I am "gobsmacked" that is what art deco heaven is made of......  Even the beautiful piece designed by DF looks art deco...   Absolutely gorgeous, wonderful, a feast for the eyes.  The very few times that I have liked something  that is not art deco has been when I see some lovely 1950-60´s retro pieces and you have those too.  As an art deco lover I guessed the jade straight off,  fantastic collection.
Congratulations on the photography too.

Joia

Absolutely fantastic collection!!!!!   What a way to start my day!!

Hi All,

Again thanks. I was reading an article in today's paper explaining how much of the economic crisis is caused by lack of liquidity because suddenly mortgage backed securities have become unfashionable. Perhaps banks should have invested in Deco jewellery... but it's just as well they didn't, so it remains affordable for us!

jewellk: and he didn't take you up on it? I... will be a gentleman. And not say more.

khrystal1968: Hope you found both your eyes and the stalks were not damaged by overextension. Not quite a pound: 3 1/4 oz (94 grams). But it feels substantial! And please post

joia: I'll claim at least joint honours for designing the piece. On the other hand, DF wears it with far more grace and poise than I could ever do. But we are very pleased that you think it has a Deco feeling to it.

GIAGirl: we are getting married. As soon as the Town Hall tells us a date... (I know, it sounds like a joke, but it's not)

Awestruck: I can't tell too much, because it's a surprise - see above paragraph, but if you have been looking at CDI / DBL's sites over the last two months you have seen quite a lot of the surprise... I promise CDI membership will get fourth viewing (David + team, myself, DF, then you guys - can't get better than this, can I?)

 

OMG.  I have fallen and I can't get up.  I don't want to either if it means I have to leave this thread.  HO-LEE-COW.  I am officially short of breath and green with envy.  What a collection!!!  What a lucky woman!!!  OMG!  Sorry, I gotta go back and look at the pics again!

You may want to when you sleep. Those prongs are blipping sharp, believe me.

That is the piece that set us off on the road to addiction serious jewellery ownership. 

What a fabulous collection  

OK, so far I've sold three brothers, four uncles, six cousins and a couple of fathers. Plus two "personal shoppers". Deal! (or as David would no doubt say: "Mazal v'bracha")

Thanks for the offers. You never know... 

I was just trying to follow OMC´s instructions - I still can´t manage but I tried to take a photo of my star sapphire and I was very surprised when the one star ended up like this.  I have never seen it do this before and I managed to get a pic.



Joia

Bluish grey and I am not sure about how many carats but it is quite large and a high cabochon.  Ceylon sapphire I have been told.  Only one star usually though.
It doesn´t attract much attention as most people have no idea what it is, someone asked me why I had a ring made with a pebble....

Joia

Hi Joia:

Interesting - did you have a lamp/light in the background as well as the flash? It looks like you managed to get two light sources with roughly the same intensity focused on the stone at the same time.

There is no reason why you shouldn't get 2 (or even 3) stars; the stars are due to rutile needles inside the sapphire which tend to lie in a 60 degree-angle pattern to each other. As long as the light sources are focused enough, you'll get one six-ray star pattern for each light.

Lovely colour by the way.

I'll take a picture of my picture making apparatus (!), maybe it helps

Thanks OMC that is a great help,but  there is something you should have put on the list, and that is talent.
I know from Mrs Mitchel that David also  picks up a diamond and takes a photo and it turns out beautifully  like yours.  He used Mrs M´s camera so it wasn´t the camera.
I am going to try again tomorrow using the OMC method (I bet djm does too).
That little visiting card trick was unexpected.
Thanks again,
Joia

Sorry djm, but I had to laugh at your description above. My apologies for not being clearer; I only realised yesterday one of our mobile phones had a camera.

I'm afraid the "new" card position does not make any difference to the cramps (you just get them in the other hand), but the pictures do come out!

You may need to adjust the angle of the card depending on how much diffusion the little bit of plastic in front of the lamp manages, and how much reflection you get from walls / ceiling (I was shooting in a room with very light yellow walls and pure white ceiling, plus the "white box" helps). With some pieces (especially the "all whites") I had it almost flat against the flash.

Good luck!

OMG this is such a fantastic thread; I just keep coming back over and over again and see something else droolworthy every time. I think I am able to take in only so much at one time and there's just SO MUCH here to salivate over!  Also, terrific  photo tips, thank you OMC!

JOIA, your star sapphire ring is absolutely TDF. Seriously. And fantastic shot capturing the star patterns, LOVE IT!!!!!
You - and DMJ - MUST share the results of the new camera techniques.

Off to read through the thread yet again......