Tinnitus

[chrono]

I like purple and green as a colour combination; what bothers me more is the obvious difference in saturation where the bright green tsavorites overpower the darker and grayer cc garnets, pulling the focus away from the center stones instead of enhancing them.

 

[ilovegemstones]

I would go with fiery opals around the stones. Cool project!

 

[Bex]

I love the idea of a tiny opal melee, although I'm not sure if soft stone would be harder to set. Pearls could also be gorgeous- a nice nod to old school Victorian garnet settings. If you definitely want color, what about chrysoberyls? I think a softer yellow shade would play nicely with the garnets whether they're in a blue, burgundy or purplish mood.

 

[VapidLapid]

hmmm, thanks again for so much good thought and perspectives. Some light dementoid has become available so I redid the mock-up to show that color.

 

[Niel]

Fun!

 

[chrono]

This could work depending on how steady and "soft" your hands are. Demantoid is the softest garnet on the MOH scale and many a jeweller has damaged the stone during the setting process.

 

[FrekeChild]

Bah! I said demantoid upthread!

 

[VapidLapid]

Bah! I said demantoid upthread!

Yes you did Freke, that's why I looked at them when these new ones posted. Previously I was going to try the lighter minty tsavs that are available in those calibrated sizes.

 

[iLander]

I dunno . . . I like the classic diamond melee.

You should go up to visit IDJewelry on 47th, I noticed that they can set my stones in diamonds, with all the gold, etc., cheaper than I can buy melee alone online. Maybe they'll sell you some?

 

[FrekeChild]

Bah! I said demantoid upthread!

Yes you did Freke, that's why I looked at them when these new ones posted. Previously I was going to try the lighter minty tsavs that are available in those calibrated sizes.

I rather like the look of them with the color shift! Have any stones that color that you could see them with in real life?

You're making me want a color change garnet dammit.

 

[VapidLapid]

Im throwing this out there in case it helps anyone with the comparative visualization.



I know this is a rather abstract way to begin a design, but I cant really commit a design idea if I don't already have, or can't easily source the stones. Still I am thoroughly enjoying all the perspectives and ideas. There are no wrong answers!

 

[VapidLapid]

oh, i forgot to mention, an extra special shout out to pandabee for getting it!! You are great!!

 

[Niel]

Still like the light green best.

What about like a blue zircon? Has that been said?

 

[VapidLapid]

Neil, I do like blue zircon, a lot. I like green and link zircon a lot too. I am still KICKING myself HARD for not having gotten a particular pink trilliant zircon from Gene. Even now just writing this makes me upset! How can I be (so often) such a fool?

For this though, I have criteria like affordability, availability (80 stones) in the desired size, and suitability; I'm afraid they all have to be met.

 

[Niel]

Neil, I do like blue zircon, a lot. I like green and link zircon a lot too. I am still KICKING myself HARD for not having gotten a particular pink trilliant zircon from Gene. Even now just writing this makes me upset! How can I be (so often) such a fool?

For this though, I have criteria like affordability, availability (80 stones) in the desired size, and suitability; I'm afraid they all have to be met.

Ha! Well your know more about the affordability aspect I was just thinking of fun colors . Easy to forget about cost when its not my project

I really love what you're doing, if I haven't said. I love the color combos and the bold look

 

[chrono]

VL,
Are the smaller melees out of the question? I still prefer the look of small melees over the larger melees.

 

[minousbijoux]

I can't believe I have not weighed in on this thread yet! Sorry, VL, been under the weather the last few days, but have avidly been following your thread.

My vote: smaller melee rather than larger and grey spinels. Either that, or I concur with NKOTB and say diamond melee. Diamonds are surely lovely but so typical and I always think of your designs as unique. So I wish you would consider the lightest color cool color spinels you can find, if that makes sense.

How do you find the stones in hand? From the pics, they look like they have very strong color change - here's to hoping they do.

 

[VapidLapid]

me again.
The dementoid melee was not scaled as the others were. I have now done a lousy job of arranging them properly scaled. Please dont let my poor placement have too much influence on your judgements. I am very keen on then, I think. I am not very keen on diamonds, not would they be budget friendly. Boldness, without garishness I want, Fauvist color palette very appealing! At this point I should share what little other conceptual intent I am entertaining. the central cc garnets are all set hanging inside the halo, so they have a lot of motion. They are suspended by a ring from the halo. The halo is around an opening in an egg shaped (lower portion) raised silver volume, sugarloaf shaped (upper portion) volume. These volumetric shapes are more apparent from the side and rear views. The ccgarnets hang trembling in the center of these openings. Any light that enters the egg ultimately gets reflected back and any light that goes through the garnet also gets reflected back suffusing the interior space with its color, while the halo around the opening gives contrast and an architectural relief. I have not given thought to ornamenting the back sides of the forms. On the one hand I really enjoy the simple look of hammered silver, but I dont know if placing all the ornament on the front of a very three dimensional piece will throw the design out of balance.



eta:

Minous, the stones are less grey and more saturated than the photos showed. The color change is significant and both colors are nice. I find this to be the case mostly with the ccgarnets from bekily(?) madagascar than the east african ccgarnets

 

[minousbijoux]

me again.
The dementoid melee was not scaled as the others were. I have now done a lousy job of arranging them properly scaled. Please dont let my poor placement have too much influence on your judgements. I am very keen on then, I think. I am not very keen on diamonds, not would they be budget friendly. Boldness, without garishness I want, Fauvist color palette very appealing! At this point I should share what little other conceptual intent I am entertaining. the central cc garnets are all set hanging inside the halo, so they have a lot of motion. They are suspended by a ring from the halo. The halo is around an opening in an egg shaped (lower portion) raised silver volume, sugarloaf shaped (upper portion) volume. These volumetric shapes are more apparent from the side and rear views. The ccgarnets hang trembling in the center of these openings. Any light that enters the egg ultimately gets reflected back and any light that goes through the garnet also gets reflected back suffusing the interior space with its color, while the halo around the opening gives contrast and an architectural relief. I have not given thought to ornamenting the back sides of the forms. On the one hand I really enjoy the simple look of hammered silver, but I dont know if placing all the ornament on the front of a very three dimensional piece will throw the design out of balance.



eta:

Minous, the stones are less grey and more saturated than the photos showed. The color change is significant and both colors are nice. I find this to be the case mostly with the ccgarnets from bekily(?) madagascar than the east african ccgarnets

Exactly what I have noticed as well. As for your description, it sounds different and potentially great to emphasize the cc aspect of the stones. But I also worry that they might darken things too much? Then again I'm not sure I am visualizing it correctly.

 

[minousbijoux]

Do you mean a design like the Peter Lees design of Arkteia's? That is sort of what I'm imagining from your description.

 

[chrono]

Minou,
I'm guessing more like these where there is no "back" but has a jump ring to allow the center stone to swing freely within the halo. In reading VL's description again, you could be right about a reflector base similar to the one used by Peter Lees.

 

[minousbijoux]

I am not very keen on diamonds, not would they be budget friendly. Boldness, without garishness I want, Fauvist color palette very appealing! At this point I should share what little other conceptual intent I am entertaining. the central cc garnets are all set hanging inside the halo, so they have a lot of motion. They are suspended by a ring from the halo. The halo is around an opening in an egg shaped (lower portion) raised silver volume, sugarloaf shaped (upper portion) volume. These volumetric shapes are more apparent from the side and rear views. The ccgarnets hang trembling in the center of these openings. Any light that enters the egg ultimately gets reflected back and any light that goes through the garnet also gets reflected back suffusing the interior space with its color, while the halo around the opening gives contrast and an architectural relief.


Minous, the stones are less grey and more saturated than the photos showed. The color change is significant and both colors are nice. I find this to be the case mostly with the ccgarnets from bekily(?) madagascar than the east african ccgarnets

Chrono: this is what had me wondering. It is VL's description of the design that had me thinking otherwise. To paraphrase: the garnets sit inside an egg shaped raised silver volume, with any light entering the egg ultimately getting reflected back...

 

[VapidLapid]

Sorry I dont have time to make a better sketch right now. Stone does not hover over a spoon like P Lees's. the form closes to almost an egg with the front cut off and the stone is suspended in the opening.

 

[chrono]

VL,
You might have mentioned the size somewhere (or maybe it's just the sketch) but they look quite heavy for earrings.

 

[VapidLapid]

they are small and in sketch melee are NOT to scale as I had beeen so careful about in photoshop. top ccgarnet is 4.4 x 5.5mm
I think lower is about 4.4 x 5.9

eta: estimate for the egg drop is 14mm top to bottom. upper form 12 mm. overall with the connection maybe 29mm. the forms are hollow.

 

[minousbijoux]

Okay, that makes complete sense - and actually, not that different than how I imagined it, just with more metal wrapping farther around - as if you had just cut a hole in the egg and dangled the stone, rather than cutting the egg exactly in half and hanging the stone.

 

[pandabee]

oh, i forgot to mention, an extra special shout out to pandabee for getting it!! You are great!!

hehe I was surprised no one else had mentioned it yet! I like the newest incarnation with the lighter demantoids...provides more contrast.

 

[alice87]

Im throwing this out there in case it helps anyone with the comparative visualization.



I know this is a rather abstract way to begin a design, but I cant really commit a design idea if I don't already have, or can't easily source the stones. Still I am thoroughly enjoying all the perspectives and ideas. There are no wrong answers!

Out of this three I like the last one, on the right. It is just more saturated. Demantoid are to pale to me to look at. Please keep posting your creative process, it is so interesting!

 

[JaneSmith]

If you can get ccgarnet melee that are similar to the main stones, that would look smashing with your design.

 

[chrono]

VL,
I am not well versed in the weight of metal vs size but even if these are hollow, coupled with the weight of the garnets and melees, are you sure that the total weight will not result in over-stretching an earlobe piercing? Just wondering and playing it safe, that's all. Also since you are going with an egg rather than a more open spoon design, almost all the light coming and leaving the garnets are from the front. I might have asked before but make sure the colour and shifting of the garnets do not "close up" when fully enclosed. When I did a tube bezel for my cc garnet, it died completely on me.