If you go for a deep honey for the very edge, that should hide any of the sand-through, but keep some of the clarity to be able to see the flame. But the middle could be the aged amber/yellow.
Does anyone know the color of stain they use for the rim?
With all of the feedback for the natural look I'm surprised I don't see more of them.
Unfortunately I really don't know if I can go with the natural/transparent look as there a couple of small places I will have to fill and the color will be slightly off (especially since the lacquer stained the wood). It looks like I might be stuck with opaque colors only.