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I'm looking to replace a set of wedding bands with something a bit nicer, possibly white gold. I'd be looking for something simple- possibly textured in some way, but no gems in either. What is a reasonable amount to expect to spend?
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Feb 15, 2014 03:55
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Johnny, zratha and everyone thank you so much. It's ready and amazing, and an actual untreated natural killer stone sits on top. Your advice has made it better tenfold which I will describe after it happens, Sunday.
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Feb 15, 2014 04:28
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I need to buy a wedding band for myself and I have a style in mind but no one really makes what I want. There are a few shops on Etsy that make custom rings but some of them are a bit high in price. What I'm looking for is a 10k gold band (or silver if it's easier) 8mm thick size 11 1/4 with a rounded internal profile. I want it inlayed with purpleheart wood and a small chip diamond set in the wood. I have no idea the specialization needed to work with wood, it seems like there are a handful of people that do it. On etsy they want around 900 to 1500 for a ring like this, anyone know anyone who can and would do it for less or is a goon so I keep the cash in SA. I know the materials wouldn't cost more than a few hundred bucks but I don't anyone here in town that could make the ring I want. Any ideas? Errant Gin Monks fucked around with this message at 05:52 on Feb 20, 2014 |
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Feb 20, 2014 03:55
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Not an Anthem posted:Johnny, zratha and everyone thank you so much. It's ready and amazing, and an actual untreated natural killer stone sits on top. Your advice has made it better tenfold which I will describe after it happens, Sunday. So are you going to tell us how it went??!!
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Feb 20, 2014 20:57
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Errant Gin Monks posted:I need to buy a wedding band for myself and I have a style in mind but no one really makes what I want. There are a few shops on Etsy that make custom rings but some of them are a bit high in price. What I'm looking for is a 10k gold band (or silver if it's easier) 8mm thick size 11 1/4 with a rounded internal profile. I want it inlayed with purpleheart wood and a small chip diamond set in the wood. It'll cost a bit because you're asking for a totally custom ring inlaid with a PITA material like purpleheart. I'm not a jeweler but wood doesn't last unless it's practically a mineral, such as the case with purple heart. It's also a sensitizer and many people react with it poorly.
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Feb 21, 2014 21:46
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Not an Anthem posted:It'll cost a bit because you're asking for a totally custom ring inlaid with a PITA material like purpleheart. I'm not a jeweler but wood doesn't last unless it's practically a mineral, such as the case with purple heart. It's also a sensitizer and many people react with it poorly. Yeah I got in contact with a guy on Etsy who specializes in the type I wanted. We are working out a deal now so I'm happy. Silver was (obviously) much more affordable so I'm going that route. I'm cheap when it comes to jewelry, I see no real reason to spend a bunch of money on it. In fact I don't own any besides the ring I will be having made.
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Feb 21, 2014 22:00
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As for me.. http://imgur.com/AFk2T9P She said yes! 2.08ct SI/1 natural untreated even for heat ruby. That's the gem I got through mike gale, the band is 18k with 14 round bril cut diamonds H color SI/2 .23ct total, and 4 princess cut diamonds .30ct total H color VS/1 to VS/2. The appraisal says its plat not 18k white gold but it's.. stamped 18k? It's an antique ring my mom had. Oh right more.. I'm THRILLED. Finding that gem was a fluke. I looked at three days of messed up rubies til I saw this and thought it was fake. Gem alone at PGS is valued six times what I paid. Proposed at a going away party for us moving to the west coast. Had her start the thanks and said a few things then did it and there was tons of screaming and crying. Great night. Not an Anthem fucked around with this message at 22:14 on Feb 21, 2014 |
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Feb 21, 2014 22:07
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congrats man, the ring is beautiful.
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Feb 21, 2014 22:21
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Not an Anthem posted:As for me.. Congrats dude! Yes, that ring is absolutely beautiful.
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Feb 21, 2014 23:47
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Congrats! The ring is lovely and I'm sure she is over the moon. Best of luck to the both of you!
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Feb 21, 2014 23:57
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Anyone got any info on Damascus rings/metal? Mainly will they hold up well to daily wear and tear? Are they just some weird fad or is it worth looking into? I think they look cool as hell but don't want to get one if it'll fall apart.
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Feb 26, 2014 16:57
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moechae posted:Anyone got any info on Damascus rings/metal? Mainly will they hold up well to daily wear and tear? Are they just some weird fad or is it worth looking into? I think they look cool as hell but don't want to get one if it'll fall apart. The Damascus metal pattern in jewellery is called Mokume or Mokume Gane and will definitely hold up to wear and tear. The process with precious metals was perfected in Japan for use in decorative samurai sword hilts and has been popular for quite some time. You and I are in the same boat, the pattern it creates can be absolutely stunning and when done properly the end product should be almost as strong if not just as strong as a solid piece of metal. In general it also will not be high polished (super shiny) because you can't see the pattern as well. I've spent some time working on mokume pieces and the process is extremely labour intensive and generates a lot of waste metal, which brings the price up (especially when the waste metal is gold) but there are a few craftspeople who specialize in pretty much only making mokume pieces. JohnnyRnR linked to a guy in this thread a while ago who I'm pretty sure specializes in it but I can't for the life of me find the link, I'm sure he can let you know what it is! And a link for pictures because these rings are crazy cool: http://www.labromokumegane.com/mokume-engagement-rings
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Feb 26, 2014 21:45
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TOPICAL My wedding rings just arrived (4 months early, ugh) and look badass. This is from a guy in Chapel Hill, North Carolina who does ridiculous mokume gane work.   For reference the band in focus is 6mm wide (I'm size 8.25). The seams / alternating color streaks are like a couple tenths of a millimeter. I was pretty concerned about the general... gooniness? Of the color combination but as you can sort-of see in the background, if you buff the oxidized silver (this is 18K rose gold and silver in the mokume) the constrast essentially vanishes and the resulting color from any further away than knuckle-sandwich distance becomes a very orangey-white. That said idgaf about gooniness because hey might as well own it. I highly recommend mokume for plain bands, the artistry involved is fascinating both aesthetically and technically. Gunshow Poophole fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Feb 27, 2014 |
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Feb 27, 2014 02:35
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Claes Oldenburger posted:I've spent some time working on mokume pieces and the process is extremely labour intensive and generates a lot of waste metal, which brings the price up (especially when the waste metal is gold) but there are a few craftspeople who specialize in pretty much only making mokume pieces. JohnnyRnR linked to a guy in this thread a while ago who I'm pretty sure specializes in it but I can't for the life of me find the link, I'm sure he can let you know what it is! The artist JohnnyRnR generally recommends is Chris Ploof, I think. The only reason I know that is because I had to look through the thread a few months ago to find it when I was thinking about my own wedding ring!
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Feb 27, 2014 04:10
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I guess I can specifically mention my guy's name is Ted Hendrickson. Goldworks is the name of the store, if you're in the Carolinas I absolutely recommend checking him out.
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Feb 27, 2014 04:16
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PAK Designs is a place I'd recommend. They do great work!
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Feb 27, 2014 05:01
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Thanks a lot guys! I actually found a retail store by me that carries Chris Ploof's rings so I'll definitely have to go check it out. I haven't seen any price listing looking at a couple different websites. Can you guys give me a ballpark for these types of rings, or are prices gonna vary wildly? Mostly I wanna know how much to save up and to make sure I don't get ripped off somehow. (I never buy jewelry)
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Feb 27, 2014 16:00
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It varies quite a bit. I looked at Ploof, George Sawyer, and Ted, and the quotes for my initial thoughts ranged between $4k and $5500 for the two rings, and depending on the content of metal. So, the biggest element of the price will be the amount of gold involved, and the pattern thereof. If you're shopping for 8mm bands in size 12, or want a crazy 4-metal mix (more waste) you'll be paying more regardless of which artist you engage. I got quotes when gold spot was at like $1200 an ounce, it's been going back up since then. I'm not sure how the economics of that break out on the customer's end.
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Feb 27, 2014 16:44
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Cool, that sounds pretty reasonable. My budget was around $2k for the ring so if you were looking at $4-5k for a pair that's pretty much right in my range. Thanks for all the help guys!
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Feb 27, 2014 17:48
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What's a decent price (ballpark) for bumping a sterling silver ring up from around a 7 to around a 12.5? I know that adds a lot of material, and the jeweler has to make $$$ as well, but I just wanted to check with some other people before lobbing cash out blindly. I'm in the US, and the band is maybe 4-5mm.
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Mar 14, 2014 21:01
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So it's taken me a while to make this post since it took me forever to set up the proposal for my girlfriend, but back in November I contacts Claes about putting together a ring for me. He was super helpful despite my constant pestering to add new bits and pieces off of rings I had found picture of, and was very clear in letting me know what would work and what wouldn't, and managed to rush it so I'd have it in hand when I went abroad to see my family. The final result:  I really love the engraving work. So thanks, Claes!
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Mar 21, 2014 03:58
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:What's a decent price (ballpark) for bumping a sterling silver ring up from around a 7 to around a 12.5? I have no idea what that would cost these days but going up to almost twice the size is a tall order since it changes the fundamental circular structure of the ring. Is this a plain band or are there stones set in it?
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Mar 21, 2014 21:59
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Decided not to resize after all, just gonna give the ring to the girlfriend. It does have a stone in the center of it, if we are continuing the thought experiment  Side question, is setting a prong on a shank (HAH! I KNOW WORDS TOO JEWELRY PEOPLE!) more or less expensive than setting a bezel on one? Kinda thinking of making a ring and figured I'd just check about that first, before I destroy my budget immediately.
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Mar 22, 2014 04:48
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It doesn't really matter if a stone is prong or bezel set if the ring is designed to accommodate it. You won't have any extra costs picking a different type of setting.
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Mar 22, 2014 19:27
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Surec posted:So it's taken me a while to make this post since it took me forever to set up the proposal for my girlfriend, but back in November I contacts Claes about putting together a ring for me. He was super helpful despite my constant pestering to add new bits and pieces off of rings I had found picture of, and was very clear in letting me know what would work and what wouldn't, and managed to rush it so I'd have it in hand when I went abroad to see my family. Does this type of engraving (something similar was on Johnny's colour-changing sapphire ring he sold during the holiday sale iirc) have a specific name like milgrain does?
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Mar 24, 2014 01:31
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Surec posted:So it's taken me a while to make this post since it took me forever to set up the proposal for my girlfriend, but back in November I contacts Claes about putting together a ring for me. He was super helpful despite my constant pestering to add new bits and pieces off of rings I had found picture of, and was very clear in letting me know what would work and what wouldn't, and managed to rush it so I'd have it in hand when I went abroad to see my family. Thanks Surec! You were an excellent person to work with not to worry and I'm so glad the harrowing delivery made it there in time! The engraving work turned out amazing, the guy who does mine continually amazes me with how detailed he can get things on such small spaces. Which is a great segue into...Grrl Anachronism posted:Does this type of engraving (something similar was on Johnny's colour-changing sapphire ring he sold during the holiday sale iirc) have a specific name like milgrain does? Not that I know of. My engraver describes it as a "leaf pattern with the leaves pointing down" haha. The only engraving work I know of that has an actual name is scroll and that looks like this 
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Mar 24, 2014 02:52
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Claes Oldenburger posted:The only engraving work I know of that has an actual name is scroll and that looks like this  That's an incredibly beautiful ring. I've been (window) shopping for another ring, since I kind of want to start collecting them. How much does a ring like that cost? Can other metals besides gold be used to make it? Is the ring still durable enough for every-day wear?
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Mar 24, 2014 16:13
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Asking here because Etsy let me down and my Googling skills don't seem to be up the the task: I manage a band here in the UK, and they are looking for an artist or company to make some custom pewter pendants of the band's logo. All I've so far been able to find are blank pendants where the seller is offering to stamp a logo onto them - we're looking for a custom mould so that the logo itself is the pendant. Here's an example of some Slayer merch that's the same concept (though our logo is much less elaborate):  Can anyone point me in the right direction, in terms of either someone who could create this or at least an idea as to what that would cost? We'd be ordering in bulk (100+) and we probably wouldn't be able to get away with charging the fans more than £15 ($20) for them, so if that's not economical we'll have to reconsider and maybe go with engraved dogtags or something. We'd need shipment to the UK.
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Mar 24, 2014 19:20
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That may be a good thing for something like shapeways to do, depending on if you can get someone to model it. Take a look at their materials and estimate its volume and see if something works. http://www.shapeways.com/materials/ You could also see if you can get a jewelry designer to provide you a model and have them send the file off.
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Mar 25, 2014 01:53
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Solumin posted:
Honestly I'm not sure of the total ring cost, but it certainly would not be inexpensive. Engraving like this on such a wide band and wrapping all the way around would cost quite a bit! While other metals could be used to make it, gold (primarily white but also yellow) have a good hardness for keeping details. Engraving like this eventually would wear away through everyday wear but it would take quite a while, possibly even years depending on depth of the engraving. It would wear away considerably faster on the part on the inside of your hand. Axeman Jim posted:Asking here because Etsy let me down and my Googling skills don't seem to be up the the task: DarkHorse posted:That may be a good thing for something like shapeways to do, depending on if you can get someone to model it. Take a look at their materials and estimate its volume and see if something works. http://www.shapeways.com/materials/ A girl in my class just got a bunch of stuff back from shapeways and they look fantastic. I did the 3D work and gave her the file, and she did the rest. The only issue I can see you running into is the pendants do have grow lines on them unless it's polished silver. The cheapest metal option is steel, and for what you're looking to do (depending on size) it might end up being a bit heavy. At that price point though your best bet might be finding a factory in Asia or India that can produce them for you, I have no doubt that with the right suppliers you could get each pendant for the equivalent of $5 US or less.
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Mar 25, 2014 04:59
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Claes Oldenburger posted:Honestly I'm not sure of the total ring cost, but it certainly would not be inexpensive. Engraving like this on such a wide band and wrapping all the way around would cost quite a bit! Thanks for the info! I figured it would be expensive. Oh well, it gives me something to save towards for the day when I can throw money at jewelry and other luxuries. I wonder if titanium would work well for that kind of ring. I assume a lower karat/"harder" gold would hold up better than a more pure gold?
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Mar 25, 2014 05:57
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Axeman Jim posted:Can anyone point me in the right direction, in terms of either someone who could create this or at least an idea as to what that would cost? We'd be ordering in bulk (100+) and we probably wouldn't be able to get away with charging the fans more than £15 ($20) for them, so if that's not economical we'll have to reconsider and maybe go with engraved dogtags or something. We'd need shipment to the UK. I can help with this. You want to steer away from anyone in the jewelry business. You want to find a company that makes custom pins, medals, or coins. You can get these made for as little as $2-5/USD depending on how fancy you want to get. You'll want something die stamped to keep costs down. These companies can make thin lapel pins or heavy medals as large as needed. Things like badge backs, brooch fittings, or pendant loops can be added if desired. I found this good looking UK company with some quick googling, but there will be many more. http://www.lapelpinbadges.co.uk
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Mar 26, 2014 06:51
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I've bought an engagement ring. The shop has a price guarantee based on appraised value vs retail sticker price, so as a condition of my purchase they had a local third party do an insurance appraisal. The appraised value came back as nearly the exact regular price, which isn't surprising given the situation. Since this is relatively large purchase, I'm pretty paranoid and want to get a second appraisal on my own to put it out of mind and move on with happily asking my girl to marry me. The store's appraiser is GIA certified, the internet tells me there are two other people in my city that are certified by the "Canadian Jeweller's Association". I called the first one, and they refuse to appraise rings newer than 3 years regardless of origin, claiming a conflict of interest... pretty sure the next one will say the same based on the first call's comments... I would imagine I'll find a jewellery store eventually that will do an appraisal for my cash, but won't be CJA-accredited. My BS alert is going off over this association, but what do I ask for to know if the other potential appraisers are rating the stones accurately? They should be a GIA gemologist?
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Mar 26, 2014 20:51
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You're putting a lot of effort into researching something that you aren't going to sell, and if you did sell you'd lose a lot of money on regardless, because it's still just a worthless rock from the ground that we've all agreed to pretend is valuable. Do you like it enough to purchase at the price offered? That's what any purchase boils down to.
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Mar 26, 2014 21:07
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Just walk into any jewelry store and ask for an appraisal. They won't turn you away if you're standing there saying you need an appraisal for your insurance company.
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Mar 26, 2014 21:46
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JohnnyRnR posted:I can help with this. You want to steer away from anyone in the jewelry business. You want to find a company that makes custom pins, medals, or coins. Fantastic, that's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for your help.
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Mar 27, 2014 14:00
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Is there a post in the thread that has a list of all the goon jewelers? I have Johnny's site, but I think there are a few others. also, Johnny, I sent you an email about a custom ring earlier.
uranium grass fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Apr 7, 2014 |
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Apr 7, 2014 18:19
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Grrl Anachronism posted:Is there a post in the thread that has a list of all the goon jewelers? I have Johnny's site, but I think there are a few others. I don't think there was ever a list... But mine is http://www.viponddesigns.com although I am the worst website owner and never update it. Schools done in two weeks and I'll probably update it more frequently then!
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Apr 8, 2014 13:59
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I thought some of you might enjoy a real world example of diamond colors. This is a photo of my GIA verified master set of diamonds. These are the comparison stones I use to gauge the color of a new diamond. The stones chosen are exactly borderline between two grades so I can tell where a stone will fall if it's just slightly off from a master's color. The first three diamonds are all absolutely fine to use in an engagement ring when we're shopping for a white diamond. The crystal starts to show noticeable tint as you get into the L colors and lower. 
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May 6, 2014 04:36
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You must be better at this than I am. Staring at this diamond in direct sunlight I was unable to see hints of color... Can you guess what color grade it got?
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May 7, 2014 00:46
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