Stones For Studs Pt. 3- Found!!!

[koolchicken]

So I originally started out looking for pink sapphires and somehow that spiraled into wanting tsavorites. I had a budget in mind, then upped it. I was told it probably couldn't be done, and that was a fair assessment. I feel extremely lucky though because I managed to stay UNDER my new budget!

In addition to my tsavs I bought two pairs of pink tourmalines, one light one, and one rubeillite pair from Tara. They were an impulse purchase I'm so happy I made.

Also pictured is a mandarin garnet pair that just isn't speaking to me (yes, another impulse purchase- yes, I now have a problem). I'm sending those back but I didn't have another box to put them in so they get to be in the photo too.





These are the best shots I was able to take. I feel like the colors are true for at least the lighter tourmalines. I had an impossible time getting an accurate color for the darker tourmalines and tsavorites. If I could only use one word to describe them it would be raspberry. They keep photographing more red than they are. But I love them in real life and that's all that really matters.

The lighter ones are amazing. So much nicer than I ever thought they'd be. Tara said she was having trouble taking pics and what she had didn't do them justice. I agree, they're so pretty in real life and even I had trouble getting a good photo (taking photos of gems is hard!). I think the color of them is much nicer than the sapphires I had originally bought. I'm glad the jeweler messed up moving the posts. If he hadn't I would have bought those and never found these, which have way more POW!

I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. And those who suggested Yvonne on Etsy. She was amazing and I thought I'd have to up my budget again. But somehow she managed to find tsav's in my "perfect" green for even less than I was prepared to spend. They're much brighter and not as dark in the photos. I'll try taking photos again once they're set.

 

[minousbijoux]

The tsavs look like they have potential; as you surmised, its hard to tell from your photos, so it will be great to see them when set.

 

[FrekeChild]

How did we miss this? When will they all be set?

 

[koolchicken]

I think it was a combo of the brightness settings on my computer and trying to take photos in the bight sun when I had a migraine that led to such crummy photos. I took a photo of the tourmalines with my phone the other day that came out a way more true to life color wise, and even just general appearance wise. I'll know not to attempt photos when my head feels like it's cracking open in the future. Here's the iPhone photo I took the other day, please excuse the crazy pants.



I actually think the red in the darker tourmalines is really there now. I had previously only seen them in sunlight and in the weird daylight lightbulbs my husband has. But under some lights they really do look quite red (more than in both photos). I've never had a gem that looked different in different lights (that I noticed) so I never thought to check. But I really like the color.

The tsavorites are a really vivid medium green. I was looking for a bold parrot green and I got it. I've tried different cameras and lighting and I just can't take a decent photo of those. It looks like there's a window in this photo, I don't notice one in real life. Hopefully I have an easier time once set. I wonder if having a post to stick into something will make a difference.

Right now I hope to send them out the beginning of December. I'm sending the orange stones back tomorrow (hopefully) and Yvonne has a pair of blue sapphires she's holding for me. We plan to put the balance of the garnets towards them so they haven't been listed yet. But after I have those I'll contact DanielM again. They said to just drop them a line when I had all my stones. I'm thinking I'll do rose gold for both pinks and white for the green and blue ones. Though I'm still debating yellow gold for the tsavs. I may need to play around with some chains to see what I like them best with.

 

[Indylady]

Lovely pairs!

 

[chrono]

Pink and red tourmaline are often shifty stones so what you are seeing is quite common. Most rubellite tend to be a bit purplish outdoors, becoming orangish red indoors. The same with pink tourmaline; nicest outdoors becoming orangish pink indoors. The few that don't brown out or become "muddy" are more difficult to find and more expensive.

 

[velouriaL]

Very nice! Congratulations!

 

[koolchicken]

Thank you IndyLady!

Chrono, Tara said they don't brown out and I have to say she's 100% right. They stay quite pink/red and have never shown even a hint of brown. I feel quite lucky have these as my first stone purchase. I haven't noticed any orange tint to them, more purple than anything. Even the lighter ones. Actually I like the way they go from bubblegum to having a sort of lilac tint under some lights. The darker ones do go purplish as well, but it's not totally purple. Raspberry is a good descriptor as there is still quite a bit of pink.

 

[minousbijoux]

Thank you IndyLady!

Chrono, Tara said they don't brown out and I have to say she's 100% right. They stay quite pink/red and have never shown even a hint of brown. I feel quite lucky have these as my first stone purchase. I haven't noticed any orange tint to them, more purple than anything. Even the lighter ones. Actually I like the way they go from bubblegum to having a sort of lilac tint under some lights. The darker ones do go purplish as well, but it's not totally purple. Raspberry is a good descriptor as there is still quite a bit of pink.

How nice for you, especially as a first stone purchase. It is much more common for them to have a brownish tint in some lighting than to stay solidly in the pink/red/magenta/purple/etc. family, so you are smart or lucky or a combo of the two.

 

[koolchicken]

I'd like to say smart, but really it's just pure dumb luck, lol. Possibly divine intervention. If ever there was a time when I could use a pick me up it was this month. Part of this project was because I couldn't find what I wanted in store, and the other was I needed a distraction. This really fit the bill. Heck I even got the email that Yvonne found the tsav's while in the car on the way to Disneyland. It's like my husband and all the cosmic forces around me were working together to keep me positive.

So I'm glad I didn't find what I was looking for straight away and I didn't settle for anything. I clearly wasn't meant to.