Red flame: Spinel vs Spess?

[MakingTheGrade]

I'm thinking about something for my next project, and I'd like to get a stone that is mostly red with a slight orange (say 90/10). Like the color of red flames in cheesy illustrations, haha.

I was wondering what the pros and cons of for a orangish Red Spess vs Spinel? I understand Spinels can do "pure stoplight red" better, but what about a slightly orange red?

 

[chrono]

I consider a 90/10 distribution to be a red stone, not flame. If I am not mistaken, flame spinels show more orange, like the flame of a candle. The distribution might be closer to 70/30? Perhaps you are thinking of a red spinel with only a hint of orange, rather than a flame spinel? The majority of red spinels show an orange secondary from very very slightly orange red to slightly orange red. The nice thing for spinels is its toughness and for spessartites, their high RI and lower cost is in their favour.

ETA
www.Awesomegems.com has lots of pictures of spinels with their Munsell colour rating so it’s a good place to get a feel of exactly what you are looking for. Same with their spessartites.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Thanks Chrono. I'm still not great with describing color, but I do want something which is "red" on first impression, but if you look closely you realize it has an orange secondary to it.

Thanks for the link to Awesome gems, although honestly, some of their Reds look like they have an orange secondary still.

Something like this

 

[ma re]

If you wouldn''t mind a pendant, then cherry opals might be an interesting option in terms of color (they''re often orangy-red).

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Like this one is described as R 6-7/5. But I think it has a orange cast to it (and a smidge brown)? If this is the color I'm looking for, is that just Red then?

 

[MakingTheGrade]

And this one is described as OR/RO 6/5. But I would say the trillion is more orangish...

Is my computer monitor just totally out of whack?

 

[ma re]

One of them is a very nicely cut trillion (a variation of a brilliant cut), while the other one is a step cut oval with a small to medium size window, so photos might not show accurate shades of color. If the vendor says that one of them has more orange, that''s probably the case when you see it IRL, but you''d have to check them both to find out.

 

[movie zombie]

the affordable red spinels i''ve seen have had a lot of extinction going on. yes there was some lovely flashes of color when the stone was turned the right way but overall it was dark.

and that would be probably close to $2k per carat to get a really drop dead gorgeous spinel....you can get a reddish spess for less.

spinel is one of those stones that i just cannot abide any extinction and my budget won''t allow me to buy what pleases my eye. maybe you have a bigger budget than i do!

mz

ps i''ve been eyeing some red spessartites.....i think a really fine one would hold its own. however, again, there''s that devil extinction to be avoided...but i think its easier and more affordable with spess.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I was wondering if Spinels tend to be more color stable as well. I know garnets can generally be moody depending on the lighting.

Although all other factors being the same, it seems I''m better off with a nice orangish Red spess given it''s higher RI and higher availability.

 

[chrono]

Spinels do shift a little but I think less so than garnets. If anything, they tend towards more orange under fluorescent so that is a plus for you.

 

[haagen_dazs]

Date: 11/12/2009 10:29:23 AM
Author: MakingTheGrade
R 6-7/5.

i sometimes see this kind of colour codes in the threads.
is this the GIA colour grading scale? 2-8 for tone and 0-6 for saturation? (just confirming)
thanks

 

[chrono]

Yes, this follows the GIA Munsell chart. R 6-7/5 equals Red of medium dark to dark tone, with strong saturation.

 

[jstarfireb]

This spessartite looks on my monitor to be exactly what you''re looking for...