The CS Setting Help Thread

[faegrace]

packrat ~

Good morning. Thaks for responding to my post. I am actually stressing out about the chrome. I keep moving it into different lights, wondering what on earth will bring out the green and tone down its inherent darkness. Is this normal? So, to answer you, I am completely open to suggestions of what will accomplish lightening the chrome by perception. If that's a halo or some sort of open setting....

Thanks again; I realllly appreciate the response.

~ faegrace

 

[chrono]

Faegrace,
Do you have a picture of your stone? Sounds like it’s going to need an open setting and perhaps yellow gold or even green gold.

 

[packrat]

I was just going to ask the same thing Chrono!

 

[Novel]

I don't know if anyone else is a fan but I love Cathy Waterman. I love this ring but would change the prongs to showcase the stone better.

Love this, and think it would look amazing with jstarfireb's tsav.

 

[Treenbean]

Arcadian her website is: http://cathywaterman.com/

Novel I think the tsav would look good there too. Her work is so romantic.

 

[Largosmom]

Well...I ordered that spess that Dan Stair cut recently, and it arrived yesterday. Unfortunately, it's too dark toned for what I've got in mind. So, I'm putting some feelers out. An oval would be nice, but I could go for any one of those shapes, honestly, if the color and cut are right. I talked to my goldsmith today about size ratios and if it's a round, I'm looking for a 7-8 mm stone...oval 7x9 or 8x10...and the same idea if a cushion cut. Side stones will be about 2mm smaller so 5-6mm rounded trillions (or perhaps pears). So..the basic ration will be 5-7-5 or 6-8-6 depending on what I can find.

 

[faegrace]

chrono and packrat ~

I haven't taken a picture of the stone; I can certainly try (any photo-taking advice would be greatly appreciated!) BB's pic of it doesn't really represent it all that well. I spent f-o-r-e-v-e-r looking at ring settings online today. I cannot say enough about how helpful the eye-candy pictures were in guiding me through the process (not to mention some fav web sites). So, I'll try after kiddos are in bed tonight unless I need daylight?

Thank you for responding. I actually wrote BB and asked if it is supposed to be that dark. Yikes!

~ faegrace

 

[packrat]

Do you have Barry's pic from his website?

 

[Arcadian]

Arcadian her website is: http://cathywaterman.com/

Novel I think the tsav would look good there too. Her work is so romantic.

Thanks Treenbean. She does some lovely work!


-A

 

[faegrace]

packrat ~

this is the pic Barry took.., not very representative

I'll try to do better taking some myself tomorrow



geez, is this how you insert a pic here? I am clueless

LOL

~ faegrace

 

[jstarfireb]

Treenbean, that is a pretty ring! My first thought is that it looks way too expensive...something tells me I can't afford Cathy. It's also a little too delicate for my tastes, but not bad.

I am pretty sure I want to do prongs instead of a bezel, but beyond that it's hard to say.

 

[Treenbean]

Yeah I agree jstar, I can't afford her either. However, I think there are a lot of jeweler who can reinterpret her work and add elements to make the piece special.

 

[Deathspi]

Okay I have a question. (Knew it wouldn't be long)!

I'm thinking of putting a 9mm stone into a 10mm setting. It's just a standard round with straight prongs. Am I going too far out? I know it's better to have a bigger stone rather than smaller, or at least I think so anyway...but I don't really want to go buying the stone I have my eye on if I can't set it.

Faegrace: Sorry to hear about your stone not being what you thought it would be, it looks lovely in the photo and I had been admiring it myself!

 

[faegrace]

Deathspi ~

I didn't mean to say I don't like the chrome tourmaline; I just didn't expect it to be quite as dark. Barry is helping me see the light, so to speak, though. LOL

I am working with Michael E. on a setting.., just decided to work with him on this project within the last 24 hours. It will come together. I refuse to be defeated by my own lack of imagination. So far, he has come up with valuable input. I am not really a yellow gold gal but the chrome may demand it.

Thank you ~
faegrace

 

[faegrace]

update on the chrome tourmaline ring:

imagine this BUT much lighter, more delicate
split shank with vine twists leading into a dappled diamond halo

that's what we're going for to showcase the chrome; Michael will have CAD pics to me on Tuesday Yahoo!

(this is me nervous at my first attempt with custom jewelry of any kind)

thanks again for the responses

~ faegrace

I am calling it "botanical halo" LOL

 

[faegrace]

oh, crud, I cannot get the pic to insert

argh



I hope this works

 

[Deathspi]

Faegrace, that design is beautiful! From what I have seen from Micheal I wouldn't of expected something like that to come from him. Can't wait to see the end result!

 

[kelpie]

I need ideas please. I just jumped on this wee stone from Gene because I have been wanting a tourmaline of this color for ages but they are always sold out before I get to them. The stone is 5.589mm. How shall I set it?

My favorite jewelry always starts with a much loved stone as inspiration and a custom setting that follows. Ideally the setting would be under $300. I am in Tanzania so the labor of a local jeweler (they are a dime a dozen because of the booming gem trade) might be very inexpensive to have a designed reproduced but I am nervous about handing it off because the craftsmanship here tends to be sloppy and whatever goes (in all respects, not specifically jewelery). The exception seems to be Swala Gems but I notice most of the stuff in their window is actually made in Italy. I need to make an appointment with them anyway but that's another topic...

So here's what I got so far...Daniel M halo pendant, I wonder if it could be modified for a square
OR
something from the Patrick Irla hydrangea collection. I bought his little pink sapphire ring for my mom and it was very cute. I know Freke has an awesome ring he did with a larger stone.

What else?

 

[T L]

I need ideas please. I just jumped on this wee stone from Gene because I have been wanting a tourmaline of this color for ages but they are always sold out before I get to them. The stone is 5.589mm. How shall I set it?

My favorite jewelry always starts with a much loved stone as inspiration and a custom setting that follows. Ideally the setting would be under $300. I am in Tanzania so the labor of a local jeweler (they are a dime a dozen because of the booming gem trade) might be very inexpensive to have a designed reproduced but I am nervous about handing it off because the craftsmanship here tends to be sloppy and whatever goes (in all respects, not specifically jewelery). The exception seems to be Swala Gems but I notice most of the stuff in their window is actually made in Italy. I need to make an appointment with them anyway but that's another topic...

So here's what I got so far...Daniel M halo pendant, I wonder if it could be modified for a square
OR
something from the Patrick Irla hydrangea collection. I bought his little pink sapphire ring for my mom and it was very cute. I know Freke has an awesome ring he did with a larger stone.

What else?

I would proabably use high karat yellow gold on that stone, because, IMO, I think high karat yellow gold makes greenish blue stones really pop. My only concern with the Daniel M organic flower look is that I don't want the flowers to overpower the stone. It is a small stone afterall. I think it would be nice in a simple baguette setting with a yellow gold head and a white gold shank, or you could do all white gold if you wanted, but I really love these stones in yellow gold.

Here's a lovely baguette setting Daniel M did for a PS'er a while back on an asscher stone that I believe was also cut by Gene.

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/33810244

 

[kelpie]

Thanks TL! I am into white and pink gold usually but I agree this stone demands yellow! I do love it, however, when it's really really melted buttery gold.

 

[faegrace]

I am still working on the setting for the chrome tourmaline.... I am wondering, for those of you who have had custom designs, how many versions (CAD, etc) of the setting did you go through before it was all said and done?

thank you ~

 

[lavatea]

I need ideas please. I just jumped on this wee stone from Gene because I have been wanting a tourmaline of this color for ages but they are always sold out before I get to them. The stone is 5.589mm. How shall I set it?

My favorite jewelry always starts with a much loved stone as inspiration and a custom setting that follows. Ideally the setting would be under $300. I am in Tanzania so the labor of a local jeweler (they are a dime a dozen because of the booming gem trade) might be very inexpensive to have a designed reproduced but I am nervous about handing it off because the craftsmanship here tends to be sloppy and whatever goes (in all respects, not specifically jewelery). The exception seems to be Swala Gems but I notice most of the stuff in their window is actually made in Italy. I need to make an appointment with them anyway but that's another topic...

So here's what I got so far...Daniel M halo pendant, I wonder if it could be modified for a square
OR
something from the Patrick Irla hydrangea collection. I bought his little pink sapphire ring for my mom and it was very cute. I know Freke has an awesome ring he did with a larger stone.

What else?

Beautiful stone!

I vote that gorgeous danielm halo - or their version of a legacy, like this. Man, I can't wait to have the right stone and budget to have one of those rings made. Yum!

 

[lavatea]

I am still working on the setting for the chrome tourmaline.... I am wondering, for those of you who have had custom designs, how many versions (CAD, etc) of the setting did you go through before it was all said and done?

thank you ~

I'm still in the design process (not sure if there will be a final revision before work begins or not), and I've had two rounds of design ideas.

 

[T L]

Beautiful stone!

I vote that gorgeous danielm halo - or their version of a legacy, like this. Man, I can't wait to have the right stone and budget to have one of those rings made. Yum!

I like the halo, but considering again, that this is a smaller stone, the bezel metal might cover up too much of the stone's crown. You want to show as much of that pretty color as possible. I love the idea of a halo, but with prongs. It's also nice to see Gene's faceted girdle on that stone. A bezel would hide that.

 

[kelpie]

Thanks Lavatea and TL. I really love the idea of a pendant but TL makes a good point about not bezeling...I was thinking I should bezel but I don't want to lose precious width. I may send to my jeweler back in the states who makes lovely sharp little prongs. If I am going to do prongs they need to match the scale of the stone. I think the stone is bright enough it will still have a nice presence as a pendant despite its size.

 

[packrat]

Kelpie, will you send it to Hunt Country? They did such a fabulous job on your rings.

Fae Grace, when Michael E was helping me w/the supernova three stone (that I wasn't able to complete), I got several CAD's..different angles and little tweaks. When Sally did my ering, I got two drawings, one gallery view and one from the side.

 

[faegrace]

Packrat ~

Thank you for responding to my question. If you don't mind my asking, why didn't you finish the three stone ring with Michael?

~ faegrace

 

[K9]

kelpie - did you for sure get the stone??? I almost nabbed it last night when I saw it, but I REALLY wanted the round one posted last week and missed it by minutes so I didn't try for this one since I felt so defeated.

If you did get it - I can't wait to see pictures. The color looks amazing!!!

I think a setting like this one would be nice - of course, only if you are into BIG.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200582561119

 

[packrat]

Faegrace, it was only b/c of finances. We had some big, unexpected bills jump into our lap. And on top of that, I was still firmly in the camp of not spending money on myself b/c I'm a wife and mom..those stones and my ering caused a lot of stomach churning b/c I felt so bad doing something for myself. Yeah..I'm over that now. I'll tone it down a little by having things made w/silver to keep costs down but I've decided I deserve pretties.

I did ask him again about doing it and about replacing the stone in my ering. He's really friendly and knowledgeable so if you're considering custom (or even not custom, he can order from Adwar etc), definitely shoot him an email!

 

[jstarfireb]

I finally made a decision on the tsavorite. After getting price quotes from JKT and Daniel M (surprisingly the higher one), I decided not to do the leaf setting, even though I still love it. Julia astutely pointed out that the leaf setting would be difficult to pull off with a sub-6mm stone. The leaves would overwhelm the stone, or they'd have to be so small as to be invisible. So I'm sending it to Sally for an Iolani setting. As far as I know, it will be the first Iolani with a non-round stone, so it will be exciting to see how it turns out.