TOTALLY unique e-ring

[velouriaL]

So, with all these fantastic colored gems e-ring searches out there, I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for the TOTALLY unique e-ring.

Could the metal be alloyed with steel from a meterorite? Could there be magnets embedded in there somewhere?

If blue sapphires and rubies are the "obvious"https://www.pricescope.com/idealbb/images/smilies/14.gif choices for a colored gem e-ring, what are some other options?

Here''s another way too look at this game-- what if a famous artist-- totally bohemian and a little bizarre-- came seeking the perfect engagement symbol for his bride-to-be, what would we suggest? What direction would you send the ultimate individualist? (Assuming, of course, that this individualist wants a ring...)

 

[sciencegeek]

A friend of mine has a ~5mm flat platinum band with little triangular bits of meteorite set flush into it. It''s very unique and very her.

 

[treysar]

How about an ass kickin pearl?

 

[raddygast]

The best I could come up with is jewels personally stolen by the groom-to-be from the Crown Jewels of Iran, the Crown Jewels of Russia in the Kremlin, the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, and so forth.

But since that isn''t very feasible, something else would have to do. What about incorporating that so-called "dinosaur bone" material? Is that a scam?

Or, if the guy had studied metallurgy, he could come up with his very own alloy and name it after his fiancee.

 

[Diamonds4Me]

Date: 1/27/2005 7:41:42 PM
Author: treysar
How about an ass kickin pearl?

Oh my goodness...I could so see an awesome Tahitian Pearl set in platinum with some pave...alright..now I'm on a mission to find pictures

This is different...

Ooooo..I could go for pink.


(Edited to remove bad picture)

I didn't realize that looking for pearl rings was such a task.

((Edited AGAIN!)) For crying out loud! Every time I fix one picture another goofs up. Bahhh...must be the operator

Oh well...I tried

***Never mind..it's fixed now

***

 

[tiptoe]

Those are beautiful!!.

I''m hard on rings and would have trouble with something as soft as a pearl.

 

[valeria101]

Totally unique... well, have you seen this thread

(about platinum big brother).

I would think "unique" is either something no one else can pay for, can get or knows of.

Of the first kind, color diamonds and alexandrite come by reflex as rare and over the top - even if small, top quality is quite stryking in either...

The last kind is the easiest to obtain given some thinking really outside the box. Trully rare jewelry materials are not the most expensive because there cannot be a allot of demand and recognition for some item find-able once per decade... (see this and this or this one: at least for a list of materials if the pieces are not all world class).

I would have wanted two more types on this list, but just couldn't find a decent picture!

Almost forgot about this one - just for the idea:

Or.... well, you could organize the proposal in a rocky place and pick one from where your feet last touched the ground. The doing might not be totally unique (there's one more case I know of)... but rare enough, I would think

Metalic metheorite is one relatively common and inexpensive jewelry material. Just run a search on Ebay. The idea to make rings of it is about thirty centuries old as far as I know. Furthers.com makes metheorite wedding bands... Dino bone is not that rare either - gets the same use as jasper and you can buy a couple pounds any day. Some is real, some not quite - but the real thing is not rare, just not that much in demand.

Just my usual 0.2...

 

[Diamonds4Me]

How did I forget about Alexandrite?!?! I know that pearl is the common birthstone for june but I believe that Alexandrite is the birthstone for June? I'll have to look for that again.

Mmmmmmm.......Alexandrite.........



Edited: Tiptoe..I'm also hard on rings. I had to quit wearing my big honkin' london blue topaz because I noticed that there are teeny tiny hair thin scratches along the face of it.

Not to mention where I hit the poor thing against the door jam so many times that there is a very tiny place on the edge of it.

Why do I have to be such a klutz??

 

[pearcrazy]

LOVE the Alexandrite idea!

 

[velouriaL]

This thread is great!

But the durability issue has come up...
Even the most unique of unique people likes to think that they''re making a lifetime commitment with their proposal...

How can you narrow down the super-rare (or seemingly super-rare) materials to only the most durable?

That is, after all, why most colored-gem proposers go for corrumdum and spinel, right?

 

[valeria101]

Date: 1/28/2005 11:41:10 AM
Author: velouriaL

But the durability issue has come up...

This matters allot if you #1 totally hate the idea of having the crown of the respective gem repolished slightly every decade or so, or #2 if the ring is going to be worn every day during all kind of chores. Is it ? Rings rarely are taken for gardening or such.

Pearls cannot be "repaired" - so using a rare flawless specimen in a ring is one very personal choice, but everything else can be used with more or less caution.

It may be that most gems get scratched and nicked and the thought appears unbearable when shopping for one expensive bauble. But... have you seen what ruby and sapphire look like in estate rings ? Sometimes those facets get completely worn down - let alone scratched. There''s truth to the Mohs scale of course, but there''s allot of scare too... IMO, at least.

 

[Matata]

Well, if we''re talking really unique, then I would choose creative over practical and look at wood, plastic, fiberglass, and ceramic materials for a ring.

 

[innerkitten]

Well one of my friends has an opal engagement ring. But she tens to just wear her band cause she''s worried about messing the opal. It''s very pretty.

 

[innerkitten]

Sorry about all my typos. I have a cold that has made me very spaced out.

 

[kanne]

diamonds4me
those pearl settings are GORGEOUS. where did you find them? yum.

 

[velouriaL]

has anyone seen a real alexandrite in real life? I have an old lab created one that was my grandmothers, but it doens''t have that dramatic a color change... more like from a brick red to a dark purply pink... Definitely not to green. What about color change sapphires and garnets?

And how would a person go about finding a jeweler to embed meterorites into the ring? I guess it would have to be a totally custom piece... then again, I guess that goes without saying...

 

[valeria101]

Date: 1/28/2005 4:51:41 PM
Author: velouriaL

And how would a person go about finding a jeweler to embed meterorites into the ring?

Try Furthers and Metalsmiths ...

Alexandrite can have a very stryking color change (the photos look realistic, IMO - and there are other color versions as well) - older sintetics do not change from red to green, as you say. Color change garnet may look like those (changing purple to red), but there are several versions of color changing or color shifting garnets.

Meteorite (Gibeon ?) looks like this when etched: a criss-cross crystaline pattern is expected...

Small, melted pieces of meteorite do not have the look and get polished:

I do not know if this material is faked or anything.

You may want to look over the archive of the Lapidary Journal for sources of meteorite jewelry... and a range of designs. Well worth a browse, I think.

 

[Diamonds4Me]

Date: 1/28/2005 4

2:39 PM
Author: lovey
diamonds4me
those pearl settings are GORGEOUS. where did you find them? yum.

Believe it or not I found them at ACNTV.com and Shopathometv.com and I think maybe hsn.com.

Edited: Except the last one..I can't remember where I found that one. I think it says on the photo but I can't see it in edit mode.