v. interesting about the Moissonite. If it's lab grown and has same properties, should be flawless as well. What you gotta look out for these days.

I shall look up the variety of turquoise for you. It appears to have gold findings. Does it? It is a lovely piece. Tap on it with your fingernail. It should have a vitreous sound or like you are tapping on hard polished rock rather than on plastic. I am pretty sure it is the real thing.

due to gardening and such, i have no nails left to tap....the only gold on it is the piece that goes right down the middle. (at least that's all i can see)

Thanks for the flower info. I thought one behind each ear might mean a "definite maybe." I got a turquiose necklace for my birthday. It's relatively large beads, interspersed with small gold spacers. The gold clasp has a Chinese design, and the largest bead is a carved "chou" bead, for good fortune. The stones aren't exact color matches to one another, some are a bit more blue than others, and some are a little more green than others. The color variations aren't jarring, just a little variation, like they're individuals. Quite pleasing actually. All the turquiose beads have marked black veining. I really like it, but when I first put it on it felt like rocks hanging around my neck. Which is what it is.

Karen..LOL...has that guy offered your sister a diamond ring? Do that test they suggest on the Moissanite website.

*haha*

My nugget necklace has pretty large graduated nuggets and it is HEAVY! It is strung on braided silver cable with long silver finials at the ends. The lady whose it was had been an Arizona native before coming to Hilo. Turquoise is pretty stuff, but heavy if not full of resin. It is one way to tell. It is, after all, copper ore!

Offer? He gave her a ring (substance unsubstantiated) last year. They are getting married next month. Bought her a marquis cut; was so proud of himself. I was underwhelmed. Sister didn't want marquis either. ;-)

here's a neato website i found while researching alexandrite (again).... http://www.houseofonyx.com/gemstonelist.html

black opal: http://www.houseofonyx.com/gem15.html

and another great gemsite: http://www.gemhut.com/gemidx.htm

and another: http://www.galleries.com/minerals/gemstone/class.htm

This is the ultimate mineral text online. The photos are superb and the text easy to read. http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/gemstones/sp14-95/ The cover image of Watermelon Tourmaline from California: (the remember buttons on porch 38 are gone and I did not touch them)

Wolfie, you have posted some superb sites. Loads of links and information and photos. Excellent. The one I just posted is more like a field guide and I would like to have that chunk on my specimen-go-round. Whew!!!

yes, i saw that piece while reviewing that website from your earlier post!

oh, i went into springcam right after you did and the remember button was there. very strange!

My wedding set in white gold consisted of 1/3 carat marquise diamond with a baguette on either side. I had two wedding rings with had a V for the stone and baguettes either side. One ring went on top and one on the bottom and it looks lovely and as impressive as my little hands can manage. (My wedding ring is a 4)

empty your cache - it is reloading the the old stuff and seeing a button no long er there.

I went back there and poked the forget button - the first time I have ever done so ...they are there now, but this time I put them there....who knows?!

did that, it's still there....hmmmm....

did you poke them and they are still there?

did i poke what? i emptied my cache and temp files, clicked on your response in springcam twice (before and after) and the button is still there. i didn't press remember or anything.

Do you think this man has any clue how much those little buttons are doing to us? Probably not, as he is a man...but he does know other things I would not have thought he would. *lol* *Hugs* Wolfie, enjoy!!!

After mine disappeared, I poked the forget button and the remember ones showed up again and will stay there until we poke them again....Just like any other conference.

maybe, he hasn't been doing anything and somebody keeps hitting the forget button and messing with our heads!

This is possible....! I shall take that wisdom to heart. It is too difficult to deal with otherwise....but I know how I will react when next I see it...*sigh*

Speaking of which, did you see my remember button - just made it with transparent frame and installed it. Yay!!! I think all possible buttons are here, finally!!!

no, i've not looked for a remember button here (only when you tell me it's here)..... i still won't touch one of those darned things.....

the darned things--forgot where i was, the ouija board (from paraspring) *lol*

Me too - it has been since I climbed trees and had long braids since I touched an Ouija board. Never mind! Damned thing is probably appropriate!

I realized after I posted that comment about the marquis engagement ring that I might inadvertently offend someone...and I now see that you, Marcia, had one such ring. What I was trying to get across is that the dunderhead (i.e., future brother-in-law) who knows nothing about diamonds could have bought more and better quality gem for the money he spent. The marquis cut wastes a tremendous amount of the stone and you pay for all of the waste. Better IMO to buy a beautifully cut round stone of decent carat size than spend the same for a much smaller marquis. And to compound things, he had the little sliver set in yellow gold, which she wasn't too pleased about either. Enough of my carping.

Mine was not my choice and I was not offended. it does waste a lot and costs more as a result. My Alexandrite is also a marquise because he loved the cut! I don't like to be poked by the points, but the wwedding-ring-guards do make it a lovely single ring as I had them soldered together as a unit. Yellow Gold?! He is a twit! It will make the diamond look yellowish!

that's exactly the problem with the marquis, my tanzanite is constantly getting caught and poking me.

what's this with yellow gold? i have a cute half-karat round on yellow gold (but it's mounted in silver-aren't they all?) and it doesn't look yellow. or is that what you mean, the mount itself is yellow gold? (oh, and the AM gave me that on our 4th anniversary).....

Mounted in White Gold. Wow! Diamonds after the fact?! Not bad, Wolfie!!!

My Mother's original engagement diamond was set in white gold on a yellow gold band, but I have seen some which are set in yellow gold prongs. The effect is not pleasing - at least, to me!

really? i thought they were all like that and because i like gold over silver, was actually disappointed! don't wear that solitaire though because it's too high. feel like it gets in the way. now i have a marquis sapphire with diamonds surrounding it (my engagement ring)...that sits a bit higher than the tanzanite and never poked me. it has a nice gallery with filagree on the top part of the band. very simple and different from the 1/4K and less other girls were wearing. and it cost way less too. but it's pretty. now that i have the anniversary band, i haven't worn that particular sapphire. don't want to wear it on the right hand either. makes me wonder if the anniversary band is supposed to be worn on the right hand and i still should wear my original ring...oh, the style of the sapphire is such that i'd have to have a wrap custome made, the wedding band doesn't fit with it.

Hmmm...I have seen anniversary rings replace wedding sets of modest means and also worn on the right hand. The effect of my two wedding bands around the solitaire is of a wrap. I am very fond of wraps and they are so comfortable to wear. My first engagement ring was a star sapphire with little side diamonds set in white gold. I still love it but seldom wear it since I have taken to wearing the Alexandrite...

well, when i go on my summer vacations, i wear my wedding band and don't take any of my gems. i guess it doesn't matter which hand you wear it on as long as you know what it's for and the meaning behind it. which is why i wear mine on my left hand...it's for 10 years and counting! (and we're on #12 this year, can you believe it?)

..and you being just 25 and all... Hard to believe! Isn't it amazing how the kids get older and we just stay the same?!

yup! *wink*

Since wolf brought up turquoise and we've been yakking about opals, I ran across some realllllllly pretty inlaid stuff: OK, so that one didn't have turquoise, but those are opals in the center, with lapis. A wow piece or two... And a killer cuff that I couldn't wear...

I'll Wow to them all! Thanks, Karen. Never saw opals set with inlay. They are stunning! I have my mom's bearclaw necklace set in silver inlay. It is stunning and I need a scanner to show it to you unless I can photo it with the new digital camera. Yeah, I'd be willing to model any of them any time...!

Um...I have a long neck....I'll wear it for you! Love those colors!!!

Yeah, I'm always drawn to colors like those. When I was in Tucson, I looked all over for an inlaid cuff, but they're too big for me. It would have to be custom made. Argh! Says the designer works with the following: purple sugilite from Africa, royal blue Afghani lapis, Australian opal, red and pink corals from the Mediterranean and South Pacific, turquoise from America and China, and black jade from Edwards, Wyoming. Some designs include accents of diamonds, rubies, tourmalines, garnets, or amethysts.

Sugilite is incredible stuff - such pretty dusty rosy-lilac-cum-lavender colors. I noted the precious and semi accents. Great designs and such incredible colors. It would look great out here!!! I have all of my Mon's and my own turquoise stuff as well as a neighbor whose kids did not like it. I can weigh twice my weight just by stacking my lovlies on me. It is gorgeous stuff! I have a bunch in oxblood coral - and exquisite red. My squash blossom necklace is inlaid with oxblod coral...!

A squash blossom necklace! To adorn that swan-like neck? ;-) Most pieces do tend to be heavy. Nature of the materials used. I've got a lovely pair of earrings that I can only wear for a half hour a night, but they're beauts.

Ah Yes!!! Or you'll be able to carry newspapers home in the pukas if you leave them in too long. I know the kind! My squas blossom necklace is about 2/3 size because I am tiny (albeit long-legged) so I am not dwarfed by it. Some are H U G E !!! With your shiny raven tresses you should look stunning in any of this jewelry. I am surprised someone has not asked you to model it!

One needs a neck to do that type of thing. ;-) Nighty night

g'night Karen! Me too +)

wow, that's some retro looking stuff! way too extravagant for me!! i have an inlaid cuff bracelet made of pau (or however it's spelled) the inside of shells. it's pretty but too little for my wrist now (got it as a teenager at a souviner shop).... perhaps i'll scan it for you to see....

Shuckins...your daughter will grow into it...or someone with a tiny wrist (mine!) is always handy. My ring-finger is a size 4...! (You will have grandchildren who will love and appreciate it, Wolfie!!!_ Please do scan it - I love inlayed pieces.

i've got to clean it first, the silver is all tarnished. (been in a jewelry box for years)....my daughter has already asked for it!

Be sure she is old enough to take proper care of it or the inlays will fall out. I am delighted she likes it!

Did I note the mention of lapus lazuli. Has that been discussed before? I love the color, almost a true ultramarine.

Have not discussed Lapiz except in passing as inlay material. That mountain full of it in Russia must be amazing. I love the color - I thought it more like indigo shot with gold!

I think the best quality would be indigo, a kind of violet-blue. Very beautiful. The lesser grades might tend to ultramarine, the absolute bluest blue. Although all would be shot with gold.

as promised, the inlay cuff bracelet:

and some pieces of the shell have started falling out due to age.....

Is that what used to be called "mother of pearl"?

Mother of Pearl is the white pearly inlay and Paua shell is the colored ones. How lovely, Wolfie! Thank you!!! You can epoxy them back into place very carefully so you don't get glue between the pieces or on top. It'll be there forever!

thanks!

Got some scale for that? Your pink tape measure is no where to be seen! Looks over an inch wide. I have a similar pattern on a brass belt buckle. It is really pretty, Wolfie. Can't they flex it enough to fit you...uh...uh...uh...

Lovely cuff, wolf. You said it was "too small" for you? ;-) *cough cough* [little wrist] Mountains in Russia? Thought I'd read that the best lapis came from Afghanistan. I know, same mountain chain! ;-)

No, can't flex a cuff if there's inlay. That's always the problem for me. A basic silver cuff can be flexed, but the inlays will pop out.

(that is me trying to stretch it to fit you...)*hugs* That stuff is still called Mother of Pearl, no?!

The Mountains containing the choicest Lapiz are in Afghanistan. Catherine the Great had a whole room made out of the stuff and another of Malachite and another of amber....Incredible stuff!

Karen can hear a jewelry discussion even inside the closely guarded Firthian tower doors known to the rest of the world as Drool....*grin*

Karen may well be able to discern a jewelery discussion on all sensory and extra sensory levels. She does have wide ranging knowlege on the subject and really good taste though.

yupper. i guess it's mother of pearl, got it because i liked the pattern and the inlay work... gotta do some mom stuff so be back later *hugs*

She is a most welcome addition to Geo. I was just kidding her - I can sniff out a good rock at 20 paces, as well. Um, it is part of the second X chromosome, is it not, to discern fine jewelry at great distances? And sales?!

we'll miss you Wolfie! *hugs*

I love what Karen posts about jewelery.

I love the pictures she posts, as well. Karen, please tell Cheryl I am not picking on you!

Um, it is part of the second X chromosome, is it not, to discern fine jewelry at great distances? And sales?! LOL! I've found that it pays to know what you're talking about with jewelry. Costly mistakes otherwise. ;-) Also, being the shallow person that I am, what you dig out of Planet Earth or pry out of/off its creatures and fashion into pretty things is what interests me. I am so un-PC. ;-)

Hey, that is why I created this topic. I love it, as well, and I also do my homework on jewelry - it certainly is in one's best interest to do so! *lol* I hope you get permission before prying goodies off creatures. I would probably give you a pretty good fight...*grin*

Costly mistakes as in BLUE amethysts???!!!

wasn't her mistake though! *grin* she'da known better!!

Yup, but the guy without that special second X didn't have a clue! *laugh*

My Dad always said about me that a guy'd have to be crazy to buy me jewelry without having me along. I chose my Mom's diamond anniversary ring for him to give her (and my eldest sister ended up inheriting it!)

haha!! then i'll need you if i should decide to buy more jewelry (not if, when!) *hugs* i have expensive taste but it's innocent, i don't choose things because they look expensive so i can parade around with it and say look at this expensive thing i have, nope, just like quality, i guess, and mayhaps, recognize it....

Gotcha on the *when*...*grin* I'll be only too happy to aid and abet your ventures into material investing! Wolfie, you have class and your taste shows it...just as Karen's does. That's why I enjoy you so much *hugs*

I hope you get permission before prying goodies off creatures. Have no fear, I draw the line at endangered species. ;-)

This second X chromosome carries a lot of stuff. Have to admit I feel some sympathy for Karen's sister's guy, who thought he did a Good Thing. Poor sap! For the record, men have no clue what jewellery looks expensive, and precious little idea of what looks nice.

...and approach it the same as driving, refusing to look at a map or ask for directions. I like consistency of approach. ;-)

mine thinks every piece of jewelry costs and arm and a leg and frowns when i purchase a gift for myself (and if i did not do this, do you think he would? no way!) (alexandrite, case and point)....

I'm sorry Marcia, I never meant to imply you were picking on Karen. As for the Karen's sister's guy, have pity on him. He is estrogen impaired.

*LOL* Cheryl...I am delighted to see you again - and I know you weren't implying any such thing...I was just hoping to attract Karen's attention so she would post more goodies for us to admire...*hugs* Yup! Estrogen Deprivation can atrophy the social graces and the sense of the esthetic in the human male. They need daily interaction of the most feminine kind if they hope to overcome the problem. It is not impossible, but...The prognosis is not good! *grin*

Yes, it still is called mother of pearl, although some people tried to avoid the term by simply calling it shell. Maybe mother of pearl got a bad name due to some tacky jewelry somewhere. But mother of pearl and paua shell might be better discussed on the organic gems topic. Silly of me. Allow me to mention diamonds. There not my favorite, but I wouldn't turn one down. Unless were a yellow diamond. Yuk. I saw a canary (yellow) diamond once; it was vile. It had brilliance, clarity, and a really putrid color. Colored diamonds can be downright strange looking. The most famous colored diamond is of course the Hope Diamond, which is probably the most acceptable color for a colored diamond -- blue. It really is very blue. Priceless and complete with a curse, one might say the Hope is one serious piece of carbon. I've also seen pink diamonds, unsual but pretty.

i've never seen a colored diamond in life (and the line to see the Hope was longer than i had time for)....

In the British Museum of Natural History on Cromwell Road, you will see a display of the most indredible colored diamonds round cut. Emerald greem, brilliant red, aquamarine, deep blue, pink, apricot...just about every color imaginable. I would have loved an aqua diamond....or the green one...or the red one...*grin*

must've been hard to believe they were real!

I wanted to check them out closer but the guards regarded me with a cold eye until I smiled at them charmingly and told them I really did not mean it...but they were stunning - tiny - most of the deep colored ones were well under a carat, but they were stunning and lit so you could see the fire in them.

They really do sound stunning. The Hope is really an eyeful, when you finally get up to see it. I still think the yellow diamond was a really putrid color.

I have seen the Hope when it was on display at the American Museum and still owned by Harry Winston. It is not only the most incredible "sapphire blue," but it is a Diamond! With all of the fire and brilliance. The smaller white diamonds around it are pretty large as solitaires go, as well! Unless Yellow diamonds do not have even the slightest tinge of grey in them, they are beautiful - like pale topazes. But, most of them have that pewter cast which renders them 'dirty-looking' in my opinion. Perhaps they would benefit from being set in all-yellow-gold mountings!

Oh, Btw, the Hope is only about a half of what was a HUGE blue diamond in the hands of the French aristocracy. It was cut in half sometime after the Revolution and no one is sure where the other part is.

Colored diamonds are very rare and all tend to be very expensive. The Hope by it's noteriety, color, and even present size is truly priceless. Okay, maybe it has a price but would it be in this dimension. It's hard to imagine the original diamond, the sheer size of it. It was reputed to be a more or less heart shaped stone, wasn't it? That is an interesting question -- where's the other half? You are no doubt right about yellow diamonds, I probably saw one with a pewter cast, not attractive. Although, yellow gold would be flattering to it, bringing out a more golden color.

Yes, it was more or less heart-shaped and was the hanger for The Louis Kings' Order of the Golden Fleece. It must have been incredible! There is a painting of him in one of my books (Louis XV I believe) wearing it. I'll see if I can find it on the net (or buy myself a scanner..!)

Ok..Got out the book and the original big blue diamond's likeness exists only in an engraving of the Golden Fleece Made for Louis XV in 1749. A huge ruby carved into the shape of a dragon, the large blue diamond, plus other large colored stones surrounded by topazes and colored diamonds (according to the account of the day.) The rage for colored diamonds was so great that many were set in colored foil to create the effect of naturally colored diamonds! The whole ensemble was broken up in 1792 and the whereabouts of many of the stones is unknown.

Lance, what guidelines can you give us on Jade?