AtelierVieuxPont

This is one of my favorite questions, and ultimately a question of where/wear. Depending on where the jewellery is will subject it to a certain amount of wear, which is a helpful way to dictate what sort of other stones you can use. This is a guideline not a rule, and softer stones absolutely can be used in rings, they will just get beat up a bit more.

My personal favorite for rings is sapphires (natural or lab) because of their resilience and the multitude of colours. Earrings and pendants can be basically anything, it all comes down to personal preference at that point.

EDIT: Other great stones are, spinels, beryls of all kinds (heliodor, aquamarine, emerald, morganite), garnets (Tsavorite garnets are my favorite stone!)

Me and the pixies are on a first name basis.

Haha unfortunately no it mixes with water/oil that we use to lubricate cutting and forms a pretty gross grey mixture.

Gah, yes! Tourmaline also rules.

Light boxes and diffused sides/top are your friend! Playing around with lighting from different sources in different arrangements helps a ton, as long as the final picture is true to the colour of the stone of course.

I also want a rainbow poop stone! :D