Help Finding Padparadscha (Or Spinel) for E-Ring

[minousbijoux]

ejacobson - Congrats on your beautiful stone! Please post lots of photos when it arrives!

austinj - I just wanted to say thank you for being so incredibly kind and generous! And I'm sorry that you haven't had the best experience posting here lately. I too had a tough time when I first started posting, its not very nice. Please keep sharing your beautiful stones!

Oh boy! I read that and thought who is giving our austinj a hard time and why?!! Then one page back I realized that I had even weighed in on it! Austinj, thank you so much for hanging around and taking my comments in the good intention they were meant. I cannot imagine not having you here as part of the PS community.

I love your screen door story. Due to your generosity, I hope you are due for another one soon

 

[minousbijoux]

Hi All,

I stayed home all day yesterday waiting for the package, until I finally had to pick up my kiddo from preschool at about 4:00 pm. By the time I got home, the package was delivered and signed for by the leasing office, which was closed.

I now have the package in my hands, but my BF made me PROMISE not to open it until he gets home tonight.

THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME!!!!!

Killing YOU?!! Its killing US, ha ha ha! This is so exciting.

 

[austinj]

Aw Minou you always say the nicest things! Thank you. I'm just glad you pulled me out of my head for a minute so I could take a step back! No one was really giving me a hard time I was making it hard for myself by misunderstanding what people were trying to say. Live and learn! And also...

GOOD LORD IS HE HOME YET lol

 

[ejacobson]

I opened the package a few hours ago, and...

I LOVE IT!!!

Of course, I cannot photograph it to save my life. We weren't able to open it until we both got home this evening around 1800...the lighting was pretty bad and I have never been able to capture gems or jewelry in any flattering way.

The color is shifty as can be, which I love! I am excited to see it during a bright sunny afternoon. It is a glowy peachy-pinky-almost-reddish-in-some-lighting color. The cut is gorgeous, it is SUPER sparkly, and it looks nice against my hand.

Forgive my terrible photography. The last pic seriously makes the stone look BAD--it's under poor quality incandescent desk lighting in a semi-dark room.

I do notice some sort of internal inclusion, I think, but it's hard to notice unless you're squinting, and maybe it just needs polishing? I'm so new to loose stones that I really have no idea what I'm looking at/for. If nothing else, I feel it is reassurance that it is a genuine stone (although I don't doubt Mr. McCormick for a second).

Of course, I am going to need everyone's help on finding/creating the perfect setting for it. This is where I really struggle and I want to maximize the beauty of this little guy.

Austinj, THANK YOU again. Sincerely. My boyfriend and I have been giddy all evening, and I cannot wait to have it set and have him pop the question. We are both over the moon to have such a sweet story accompanying the symbol of our union.

More pics tomorrow, in better lighting. <3

 

[ejacobson]

Here's a few from my bathroom.

 

[chrono]

MORE close up pictures please! Use the zoom (flower icon or macro) on your phone or camera. Edit the picture by cropping out all the background stuff around it as that is unnecessary.

 

[Niel]

It's always flattering to find a window with the sun coming in. Put the stone on the windowsill and cup your hand over the stone and snap a pic.

And for the life of me I can't find the comment that says what this is. Is it a spinel? What's the mm size? What's your budget now for the setting?

 

[austinj]

Yay so glad you love it!! It is very hard to tell from pictures but your description of it sounds lovely. Now onto the setting!!

 

[LoversKites]

It's always flattering to find a window with the sun coming in. Put the stone on the windowsill and cup your hand over the stone and snap a pic.

And for the life of me I can't find the comment that says what this is. Is it a spinel? What's the mm size? What's your budget now for the setting?

Yup it's a spinel. The link with the info doesn't work anymore. I think its 2ct.

 

[ejacobson]

It's a 1.7 carat spinel, and I have uploaded close up pics but I still can't seem to get it right.

I don't have any windows with direct sun, as I live in an apartment with significant trees and such around the perimeter of the unit.

I am a little concerned about extinction in this stone, as it can be very dark, but I just don't know what I'm looking at/for.

Can anyone chime in with their opinions, or do I need better pics?

 

[ejacobson]

Also, what do I clean it with after handling--paper towel? A soft, clean cloth? I will try more pics, but I am taking them with an older iPhone. When you combine my inexperienced gem photographing skills with a less-than-stellar camera, I'm not sure how good I can expect them to turn out.

 

[chrono]

How close are you (or the camera) to the stone when you see this? I am trying to rule out obstruction first.

Use gem tweezers to handle the stone.

 

[ejacobson]

Here's a few more.

I gave Niel's suggestion a try and placed it on the windowsill, but as I mentioned, the windows here do not get direct sunlight.

 

[ejacobson]

Chrono, I am using an iPhone's "zoom" feature. I am maybe a few feet away, max.

I do not have gem tweezers. Is there anything I can use as makeshift gem tweezers?

 

[Niel]

Chrono, I am using an iPhone's "zoom" feature. I am maybe a few feet away, max.

I do not have gem tweezers. Is there anything I can use as makeshift gem tweezers?

I found putting a gem on bubble wrap on your hand helps lol.

Also, maybe try under a tree on a sunny day? Lol. Why is not so hard? It look lovely though. What setting were you thinking.

 

[Niel]

How close are you (or the camera) to the stone when you see this? I am trying to rule out obstruction first.

Use gem tweezers to handle the stone.

Yeah if its a black iPhone close to your stone, that might be doing it. It looks nice and not dark in some of your pics farther away

To avoid black from the phone, tape some white paper to the back.

 

[chrono]

How accurate are pictures 1140 and 1142? How often do you see this? It looks to be near a window but with very low light? The poor stone looks so dead...

 

[chrono]

How close are you (or the camera) to the stone when you see this? I am trying to rule out obstruction first.
Use gem tweezers to handle the stone.

Yeah if its a black iPhone close to your stone, that might be doing it. It looks nice and not dark in some of your pics farther away
To avoid black from the phone, tape some white paper to the back.

Niel,
I have a black iPhone totally encased in a black case and my stones never "died" or blacked out this much.

 

[Niel]

How close are you (or the camera) to the stone when you see this? I am trying to rule out obstruction first.
Use gem tweezers to handle the stone.

Yeah if its a black iPhone close to your stone, that might be doing it. It looks nice and not dark in some of your pics farther away
To avoid black from the phone, tape some white paper to the back.

Niel,
I have a black iPhone totally encased in a black case and my stones never "died" or blacked out this much.

Im not saying some of it isn't the stone, but youre not new to the world of gem photography. Someone new to it may be photographing in a way that that has an effect. I'm thinking like photo 1141

 

[chrono]

I think it is the light source. You can tell that 1141 has a lot more light. I'm guessing the spinel looks great outdoors but dies indoors.

 

[ejacobson]

It was in very low light, yes. I'm not sure how accurate those pics are because I hate having it out and playing with it with my hands (I'm also scared to lose it!!).

I will take it outside and try again....

 

[chrono]

Outdoors
Almost all spinels look their best. Make sure it is a bright and sunny day. Bring a large blanket with you and carry the gem in its closed case. Lay open the blanket under a tree and snap away. If you drop the stone, it is blanketed by the blanket. Easy to find and very little risk of damage.

Indoors
Most spinels look their worse but you still have to make sure you have a strong enough light source. Kitchen or bathroom are good places. Again, handle the stone over a large soft cloth and make sure you are doing it at the table or cleared countertop/island, not just standing around or walking. If in the bathroom, make sure to plug the drain first! Again, stay close to a flat surface and make sure to pad the surface in case you drop the stone. For me, indoor light performance is very important because I spend a LOT of time under fluorescent lights.

 

[mochiko42]

It's hard to tell how the stone is based on the photos (you can see that skewed color in the photos, OP's hand looks different in all the photos, more orange or blue from the light or camera, it's not "natural" light, so it's hard to gauge the true color and performance of the stone.) even my white diamonds look very yellow in my bedroom which has warm daylight lightbulbs. I would try outdoors, under a tree in shaded sunlight.

 

[ejacobson]

It does look dark in some light conditions, but not always...

Is there a certain setting that could prevent this from happening? In some lights, it looks glowy and wonderful, and it does look dead in others. I don't know now, however, whether that's because I have finger grease on it from handling it?

Also, I certainly don't want to be too critical or come across as snobby or ungrateful for the Austinj's generous, kind act.

 

[chrono]

No, the extinction is inherent to the stone so dirt or the style of setting will not have any effect on the darkness.

 

[Niel]

Dont feel badly about it. It was a kind act I'm sure she wants you to feel nothing but good about it.

May I ask, do you like it? Regardless of photography.

 

[ejacobson]

The stone almost never looks like 1140 and 1142.

I took shots of it in the bathroom and outside again, against a white piece of toilet paper (I know, but I don't have any clean white cloths right now--laundry day!).

I was talking with my BF about it and, I think it's moody and perfectly imperfect, just like us and our relationship. We are both moody and sensitive people and, while I am a perfectionist, I have been coming to realize that imperfections are okay and even valuable.

I love it in certain lighting, I like it in others. If it had extinction, wouldn't that be visible in all light conditions?

 

[chrono]

The stone almost never looks like 1140 and 1142.

Okay, that's good! The spinel does sound and appear moody from the latest 4 pictures. Here's the big question - do you like the strong shifts or do you prefer one that holds its colouration better?

 

[ejacobson]

I think I'm fine with strong shifts, as long as it's still sparkly and brilliant. And, I would want to have it in a setting that showcases this...does that mean that a halo is out? Is there a particular setting type that would maximize the color play, or allow it to "do it's thing" without dampening the color?

I do prefer WG, definitely NOT YG, and *COULD BE* persuaded to do RG if necessary.

I imaging what I need to do is bring the stone to a jewelers to see how it looks dropped into settings?

 

[chrono]

The more light you let into the setting, the more the stone will retain its flashiness.
Metal colour can help with the colour or make it look yuckier. I would try it out with different metal colours to see which one suits it best. I'm not sure that WG is the best choice.