mint green – The Gemstone Project

Eye Candy, Updates and Gray Spinels

Posted on October 5, 2015October 6, 2015 by grayspinel

It has been a long, crazy week. I spent a lot of it photographing and posting 3 ring settings (Aurore, Exaltée, and Feuilles Dorées) as well as my first necklace, Vivant. I have one band that is super close to going into production, and a couple other bands that need to be photographed and posted. Since I have spent so much time taking photos of these pieces this week, I figured I’d include some of them in the blog.

I’ve also been working diligently on some custom projects, one of which is being set now, and is certainly going to be a statement piece. I also have a custom design for a violet spinel that I’ve been struggling with, but I think I have finally got an idea in my head and know the general concept. Then I also have a green cuprian tourmaline ring that will probably need a few tweaks before it goes into production. Plus a bunch more custom projects coming through the pipeline.

I have also been getting a ton of requests to find stones for special occasion rings – lots of engagement ring stones in the works over here, with some funky cool cabs thrown into the mix. If you are looking for a gemstone, please be aware that it can take a lot of time, depending on what you’re looking for! The earlier I start looking, and the looser the deadlines, the better.

I’ve been working with a friend to find the perfect stone for a prize she won at the Pricescope JCK event back in May, and we found the perfect stone and I cannot wait to see it in the finished piece.

I get tons of requests for gray spinel, because it’s one of those stones I’m super passionate about, and I don’t keep that quiet. It is getting increasingly popular, and I have a growing list of people who are looking for it. Beware, prices for it are going up!

I’m considering a few additions to my newly revised website, and perhaps changing the structure of the blog a bit, with maybe one monthly post with what I’m up to, perhaps a Gem Blast, an informational/educational post, and then perhaps a wildcard post of some sort (design process perhaps?). I’ve been so terribly swamped that I haven’t been able to keep up and get as ahead as much as I normally do.

Another reminder of the sale I have going on in my etsy shop! This coupon code is only good until November 1, so use it while you can! “AUTUMN2015” (no quotes) is good for 15% off purchases of $100 or more. I might run some holiday specials when it gets closer to that time, but I haven’t determined that just yet.

It looks like I will be getting a new office space relatively soon, (yay for no more gem-color-altering pink walls!) so lots of my time will be dedicated to redecorating as we move into the winter months. I’m really excited about this, because it will be the first space I really get to call my own!

Also, because I have been getting questions about it, some of the prototype rings seen in their various pages on my site will be going up for sale – please let me know directly if you would like to be added to that item’s interest list!

Many things underway here, and definitely keeping busy!

Gem Blast: Green Garnet

Posted on August 24, 2015August 21, 2015 by grayspinel

I want to take a post to talk a little bit about this garnet. I had been eyeing it for years from my favorite gemstone supplier, and at a certain point, could no longer resist the temptation and brought it home with me.

Tsavorite/Green Grossular Garnet
Medium Tone
Green
3.28ct
7.2×9.8mm
Elongated Octagon/emerald outline w/ step cut crown
eyeclean
untreated

There was a point where I thought about setting it and selling it as a piece, but I’ve been working so hard at trying to build up my list of prototypes for my jewelry line, that I can no longer justify holding onto it. So, it went up into my etsy store last week, and hopefully it will go to a good home.

However, in the time between going from considering selling it, to listing it to etsy, I sent it to an expert on all things green garnet to get his opinion on it and give me a quote on how much he thought I should list it for. I’ll be mysterious as to that person’s identity for now, but I plan on writing a blog with information from him at a later point in time.

This image and the following 2 images show it with natural light hitting the left side and artificial lighting hitting the right side.

The crystal is actually quite clean, but has some veil inclusions that are pretty evenly distributed throughout the stone.

As you can see, it’s a pretty remarkable gem, a gorgeous bright open medium green that really catches the eye, especially with it’s size.

And a terrible picture of some really gorgeous little tsavorites that I adore and picked up at the same time. I have no idea what I’m going to do with them but I will figure it out sooner or later! They were far too beautiful to leave there.

I just realized that it’s possible to take advantage of my fall sale coupon code with this garnet, making it a really great deal! Of course, I’m always open to offers as well.

Stay tuned for an upcoming post on tsavorite…

Gem Blast: Blue and Green Tourmaline

Posted on June 8, 2015June 8, 2015 by grayspinel

I was asked a while back if I had any indicolite in a specific shape and size. The specification of “indicolite” gave me pause, because what is an indicolite anyway?

Well, it turns out that indicolite just used as a term for the blue varieties of tourmaline, and is also known by the term “indigolite”. I am not a chemist, gemologist or a physicist, as I have reiterated before, so I had never given it any real meaningful thought.

Tourmaline is mostly classified by color, and color is usually an indication of mineral presence. Indicolite is usually but it’s complicated by the fact that paraiba and cuprian tourmalines are colored by copper, while other darker blue tourmalines are colored by iron.

So it seems as though classification of a tourmaline is more of a continuum rather than a linear grouping.

I typically don’t really delve too far into these things because I look at the stone as a piece of art and a medium I have to work with rather than it’s chemical composition. When I do get questions like this, I ask people who are more knowledgeable than I am (a huge thanks to all of you who do their best to explain these things to me!) so I can answer to the best of my ability, or just point them to somewhere else that might have the answers they are looking for.

Now, ask about color, shape and proportion, and then you’ll get a long monologue!

Gem Blast: Garnets

Posted on January 26, 2015January 6, 2015 by grayspinel

In honor of my best friend growing up, whose birthday is tomorrow, I’m posting a whole bunch of gemstone pictures of her birthstone: Garnet.

Merelani Mint

Almost Colorless Grossular Garnet

Tsavorites:

Imperial Garnet

Imperial Garnet:

Loliondo Spessartite

Hah! I just realized that I don’t have any pink or red garnet pictures on this computer. I guess I need to take some more pictures!

But check out the variety of colors. I wish (sort of!) that the general public knew that these stones were as varied and interesting as they are. Of course, I don’t wish that the general public knew about them because then the prices would go up even more.

This is for all you January babies out there!

Gem Blast: Merelani Mint

Posted on December 19, 2014October 26, 2014 by grayspinel

Since things are starting to get a bit crazy around these parts, I’m going to take it easy for a post! This little stone is a Merelani Mint Garnet, so named for the Merelani Hills area of Tanzania, where some of the most awesome green garnets come from.

The trade ideal dictates that the more saturated, the better, and the more blue in the green, the better. This one is not deep enough in tone, or saturated enough to be considered the trade ideal, but it a beautiful little gem that’s internally flawless.

You can see in this picture how much more blue the center stone has in it next to it’s two companions, also green garnets. The center stone was a birthday present from my husband, the sides were an anniversary gift.

A lot of people like the set these garnets in rose gold, because of where they sit on the colorwheel, but it just reads as busy to me for most of the pale greens out there.

I plan to eventually set this stone with white diamonds, I just haven’t figured out how I want to do it – especially because I have the two other green garnets to set as well.

This stone was cut by Barry Bridgestock at Artistic Colored Stones. Should you ever see something you like on his website, I highly recommend snapping it up right then and there, his stones tend to fly off the shelves as soon as they are put on them!