Tsavorite earrings--how did I do? Still have time to CXL

[tuffyluvr]

Hi all--I would really appreciate feedback on these tsavorite earrings... FSIL wanted a pair of deep emerald green earrings for her upcoming 30th bday. FMIL knows very little about jewelry, and wanted to look at the Macy's jewelry counter :: FSIL's bday is on NYE, so we were really pressed for time and our budget was $600. Otherwise I would have *loved* to do custom bezel-set earrings in rose gold <3

I struggled to find something suitable--most of the stones I saw look milky and lacking sparkle. I pulled the trigger on these... They are advertised as eye-clean and the color looks well-saturated. I am a bit concerned that they might be dark and the cut isn't precision by any means... FSIL is a quantity over quality girl, and she doesn't know anything about jewelry. Soooo, within the budget and personal preference parameters, how did I do???

 

[Rosebloom]

I'm certainly not an expert but it sounds like your FSIL isn't either and I LOVE them!!! So beautiful!

 

[JewelFreak]

From your description, I'm sure she'll be delighted with them, Tuffyluvr. Sweet thought!

 

[Enerchi]

Looks like you did great! I'm sure shell be thrilled. They are a lovely colour and look to be a good size. Nice call!

 

[tuffyluvr]

Ok, thanks! Last night I was totally stressed trying to find something suitable... I called around to a couple places in the LA jewelry district and no one had anything deep green and within our budget. As long as you ladies think they're okay and a decent deal, I'll trust my judgement... But if they're is something better out there, I'm open to it and still able to cancel the order!! Just FYI!

 

[Fly Girl]

I've purchased from Mineral Miners before, and I was pleased with the product and the price. No, they aren't precision cut, but most people will never care.

I'm sure your FSIL will love those.

 

[jstarfireb]

They look like they may be a bit windowed, but the color seems nice and for a non-CSer, I'm sure they'll do just perfectly!

 

[chrono]

Definitely windowed but colour looks fine plus they are already set. Overall pricing seems reasonable and in time for gift giving. The rest on MM aren't as pretty. Sometimes Barry of ACStones has matched pairs that he sets in simple studs but there's nothing currently available.

 

[marcy]

They are gorgeous.

 

[tuffyluvr]

Yes--they're definitely windowed. Shame, because the color is quite nice and I know that it would be much more vibrant if they were well-cut. If I had more time I think I would have been able to find something a bit better... Buuuuut considering that I need them in a week, I think this was about the best I could do... Thanks for helping me to confirm that!!! I'll take some photos when they arrive and post them to show what they look like IRL

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

If they were for a ring I would be more concerned about the cut. Since they are for earrings and most people will just see the color I think they'll do the job quite nicely.

 

[tuffyluvr]

Wellllp, the earrings arrived today and I am underwhelmed. They are too dark. That combined with the less-than-stellar cut is a major bummer. I'm going to send them back. FSIL loved the yellow gold baby bezel diamond earrings that FI gave me for Christmas. They are only .35 ctw and she likes the size, so I don't think she is such a size whore, as I previously assumed ;P ...shoulda known--she always talked about wanting a 3ct e-ring, but when she saw mine she said, "OMG, it's huge!!! Is is 3ct?!?" ...try again, it's 1.55ct--nearly half that. I think she is clueless about sizes. ::

Anyways, today I started looking online for a matched pair of tsavorites, chrome tourmaline or any other rich emerald green stone. I saw a couple possibilities on gemselect.com... I don't know if that site is any good... Anyone heard of it? I called Brian Gavin diamonds to ask if they could set them in 18k yellow gold bezel mountings and was pretty much blown off! I was told that they were far too soft and said "no, no--you dont want to do that. When i mentioned that as far as i knew, chrome tourmalines and tsavorites are harder than emeralds the SA put me on hold for a while. When she got back on the line she said that they would charge $192 per stone to replace if the ones I sent were damaged during setting, plus the cost of the mounting, fee for setting, tax, S&H, etc. She let me know that she would call me back shortly with a final amount, but never did. Surely this is a small project for them... Maybe it's too small to take on? Plus, all the info I was given is telling me that this will cost far more than our $600 budget... Looking like more in the $600 per ear range... Not a viable option...

Does anyone have a recommendation of a good place to purchase gemstones or mounted gemstone jewelry? I'm in LA, so even better if you know of anyplace local where I can view inventory in person! new or estate/vintage okay.

Thanks so much!!!

 

[SB621]

I've purchased from Mineral Miners before, and I was pleased with the product and the price. No, they aren't precision cut, but most people will never care.

I'm sure your FSIL will love those.

+1

 

[Jereni]

Sorry to hear they're not going to work. The color looked pretty from the picture.

I don't know about LA, but since its the weekend you could drive down to Gemfix in San Diego, I'm sure their stock of stones would be fantastic. But they would not be set already - I dont know if Andrew sells any set pieces, so that may not help you...

 

[chrono]

You are pressed for time, right? No local jeweller to help out? WF and BGD are very expensive for small projects like these, plus the are not comfortable setting anything softer than a spinel. Check out Etsy for finished pieces and if you have time, Dan and Caren can set your stones very affordably.

 

[distracts]

Did you try Yvonne Raley on Etsy? I have a lovely pair of tsavorite earrings from her. They were pretty reasonably priced. She gets her tsavorite pairs from Prima Gems and they're nice quality. She may also have chrome diopside or chrome tourmaline. She has a 15% off sale on her shop right now too.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/yvonneraley
http://www.etsy.com/listing/117438892/sale-dark-green-tsavorite-matched-pair

 

[tuffyluvr]

Thanks for the info, everyone!

Chrono--I'm glad im not nuts--that seemed kind of steep! Thx for the confirmation. This seems like its not a good fit for BGD

distracts--thx for the link! I'm going to contact Yvonne

Here are some photos--please tell me if I'm just being nitpicky. Sometimes they look great--I love the color in the earshots. But in some lights/at certain angles they look really dark. Also, the shape of the setting is pretty ugly IMO. Pls be honest w/me. Maybe I am expecting too much at this price point?

 

[tuffyluvr]

 

[chrono]

They look too dark in the box but perfect on the ears, so which is it?

 

[tuffyluvr]

Right?!?! I can't figure it out!

 

[Fly Girl]

They look great as earrings. Perhaps they are not at their best with the light blocked by the back of the box?

In any case, looking good in the ears is what counts.

 

[tuffyluvr]

What to do... So we gave the earrings to FSIL. She said she really liked them, but FI gave her the certificate that came with the earrings when he presented them to her. It described that they are .90ct, natural untreated tsavorites, etc... It also has the price. They were. $550. Now FSIL has gone... To the jewelry counter at Macy's <cringe>... And found something, "with brighter green color for $300". After she thanked us for the earrings I sent her a text and let her know there was a 10-day return policy, no hard feelings if she didn't love them. 10 days is up tomorrow. Do I just return them and let her buy crap from the maul? I'm not offended by that--I know it's poor quality, thus, not a good value, but if she doesn't care, I feel like I shouldn't care.

From what I've found, $550 for .90ct earrings in 14k gold settings seems to be a pretty fair price. am I wrong?

Did I overpay for these earrings? Should I return them and let FSIL buy whatever she likes?
Thanks!!

 

[JewelFreak]

Oh bummer, Tuffyluvr! They looked good in the ear shot but if your FSIL wants something from Macy's, she might as well have it. The goal of a gift is to please the recipient, after all. And you save $250. You hardly want to insist she keep them if she wants something else, so might as well return them. You are a VERY mature relative-to-be -- many would be all hurt, but as you realize, people vary. Gems are not her thing; that's ok. You'll make her happy at Macy's. (Besides, since you know their quality isn't super, it would bother you every time she wore them.)

Wish you were related to me -- you're so thoughtful!

--- Laurie

 

[chrono]

I'm with JF on this one. It is the wearer that counts and if that's what she wants, that's what she should get, regardless of the poor quality. Has she said explicitly that she prefers the Macy's earrings over the MM tsav earrings?

 

[tuffyluvr]

I completely agree that the recipient of the gift should ultimately be the one who is happy. FSIL is *ahem* thrifty... The reason I believe she wants to return them is because she thinks that I got ripped off. She goes to the jewelry counter at Macy's and she thinks that she's comparing apples to apples, so she thinks that I overpaid. Never mind the fact that the earrings at Macy's are very treated (or simulated?) emeralds or green onyx or something. They have .16tcw of diamonds (lord only knows the quality of those) and they're set in sterling.

These were a gift from both FI, FMIL and myself. We all chipped in on the gift so that we could get her something nicer to commemorate her 30th bday. I tried to involve FMIL, but she was really dragging her feet and when Dec 26th came around and she hadn't given the okay on any of the links to items I sent her, or gone shopping at the mall jewelry stores that she wanted to, FI asked me to buy these earrings so that we could present them to her on her bday (Dec 31st). He also knows how his mom and sister tend to buy low-quality crap from the maul, and he wanted her to have something that was better quality.

I feel really awkward now because even though I told FSIL that there were no hard feelings if she wanted to return/exchange, but she had to tell me within a few days because of the return policy--she never told me. FMIL told FI yesterday about the situation. Now I feel like FMIL and FSIL are stewing over how stupid I am for paying twice as much as I should have for green earrings. Really I just wanted to get her something that was nice quality--something that she would enjoy, but I feel like she isn't enjoying them because she knows what they cost and thinks they're a ripoff

Additionally, now that I look into this further and realize that today is already the 10th, I think I am now beyond the 10 day return policy. I believe they arrived on the 29th or 30th, which is doubly frustrating because it limits our options... I feel like I'm in a bad spot and I don't want FMIL and FSIL to be resentful, and i believe that could be a real possibility since I don't think they will ever understand (or care to understand) the difference between good quality jewelry and poor quality jewelry.

FSIL said that she wanted "deep green earrings" for her gift, and I thought that tsavorites were a good choice. Now I feel like simulated emeralds or Swarovski crystals would have been a better choice :/ I don't think FSIL even knows what a tsavorite is, and I don't think she cares about the origin, treatment, authenticity, etc. of the stones.

I really feel bad about this, and I feel like I dont have a lot of options here. I guess I'll call MM once they're open for biz and see if they have any flexibility on the return policy. Truly, I just want FSIL to be happy with her gift and it pains me to think that she will always think that she could've gotten something better for less $$$.

 

[chrono]

I am sorry that you are put in a very difficult spot. Does FSIL understand that she's overpaying for the Macy's earrings? If she's thrifty as you've described, she may not know that those earrings are silver and the stone is fake. If she does, she may not understand that silver will tarnish and she's essentially paying $300 for silver, fake stone and industrial quality diamonds, which, frankly is being ripped off. I know you won't enjoy seeing her wear those earrings because you know they are a ripoff. Such a difficult situation to be put in.

I hope that MM is understanding of your situation and will make an exception in your case.

 

[LD]

Tuffyluvr - I am SO sorry that you went to all of this trouble and now it's not being received gratiously. Honestly, if I were you I'd point her to this thread. If she wants rubbish from a chainstore then let her get them, shrug and walk away. WE know how nice they are and that you didn't get ripped off. They look absolutely gorgeous in the ears. You've bought her some genuine gemstone earrings in 14k gold.

I really feel for you because this must have taken the shine off finding them and it'll be hard to forget this. Well, you have us for good company! We think you did well.

 

[tuffyluvr]

I am sorry that you are put in a very difficult spot. Does FSIL understand that she's overpaying for the Macy's earrings? If she's thrifty as you've described, she may not know that those earrings are silver and the stone is fake. If she does, she may not understand that silver will tarnish and she's essentially paying $300 for silver, fake stone and industrial quality diamonds, which, frankly is being ripped off. I know you won't enjoy seeing her wear those earrings because you know they are a ripoff. Such a difficult situation to be put in.

I hope that MM is understanding of your situation and will make an exception in your case.

I don't think that she thinks that the Macy's earrings are overpriced because I think she's more concerned with the price tag--$300 is okay, but $550 seems like too much. I wish she wouldn't worry so much about dollar amounts--it's not like we spent more than we could afford! And 30 is a milestone that I think deserves a gift that you will hold onto for years. I just don't think she understands that good quality gemstones are not cheap. I haven't been able to find a matched pair of good quality tsavs in the .80-1ct range for under $200, and I haven't found 14k mountings for under $300, so *maybe* I overpayed by $50? I can live with that...

What do you think? Do you think there is a better "deal" out there? Could I have gotten something similar for $400?

It just sucks to have to feel bad about something when I had the best intentions. Hopefully MM is understanding, otherwise FSIL will just have to live with them. Hopefully they will grow on her, if that's the case I secretly hope that she gets tons of compliments on them and is flattered into loving them. I saw her last week and she was wearing them--I thought they looked very pretty on her! She is fair-skinned with freckles, dark reddish-brown hair and hazel eyes, and I thought the tsavs complimented her coloring very well!

 

[tuffyluvr]

Tuffyluvr - I am SO sorry that you went to all of this trouble and now it's not being received gratiously. Honestly, if I were you I'd point her to this thread. If she wants rubbish from a chainstore then let her get them, shrug and walk away. WE know how nice they are and that you didn't get ripped off. They look absolutely gorgeous in the ears. You've bought her some genuine gemstone earrings in 14k gold.

I really feel for you because this must have taken the shine off finding them and it'll be hard to forget this. Well, you have us for good company! We think you did well.

Thank you that makes me feel a bit better. I don't really even mind that she's not being gracious--I just want her to be happy with her gift. I really wonder if she would like them better if she never knew how much they cost? I wish that I had stopped FI from including the cert of authenticity since it had the price...

Bottom line: if MM won't take them back, she's stuck with them. Her fault for not saying something sooner, really! She knows that my feelings aren't easily hurt, so if she didn't love them she ought to have spoken up sooner!

 

[chrono]

I don't think you can get better tsav earrings for under $500 but you might get some other green earrings for less. Ummm...chrome tourmaline, malachite, or something like that. Didn't a poster once post a really sweet pair of green sapphire earring studs from Etsy that were very well priced?