advice on burma spinel requested

[brandy_z28]

Please give me your honest opinions on this stone:

Burma Spinel
1.61 cts
6.3mm round with 5mm depth

from the side in full sun

 

[brandy_z28]

full sun

 

[brandy_z28]

shade

 

[brandy_z28]

an inclusion that appears to be glowing...

 

[brandy_z28]

''scope pic of inclusions *disregard color in the scope pics*

 

[brandy_z28]

closest pic I could get of a few inclusions

 

[LtlFirecracker]

What exactly do you want opinions about?

 

[brandy_z28]

My apologies, got called away from the computer for a bit.

I''m on the fence about the spinel. I usually don''t mind inclusions or a bad cut if the stone is the right color but there''s just something about this stone that hasn''t won me over yet. I love the color from the side but looking into the stone I see chaos and too much busy-ness. I purchased this spinel from gemline and they had mentioned that it would be a good candidate for a re-cut. So, I''m not sure if I should:

a) keep the stone and love it the way it is

b) return it

c) look into getting it recut and take a chance

Is this spinel a color that''s good enough to take a few risks on and keep? I can''t seem to find one anywhere else in a price bracket that my husband can live with! I think I''d love the stone if it didn''t have a bad cut and a few inclusions. I can deal with one or the other but both is too much for me, I think.

Thanks!

 

[VapidLapid]

Well you could have it mounted sideways! But I think you already answered your question yourself. You say you could live with one of its faults but not all of them. Send it back. A recut will only get much smaller if re-orienting the sideways to face-up and still likely that a number of the inclusions will remain. plus the added cost of the recut could better be just added to your purchasing limit to get a better stone.

 

[VapidLapid]

check this one out. It has a great color and is mighty budget friendly.
burmaredspine

 

[VapidLapid]

This one too, while smaller still has great color and clarity and price!
burmredspinL

 

[brandy_z28]

Date: 3/27/2010 8:26:59 PM
Author: VapidLapid
check this one out. It has a great color and is mighty budget friendly.
burmaredspine

Thanks for the input Vapid. I couldn''t get your links to work.

 

[brandy_z28]

Date: 3/27/2010 8:21:43 PM
Author: VapidLapid
Well you could have it mounted sideways! But I think you already answered your question yourself. You say you could live with one of its faults but not all of them. Send it back. A recut will only get much smaller if re-orienting the sideways to face-up and still likely that a number of the inclusions will remain. plus the added cost of the recut could better be just added to your purchasing limit to get a better stone.

I wouldn''t re-orient the stone if I went with a re-cut. I''d have it''s fat belly/bottom removed and hope that it cleaned up the stone a bit by giving the facets some sort of pattern, at least. I''m ok with the inclusions as the stone faces up eye clean for the most part and it really is the cut that''s driving me nuts.

 

[VapidLapid]

I dont know why the links failed, but they were to artcutgems.com and gemfix if you want to browse their spinels there were a few

 

[Arkteia]

Simplest thing: do you like the color?
If my answer would be yes - I'd buy it no matter what. Settings could be very creative. If not - I do not care how nice it is, send it back.
I'd not recut it, it is too small as it is.
If the inclusion glows, it adds certain charm to a stone. But it is just my opinion.

 

[oddoneout]

I really like the colour but if the inclusions bother you too much then you''ll probably find something nicer.

 

[brandy_z28]

Date: 3/28/2010 3:17:31 PM
Author: crasru
Simplest thing: do you like the color?
If my answer would be yes - I''d buy it no matter what. Settings could be very creative. If not - I do not care how nice it is, send it back.
I''d not recut it, it is too small as it is.
If the inclusion glows, it adds certain charm to a stone. But it is just my opinion.

Yes, I do love the color crasru. I''m leaning towards keeping it at the moment. Thank you!

 

[brandy_z28]

Date: 3/28/2010 2:29:41 PM
Author: VapidLapid
I dont know why the links failed, but they were to artcutgems.com and gemfix if you want to browse their spinels there were a few

I checked both sites out and looking at those stones actually made me want to keep the one that I currently have even more. Thank you for the links and info.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I agree that the colour on the sideways view is gorgeous. But I don''t like the full on view - the colour seems too dark, it is too included and the cut is too wonky. I wouldn''t try to recut it either - the cutter may run into serious trouble with all the inclusions and you may lose a lot of weight or end up with a fractured stone.

Corrected links:
http://www.gemfix.com/spinel.html (I love the first spinel! If I weren''t on a budget right now...)
http://www.artcutgems.com/item.php?item_id=720&page+2&category_id=48

 

[brandy_z28]

Date: 3/28/2010 3:29:03 PM
Author: oddoneout
I really like the colour but if the inclusions bother you too much then you''ll probably find something nicer.

I''ve narrowed it down to the horrendous cut being my biggest issue with the stone. I love the color and I''m finding the inclusions more and more interesting. Thank you for your input oddoneout! I appreciate it.

 

[chrono]

The stone is overly deep and probably isn’t a good candidate for a recut due to the numerous inclusions within. I’m not a fan of the colour of the stone because it doesn’t look very dull and not saturated in the pictures. The cutting issues is another minus for the spinel. Of the suggestions posted, I like the 1st cushion spinel from Gemfix from the pictures alone.

 

[T L]

For the quality of that Burmese spinel, and the color, I think you can get a similar color in a nicer stone (clean and well cut) in a precision cut garnet, and there's no shortage of those. I personally try to stay away from red family spinels that look too much like an average rhodolite, pyrope, or dark spessartite garnet.