Show your Spessartite

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Here are my little sunshine sweeties.

 

[minousbijoux]

Here are my little sunshine sweeties.

Ahh, Lisa, I don't think there is any stone or piece of jewelry of yours that I don't adore. You are so good at choosing color.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

@minousbijoux - Thank You! That is quite the compliment from someone with your expertise and beautiful gemstones.

 

[binay1702]

Nigerian spess, same batch of rough as the stone in my avatar. I like the reddish orange of these, even though most have a fair amount of secondary brown; they really smolder in low light. The pure orange ones are nice of course, but this stuff is a lot cleaner and a lot more affordable.

This is best spessartine garnet in my opinion.

 

[Gemobsessed]

Here are my little sunshine sweeties.

I keep coming back to see the lovely little round ones. They look so clean too, I just can’t find any!

 

[Miki Moto]

Hi, I went through all the photos and love the bright Fanta Orange of this stone!
I have a Mexican Fire Opal, and I would like your opinion of a Fire Opal vs. a Spessartite. Ignoring the color which I know will vary between these two gemstones, I am interested in your thoughts on:

- Which stone sparkles more
- Pricepoint (I am looking for a Fanta Orange stone around 12x10mm, how many carats would the be approximately)
- Why are Fire Opals not popular (e.g. why do you prefer a spessartite vs. a Fire Opal), are Spessartites more sparkly? Less included?

I like my Fire Opal. It is a fun ring, and I picked a red-orange stone. However, I could swear when I first purchased it, it was more red and more sparkly. Now it seems a bit cloudy and dull. If any of you experts have any insight on this point, I would appreciate it.

Many thanks!

 

[chatoyancy]

Hi, I went through all the photos and love the bright Fanta Orange of this stone!
I have a Mexican Fire Opal, and I would like your opinion of a Fire Opal vs. a Spessartite. Ignoring the color which I know will vary between these two gemstones, I am interested in your thoughts on:

- Which stone sparkles more
- Pricepoint (I am looking for a Fanta Orange stone around 12x10mm, how many carats would the be approximately)
- Why are Fire Opals not popular (e.g. why do you prefer a spessartite vs. a Fire Opal), are Spessartites more sparkly? Less included?

I like my Fire Opal. It is a fun ring, and I picked a red-orange stone. However, I could swear when I first purchased it, it was more red and more sparkly. Now it seems a bit cloudy and dull. If any of you experts have any insight on this point, I would appreciate it.

Many thanks!

Mexican fire opals are not as durable for everyday wear. While they don’t sparkle as much as spessartite garnets, their color can be just as gorgeous. The Fanta spessartites are more expensive than fire opals. Other spessartites are not that expensive. Mine wasn’t. My mom has a 7 carat fire opal ring that is gorgeous. I think fire opals are beautiful. I’m not sure why they aren’t more popular on here. I have that same question about one of my favorite stones, imperial topaz.

A pure orange mandarin spessartite in the size you want is going to be very expensive and hard to find. Anything above 2 carats seems rather pricey. Also, spessartite garnets are very heavy stones. They have a high specific gravity. A 10x12 stone will have a high carat weight. I’m sure someone on here can help you find your stone.

 

[Miki Moto]

Mexican fire opals are not as durable for everyday wear. While they don’t sparkle as much as spessartite garnets, their color can be just as gorgeous. The Fanta spessartites are more expensive than fire opals. Other spessartites are not that expensive. Mine wasn’t. My mom has a 7 carat fire opal ring that is gorgeous. I think fire opals are beautiful. I’m not sure why they aren’t more popular on here. I have that same question about one of my favorite stones, imperial topaz.

A pure orange mandarin spessartite in the size you want is going to be very expensive and hard to find. Anything above 2 carats seems rather pricey. Also, spessartite garnets are very heavy stones. They have a high specific gravity. A 10x12 stone will have a high carat weight. I’m sure someone on here can help you find your stone.

Thank you for your input. I will definitely look at spessartites. I love the sparkle as you mentioned, and that Fanta Orange! And you said they were more durable is a plus for me since I am hard with my jewelry. Thanks again!

 

[lilmosun]

My orange spess ring from Yvonne

 

[chatoyancy]

My orange spess ring from Yvonne

Very pretty and feminine! I love that setting.

 

[chatoyancy]

Thank you for your input. I will definitely look at spessartites. I love the sparkle as you mentioned, and that Fanta Orange! And you said they were more durable is a plus for me since I am hard with my jewelry. Thanks again!

You’re welcome. I have no doubt you will find what you are looking for. AJS.com has a couple around the size you want. I’ve noticed that a lot of people on here have had to send several garnets back until they found the right one. It’s definitely one of the colored gems that’s better to buy in person, if you can.

 

[missy]

Here are my little sunshine sweeties.

ORANGELICIOUS! Beautiful!

My orange spess ring from Yvonne

Gorgeous! I love this ring. It's like happiness in a ring with all those lovely happy colors.

 

[Arkteia]

Just took a photo - it is a new one, I have another larger of a similar color, plan to recut for a pair

I think this one is Nigerian - too clean for a Lloliondo

 

[Catmom]

Here's my 3.94 ct spess ring.......

 

[goldie_locks]

I posted about this in another thread, but here's my new spess cab ring by DK:

 

[icy_jade]

Not mine but I was having fun at my jeweller the other day. The one in the ring is 8.5ct, the big loose one is 15.3 and the little heart is 2 plus.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

I love the ring design @icy_jade!!!

That's an awesome new way to halo!

 

[icy_jade]

I love the ring design @icy_jade!!!

That's an awesome new way to halo!

captured that pic from a video and realised that it looks really washed out. Here’s another but without the giant though...


Think could be stock setting. Anyway you know where to go in Singapore if you wanna see

 

[Bluegemz]

Not mine but I was having fun at my jeweller the other day. The one in the ring is 8.5ct, the big loose one is 15.3 and the little heart is 2 plus.

Love the large spessartites.


Here’s one which I would have loved to have, but it was more than I was willing to pay. Taken in strange lighting.

 

[Atwater]

Here's my 3.94 ct spess ring.......

Love the color! A red spess like yours is in my wish list!

 

[Atwater]

My orange spess ring from Yvonne

This is lovely! Here is mine on a purple flower:

 

[lilmosun]

This is lovely! Here is mine on a purple flower:

Thank you! Your spess looks beautiful cenetered against the flower...how are you going to set it?

 

[T L]

@lilmosun ‘s ring from Yvonne is gorgeous, and a great inspiration piece for your beautiful spinel, @Atwater .

 

[Catmom]

Love the color! A red spess like yours is in my wish list!

Thank you! Your spess is gorgeous!

 

[icy_jade]

Saw this in a shop front today and thought it could be spess. So pretty!

Wish I could take a pic of a vintage Tiffany 11 ct spess pendant I saw the other day. Very very clear and so sparkly. Super love.

 

[Atwater]

Thank you! Your spess looks beautiful cenetered against the flower...how are you going to set it?

It is made into a three-garnet ring. The spess glows in low light, like an orange eye staring at you!

 

[Mrs_Strizzle]

I posted this in another thread, but here's the spess I had set for my Mom's birthday last week. She loves it.

 

[Bojambles]

Hi, just jumping on this thread because there are lots of spess lovers, hope it's okay with the OP / mods or I can remove it.

Any comments on the ring below? It's 2.5ct, likely ~US$650 after testing by a reputable lab. Is the price fair? I've heard that spess prices have risen.

It photographs a bit more brown than irl, and irl I see brown whenever there is shadowing (saw a comment that said it's sometimes not the gem's fault, but the shadow being reflected back that is creating the brown). When there is no shadowing it seems to lean reddish-orange imo.

It seems well cut. I am a lil bit disappointed as the seller's photo had shown a bright pastel-ish orange (looks like under diffused sunlight). However if it's due to shadowing, maybe I should look for a different cut or a more yellow-orange colour

Outdoors:





Indoors (really crap and diffused dim yellow lighting)



Indoors, slightly closer to the light source



seller photo:

 

[Bojambles]

Also considering this from a trusted vendor (prefer not to mention who in case of lurkers) who is currently away from the stone.

It's a fiery orange, but, after my experience seeing the other stone irl, I'm wondering if it's going to have the same brown shadowing. This one is concave cut though.

The price is ~$1,500. I don't mind owning both if the price is fair.

 

[ChaiK]

I think this is the worst this stone can look. So this @mellowyellowgirl and her bangles have taught me that I must ask for ugly pictures.



Taxi stand picture.



I am setting it like this: