|
Anyone else planning to go to Tucson this year?
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2016 08:35
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 18, 2024 03:57 |
|
|
Not quite jewelry, but is there a place online to buy halved amethyst geodes? My dad had one until it was broken and I was hoping to replace it with a similar sized one, maybe 5 or 6 inches long by 3 or 4 inches wide? I looked on etsy but it's either thousands of dollars for something the size of an umbrella stand, tiny shards clearing my aura, or wire wrapped jewelry. All very nice, but not what im hoping to find. What would be an appropriate price range so I'm not getting ripped off?
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2016 19:29
|
|
|
Wedemeyer posted:Not quite jewelry, but is there a place online to buy halved amethyst geodes? My dad had one until it was broken and I was hoping to replace it with a similar sized one, maybe 5 or 6 inches long by 3 or 4 inches wide? I looked on etsy but it's either thousands of dollars for something the size of an umbrella stand, tiny shards clearing my aura, or wire wrapped jewelry. All very nice, but not what im hoping to find. What would be an appropriate price range so I'm not getting ripped off? Check ebay's buy it now. While price depends on color and shape, but in that general size range there are some in the 20-50 dollar range that are nice. Hopefully nobody beats you to that first link - it's a pretty great deal. Tunicate fucked around with this message at 21:44 on Jan 25, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2016 21:38
|
|
|
JohnnyRnR posted:Without seeing the stone or at the very least a grading report it's tough to tell you if this is a fair price. It sounds like it, but you'll want to make sure the color origin of the fancy intense yellow is natural. I'm happy to give you feedback if you can get some more information. Going with a 1.5ct fancy light yellow VSI pear for ~$5200. The sparkle and cut made the intense yellow diamond look dull. We went to Shane for a cross shop and they had a fancy light yellow 1.48ct for ~$14,000 and the color wasn't as even. So, that makes me feel good about the price. It does not have a GIA and was tossed in with the other diamonds from one of the wholesalers as a "outside shot." We will have it GIA certified. It is the one on the right. The one in the middle is a dog of a diamond and there for comparison (K color, the yellowest clear they had on hand). The one on the left is the intense yellow. The picture is a bit blurry for a good comparison. 
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2016 03:51
|
|
|
Just dropping in to say thanks to those that recommended using Jewelers Mutual for insurance earlier in the thread. My fiance and I recently purchased our wedding bands, (which we're using as our engagement rings as well cause we're strange like that, and being guys, wtf else are we going to do till we tie the knot). I didn't have a clue where to start looking for a simple policy, and these folks seemed legit, and it was less than $40/year for both of them together. Granted, they're nothing extravagant and 'only' cost ~1300 a pop, so that plays into it. But cheap insurance for piece of mind at least.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2016 15:45
|
|
|
Tunicate posted:Anyone else planning to go to Tucson this year? I wish  too much work to get away! Lots of jewellers/gemcutters/engravers there I would love to meet.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2016 09:37
|
|
|
nollij posted:Going with a 1.5ct fancy light yellow VSI pear for ~$5200. It is a nice diamond and the price is excellent assuming the color is natural and the VS1 is correct. You'll need to send the diamond to GIA before it is mounted - they won't quality grade diamonds set in jewelry.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2016 18:26
|
|
|
I did a little bit of browsing for an engagement ring over the past couple of weeks. Is diamonds direct a pretty reputable place? I am trying to stick around $4k for a solitaire. The two stones I was looking at were both princess cuts- 1 carat, VG, SI2, I color they quoted at $4,320 1 carat VG, SI1 K color which they told me $3,350. Girlfriend preferred the K color over the whiter diamonds so I think the K is the way to go but I am ignorant to all of these things. Do these seem to be decent prices? I am paying in cash so should I be able to get the prices down a bit?
|
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2016 17:08
|
|
|
Hi all, I recently purchased an engagement ring from an independent jeweler who is the retired coworker of a family member, and really seemed to know her stuff/have a passion for jewelry. She custom made the ring with a diamond she purchased from a contact she has in Philadelphia. I'm pretty positive I got a good ring (I think it's beautiful) and that my girlfriend will absolutely love it, as I sneakily got her to tell me her preferences a while back. I'd like your opinions on the ring, though, just out of curiosity! It's appraised and also came with a certification/specifications and grading from the Gemological Institute of America, which I was told is the best out there. The ring, according to the appraisal is: - 14k white gold - 4 prong, die struck, with airlined cathedral shoulders The stone, according to the GIA report is: Shape and Cut - Round Brilliant Measurements - 5.51-5.55x3.30mm Carat Weight - .62 Carat Color grade - G Clarity grade - VS2 Cut grade - Excellent Polish - Excellent Symmetry - Excellent Fluorescence - Faint Clarity Characteristics - Cloud, Crystal, Feather Price was $2450. So, a lot of this is gibberish to me, but one thing I do know is that it's not the largest stone. I did go for quality over size, because my girlfriend is very small, and I know that's what she'd want. I'm not sure how important Fluorescence or Clarity Characteristics are/just what they are, so an explanation of that would be really interesting. I'd upload a picture but my camera is an iPhone 4 camera and I'm at work. I can pull it off if necessary though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2016 17:10
|
|
|
On Sunday my fiance asked me a very interesting, but somewhat vague question: "What's the rarest kind of gem on Earth?" I told him many gems are common in the Earth's crust, but finding large ones of high quality is the hard part. However, he meant absolute rarity as in small amounts existing in total. Can any gemologists point me toward some oddball shiny rocks? The rarest I can find is naturally-occurring Moissanite.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2016 17:33
|
|
|
Good quality alexandrite and red beryl off the top of my head.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2016 17:57
|
|
|
TunaSpleen posted:On Sunday my fiance asked me a very interesting, but somewhat vague question: "What's the rarest kind of gem on Earth?" I told him many gems are common in the Earth's crust, but finding large ones of high quality is the hard part. However, he meant absolute rarity as in small amounts existing in total. Can any gemologists point me toward some oddball shiny rocks? The rarest I can find is naturally-occurring Moissanite. Probably some obscure silicate mineral, where there's only one crystal in a collector's home somewhere. Or some one-off Russian synthetic produced during the cold war. There was a guy at Tucson selling faceted super-high-lead-content glass out of a window used to shield the workers during the Manhattan Project. It looked really cool - the radiation it had been exposed to turned it yellow-green, and at 70% lead oxide, it has an incredibly high dispersion. Historical significance makes it pretty rare. Tunicate fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Feb 10, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2016 19:04
|
|
|
TunaSpleen posted:On Sunday my fiance asked me a very interesting, but somewhat vague question: "What's the rarest kind of gem on Earth?" I told him many gems are common in the Earth's crust, but finding large ones of high quality is the hard part. However, he meant absolute rarity as in small amounts existing in total. Can any gemologists point me toward some oddball shiny rocks? The rarest I can find is naturally-occurring Moissanite. I guess it depends, some of the lab-made speciality gems are essentially one of the rarest jewelry gems around since they don't exist outside of like one little labs ability to fabricate them. You also get things like fused radioactive glass from cold war nuclear test sites, and you could theoretically cut it and put it into a ring. If you're talking about naturally-occurring and what most people would consider a gemstone, then I have no idea. You can find obscure silicates and just stick them in a setting and say they're a gemstone.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2016 20:44
|
|
|
Tunicate posted:Probably some obscure silicate mineral, where there's only one crystal in a collector's home somewhere. Get anything cool from Tucson? My vote for rare gemstone is large Alexandrite with a solid colour change, but my knowledge is limited to mostly stuff already used in jewellery.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2016 00:47
|
|
|
LA Times just did a piece on rare minerals http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-rare-minerals-20160213-story.html?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2016 07:09
|
|
|
TunaSpleen posted:On Sunday my fiance asked me a very interesting, but somewhat vague question: "What's the rarest kind of gem on Earth?" I told him many gems are common in the Earth's crust, but finding large ones of high quality is the hard part. However, he meant absolute rarity as in small amounts existing in total. Can any gemologists point me toward some oddball shiny rocks? The rarest I can find is naturally-occurring Moissanite. In a colored gemstone: Pallasitic Peridot. They're cut from olivine crystals that come to earth on meteorites. A one carat gemstone in fine quality will run about $20,000. They're extremely difficult to source. You have to buy a meteorite and start cutting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallasite Other than that... a natural fancy red diamond. Going rate for a fine one carat example is $2,000,000. http://geogallery.si.edu/index.php/en/1007278/deyoung-red-diamond Tunicate posted:There was a guy at Tucson selling faceted super-high-lead-content glass out of a window used to shield the workers during the Manhattan Project. It looked really cool - the radiation it had been exposed to turned it yellow-green, and at 70% lead oxide, it has an incredibly high dispersion. Historical significance makes it pretty rare. A chunk of that glass went up for auction recently and I had the same thought: "Wouldn't it be cool to cut that up and facet it?" Do you have his name? I'd like to buy a sample.
|
|
#
?
Feb 18, 2016 07:11
|
|
|
JohnnyRnR posted:
Dunno if he still has any, but here's his site.
|
|
#
?
Feb 18, 2016 08:15
|
|
|
Thanks for the replies, everyone! Looks like I'd need to save up my grad student stipend for quite some time before I can acquire one of those rarities. Plain ol' white diamonds are overrated to me anyways.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2016 06:50
|
|
|
I want to thank the OP for this post. I have not read much of it, but it's always here for me when I can't sleep. It's just interesting enough to keep me reading until I fall asleep. Now if I can just rid myself of these disturbing dreams with African refugees, machetes and blood diamonds.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2016 16:14
|
|
|
I'm looking for a cheap Amazon backup wedding band to be worn during high risk for losing it activities that would match a white gold wedding band. What kind of metal should I be looking for? I was looking at this but I'm not sure that color matches correctly.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2016 16:22
|
|
|
You can get a 10k band for cheap if you want it to actually match
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2016 04:33
|
|
|
Tunicate posted:Dunno if he still has any, but here's his site. Thank you very much.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2016 06:54
|
|
|
New gemstone discovery! http://www.jckonline.com/blogs/cutt...9c41f-306543541 quote:“I heard nothing for three months,” he says. “Then I got a phone call that said we found something incredible. It’s not a chrysoprase. It is not a chrysocolla. It’s a chalcedony that has never been discovered.” Sounds pretty cool! The pictures look really nice as well, I'd love to get my hands on some of it to work with.
|
|
#
?
Feb 29, 2016 06:25
|
|
|
xyloshan posted:How would you cast something in say copper without using a forge? I was looking into trying to cast skull molds with different metals but almost all of them required forges, especially if it was a more expensive metal. This is from a long time ago but I didn't notice it until now, sorry. Be very careful casting copper, molten copper can give off very toxic fumes, please use a casting alloy like bronze or brass, if you must use copper you need adequate ventilation, please do not stand over a crucible of molten copper. But most jewelry metals can be melted with just an acetylene torch, a natural gas/compressed air torch will also work, or an oxy-propane or oxy-acetylene torch. As others have mentioned, a kiln will also do the trick. So getting the metal molten is not the hard part of metal casting, getting the metal into your investment is. At jewelry scale, you can't rely on gravity to get the metal into your cavity, you'll get better results with some kind of force behind it. Vacuum assist casting is my favorite technique, but the cheapest vacuum caster I've seen is around $750 (you might find a used one if your lucky, but they are useful machines and people don't part with them often.) Centrifugal casting machines run around $500 new. So that leaves old school "by hand" techniques as the cheapest option, like sling casting or steam pressure casting, but those can be tricky/dangerous as well. Theres no single "right" answer as for the easiest/cheapest way to cast something, it depends on the metal you are using, the size of the object you are casting, and what you are using as your investment (the material which forms the "mold" you are casting the metal into). For large sculptural applications, you can just pack your model inside sand and pour the molten metal in, but as the channels the metal needs to flow through get smaller, the more force you will need to supplement gravity with to get it in, and the hotter your investment should be before your pour. If you are just looking for something to experiment with, you probably want a clay or sand casting kit. You'll need a crucible, a heat source, some flux, tongs, mold box, investment material, mold parting powder, the metal, and safety gear (casting gloves, goggles.) More sophisticated techniques give finer, more detailed results though, with less risk of miscasts. If you are really attached to using copper, electroforming might be the better way to go, because molten copper is dangerous. You'll need a rectifier, vessel, copper anode, copper electroforming solution, conductive paint, a lacquer to seal any organic object, and safety gear (plating solutions vary from pretty toxic to actually cyanide, so suit up for it, elbow length gloves, apron, mask, goggles). Electroforming a different metal is not as simple as switching out the anode, you need different solutions. I hope I'm not discouraging anyone with all the safety talk, this stuff is fun and easy to learn, but you need to be careful. Edit: I just realized you specifically asked about lost wax casting without a forge, so heres my process, at least. Carve a wax model, sprue it to a flask base. Prepare a flask for vacuum assist casting (melt some wax for air channels from to top of the flask down to level with the model). Fill the flask with casting investment (this requires a vacuum table to remove air bubbles) leaving at least a quarter inch of open space at the top when you are done. Kiln Burnout. When the burnout is done, melt the metalwith an oxy-propane torch. Get the flask onto the vacuum assist plate of a vacumm caster, make sure the metal is completely molten, and pour. So it requires some expensive and specialized equipment, but not a forge Blackula Vs. Tarantula fucked around with this message at 00:48 on Mar 4, 2016 |
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2016 00:35
|
|
|
I have a pretty smoky quartz (or maybe citrine? something quartzy) pendant that I can't wear because it's missing the top part: What's the name for this type of bail? My google-fu isn't finding the name for it, only bringing me a lot of bullshit healing crystal pendants for sale. effika fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Mar 12, 2016 |
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2016 04:30
|
|
|
Okay I'm ready to take the engagement ring plunge (eep). I've got a bunch of pins from her pinterest of rings she likes and I think I have at least some idea of what to get. Plus I imagine I can take a few pictures into a jewelers and chat with them about the design right? Can people remind me the online jewelers (including some goons?) people have used here in the past? I figure I'll check out some local places as well as online, maybe get some quotes or something, and go from there. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to go about doing this? Also how long does it take to get a ring made generally? I imagine I'll be proposing sometime this summer.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2016 18:46
|
|
|
Neurostorm posted:Okay I'm ready to take the engagement ring plunge (eep). I've got a bunch of pins from her pinterest of rings she likes and I think I have at least some idea of what to get. Plus I imagine I can take a few pictures into a jewelers and chat with them about the design right? I had my wife's engagement ring (and wedding band) designed by Trevor Vipond, who posts here as Claes Oldenburger. I had a really great experience with him, he put together a fantastic ring that is exactly what my wife wants, and the stones he put in it are pretty beautiful. If you want pictures of the work he did for me, let me know and I'll dig through this thread for them  edit: As far as process goes, I provided Trevor with all the pictures I could of the style of ring that my wife wanted, he showed me an early render, and I gave him the go-ahead. From start to finish, it was maybe six months? I don't remember exactly when I reached out to him, but if you're starting around now, you should probably be able to have the ring in hand by the summer. Coca Koala fucked around with this message at 22:54 on Mar 13, 2016 |
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2016 22:52
|
|
|
Coca Koala posted:I had my wife's engagement ring (and wedding band) designed by Trevor Vipond, who posts here as Claes Oldenburger. I had a really great experience with him, he put together a fantastic ring that is exactly what my wife wants, and the stones he put in it are pretty beautiful. If you want pictures of the work he did for me, let me know and I'll dig through this thread for them Awesome, thanks! Claes, I don't have premium, is there an email I can reach you at or something?
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2016 00:48
|
|
|
Neurostorm posted:Okay I'm ready to take the engagement ring plunge (eep). I've got a bunch of pins from her pinterest of rings she likes and I think I have at least some idea of what to get. Plus I imagine I can take a few pictures into a jewelers and chat with them about the design right? I've used Whiteflash and had a wonderful experience. It took ~3 weeks from the time I placed the order to have the ring in hand.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2016 06:24
|
|
|
I have some questions about a few things with regards to colour- thinking of getting a ring. Apologies in advance- I have minimal understanding of jewelry... 1. I am interested in rose gold- I know that different places use different composition of metals but I find that most pictures online from stores mostly look either computer generated or very yellow. How do I get a more rose/pink spectrum rose gold? Does 14K vs 18K make a big difference? 2. I've been thinking of moissanite based on all the great things I've heard. It looks to me that Amora/Forever 1 (the super white new moissanite) don't really have many of the less popular cuts (I dunno why but I really like hearts, pears, cushions etc), and the other older moissanite (eg classic and forever brilliant) that come in those cuts have a grey/yellow/green tint. I have read for diamonds specifically that if setting something in yellow or rose gold the color of the diamond is less important than with white gold or platinum as a less white diamond would not be as noticeable... so would rose gold make a less white moissanite look more white? Or because of the contrast from red tones would the moissanite look more green when set in it? Would it also be the same as diamonds in that fancy cuts show their colour more than a round cut for example?
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2016 04:17
|
|
|
Neurostorm posted:Awesome, thanks! Claes, I don't have premium, is there an email I can reach you at or something? Thanks for the kind words Coco! This is impeccable timing, I've recently started doing custom orders again. Feel free to shoot me an email to info AT thisishewn.com Im in the process of setting up a side business, but working full time has that going sloooow. If you want some examples of what I'm doing or can do, feel free to check out https://www.instagram.com/cavaliergastown I am currently the lead designer of this company and this is all my work! EDIT: megathrust posted:I have some questions about a few things with regards to colour- thinking of getting a ring. Apologies in advance- I have minimal understanding of jewelry... 1. Most rose gold (in my experience) has been fairly set ratios of metal to keep that rose gold colour and maintain workable properties, so it doesn't vary too far from copper-y colour. I've seen pinker mixes before but never worked with them. I do not find 14 and 18 make a huge difference in rose gold. Not like yellow, anyways. 2. Yellow especially but also rose gold will indeed "smooth out" the colour in a slightly yellow stone. With a colour so warm beside it the stone will look whiter in comparison as opposed to the opposite, stark white metal will bring out any warm tones in the stone. I've never personally seen a moissanite look green but rose gold is a very warm red, so I don't think it would contrast enough to make that happen. From what I understand moissanite are a pain to cut. Because of this the company that makes them would likely rather focus on the highest selling shapes rather than all of them. It's too bad! It would be great to see more cushions and pears. Claes Oldenburger fucked around with this message at 08:03 on Mar 16, 2016 |
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2016 07:46
|
|
|
Thanks for the answers Claes! I love the rings on your company's Instagram- are you located in Vancouver now?
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2016 04:32
|
|
|
megathrust posted:Thanks for the answers Claes! I love the rings on your company's Instagram- are you located in Vancouver now? No problem! Thanks, we've been doing a lot of work that I am very proud of. One of the company owners is a 3rd generation gem dealer and goes overseas on buying trips fairly often, so I've had some amazing gemstones (mainly sapphires) to work with. I am back in Vancouver and happily not dealing with eastern winters ever again!
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2016 07:08
|
|
|
That rose gold wedding set you have on Instagram is to die for. Are you only interested in rings for custom work? Or would you be interested in necklaces etc too?
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2016 02:15
|
|
|
The set with the single prongs in between the stones on the wedding band? They turned out real nice, we even managed to use her grandmother's diamonds for the halo and side stones. I definitely do more than rings, shoot me a PM or an email and I can do my best to help you out!
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2016 07:45
|
|
|
Claes Oldenburger posted:Thanks for the kind words Coco! Awesome! Just sent you an email - thanks!
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2016 23:27
|
|
|
Today I randomly popped into a jewelry store and absolutely loved this ring by Margoni: It's a sterling band, 18K around the stones, two rutilated quartz, and a small brown diamond. I absolutely dug it but it was $2K which, to me, is a bit much for what it actually is- I think the markup was rear end in a top hat tax for it being 1- a "name brand" jeweler and 2- a fancy jewelry store in DC Can anyone point me towards designers doing similar styles in quartz or perhaps a jeweler that could do a custom piece that would be like that ring but even cooler? I would *much* rather give my money directly to an artisan than purchase "name brand" from a store.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2016 19:56
|
|
|
I've seen similar pieces for much less in my local artists' co-op and at high-end craft shows. Are there any artists' co-ops near you? That general style seems to be on trend with artisan jewelers right now, at least around here (Northeastern US).
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2016 04:54
|
|
|
I have a ring resizing question, expert folk - I've been wearing my Great Grandfather's nine karat gold pinky ring since I was fifteen. I'm now nearing thirty-two and have only taken it off for surgeries. I had a nasty health "event" in October (almost died, spent weeks in the surgical ICU, etc.) and since then my ring has been incredibly loose and even fallen off my hand one time. Since I have worn this ring I've weighed 200 up to 260 in college and back down to 200/195 now. I don't think it's a fat guy fingers thing. Because of the four or five hallmarks, the person I took the ring to today said they would prefer not resize it because they would have to do so from the side of the ring to maintain the markings. Obviously I'd rather leave it alone. How many months have to go by with a ring being loose for no apparent reason would you have to go to then resize it?
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2016 04:00
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 18, 2024 03:57 |
|
|
Captain Log posted:Because of the four or five hallmarks, the person I took the ring to today said they would prefer not resize it because they would have to do so from the side of the ring to maintain the markings. Obviously I'd rather leave it alone. How many months have to go by with a ring being loose for no apparent reason would you have to go to then resize it? I'm not sure about your situation and the cause from finger shrinking, but I'd say if your fingers aren't showing any sign of getting bigger it's probably a smart idea to get it sized. Rings that aren't sized properly fly off fingers all the time, and with a piece that is important to you it's not a matter of if it's a matter of when. If you want to wait a bit to see if your fingers go back, it's probably best to not wear the ring.
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2016 04:17
|
|