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I'm starting to look for some jewelry to celebrate my one year anniversary with my girl. She's told me that she really likes the look of what I can best describe as a faceted teardrop. Searching on google for that gives me beads that look superficially similar to what I want. Ideally, I'd like to find a pair of amethyst earrings or something with that faceted teardrop look. Should I just walk into a local jeweler and tell them exactly that, and they can help me out? Is there some special term I should be mentioning, or something I should be looking at online? Is this the sort of request that I should shoot JohnnyRnR a message about?
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Aug 22, 2010 19:04
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Rootbeer Baron posted:Does she want a pear shape, or a briolette? Briolettes are when it's more like a three dimensional tear drop and looks like a drop from all sides, pears are when it looks like a tear drop from the front but as you tilt it you can see the pavilion is faceted to a point. Regardless, you can google both shapes and see which one she means. Honestly, although you can have a jeweler custom make very nice amethyst earrings for you, amethyst is pretty common and you should be able to find what you need just by walking into a store or googling what you want online. I was thinking about editing my post to add a picture of the bluenile earrings that Jumpsuit posted (which I found and think are very nice), saying "something like this but three dimensional on the stone, instead of flat." And then I discover you've given me exactly the term I need, which is briolette. Tomorrow is my errand and out of the house day, so I'll spend some time talking to jewelers and seeing if they have something like what I'm looking for. Thanks!
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Aug 23, 2010 02:24
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Anybody have an opinion on Ross-Simons? I'm looking for a pearl bracelet, hoping to spend around 200-300 dollars. I found a 7 inch bracelet of Akoya pearls for around 200 on their website (http://www.ross-simons.com/products/483115.html), and it looks like it's selling for 145 until the end of tomorrow. Is this a store known for ripping people off? Does the bracelet look like paste, or are there warning signs in the description I'm not noticing? I'm hoping to stop by a local jeweler on Monday to see if they have anything that looks good, but 145 for Akoya pearls is hard to pass up if it's as good a deal as it seems.
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Mar 27, 2011 03:39
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I'm interested in getting three of the tourmalines you've got on that site, actually. I'm thinking about the bicolour, the rose, and one of the greens, and then having them set side-by-side into a necklace so that the colour goes from pink to green. Which green one would you recommend for such an endeavor? Edit: Never mind, I read the descriptions a bit more closely and went with the deep green. Ordering them now! Edit again: Since you know the stones already, can I discuss my idea for the pendant with you to make sure I'm on the right track for something that would look good and is possible? Coca Koala fucked around with this message at 17:12 on Jun 18, 2011 |
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Jun 18, 2011 15:24
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JohnnyRnR posted:I just finished a custom pendant for a Goon that picked up a few pieces from the private webstore. It wound up being fantastic and proves you don't have to break the bank to make beautiful custom jewelry. If he gives permission I'll post a photo. Permission granted! Post away, I don't have any photos of the piece myself. For anybody who's on the fence, I can tell you that working with Johnny was about as smooth of an experience as getting some custom jewelery could possibly be. I was never left feeling like my input was being ignored or that we moved forward in the creation process before I was completely happy with what was being presented. The price was totally reasonable (475 for the pendant, three stones at 50 dollars each, and something like 50 for the chain), and the quality of the final piece was just tremendous. Much better than things I've gotten from Blue Nile or Ross Simons. I'm definitely going to be in touch with Johnny again when I need to buy some impressive jewelry. Special mention has to go to the packing job, which was excellent at both holding the jewelry in place and also at presenting it in the best possible way when you open it. It honestly looked like something I might keep on my desk when I first saw the box, and it blew my mind when I remembered that it opened and the art inside was something that my girlfriend would get to wear. Secondary special mention has to go to the chain that came with the pendant, which was without question worth the cost. It's adjustable, which I thought was just going to be a neat gimmick until I pointed it out to my girlfriend and she got all excited because she "can wear it with any shirt or dress she wants and change the length so that the pendant gets shown off perfectly", which I probably would have realized if I thought about it for more than a second but oh well. The chain is fantastic, don't shy away from it. And finally, since I haven't had a chance to let Johnny know how the pendant was received: She loved it and proceeded to show it off to everybody in her family, which actually included members of the extended family who had never met me before. It was a fantastic first impression to make, and everybody was super impressed that I had such nice taste in jewelry. Plus, the fact that it was a custom piece and therefore unique made it even more special and meaningful. Overall the entire thing was a complete success and I would happily do it again. I look forward to working with you in the future.
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Jul 29, 2011 00:06
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Brennanite posted:That's beautiful. Are the stones just different colors or quartz? Thank you! The stones are all tourmaline, sourced from Johnny's private store.
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Aug 5, 2011 18:25
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JohnnyRnR posted:I've decided to go ahead and wind down the private store that I had put up for Ask/Tell. My business is changing, and rather than sit on these gemstones for another year I've decided to get them to people that can use them. Are you getting out of the custom jewelry business? I noticed a few weeks ago that the engagement ring designs had been dropped from your site; if it's not prying, I'd be curious to know what's changing. Open question: A friend of mine told me that she loves sapphires and likes silver jewelry, but has trouble finding sapphires set in silver. Apparently somebody had told her that the combination of sapphire and silver was hard to work with, and so a piece with those components would be more expensive than a comparable piece with a similarly priced stone. Is that true, and why?
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Jun 19, 2012 23:05
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Around the time I decided that my girlfriend is the one for me, she sent me a link to an etsy listing for a ring that she really liked. Foolishly, I didn't jump on it and now it's sold. Here are some pictures of the ring in question:    She likes the sapphire in the middle, and the ornate border with the diamonds. It's apparently designed by a guy named Michael Christoff; the etsy listing said he is "a well known jewelry designer in Beverly Hills". Googling indicates that he's probably not quite as well known as etsy would lead one to believe? What sort of vocabulary should I be using to describe this ring to jewelers if I want to design one in a similar style? Or would it be easier to just show them the pictures and say "I want something like this; what do you have or can make?" The price on Etsy was $2400, with 3.5 grams of 14KT white gold, a 2.22 ct sapphire, and 52 eye clean diamonds with a combined carat weight of .39. If my ring budget is ~$3200, is it reasonable to try and have a similar ring commissioned, or should I start prowling vintage jewelry shops and hope I'm lucky? JohnnyRnR, I commissioned a necklace from you a couple years ago (the three tourmalines set in a vertical line, if that rings a bell) which was altogether an utterly positive experience so if you feel like it's a project you're interested in, let me know and I'll send you an email. The budget has some flex, so $3200 isn't a hard cap.
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Apr 9, 2013 00:57
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Claes Oldenburger posted:I love the style of this ring and I am going to take a crack at remaking it for fun. I'll post pictures in here after of the renders and if it's what you want we can talk about it and if it's not then oh well I have it for myself! Sure! I still want to give Johnny right of first refusal on the project, but if he's not interested then I'd definitely like to see what you come up with! I've done some searching and I think I found a similarly-styled right that the girl might enjoy; I'm running the pictures by her right now and if they meet with her approval then I'll post them for your added inspiration. Edit: She likes this one too; like I said, it's a similar style. She prefers the first ring more, especially with regards to the sapphire itself; she really likes the deep dark colour of the first sapphire, as opposed to the lighter tone of the second one.   
Coca Koala fucked around with this message at 03:45 on Apr 9, 2013 |
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Apr 9, 2013 03:35
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Claes Oldenburger posted:That makes total sense, and Johnny gets first dibs on pretty much all projects JohnnyRnR posted:You can definitely have a similar ring made within your budget. Sadly, I am a little swamped right now and won't be able to give you the attention you'll need. Claes Oldenburger is a solid guy and if the timing works out he could make you a great piece. Good to know my budget is in good shape, then. Claes, what's a good way to get in touch with you about commissioning a ring?
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Apr 10, 2013 01:13
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Email sent! You can probably ignore the part where I ask you for examples of your previous work; immediately after I sent it I found your website and looked through your portfolio. It looks like some nice stuff!
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Apr 10, 2013 03:41
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To save Claes a little work (and to show off this gorgeous ring), here's the photo I just emailed him. My fiancee just finished washing her hands before we took this picture, so her skin is a little shiny. I tried to take the photo with good lighting, to show off the blue of the sapphire and a bit of the diamonds. The ring is really striking in person, the diamonds just light up when the sun hits it. It looks incredibly elegant, and everybody who's seen it has had nothing but good things to say about it. Claes did a great job putting it together and sourcing the stones!
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Sep 9, 2013 03:17
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Go the custom route! Working with a jeweler to design a custom piece is not very difficult, probably less expensive than you think it is, tends to impress the hell out of whoever you're giving the jewelry to, and has the side benefit of making sure you get exactly the piece you want instead of compromising with something that isn't perfect but happens to be right in front of you. I've worked with two different jewelers to design two different pieces of jewelry; both times were really great experiences and you can see the result of the most recent one on the previous page.
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Sep 22, 2013 07:03
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Migz posted:JohnnyRrR, are you still helping goons put together engagement rings or at least pointing them in the right direction? A fellow goon pointed me your way from the engagement thread. If you're looking for a goon to help put together a ring, I'll put in a plug for Claes Oldenburger, who made my engagement ring that can be seen one or two pages ago; I had a great experience working with him and I'd highly recommend him. He might be busy with school now that we're out of the summer, but it wouldn't hurt to get in touch with him.
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Oct 5, 2013 02:16
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I signed up! The necklace you made for me a few years ago is one of my fiancee's favourite pieces, and she gets compliments on it pretty consistently!
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Nov 19, 2013 17:12
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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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Claes Oldenburger posted:I'm currently taking orders over the summer for custom work if you're interested! I was planning on making another SA-Mart thread but got side tracked with a ton of design work. I'm starting up another thread finally in the fall with the launch of my new website too. Here's my current (and bad) website https://www.viponddesigns.com Some of my engagement work was for goons already By the way, if you have any photos of the wedding band you made to go with the engagement ring you made for me, you should absolutely feel free to post them! My wife has been wearing them together for almost two months now and loves them!
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Jul 12, 2014 01:52
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The other thread they went to is the wedding thread, which discusses all aspects of the marriage process (including the purchasing of wedding bands and engagement rings). There isn't a second jewellery thread, if that's what you were asking.
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Dec 11, 2015 06:58
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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 |
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Mar 13, 2016 22:52
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Claes Oldenburger posted:I'd say that's as good a reason as any! Hey Claes, do you still do custom jewelry on commission? If so, I'd love to work with you on another piece. What's your email?
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Feb 15, 2017 05:18
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| # ¿ May 6, 2024 16:03 |
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Claes Oldenburger posted:Sure do, I'm actually FINALLY in the process of building my own studio space and moving to do my own thing full time! info at thisishewn.com Awesome! I sent you a message through the site, hopefully you're interested in taking on the project!
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Feb 17, 2017 05:37
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