parure – The Gemstone Project

Pantone 2015: Marsala

Posted on February 5, 2015February 5, 2015 by grayspinel

Ok, Pantone, what happened? 2014 was Radiant Orchard. 2013 was Emerald. Why Marsala for 2015?

First off, Marsala is a fortified wine typically used in a chicken dish. So when I heard that “Marsala” was the color of 2015, I was like, “What?! What color is Marsala besides a brownish purple-red?”

Well, dear friends, I’m here to tell you that Marsala is indeed, a brownish purplish red.

Now, it’s certainly not that I have something against the wine. It’s the color. As a gemstone enthusiast, I’m typically eyeing the vivid jewel tones, or the softer pastel shades. Adding brown to any gemstone is absolutely against all of my gemstone picking instincts. It’s a great color for makeup, with eye shadow, blush, lipstick, and nail polish, but for gems?

So where do we go in the Year of Marsala with gemstones? Spinel? Tourmaline? Garnets? Sapphire? Zircon?

I have a spinel and a sapphire that are sort of Marsala colored, depending on the light…but I’m just so unenthusiastic about this color of the year. Way to let me down Pantone!

For the all important eye candy, here’s a 4+ct sapphire that is sort of Marsala colored, and one of the most color shifty sapphires I’ve ever seen. Orange-brown, peachy purple-pink with a vibrant surprise color. Since it’s so all over the place, I figure at least one of it’s random shades could probably pass for “Marsala”. Right?

Don’t let the above photos fool you though – they were taken in very specific lighting conditions.

In other very specific lighting conditions, it goes hot pink, lighter pink and a dusky purple.

Yes, all the pictures above really are the same stone. From a brownish-orange to purple-pink to bright pink, it’s the closest thing I have to Marsala. The entertaining part about this sapphire is that it goes it’s least attractive (but most interesting!) color in daylight – the lighting situation that is typically the most flattering for other gemstones.

I know that I’m clearly not the only jewelry person scratching their head about how to work Marsala into 2015. Or you know, counting down the days to see what 2016 brings and hoping that it’s something more jewelry friendly!

Update: My jewelry line

Posted on January 12, 2015January 2, 2015 by grayspinel

I’ve been working on sketches for quite a while on items for my new line. Of course, this is not the easiest thing since there are so many amazing designs out there, and it’s hard to be innovative when it feels like everything has been done. Some of these are influenced by the custom projects I’m working on with people, and some are just things that I would like to see or wear myself.

Sometimes the stones “speak” to me, and I have to do what they say. Ok, not really, but that’s sort of how it feels sometimes when I’ve had a stone for a long time without any inspiration and suddenly one day I look at the stone and it’s a total Eureka moment. And then I’m scrambling for my sketchbook, which is why I have four located in random areas of my house and one that goes with me in my purse. You never know when inspiration will hit!

Because this is more of a hobby instead of a full time career (for the moment!) I typically wait until the designs find me, rather than trying to wrangle them out of hiding.

Now, having said that, sometimes I will just sit down with a sketchbook and draw whatever comes to mind. Sometimes, that thing ends up being a sketch of my ear. Hah!

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been working on a green garnet mini-parure of sorts, and that has been extremely challenging because of the complexities of the project and using several hundred (not joking!) green garnets and turning them into a cohesive necklace, earring and bracelet set. But it has been great for me because I’ll be thinking about that project, and several ideas that won’t work for the garnets will work for something in my line that I haven’t been able to nail down.

Luckily there are several similarities between the green garnet project, the custom rings project (there are many rings and I’m in the process of trying to build a cohesive collection rather than a gathering of multiple different rings) and where I’d like to go on a few of my pieces for the line.

As of right now I’d like to come up with the following items, and I’m already several in:
1. 3 solitaire type rings
2. 1 halo ring
3. 1 dinner/multi-stone type ring
4. 2 necklaces
5. 1 earring
6. 2 bands

Gosh, writing up that list makes me realize just how much work I have to do! Back to the grind!

In the meantime though, here are a couple pictures of a yellow diamond I’m trying to decide what to do with. Right now I’m leaning towards a milgrain bezel in brushed yellow gold and keeping it for myself!

It reminds me of lemonade!

New Year

Posted on December 26, 2014December 22, 2014 by grayspinel

So, we’re in the final days of 2014. While I’m sad to say goodbye to an amazing year, I cannot wait to see what 2015 brings. Which brings me to today’s topic: looking forward into the new year.

First, I am planning on making small change to the blog. I will be blogging on Mondays and Thursdays instead of Tuesdays and Fridays. This is just a matter of practicality for me, as getting blogs done over the weekend is easiest.

I got a new iPhone 6, along with a new Olloclip with multiple lenses for Christmas. I’m looking forward to playing with those and seeing if they will help improve my photography quality. I’ve been without a macro lens for a little while now, so I’m looking forward to playing around with various lenses and seeing what they can do for me.

I also got a new laptop – I have a massive amount of photos and am constantly combing the internet for inspiration and taking too many pictures of whatever stones I currently have. My poor current laptop has over 70k pictures on it, and keeps telling me its out of space. Which, of course, is a problem. So I got a new laptop and will be transferring most things over to the new laptop at some point.

Goals:
-Try to concentrate more on design, color usage.
-Working on putting together my first jewelry line, I am hoping to have 7-8 stock items. I will update as necessary when things start to get finalized.
-I am working on a few custom projects for friends, multiple green garnet pieces with interchangeable parts, and several large gemstone rings.
-I have been considering taking both drawing classes and CAD classes to improve my skills. Hopefully I will figure that out relatively soon.
-Potentially setting up a boutique/shop.
-Somehow add about 5 hours to every day so I can get everything I want to done!

Future blog posts:
-Hoping for more features on more people (lapidaries, jewelry designers, antique jewelry dealers, etc) in the industry.
-Putting together a sort of gemstone/jewelry term dictionary. If you have questions about certain terms you’ve seen on the blog, or elsewhere on the internet, please let me know so I can cover them.
-If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for blog posts, please feel free to contact me.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season and looking forward to 2015 as much as I am!

These babies below just went to a new home! (Tsavorite, spessartite, spinel, aquamarine, rubellite, tourmaline and zircon.)

Feature: Lang Antique & Estate Jewelry Outside

Posted on September 2, 2014August 23, 2014 by grayspinel

So, we took a trip to San Francisco, and I specially put aside a Saturday afternoon for going to Lang Antique & Estate Jewelry with a very good friend of mine who is looking for an engagement ring for her friend, and keeping an eye out for her own boyfriend. When we got there, we had to wait outside, because the interior was full and everyone was helping customers. Now, usually I wouldn’t appreciate waiting outside, but the outside display of Lang might be better than the inside.

I probably won’t say much, as the pictures kind of speak for themselves.

Blue sapphires.

Emeralds and diamonds.

Diamonds and gems

Rubies, diamonds and emeralds.

I was fascinated by the light pink sapphire three stone. The ruby cabochon ring right above it was enchanting as well; it glowed like it had a light inside.

Diamonds and a few rubies. I particularly liked the large emerald ring in front, but it kind of reminded me of Angelina Jolie’s engagement ring to Brad Pitt, and I’m not a big fan of her ring, but the more exaggerated taper on this one was far more appealing.