides, but just to have them there, sort of like this:



Lastly, all this in YG.

I know I run the risk of it being 'too much' but I kinda felt like going blingy with this ring.

 

[Jereni]

You asked if metal colour can make a big difference to how the stone ends up looking and I would say yes, it definitely does. In my experience, yellow is the most difficult colour to get right.

I see what you mean. Yellow gold it is!

I also want to get a yellow sapphire someday, so I can always set that in WG if I really feel the itch to do so at that point.

 

[chrono]

Half moons with a halo is fine (I've seen this design by LOGR) but the proportion has to be done correctly or they'll look like a pair of ears on the head.

 

[Rosebloom]

Maybe I'm a little biased, but what do you think of something like this? Mine is a 6.5mm Gene

Every time I see this ring I swoon! I adore it!