Well, here they come. This is going to be a looooooong post, get your scrolling bars ready.
What colours do you like?
Let's start with pink, since it seems to be de rigueur on this forum of late. No diamonds (yet), but how about a nice pink sapphire?
The ring is circa 1950 by S - note the typical gold ropework. Stone data unknown; I estimate it at slightly above 2 cts, and it's definitely a VS if not a VVS.
In natural light, the sapphire is purplish pink, not this salmony colour. I have tried to get it closer to its natural look by tinkering with software, but in the end I gave up and left it as it came out of the camera... this next picture is slightly better for colour, but still not close enough
when worn, it looks like this
On the other hand - or indeed on the same hand (pardon the pun), this padparascha's colour came out really well. The stone is 1.24 cts, very clean inside and it could do with a bit more red (and with a better wash outside - this time it got away with a quick brush and a bit of detergent), but she liked the shape of the cluster. And I liked the way it fitted her hand.
don't you think this cluster is nice?
and this IS a lotus bud's colour at dawn. Never got up that early to see them, but they assured me it looks like this.
From pink to red. This is an interesting ring by S, a Berlin-based firm (and that's Berlin, Germany, not Berlin, Iowa) - it can be dated with certainty to before 1983, because that's when they went bankrupt...
Interestingly, I'm told the patent on invisible setting by V expired in 1986. Since the two ruby panels are invisibly set, I can only hope that the statute of limitations applies and V won't come after us... Actually, the ring was probably made in the mid-60s, so I'm sure they will have forgot.
Again, no idea of stone data, but there's a lot of nicely matched rubies there. And the metalwork and design are just incredible.
After hot red, a little cool blue. A 1960 ballerina ring by M, Paris. Yes, the sapphire is THAT colour in bright light. A little darker when the sun (or the flash) is not shining on it. I did not tinker with this one - just cropped it. Some cornflowers could learn...
The stone is - methinks - over 3.5 cts, since it's very deep. And the design is so nice...
Now it's time for a little green... and no, it's not a Paraiba. It looks a bit like one, but it's not. It's still Brazilian, though (we bought it in Rio). Can't find the paperwork now, so I can't tell you how big it is, but what sold it to us was the colour. Very little black in this seawater.
If that is water, this is grass. Lush grass. Again a b^%$h of a colour to get right. It's a little darker in natural light, and it looks much greener still.
A really original design from the 1930s - I just love the way they used the double baguettes to "hold" the cab emerald.
Heck, I'm running out of colours. But wait - perhaps if we mixed a few together...
and look - there IS a pair of fancy coloured diamond, after all. I'd say fancy intense yellow - take into account it's not set on yellow gold, but on platinum. It's a small pair, but it looks good on these 1930s tuttifrutti ear clips
...which look great when they are worn...
... if one remembers to photograph them from the right angle. We re-took this photo at least 20 times; never got the lighting right again, though we got the angle better. Just imagine that the head is tilted away from you a little bit, please.
And finally, if you really mix all colours, what do you get? White, of course!
A 1937 platinum & diamonds clip by C London. How do we know it's 1937 precisely? Actually we don't. But since it was made to be worn on a tiara, and out of 53 tiara clips made by C London in the 1930s, 35 were made in 1937 for the celebrations of the coronation of Edward VII, chances are...
OK, OK, I know this forum is about diamonds. I know little about this guy - from a gauge it comes up at 1.80 cts, it may be a little more since it's a transitional cut so it's a little deeper than "ideal". I like it a lot. To my untrained eye, it's clarity VS+ and colour G-H, but most of all it's alive.
OK - end of tour. Next time, necklaces, bracelets and watches... and a few more rings and earrings. If you like them with so few coloured diamonds.
colored diamonds
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