Associate editor Addie Kidd returned from the Tucson gem shows last weekend, and as a gift to me for cat-sitting Begby, her cute kitty (see his photo to the left), she brought me a diamond. Actually, she brought three diamonds and let me pick which one I wanted.

All three are rose cut, which is perfect for me, since I want an antique-look ring. Each diamond is a different color and size, and I couldn't decide which one I liked best, so Addie suggested that I take them back to my desk and play around with them until I decided which was best for me. I pulled out a few jewelry-supply catalogs, and began to look at the different ring mounts available. I found that some catalogs print their rings close to actual size. Because of this, I could place the diamonds on top of the ring photos to get an idea of what the actual rings would look like with each of these stones. Soon, I knew exactly which stone I wanted, as well as the style of ring it will go in (you can see the diamond I chose placed on a catalog page to the right). Addie said that one of the stones would "speak" to me, and she was right!

When you buy gemstones or other jewelry-making supplies, do you know what you're going to do with the supplies at the time of purchase, or do you play around with them until you think of the perfect project?
 

––Katie