Voce's Gemstone Ramblings...

[Starstruck8]

I think this is my last project for 2023. Given how I've exceeded my budget for purchasing purses and perfumes, I am going to try out a no-buy year starting tomorrow. This will also apply to custom projects for jewelry, as this last project has cost more than one month of take home pay for me, and my personal life goal are to build up some savings in the bank as well as improve my health.

So, the inspiration for setting the star rubies is this Raymond C. Yard design I saw on 1stDibs a few years back. I just love the mix of sleep cuts and brilliant cuts. The star rubies I had purchased were nowhere near as large as the star ruby of the original inspiration, so where Inken circled double baguettes we went with a smaller princess cut, and found tapered baguettes in a similar proportion to my stones as the original inspiration.

Here's the finished necklace and ring. I am very happy with how they turned out. The inner halo is similar to Mr. Yard's design, but Inken and I used more unheated ruby melee to give more coverage and emphasize the contrast. So think of this as the anti-target option that achieves the same effect.

I was pretty particular about emphasizing a pointy sharp geometry on the unheated rubies at the sides of the ring, whereas on the pendant I wanted a different, more classic geometry, but to add in some"quirkiness" we did some asymmetric by-the-yard pink sapphire and diamond melee in a 2.0mm chain. All the metal is platinum to stay close to the art deco inspiration.


The colors in diffused light are nice but nothing special, but under sunlight the diamonds flash and the brilliant cut rubies are fiery and complement the star corundum perfectly. I feel privileged to have worked with Inken because she understands what I want and safeguards quality and staying true to my vision.

Great design! I expected nothing less from you and Inken. You are so good at building small stones into a coherent composition. The mixed round and emerald diamonds are a brilliant touch - they give an interesting 'rough' sparkle, and break up the geometric regularity.

 

[WhoaNelly]

I stumbled onto this thread just now. Speechless—and I’ve only looked at the last 2 pages. Love your collection and the way you play with design. Congrats on the most recent pieces—they are beautiful. I will be delving in time and time again for the pretties, the education, and the inspiration.

 

[voce]

Great design! I expected nothing less from you and Inken. You are so good at building small stones into a coherent composition. The mixed round and emerald diamonds are a brilliant touch - they give an interesting 'rough' sparkle, and break up the geometric regularity.

Thank you, that's high praise from you, Starstruck! For me, regular halos with only round stones and ready-to-use settings with only diamonds are just not that interesting. That's why I am delighted and take inspiration from works of designers such as Raymond Yard... just need to downsize it to my budget, which means smaller stones. But I would say from a design perspective, it's much easier to play this way with smaller stones than finding larger stones in the right quality and proportions to make mosaic-like designs. I think of smaller gems like mosaic elements when "composing" a coherent design.

I stumbled onto this thread just now. Speechless—and I’ve only looked at the last 2 pages. Love your collection and the way you play with design. Congrats on the most recent pieces—they are beautiful. I will be delving in time and time again for the pretties, the education, and the inspiration.

Thank you, Nelly, I have certainly taken delight and have been educated on colored stone jewelry from threads by other members. My approach to gemstone jewelry has evolved as a result, and I'm glad my collection can inspire others. I remember starting out trying to bezel and prong set my own stones, only to realize I don't have the patience or finesse for that sort of work. Jewelry is a luxury, and by definition not something I absolutely need, but I *did* go a bit overboard with this hobby and have enough gems for years. I'm trying to be financially responsible now and take it slowly, and enjoy the projects as a creative outlet, to put a little of "me" into the finished pieces, rather than hyperactive consumption. I can't wear all of my pieces all the time, but I do enjoy looking at what I have in the boxes. They help greatly to capture my attention and take my mind off of other things!