Spessartite garnet from Gemselect?

[PrincessCath]

Hello everyone,

Long-time lurker, but I am finally taking the plunge... I have an old ring, oval pale blue sapphire (12x in a 12-diamond halo. I like the setting, but find the sapphire awfully dull. I would like to change the stone without spending a fortune, and have found this at Gemselect:
http://www.gemselect.com/spessartite-garnet/spessartite-garnet-296157.php#

I have read mixed reviews about Gemselect here. Good customer service, but not top quality stones. What do you think of this one?

Many thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[VapidLapid]

I think that stone will be dark, and pyropey. When you say your sapphire is dull do you mean it is a drab stone or does it just need a repolish?

 

[PrincessCath]

Thanks! The sapphire has always been dull. Lack of color saturation (pale blue-grey) and a visible inclusion, plus poor cut.
Here's another stone (pink tourmaline) from Gemselect:
http://www.gemselect.com/tourmaline/tourmaline-301342.php
I know a diamond halo will make any stone darker (my sapphire was still paler before it was set) but maybe it would work with this one?

 

[VapidLapid]

I dont know if the setting is bezel or prong, but either way you will not be able to comfortable fit an 8x10 stone in an 8x12 space.

What do you think of this

http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?776715809

 

[PrincessCath]

Silly me! the setting is indeed 10x8. The 12 comes from the number of diamonds in the halo, I suppose. It is a 4 prong setting, yellow 18K gold.

 

[PrincessCath]

Sorry about the mixup on the size. This would fit my 10x8 setting, from the vendor you recommended:
http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?/details/spessartite/yse232ab/&-911529999

What do you think?

 

[VapidLapid]

I have learned that with multicolor one gets a truer sense of the stone by looking at the gem report (link on the listing page). The photo in the report is generally more accurate. The one you linked to is already described as brownish. BUt this one looks like it might be good:
http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?1225082285

 

[PrincessCath]

It does look good. Thanks so much for your help! This is the first time I buy any stones online, so I am a bit nervous. I'll let you know what happens, and will post pix of the ring when it's set.

 

[PrincessCath]

Pic of my sapphire ring. See? I wasn't lying when I said it was very dull. But the setting, though it's been around a million times, might look good with a better stone.

For the spessartite, I also saw this one. The cut looks better than Gemselect or Multicolour, though the price may not be the same... I sent an email to ask about that. What do you think?
http://www.whitesgems.com/gallery/GAR092.htm

 

[VapidLapid]

Yes I see that sapphire is dreary.
Jeff white is a fantastic lapidary, and the stone by him that you linked is gorgeous. The stones you see in the "gallery" on his website are sold. Most of his work is custom. there are a few available if you click on "Current Selection" But I can tell you the current selction hasn't had an addition in years. Also I would expect the stone you linked would cost about ten times as much as the multicolour one.
Have you looked at http://www.ajsgem.com/
also you might email Barry http://www.acstones.com/ and see if he can cut you a spess supernova in you size and budget.

 

[Pandora II]

That stone is a precision cut, the other two are native cuts. You will pay a considerable premium for beautiful cutting like that.

With spessartites, true bright oranges do not come cheap at all. If you are looking at sites like gemselect then you need to read the stones knowing that you are getting what you pay for. If the photo looks like its the colour of Fanta and it's only $250 or so then you will likely be disappointed when you open the package.

 

[movie zombie]

That stone is a precision cut, the other two are native cuts. You will pay a considerable premium for beautiful cutting like that.

With spessartites, true bright oranges do not come cheap at all. If you are looking at sites like gemselect then you need to read the stones knowing that you are getting what you pay for. If the photo looks like its the colour of Fanta and it's only $250 or so then you will likely be disappointed when you open the package.

no disagreement with this at all.

 

[T L]

Spessartites are one of the most photoshopped gems IMO.

 

[PrincessCath]

Spessartites are one of the most photoshopped gems IMO.

So, TL, given that sad fact, would you say it's wise to buy one online? Pandora, my favorite color is not exactly the bright orange, though it may be the most desirable. I prefer the reddish-orangey stones.

Problem with looking at the Jeff White cut, admittedly gorgeous, it makes the native cuts look at Gemselect and Multi look dismal by comparison...

I will be in LA late March, and have a couple of friends in the Jewelry District there, one a diamond trader (no help on spess, obviously) and the other a jeweler. Is LA a good place for colored stones?

 

[Pandora II]

If you like reddish-orange then I would look at Hessonites. Spessartite carries a hefty price-tag.

Some of us here, myself included, actually prefer more traditional cuts. Precision cutting is very popular on PS though.

 

[PrincessCath]

So, Pandora, what do you think of the stome Vapid linked to? Again, I like the reds.
http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?1225082285

 

[PrincessCath]

As for hessonite, there's only one at Multi, and I don't like the color:
http://www.multicolour.com/detail/index.html?/details/single/hessonite/yhs100ax/

Do you know of a source for good colors?

 

[Pandora II]

That is a terrible colour for a hessonite.

They should be more like this one:

They do have very distinctive inclusions - it looks like whisky with water in it, kind of swirly.

I'll see what I can find.

You will find a brown modifier in any spessartite that isn't $$$$, and hessonite always has a brown component.

ETA: Gemfix has nice hessonites and spessatites

 

[LD]

Is your sapphire a cabochon? If so, it's actually very pretty.

 

[VapidLapid]

I have a fantastic Hessonite from Gemrite, deep glowing orange like an ember. All the hessonite on gemfix right now look brown or worse.

 

[PrincessCath]

No, LD, it is faceted. I took this pic with my cell phone, hence the terrible quality (yes, I know, some people take great pix with cell phones, I am just not one of those.)

Yet whenever I wore it, I got a lot of compliments, mostly by people who thought it looked like the late Diana's. In fact it is much lighter, and I am sure cost a lot less $$ than hers. But like hers, it looks prettier in person. The diamonds in the setting, though small, have a good deal of sparkle, so put together, the ring is not ridiculous.

What do you think? Should I just keep it as is after all? As much as I'd love to spend $2,000+ on a nice spessartite, if it's what it takes, it's not in the cards right now. I wouldn't go above $500. Would the hessonite be any better than my poor sapphire if it has whisky swirls in it?

Another option, within my budget, would be to ditch red stones and try for an amethyst w/good saturation...

 

[PrincessCath]

I have a fantastic Hessonite from Gemrite, deep glowing orange like an ember. All the hessonite on gemfix right now look brown or worse.

Gemrite always has pretty stones. He has this in the garnet dept, but it may be a tad small for my setting, and dark too:
http://www.gemrite.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=35

 

[VapidLapid]

THis is my little hessonite.




Hsve you looked at every stone on every website on the pinned list of respected ps vendors?

 

[PrincessCath]

This hessonite has a beautiful color! No, I haven't looked at every stone of every vendor, but I am working on it...

Speaking of Gemfix, I agree with you: they have nothing worthwhile in hessonites at this time.

However, in spessartites, they have this, for $895. As I said, something redder would be more my thing, but I have to admit this orange is quite something. (Plus of course the small matter of my budget.) Is Gemfix a reliable vendor? As I said, I will be in LA in a few weeks, so a drive down to San Diego wouldn't be so bad.

 

[PrincessCath]

Wait, I just found this at Gemfix! The cut may be too "busy" but look at this color! $970.

 

[LD]

No, LD, it is faceted. I took this pic with my cell phone, hence the terrible quality (yes, I know, some people take great pix with cell phones, I am just not one of those.)

Yet whenever I wore it, I got a lot of compliments, mostly by people who thought it looked like the late Diana's. In fact it is much lighter, and I am sure cost a lot less $$ than hers. But like hers, it looks prettier in person. The diamonds in the setting, though small, have a good deal of sparkle, so put together, the ring is not ridiculous.

What do you think? Should I just keep it as is after all? As much as I'd love to spend $2,000+ on a nice spessartite, if it's what it takes, it's not in the cards right now. I wouldn't go above $500. Would the hessonite be any better than my poor sapphire if it has whisky swirls in it?

Another option, within my budget, would be to ditch red stones and try for an amethyst w/good saturation...

Well, I think if it's getting compliments then I'm guessing it's actually a very pretty ring/stone but maybe you've fallen out of love with it? That happens. So, what you should ask yourself is if you replace the sapphire with an orange/brown stone, how much will you be able to wear it? It's a lot less easy to wear than blue. Also, what's your skin tone like? Consider that also.

If you have any doubts (and I think you do because the first post was about a spess and then you linked to a pink tourmaline) perhaps you should spend some time looking at gems online. If ones screams out of the page "buy me because you're going to regret it if you don't" then that will probably be the one! In the meantime, enjoy wearing your sapphire.

 

[VapidLapid]

Yes gemfix is a reliable vendor. I have a wonderful Mali garnet from them that I love.

 

[PrincessCath]

Well, I think if it's getting compliments then I'm guessing it's actually a very pretty ring/stone but maybe you've fallen out of love with it? That happens. So, what you should ask yourself is if you replace the sapphire with an orange/brown stone, how much will you be able to wear it? It's a lot less easy to wear than blue. Also, what's your skin tone like? Consider that also.

If you have any doubts (and I think you do because the first post was about a spess and then you linked to a pink tourmaline) perhaps you should spend some time looking at gems online. If ones screams out of the page "buy me because you're going to regret it if you don't" then that will probably be the one! In the meantime, enjoy wearing your sapphire.

LD, you are a mind reader! Indeed I fell out of love for reasons that have little to do with the poor sapphire.

Yet these two spessartites from Gemfix really tug at my heartstrings, and I would love to have your opinion of them.

 

[PrincessCath]

Well, I think if it's getting compliments then I'm guessing it's actually a very pretty ring/stone but maybe you've fallen out of love with it? That happens. So, what you should ask yourself is if you replace the sapphire with an orange/brown stone, how much will you be able to wear it? It's a lot less easy to wear than blue. Also, what's your skin tone like? Consider that also.

If you have any doubts (and I think you do because the first post was about a spess and then you linked to a pink tourmaline) perhaps you should spend some time looking at gems online. If ones screams out of the page "buy me because you're going to regret it if you don't" then that will probably be the one! In the meantime, enjoy wearing your sapphire.

LD, you are a mind reader! Indeed I fell out of love for reasons that have little to do with the poor sapphire.

Yet these two spessartites from Gemfix really tug at my heartstrings, and I would love to have your opinion of them.

 

[PrincessCath]

Sorry for the double posting! Don't know what happened, but I can't delete the duplicate post.