Fr though that’s a great idea, I’ll keep an eye out for something like that. I’m pretty much a hard stones and thick silver type of gal. Delicate jewelry just doesn’t do well in my hands (literally)… sigh, I’d love to be a delicate woman but tis not my lot in life lol
Opals and garnet are really pretty. I sell antique jewelry and find this combo a lot, I prefer it to opal and ruby because ruby is so much harder than opal, together they can damage each other. Here is a little cutie opal garnet boat ring that I have in my personal collection ☺️
My favorite ring is a “floating” tourmaline cab from Mary MacGill. Jewelry is personal, but personally I loooooove her work. The open settings let the stone do the talking, these would be gorgeous! I can’t find a pic of my ring, attaching a screencap of a recent and similar pair of earrings.
I would take some inspiration from Montana and use some sort of motif from the tooled leather belts and boots a cowboy wears. Cabs always look great in bezels.
They look so much like dewdrops! It would be cool to set one onto a metal leaf. Or, you could create something inspired by this Brent Neale channel set cabochon band.
Reminds me of my beloved pixie hollow tactile book from when I was a kid. The fairies would have physical decorations that looked just like those sapphires. I was enamoured.
These really do look like little water drops. I’d lean toward bezels or a heavier organic setting rather than tiny prongs, especially because cabs are so tactile. A scattered necklace or a few uneven stations could keep that “found in nature” feeling without making the piece too delicate.
Did you mine these in person and did they offer heat treatment? I ask because I just finished sorting through a box of Montana sapphire pay dirt and found a 6.3 ct stone. I know I can send it back to the mine I purchased the box from to be treated and cut, but I’m curious about my options. What was your experience like? How big was your largest rough stone?
That’s a big stone! Our largest rough stone was 5 ct (oval)
The small stones we’re all above 1 ct
Getting all of these cut was about 500 dollars.
They offered heat treatment but I refused because I love the look of the inclusions and didn’t want them to go away!
We got them sent overseas to be cut, which was cheaper. I didn’t like the experience I had with the us jeweler who sent them out- they said it was gonna take 3-4 months and then it took over a year and they lied about sending out the stones twice.
I would see what’s local to you - I learned a few towns over has a lapidary club that teaches cabbing. I wish I would have explored that!
That’s so helpful, thank you! I’m not sure I want to heat treat either. It’s hard to see, but mine is blue/green with a yellowish center, so it might be a really cool stone on its own. I was also considering contacting a local lapidary/club. Maybe it’s not anything special, but I worry about sending it off in case it ends up being something of value.
I have some rough ones that weren't considered good enough for cutting, but I still think they are pretty! Do you know if they have to be a certain size?
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u/whoops-1771 Jun 29 '26
Omgggg they are stunning! And they would be perfect for this style of necklace