I finally finished this thing yesterday. THANKS everyone for the ideas! Having the dark behind the stone gave it really nice "depth" I think.
I learned many things from it. I ended up remaking a bezel and coloring the inside with a big Sharpie Magnum marker. I used 24 GA Fine bezel wire but this was not ideal due to my lack of skill - or maybe it was just too thick for nice 90 degree angles. Should I have annealed it? I still can't figure out annealing and I know it's crucial.
Originally, I had chipped a tiny bit in one corner of the stone when fitting my original bezel. Since then I chipped it more. Then, when going to finally set it, a sizable chunk came off yet another corner. This was supposed to be my first commission but I ended up just giving it to the her, and she commissioned another ring that I will hopefully not mess up. The broken parts are really unnoticeable to the naked eye but I would not have felt ok selling it. That was my biggest lesson here, don't break the stone.
I worked and polished it a little more after taking these pics. Pictures always seem to reveal stuff I need to fix or improve - reality check.
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