New spessartite

[Cind11]

Date: 5/12/2009 12:43:47 AM
Author: innerkitten
I think in your photos the color is a really pretty shade of orange. For some reason the vendors photo looks kind of yellow. Go figure.

There is definitely no yellow. That much I know. LOL. I''ve come to the conclusion that the vendor''s photos frequently don''t seem to match the real thing.

 

[T L]

Date: 5/12/2009 2:06:48 AM
Author: Cind11

Date: 5/12/2009 1:36:33 AM
Author: tourmaline_lover
It's not so much the brown, but the vividness of the main body color, in this case, orange. Typically the less vivid orange stones tend to have more brown (if it's darker) or yellow (if it's lighter). A pure orange stone will be just that, pure orange without a brown modifier, or a strong yellow modifier. It's really difficult to describe in words vividness of color, so that is why I posted the JW spess to provide an example. Vivid colored stones almost appear to glow with color when they are saturated and they lack unwanted secondary modifiers. As you can see in the JW picture, the spess looks 'electric' and intense in color. However, unless you see one in person, it's really difficult to describe. The brown you're probbaly seeing in the JW spess are probably facet shadows, but if the secondary modifier was truly brown, you would see a duller more muted orange.

Does your spessartite look like a muted orange, or does it look like a really electric intense orange color? The best mandarin spessartites do look like Fanta orange soda color they say. I know one day I was standing in line somewhere, and a guy was drinking a bottle of the fanta orange soda, and I happened to be wearing my spessartite. They were both pretty much the same color - it was funny, and it's something you cannot really truly capture in a 2D picture.

I told my DH that I did not see brown in the JW stone. But he was not convinced.

The stone irl is not muted at all. It is a very intense orange. That is probably the frst thing I noticed when I received it. Do you have pictures of your spess on PS?

My stone does not photograph well, and it's very difficult to capture the neon color unless I put it next to several other colored gems. Orange is difficult to photograph well, as you can attest to. Here's a good article on Mandarin garnets, and a discussion of top color.

http://www.modernjeweler.com/print/Modern-Jeweler/Mandarin-Garnet/1$678

Here's a picture of my Mandarin in dim artificial light. Sorry for not shrinking the picture. I believe it's Nigerian because I bought it a long time ago, and it has a wispy veil inclusion which I read was indicative of the Nigerian material. It's eye clean though for the most part. It's a native cut, and I would love to recut it one of these days. It also doesn't help that I'm wearing a brown sweater today.

 

[T L]

Here's that amazing JW spess in a ring. I think this shows the neon very well. It makes my spess look blah!

 

[movie zombie]

orange spess is indeed difficult to photo.........what is important is do you like the stone? i don't know what you paid for it and i do know that mr wise is high end.....but then i think he deals in high end stones and one buys his eye when purchasing a stone. but i admit to not just some but a lot of prejudice as my spess came from him. other than the richard homer concave cut, have you seen other spess live and in person? i had before we bought my spess......and the difference was night and day.

mz

eta: bright sunlight is the absolute worst for trying to take a good spess photo.

 

[icekid]

Date: 5/12/2009 12:06:54 AM
Author: Cind11

Date: 5/11/2009 10:46:12 PM
Author: Chrono
Cind,
Sometimes it is difficult to take pictures of orange stones so I''ll need some input from you regarding the accuracy of your pictures. How close in colour are your indoor and outdoor pictures compared to the spessartite? I will comment only if the pictures are accurate, otherwise it would be unfair to the stone.

I think my pictures are fairly accurate. They aren''t exact but pretty close. I will admit that now I am rather confused. Richard Wise told me that he ''obsesses'' over stones so that I (the customer) don''t have to. I wonder why he would even buy this stone if the color wasn''t good. I don''t know if you remember the spess that Icekid recently posted that she bought from Gene. I think I can see brown in that stone. And yet Gene rates that a 5 (his old grading system and the highest for color). I think it is her stone. The measurements she gave and carat weight are the same. He still has it on the website. It''s funny because I showed my DH the picture of Jeff White''s spess that TL posted. My DH said I can see brown in that stone. ??

You''re hallucinating

While it''s certainly not as fab as Chrono''s spess- definitely no brown.

 

[chrono]

Orange is another difficult colour to evaluate because it is a mixture of 2 colours, primarily red and yellow. If it leans one way or the other, then you’ll see brown or yellow which aren’t desired colours. I am still confused because you posted that your pictures are accurate (showing a not so bright and intense spessartite) but a few posts down you mentioned that it is a very intense orange. If I were to comment solely on the pictures, it is a stone I personally would not purchase. The colour doesn’t appear vivid to my eye. TL’s crappy picture shows a stronger orange colour. However, because I know it is difficult to capture orange on camera and only you are able to see the stone in person, the best I can do is to show you some examples and you’ll have the difficult choice in deciding if it is the one for you.

 

[chrono]

This spessartite is probably too large but the colour would be something to aim for. The colour is bright and intense without appearing yellow or brown. I tried to attach a picture but am unable to do so the link will have to suffice.
http://www.paraibainternational.com/product_info.php?product=2568

 

[Imdanny]

I don''t see any brown in it and I like it!

 

[Stone Hunter]

Well I like what I see color wise in your pictures. But it's not Fanta orange.

Now please correct me if I'm wrong...I thought Spess was defined by it's chemical make up. And that Spess can be several different colors. Fanta or Mandarin Orange being one of them.

If that's the case then not every Spess is a Fanta and that's OK.

ETA: I don't see any brown in Icekid's stone.

 

[chrono]

Date: 5/12/2009 9:56:07 AM
Author: Stone Hunter
Well I like what I see color wise in your pictures. But it''s not Fanta orange.

Now please correct me if I''m wrong...I thought Spess was defined by it''s chemical make up. And that Spess can be several different colors. Fanta or Mandarin Orange being one of them.

If that''s the case then not every Spess is a Fanta and that''s OK.

ETA: I don''t see any brown in Icekid''s stone.

Absolutely. A good example is Inner Kitten''s new trilliant spessartite. It isn''t a mandarin orange but what made it very pretty is that the colour is intense and it really shows in her pictures. I''m just not seeing that same intensity of colour in Cind''s stone that she is considering.

 

[T L]

I know people are stating they do not see brown in the stone, but secondary hues are sometimes very difficult to see, but you can see their "effect" by the fact that the stone has a muted color, or is not intense or vivid in the primary color.

 

[chrono]

This isn''t fanta orange but the colour is so vivid and intense. This is a 4.16 ct cushion from Pala that stood out for me.

 

[chrono]

I don''t like checkerboards but the colour caught my eye as well. This is what I mean by gemstones do not have to meet certain desired colours but you''ll know it''s the one for you when it grabs your eye. This is another Pala stone and is a 3.41 ct spessartite. You have to look at it and go "wow" right away. There should be no reason to mull over this and that.

 

[movie zombie]

correct: not every spess is fanda...nor is it mandarin. there is red spess that if high end just absolutely glows.

mz

 

[T L]

Supposedly, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, the most valuable and coveted spessartites are fanta orange mandarins. The Modern Jeweler article I linked above talks about those as well as other various colors of spess. Regardless, for any colored gemstone that you get, you should try to get the most vivid color for your budget. I find that color is the most important thing when considering any colored gem. I rather have a badly cut stone with a vivid color than a well cut sone with a bad color. Although precision cutting sometimes improves color, you should stick to getting the best color you can.

 

[Cind11]

Date: 5/12/2009 2:28:16 AM
Author: tourmaline_lover
Here''s that amazing JW spess in a ring. I think this shows the neon very well. It makes my spess look blah!

TL, I did read the article you linked me to. Your spess certainly looks very pretty as does the JW stone.

 

[T L]

Thanks Cind,
I posted a brand new sunlight shot of it in the gallery and the eyecandy thread.

 

[Cind11]

Date: 5/12/2009 2:43:07 AM
Author: movie zombie
orange spess is indeed difficult to photo.........what is important is do you like the stone? i don''t know what you paid for it and i do know that mr wise is high end.....but then i think he deals in high end stones and one buys his eye when purchasing a stone. but i admit to not just some but a lot of prejudice as my spess came from him. other than the richard homer concave cut, have you seen other spess live and in person? i had before we bought my spess......and the difference was night and day.

mz

eta: bright sunlight is the absolute worst for trying to take a good spess photo.

MZ, I have seen a few spessartites but not many. I am not in area where I can readily see what to the average person would probably be an "unheard" of stone. Truthfully, I did like the stone until I read some of these comments. While I realize no one else''s opinion really matters but mine it bothers me to think that I might have a stone that is not optimum color for th price I paid. I have emailed Richard, but have not heard back from him. It still seems to me however, that since he is known for colored stones, he would pick well.

 

[Cind11]

Date: 5/12/2009 6:35:43 AM
Author: icekid

Date: 5/12/2009 12:06:54 AM
Author: Cind11

Date: 5/11/2009 10:46:12 PM
Author: Chrono
Cind,
Sometimes it is difficult to take pictures of orange stones so I''ll need some input from you regarding the accuracy of your pictures. How close in colour are your indoor and outdoor pictures compared to the spessartite? I will comment only if the pictures are accurate, otherwise it would be unfair to the stone.

I think my pictures are fairly accurate. They aren''t exact but pretty close. I will admit that now I am rather confused. Richard Wise told me that he ''obsesses'' over stones so that I (the customer) don''t have to. I wonder why he would even buy this stone if the color wasn''t good. I don''t know if you remember the spess that Icekid recently posted that she bought from Gene. I think I can see brown in that stone. And yet Gene rates that a 5 (his old grading system and the highest for color). I think it is her stone. The measurements she gave and carat weight are the same. He still has it on the website. It''s funny because I showed my DH the picture of Jeff White''s spess that TL posted. My DH said I can see brown in that stone. ??

You''re hallucinating

While it''s certainly not as fab as Chrono''s spess- definitely no brown.

Perhaps I am hallucinating.

 

[Cind11]

Date: 5/12/2009 8:21:25 AM
Author: Imdanny
I don''t see any brown in it and I like it!

Thanks for your reply.

 

[Cind11]

Date: 5/12/2009 9:56:07 AM
Author: Stone Hunter
Well I like what I see color wise in your pictures. But it''s not Fanta orange.

Now please correct me if I''m wrong...I thought Spess was defined by it''s chemical make up. And that Spess can be several different colors. Fanta or Mandarin Orange being one of them.

If that''s the case then not every Spess is a Fanta and that''s OK.

ETA: I don''t see any brown in Icekid''s stone.

I appreciate everyone''s opinion. Thanks!

 

[Cind11]

Date: 5/12/2009 10:50:13 AM
Author: Chrono
This isn''t fanta orange but the colour is so vivid and intense. This is a 4.16 ct cushion from Pala that stood out for me.

Doesn''t this stone have a yellow undertone though? I''ll have to post more later as I have to run out again but thanks for the pictures Chrono.

 

[innerkitten]

I understand wanting a top quality stone if you pay top dollar. The main thing is you have to love the stone. As people have been discussing spess does come in many different tones and saturations and taste varies from person to person. When I was looking a while back I returned a few stones before finding one I really loved. (Then last week I got another one thats super bright and pretty) Anyway,if this one turns out not to be the one then I''m sure the perfect stone will come your way soon

 

[innerkitten]

I love the color on this one. It reminds me of an orange peel.
http://www.webgraphicsengineering.com/Gemstones/query3.cfm?yVarieties=Mandarin%20Spessartite&ySpecies=Garnet

 

[chrono]

Date: 5/12/2009 7:47:44 PM
Author: Cind11

Date: 5/12/2009 10:50:13 AM
Author: Chrono
This isn''t fanta orange but the colour is so vivid and intense. This is a 4.16 ct cushion from Pala that stood out for me.

Doesn''t this stone have a yellow undertone though? I''ll have to post more later as I have to run out again but thanks for the pictures Chrono.

That is precisely the point. While it does not have the ideal colour, it stands out due to the intensity of colour. I do not know what shade you like or are looking for but the spess you are currently considering does not capture my attention as much as this one because the colour doesn''t pop in the photograph you showed. This is also a comparison to the Pala stone Richard showed you which to my eye, I barely see any orange. Just yellow and brown.

 

[Cind11]

Date: 5/12/2009 8:08:56 PM
Author: innerkitten
I understand wanting a top quality stone if you pay top dollar. The main thing is you have to love the stone. As people have been discussing spess does come in many different tones and saturations and taste varies from person to person. When I was looking a while back I returned a few stones before finding one I really loved. (Then last week I got another one thats super bright and pretty) Anyway,if this one turns out not to be the one then I''m sure the perfect stone will come your way soon

I do like the stone, but the question is would I like another better?

 

[Cind11]

Date: 5/12/2009 9:58:40 PM
Author: Chrono

Date: 5/12/2009 7:47:44 PM
Author: Cind11

Date: 5/12/2009 10:50:13 AM
Author: Chrono
This isn''t fanta orange but the colour is so vivid and intense. This is a 4.16 ct cushion from Pala that stood out for me.

Doesn''t this stone have a yellow undertone though? I''ll have to post more later as I have to run out again but thanks for the pictures Chrono.

That is precisely the point. While it does not have the ideal colour, it stands out due to the intensity of colour. I do not know what shade you like or are looking for but the spess you are currently considering does not capture my attention as much as this one because the colour doesn''t pop in the photograph you showed. This is also a comparison to the Pala stone Richard showed you which to my eye, I barely see any orange. Just yellow and brown.

Actually, Richard did not show me the stone on the Palagems website. I found that myself. I don''t think this stone I have looks anything like that one.

 

[BWise]

Cind, spess come in many different shades and it only matters if you like it or not. However, if you are shopping for a top Mandarin orange spess, you probably want to look again. From the pictures you posted, this stone doesn''t have the neon orange color. It could be the pictures, but do you see the color IRL?

TL and Icekid, love your orange spess!

 

[chrono]

Date: 5/12/2009 10:29:50 PM
Author: Cind11
I do like the stone, but the question is would I like another better?

If that''s the case, then you need to take a minute to decide which shade of spessartite you want first. Pick a specific colour in your mind or look around the web for your ideal spessartite colour. Once you have found it, then you can shop for something like that. This will eliminate the "would I like another better" nagging thought in your mind. When I found my spess, I just knew that was it. It was the same with my tsavorite.

 

[shinyrocks]

Date: 5/12/2009 7:41:58 PM
Author: Cind11

Date: 5/12/2009 2:43:07 AM
Author: movie zombie
orange spess is indeed difficult to photo.........what is important is do you like the stone? i don''t know what you paid for it and i do know that mr wise is high end.....but then i think he deals in high end stones and one buys his eye when purchasing a stone. but i admit to not just some but a lot of prejudice as my spess came from him. other than the richard homer concave cut, have you seen other spess live and in person? i had before we bought my spess......and the difference was night and day.

mz

eta: bright sunlight is the absolute worst for trying to take a good spess photo.

MZ, I have seen a few spessartites but not many. I am not in area where I can readily see what to the average person would probably be an ''unheard'' of stone. Truthfully, I did like the stone until I read some of these comments. While I realize no one else''s opinion really matters but mine it bothers me to think that I might have a stone that is not optimum color for th price I paid. I have emailed Richard, but have not heard back from him. It still seems to me however, that since he is known for colored stones, he would pick well.

Then that is all that matters! Ask yourself: do I like the stone and am I OK with the money spent on it? If the answer is yes, then it shouldn''t matter what anyone else''s opinion is....