My first mandarin spess garnet - please comment

[Art Nouveau]

Since there is heated discussion on spess garnet in another thread and I do not want to 'thread hijack', I am starting a new one. This is a 4.09 ct mandarin garnet from Nigeria that I bought few months ago. Since I own this stone, vendors are welcomed to comment. Even though orange is not a dominant color in my wardrobe, I bought this stone because of all the beautiful spess garnets I saw posted on this forum. The color of this stone is close to 'fanta' orange under the dealer's lights. At home, it depends on the lighting, sometimes it looks fanta orange and sometimes I see more yellow. I do not see brown at all and there is no window even though it may look like there is a small in the pictures. The clarity is also very good. I do not see the typical 'sugar' inclusions. So what do you think? I have not decided how to set it yet, but mostly likely I don't want a halo. I have 4 small oval pink spinels that I am considering using with this spess, but I have not come up with a design yet. I find the color very difficult to capture and these are as close as I can get with my point and shoot camera.

 

[Largosmom]

I think it is just lovely

 

[baby nurse]

ArtNouveau, I think it's a gorgeous stone. It's a beautiful orange! Too bad it's so difficult to capture with the camera but this one is lovely. And I love the fact that it's a cushion. It will look amazing with the pink spinels. Do you think you'll have enough room for all four?

 

[chictomato]

I think it is just lovely

+1! And not to mention the substantial size

 

[Lovinggems]

Nice combo, it's very hard to photograph orange gems.

 

[Art Nouveau]

Largosmom, babynurse and chictomato: Thank you for your nice comments. I don't know much about spess garnets so I don't know if I bought a nice stone. The dealer said it is very difficult to find a 4 carat stone in that color and clarity. If I use the pink spinels, it will probably be only 2. The 4 stones are not the same color, two are slightly lighter than the other two. I actually like the lighter color pair with the orange. One possiblity is a wide split shank, with the pink spinel set in between the split.

AN

 

[Nashville]

Looks beautiful to me! Love the color and loving that it's a substantial size as well. Can't wait to see what you do with it!

 

[T L]

AN,
I think it's beautiful. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I do not believe the sugar inclusions come from the Nigerian material, but more of the Tanzanian material. I believe the three main African sources have inclusions specific to them, Tanzania, Nigeria and Namibia. Nigeria is also known for producing cleaner stones. Congratulations on your latest gem purchase. To get a cushion so large and clean is a lucky find.

 

[Art Nouveau]

Loving gems: Orange and shocking pink combo reminds me of 60s psychedelic colors. SInce I seldom wear pure orange, I think I will get more use out of the ring if I mix the pink in there.

Nashville: I have too many ideas in my head right now. It will be a while before I decide on a design. The stone may look nice in a more comtemporary yellow gold setting. Or a James Meyer type design. Or a Castellani sytle setting with granulation in high carat gold. There are too many possibilities to consider.

TL: You are probaby right about the 'sugar' inclusions being found in Loliondo spess only. What inclusions should I be looking for in a Nigerian spess? My eyes are not as good as they used to be, but a quick look with a 10X loupe, I can't see any obvious inclusions. To me, color is the most important consideration in color stones. Clarity is secondary. As long as it faces up kind of eye clean is good enough for me. This stone is cut a bit deep, so it does not face up as big as you would expect with a 4 carat stone.

AN

 

[T L]

Loving gems: Orange and shocking pink combo reminds me of 60s psychedelic colors. SInce I seldom wear pure orange, I think I will get more use out of the ring if I mix the pink in there.

Nashville: I have too many ideas in my head right now. It will be a while before I decide on a design. The stone may look nice in a more comtemporary yellow gold setting. Or a James Meyer type design. Or a Castellani sytle setting with granulation in high carat gold. There are too many possibilities to consider.

TL: You are probaby right about the 'sugar' inclusions being found in Loliondo spess only. What inclusions should I be looking for in a Nigerian spess? My eyes are not as good as they used to be, but a quick look with a 10X loupe, I can't see any obvious inclusions. To me, color is the most important consideration in color stones. Clarity is secondary. As long as it faces up kind of eye clean is good enough for me. This stone is cut a bit deep, so it does not face up as big as you would expect with a 4 carat stone.

AN

Nigerian spessartite tend to be clean, so I am unaware of the types of inclusions in them. Namibian ones tend to be sleepy, and have wispy veils (so does my pear with the wispy veils and sleepyness, but I am unaware of the origin), and the Loliondo have the sugar inclusions of course. I have an asscher I suspect is Nigerian as it is as clean as a whistle, and very crystal. I don't think you should worry about origin too much because there is no premium on these stone's origin, except from Namibia, but that mine has played out a long time ago. Nigerian or Tanzanian, it doesn't matter because it's all about color, and both regions produced beautiful specimens. Tanzanian stone tend to run a bit more yellow than the Nigerian stones however, for the most part (not in all cases).

 

[Art Nouveau]

TL: Thank you for the info. My stone does not look as saturated as yours and Chrono's, but it is super bright like a fireball. The nicest spess that I have seen on line is the one on Richard Homer's web site.

AN

 

[Art Nouveau]

TL: Thank you for the info. My stone does not look as saturated as yours and Chrono's, but it is super bright like a fireball. The nicest spess that I have seen on line is the one on Richard Homer's web site. Hope a Pricescoper buys that one.

AN

 

[Arkteia]

I think it is a beautiful stone which is beautifully cut. Congratulations! Orange will become your color!

 

[chrono]

AN,
It looks like a very pretty spessartite with well balanced cutting. At least your P&S camera is able to capture orange better than mine. I have seen some very nice and clean Nigerian so they are out there although well saturated ones can be difficult to find as well. It is the Loliondo material that has a tendency to be included, more so what it mined today, and as far as I know, they are the only ones to have these sugar inclusions which makes identifying them quite easy. I agree that such a substantial size and colour can stand on its own without a halo although I’m sure there will be others who disagree. My original setting was a halo and the reset isn’t which I find the effect to be much better out of the halo. My other idea was to surround the spessartite with some pink melees and your idea of 2 hot pink side stones gets my vote because I’m obviously biased towards it. With such a colour, I don’t think the metal colour will make much difference.

 

[T L]

I have to vote no pink and orange. I personally do not like two warm colors next to each other. Sorry. I do know some people like the combo, but I feel both colors compete with each other too much.

 

[chrono]

I have to vote no pink and orange. I personally do not like two warm colors next to each other. Sorry. I do know some people like the combo, but I feel both colors compete with each other too much.

Says the lady who thought of putting yellow and hot pink/red together not too long ago.

 

[T L]

Did I? I don't remember. What is greenish yellow or orangey yellow?

I will say that I have a hot pink tourmaline and a Fanta spessartite and I never wear them next to each other. I think they cancel each other out.

 

[brandy_z28]

Loving gems: Orange and shocking pink combo reminds me of 60s psychedelic colors. SInce I seldom wear pure orange, I think I will get more use out of the ring if I mix the pink in there.
AN

I'm a huge fan of that color combo! I can't wait to see what you do with them!

 

[chrono]

Did I? I don't remember. What is greenish yellow or orangey yellow?

I will say that I have a hot pink tourmaline and a Fanta spessartite and I never wear them next to each other. I think they cancel each other out.

I have seen high end designers (which my old brain cannot recall at the moment) put the combo together and I thought it was not only unique but attractive.

 

[soberguy]

That stone looks really nice. I love the colors together. I also really like green with orange

 

[T L]

Soberguy,
I love green with orange too!!

 

[virgoruby]

Your spess is gorgeous!
And I love the combination of orange and hot pink!

 

[Art Nouveau]

Thank you everyone for your nice comments. Looks like there are more 'yes' than 'no' votes for the orange/pink combo. TL: I agree that wearing two stones of strong color together is 'compteting', but using small stones with a bigger one is more like adding an 'accent' and can actually enhance the color of the bigger one. The little spinels were meant for my spinel earring project, but I ended up buying a ready made mounting for the earrings and these little stones are left sitting around doing nothing. So I am thinking of using them with the orange spess. Actually the orange/hot pink combo is 'in' again this summer. I bought a cute dress in these colors, but I returned it because I thought the style was too 'young' looking and not age appropriate for me. Orange and green look nice too. I saw LM's spess set with two green tsavorites.

AN

 

[chrono]

I like orange and green too as long as it doesn’t make it too fruity. Of course, one can be whimsical and actually strive for the look too if so inclined.

 

[T L]

Thank you everyone for your nice comments. Looks like there are more 'yes' than 'no' votes for the orange/pink combo. TL: I agree that wearing two stones of strong color together is 'compteting', but using small stones with a bigger one is more like adding an 'accent' and can actually enhance the color of the bigger one. The little spinels were meant for my spinel earring project, but I ended up buying a ready made mounting for the earrings and these little stones are left sitting around doing nothing. So I am thinking of using them with the orange spess. Actually the orange/hot pink combo is 'in' again this summer. I bought a cute dress in these colors, but I returned it because I thought the style was too 'young' looking and not age appropriate for me. Orange and green look nice too. I saw LM's spess set with two green tsavorites.

AN

For me, and that photo of the model, I can't notice the pink belt very well (it doesn't stand out) because the orange is overpowering it. However, we all like what we like, and I know I like things that some people don't.

 

[soberguy]

Go crazy! Do a flower thing with emeralds as leaves and the colored stones as blossoms I saw a few examples that were really pretty! I have to admit I'm a bit of a fan of slightly gaudy LOL!

 

[portia]

Wow... gorgeous spess!! Oh, that color... I'm so jealous! LOL And a nice size, too.

I personally love the colors together. It reminds me of this ring... What ever you do with it I'm sure it will be beautiful!

 

[Arcadian]

Lovely stone (BIG STONE!! ) The two colors together are nice, but if you go that route will you be able to wear it often enough in your wardrobe?

I'm semi anti Orange and green just because it reminds me so much of pumpkins and Halloween. (some holidays just ruin stuff)

-A

 

[brandy_z28]

I'm semi anti Orange and green just because it reminds me so much of pumpkins and Halloween. (some holidays just ruin stuff)
-A

What did you say?! That is my favorite holiday! The travesty!

 

[jleb]

The pinks will push up the orange in the spessarite, so if your ok with it, that would be fine. You could also go with some small tsavorites as well, which are a nice complement. It's all fall colors, so what ever fires your fancy!