stone buying process

[lavatea]

Ok, I know many of you have helped me out in my other threads regarding my school ring. I''m having a really tough time deciding/finding a stone that''s right for me. Which led me to some questions.

Have you ever approached a project without a particular stone, or even color, in mind? If so, how did you start the process? Did you start by trying to narrow your focus regarding stone, cut, color? Or did you narrow it down to a certain cutter and stalk his/her inventory until something just jumped out and bit you?

I just don''t know how to approach this since I''m pretty open to color, cut, and stone. It''s actually stressing me a bit. In the past when I''ve worked on a project (e-ring, memorial ring, in the future my anniversary ring - yes, I''m already planning it, ha ha) I''ve already had a pretty narrow focus when I started the process. Just about the only thing in my head about this one is having the stone bezeled, and I''m not even 100% sure about that. A certain stone could lead me to change my mind about that even.

 

[chrono]

My approach is probably uncommon on PS because I am very particular about colour and treatment. For me, colour always comes first so I don’t scout out any precision cutters for a particular gemstone. For the more casual buyer, they usually first select a favourite colour, then pick a gem type that is suitable (everyday or occasional wear), then start shopping around with various vendors. I notice that most newbies are very attracted to precision cutting because precision cut stones tend to be very lively and flashy. If your intention is to bezel the stone, then look for a light to medium coloured stone. A dark stone will most likely “black out” when bezeled.

 

[Indylady]

For me, it can go both ways: sometimes I''m looking for a certain stone, and other times I''m just looking casually and a stone finds me. There are certain gem types I favor, so I do look out for those more often.

Relax, and enjoy the experience. A lot of CS''ers will tell you that the moment you find "the one" is even sweeter because of the journey that it took to find it. Figure out what you like, and what interests you; even if its a lot of gems, I guarantee you''ll have at least a few that really come up and bite you.