The Gemstone Project

I had been trying to figure out how to set this red spinel from Peter Torraca for years when I gave up and sold it.

I still worked on sketch ideas. I figure that sketches are never wastes of time, they might come in handy for other projects, which is why I have entirely too many sketchbooks lying around. I really had no idea and just went random places with it.

This was a fairly awful sketch because the outline of the stone is so way off, but it was more to get a feel for the general idea. Drawing is so hard for me to do well, and I have to spend a lot of time working on it. Drawing abnormal shapes are hard. Circles and squares are great, but throw in cushions or any cut corners and I’m screwed.

This one is actually much better but because of the angle the picture was taken, it looks a bit off. I was really running with the baguette idea at this point, but wanted to stick with the repeated patterns of the art deco period.

So I sort of switched gears from the halo and round melee and went to strict Art Deco. It was at this point where I bought the stone back from the person I sold it to, and I started to really think about how I’d really want to set it. I was playing with proportions here. The stone is smaller, so it felt like the baguettes would need to be impossible proportions to go with the look I like. I love the skinny look of the one on the bottom, and the top one is too wide, which is ridiculous because the stones are 2mm.

This is what I decided on. Fully anticipating a hefty custom setting bill, I figured I’d maybe put it at the bottom of the list to set, or end up selling it.

And then I found a ring that was basically perfect, and for a ridiculously awesome secondhand price, set the red spinel in a super nice turn-of-the-century setting that was very similar to what I was wanting for it – a bunch of step cuts.