Post subject: Question about the color of gems when mounted
Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 11:48 am
Active Member
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:11 pm Posts: 96
In general, does the color of a stone change when set? What is the best way to judge the color of a gem once it is mounted, does putting the gem on a white or black background or how it looks sitting on your hand give the best impression of how a stone will look when mounted?
Thanks,
-Stephanie
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:44 pm Posts: 1079 Location: Washington State
In general, gems will look darker when mounted due to tilt windowing at many angles that they are being viewed from. Since you are looking through the stone over some section of its presented face and you are looking at an area which is shaded by the setting, that windowed area of the stone will look darker, making the entire stone appear darker. Because of this, the more open the setting is, the less of an effect you get. With darker stones it may be less apparent since the stone is already dark and any shading through the tilt window is less apparent. I've always thought that it would be a neat effect to design a setting which had sides stones that were designed to channel light into the center stone, through that windowed area and basically light it up from the sides. You'd need to design those side stones so that they "leaked light" at just the right angles, but the effect, in my imagination, sounds intriguing.
As for how it would best be represented in a mock up, well that's a bit tough in that a black background would show the effect on the windowing best , but that same background would also show the bulk of the stone in greater contrast than it would appear on your finger. Maybe a black spot on an off white to dark background, (depending on your skin tone), would give the best approximation of it's final look once set.
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2007 10:50 am Posts: 386 Location: Dusseldorf, Germany
If you want to get an idea of what a stone will look like mounted, just put it face up between your closed fingers so it lies in the 'v'. That will give you a pretty good idea.
Hans
Michael is giving you good advise, as is Hans. A couple of caveats.
A good goldsmith can, by manipulating the angles of a handmade setting, often correct and improve the look of a gemstone. This is part of the jeweler's art. From Michael_e's thoughtful analysis I suspect he has thought this through and knows some of the tricks. That is why, if you are spending significant money on a gem, a hand setting is well worth the relatively small additional investment.
Hans is also correct but be careful with sapphire and ruby. Those tricky Thai cutters will often cut them with a slight window to lighten particularly the darker toned stones. They know most dealers use the between the fingers trick and it closes the window, but when you set them in a standard prong setting, guess what the window is back.
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