What''s your favorite pink stone?

[kkeen15]

You might know from my other post on this board regarding pink sapphires that I''ve been interested in getting a pink stone for a ring. When I decided I wanted pink, the first thing that popped into my head was "pink sapphire" as the best quality pink stone out there, after diamonds. But after reading up on some old posts here and checking out Mogok''s website and other websites, I''m seeing a couple other kinds of pink stones, namely tourmaline and spinel.

I''ve gathered that most people with experience prefer spinel b/c its single refractive like diamonds and has similar levels of color saturation to sapphires. Also, its hardness is just below sapphires, coming in at 8. I don''t know much about the beauty of pink tourmaline, only that is much less expensive than the other two, has a hardness of 7-7.5, and shouldn''t be cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner.

Which is your favorite pink stone (or if you prefer a sort that I didn''t name, please tell me about it!)?? Why? Also, can you tell me what you know about tourmaline? Is it durable enough to wear in a ring?

Thanks so much guys!!!!!

 

[mogok]

Hello,
This is something that can show you without need to add more explanations that the informations you have got about pink spinels are right to my opinion. I love pink spinels, but this does not mean that I look down on pink sapphire. They look quite different as Pink sapphire can be also called pink ruby... Some border line stone between pinkish red and reddish pink are just stunning!
Anyway Pink spinels or sapphire are beautiful gems.
I have to say that I dont have too much experience with pink tourmalines as pink tourmalines are not gems we see often in Bangkok.
I'm same you on this point, I've hear about them more than I've seen.

All the best,

 

[Jennifer5973]

I've seen several of those "hot pink" sapphires and I just think they blow tourmaline away when cut right. Again, it's so subjective...Keep looking and decide which stone you like best for yourself!

 

[mogok]

Hello all of you!
Well one little thing I've may be forgotten to say: The stones on my photos on the precedent post are not "hot pink sapphires" but Burmese spinels!
Enjoy!

 

[Cave Keeper]

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On 7/18/2004 8:54:09 AM mogok wrote:

:
The stones on my photos on the precedent post are not 'hot pink sapphires' but Burmese spinels!
:
----------------

Thanks for the clarification. Nice, pink spinels.

How does BixBite and Pezzottaite compare?

 

[kkeen15]

I read up a little about bixbite and pezzottaite online...they're of decent hardness, 7.5-8, but the examples I saw on Multicolour's website aren't what I'm looking for, personally. The bixbite stones are smaller than what I have in mind. Pezzottaite is beautiful, but I think they look much better as natural crystals than cut as gemstones.

 

[Jennifer5973]

Wow.

I may have to look into those Burmese spinels...are they expenive?

 

[Bethanying]

Quick question- any thoughts on pink topaz?

I'm a complete newbie but I have seen some pink topaz, didn't know the quality, etc.

Bethany

 

[Richard Sherwood]

The thing that pink spinels will have over pezzotaite, bixbite, and even pink topaz is a higher refractive index which will make them appear livelier and more intense.

Not that the others won't appear lovely in their own right, but a hot pink spinel (or hot pink sapphire) is a tough contendor to beat.

 

[mogok]

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On 7/18/2004 11:00:47 PM Jennifer5973 wrote:

Wow.

I may have to look into those Burmese spinels...are they expenive?

----------------

Well compared to diamonds of the same size they worth nothing... Pink spinels are also cheaper than pink sapphire of equivalent quality as red spinels are cheaper than rubies...
And of course i dont even try to speak about a pink diamond!

Now pink topaz is also a nice stone it has the same hardness as spinel but has cleavage which make the stone less durable. Natural pink topaz is very rare and colored by chromium. Most pink topaz currently in the trade are produced from the treatment of some brown topaz. Its a lovely stone but it usually lack the saturation of spinel and sapphire.

All the best,

 

[innerkitten]

I'm in the market for one of those hot pink spinels at the moment. I've been looking around the usual web sites. Some of them are pretty pricey.
I have a question for mogok. On your site Gemwow ( which is an excellent site by the way) some of the stone descriptions say " native cut " . I guess your saying that the stone was cut in a certain way. can you explain what that is.
Thanks.

 

[kkeen15]

Innerkitten I'm leaning toward a pink spinel also! What shape are you thinking? I'm probably going to get a pear, or maybe a rectangular or square cut.

Mogok, can you give me a ballpark of the average price difference percentagewise between stones posted on the Internet and stones purchased in person in Bangkok? For example, if you arbitrarily selected one pink spinel from your website...if it was sold in a showroom on Sillom Road, what would you estimate the range the price difference could be? This is an important factor in convincing my BF that we should spend a day in Bangkok to buy gems!!!

Thanks

Edited to add:

Mogok- Also, I private messaged you about whether showrooms on Sillom are open on Saturday and Sunday.

 

[innerkitten]

Kristin, I'd be looking for an oval or a cushion cut. I think pink spinels look as good as pink sapphires. I especially love the hot pink!
Plus spinels are cheaper.

 

[mogok]

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On 7/19/2004 12:44:06 PM innerkitten wrote:

I have a question for mogok. On your site Gemwow ( which is an excellent site by the way) some of the stone descriptions say ' native cut ' . I guess your saying that the stone was cut in a certain way. can you explain what that is.
Thanks.----------------

Well native cut means that the stone was cut in Mogok by native cutters. it means that the stone was not cut following western standarts of perfect geometry in order to fit a modern factory make setting. (Priority given to the cut following diamond influence on the customer taste)The stones were cut in Mogok by cutters following a long tradition. They try to maximise the value of the gem following their vision of which 4c are important: The priority is for color, then weight, symetry and clarity... In the west some people who dont appreciate that call that weight retension. It means that for them there is some weight which is here only to add weight and not beauty...
This is one vision of the thing.

The Gemwow's "Burmese gem gallery", try to be slightly different from basic gemstone dealing websites: We propose unheated native cut gemstones that I select...
My ideas is that its not because everybody propose something that i have to do the same! Whatever you can still give one of these native cut gem to a western cutter to see if he can do better... I think in some case they will, in this case gemwow is happy to sell beauty which is potentially even more beautiful!
Its "Burmese gem gallery" concept.

Hoping to have helped.


Hoping to have help!

 

[mogok]

----------------

Mogok, can you give me a ballpark of the average price difference percentagewise between stones posted on the Internet and stones purchased in person in Bangkok? For example, if you arbitrarily selected one pink spinel from your website...if it was sold in a showroom on Sillom Road, what would you estimate the range the price difference could be? This is an important factor in convincing my BF that we should spend a day in Bangkok to buy gems!!!

Thanks

Edited to add:

Mogok- Also, I private messaged you about whether showrooms on Sillom are open on Saturday and Sunday.----------------

Hello,
I have to say that there is no real difference in price between the price in the showroom in Silom and the price on line. The main difference is that in the showroom you can see the stone betterthan in the website. That's why most of the cut stones sell better in the showroom ( The photos on the web does not give a good idea of the brilliancy, the scintillation of the stones and as they use light boxes the inclusions are much more visible than when you weir the stone.)
But in the showroom its difficult to get information about the stones as the sales staff there are not gemologist and dont really know about gems... You get better infos about each stone on line and if you ask to the website then you will have a gemologist to answer to you.
For the week end the show room in Silom is closed. I could anyway have taken some stones to show you but from july 31 to august 2 I will be on a field trip with my gemology students from AIGS to the Sapphire mines in Pailin (Cambodia) which is not too far from Kho Chang (by the way)...

All the best,

 

[Cave Keeper]

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On 7/19/2004 9:54:06 PM mogok wrote:

----------------
:
The Gemwow's 'Burmese gem gallery'
:
----------------

The gemwow.com site is a wonderful place to admire gemstones as the photography is fantastic. But everytime I'm tempted to buy something nice, there's that notice that says such and such "stones ... belong to Gemwow's friends. Gemwow only provides a brokerage and shipping service for a small fee. .. All information about the gemstones here was described and uploaded the owners of these items. Gemwow.com cannot take any responsibility for the details related to these items." That really stops me from going ahead with the purchase. Sorry.

 

[Cave Keeper]

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On 7/20/2004 1:30:27 AM mogok wrote:
----------------
:
.. from july 31 to august 2 I will be on a field trip with my gemology students from AIGS to the Sapphire mines in Pailin (Cambodia) which is not too far from Kho Chang (by the way)...
:
----------------

Good to hear you're going on one of your field trips. Best wishes to you.

And I hope you can find that Imperial Jade Cat's Eye for me! (I have yet to even find a Blue Sapphire Cat's Eye on the Web!) Still waiting!

 

[mogok]

----------------
The gemwow.com site is a wonderful place to admire gemstones as the photography is fantastic. But everytime I'm tempted to buy something nice, there's that notice that says such and such 'stones ... belong to Gemwow's friends. Gemwow only provides a brokerage and shipping service for a small fee. .. All information about the gemstones here was described and uploaded the owners of these items. Gemwow.com cannot take any responsibility for the details related to these items.' That really stops me from going ahead with the purchase. Sorry.----------------

Hello,
Well I understand very well your consern. The thing is that gemwow is a small hub and the friend that own the website cannot just take the responsability over the items that are own by his other friends... Whatever the team in gemwow check the items if you ask them and don't be too worry they will do their best to make you happy... Currently after one year nobody has ever returned any item and most of gemwow customers are regular customers... Just try to send them an email if there is something you like or you dont understand. The persons answering the questions are my former students: They will not cheat you: If a stone has a fissure they will tell you... They are gemologists before to be gem dealers!

Anyway I'm very happy that you appreciate the photos, I've teach the photo team about that and I will transmit them your nice words.
They really do their best and they are doing very fine!

All the best,

 

[mogok]

----------------
And I hope you can find that Imperial Jade Cat's Eye for me! (I have yet to even find a Blue Sapphire Cat's Eye on the Web!) Still waiting!----------------

Hum...
Pailin in cambodia is a not Hpakant in Burma... This small cambodian city known to be the stronghold of the khmers rouges is a famous area for blue sapphires, Thai-cambodian rubies and to a less extend zircon. There is no jade there!
You will be able to see very soon some photos of the field trips we regularly do there with my students in order for them to witness traditional gem mining, cutting, selling and also heat treatment.
There will be in few days a new version of the AIGS website that will present the wonderful possibilities offered to the students who come to learn gemology in AIGS Thailand.

All the best.

 

[Matata]

I'm partial to spinels, but no matter the type of stone, a superb cut can make all the difference in the world -- for example the superb cut on this pink sapphire -- 2004 AGTA winner by Allen Kleinman.

 

[Cave Keeper]

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On 7/20/2004 7:41:14 AM mogok wrote:

:
The thing is that gemwow is a small hub and the friend that own the website cannot just take the responsability over the items that are own by his other friends... Whatever the team in gemwow check the items if you ask them and don't be too worry they will do their best to make you happy... Currently after one year nobody has ever returned any item and most of gemwow customers are regular customers... Just try to send them an email if there is something you like or you dont understand. The persons answering the questions are my former students: They will not cheat you: If a stone has a fissure they will tell you... They are gemologists before to be gem dealers!
:
----------------

Glad to learn they were your students.

Suggestion - offer to certify gemstones being bought for a nominal fee.

My best wishes for the Gemwow team. Keep it up!

 

[mogok]

Hello,
I dont say that a "superb cut" with 95+% brilliancy and a perfect symetry is bad... But is cut same in color or clarity... The fact to appreciate perfection does not means that a stone with a very fine color and an excellent clarity is a bad one if it has a "native cut".
Burmese say that their ruby, sapphire and spinels are the best... Well it does not means that there is no beautiful sapphire in Madagascar or fine rubies in Vietnam... May be the stones will be less saturated but it does not mean that they have no charm.
In my opinion it is the same for cutting!
When I look at a beautiful spinel from Mogok with already 80 to 90% of brilliancy and this slight "cut imperfections" that are the trademark that the stone was cut in Mogok... I just find it more beautiful... as it is really genuine: Mined, cut and polished in Mogok!

Everybody loves qualities, but you will love your stone because its imperfection will make it unique to your eyes: In one word: yours!
Same with people: You like people for their qualities, you love them as you can stand their bad side...

All the best

 

[Matata]

Mogok,

Maybe I'm reading more into your post than is really there, but you seem a bit defensive about my comment and example I posted of a well cut sapphire. I greatly respect your contributions to PS so I want to clarify. I agree with you that great color and clarity are important and that a native cut stone has charm. My intent, admittedly unclear, was to suggest that a good cut can release qualities in a stone that may otherwise be overlooked by a potential buyer who likes a particular stone for its size and shape but feels the color is a bit off. I know that cut cannot correct everything. I'm currently in the market for a red spinel and I know I can't afford exceptional color in the size of stone I want so I'll settle for less than exceptional color and send it to Richard Homer to work whatever magic he can to release its full color potential.

Regards,
Matata

 

[mogok]

Hello Matata,

Well yes I think that you are reading more than there is... I have to say that I'm not a native english speaker or writter and sometimes well... My english is a little bit so so... So some of my posts can sound very on the defensive or too something or not enough that... I think I have to practice more!
Well in french I can do better!
Plase accept my excuses if I did any head hake to you...

I love fine gemstones with an excellent cut... Same everybody find miss universe beautiful... but I love my cute wife and my native cut gems! Its just that many time perfection is just in dreams so to be fine we have just to learn to be happy with the best we can get.

The sapphire on the photo you send has a wonderful brilliance... I love it.


All the best,

 

[mogok]

Hello,

Just a post to confirm what I said before... I dont open a new topic because I dont want it to be too much like an advertisement, but that's it after 3 months of heavy night work on the design, the texts and the photos... I've finished to get the new version of AIGS website on line!
You can go to visit it at:
www.aigsthailand.com

I've put a link to pricescope of course!
There are also many photos of inclusions that I've taken from the stones I had the possibility to study or to buy in Bangkok or Burma that you may find interesting and I hope helpful.
You will also be able to witness a little bit the hard life the students in gemology at AIGS Bangkok have to endure... lol

I would be happy to read your comments about it,

All the best,

 

[glitterata]

Hey, Mogok, your site looks great!

I also love Gemwow.

Your English is very impressive (and a ton better than my French), but I saw some grammar and spelling mistakes. If you'd like to email me the text, I'd be happy to correct it for you. PM me if you like. The mistakes aren't a big deal, though.

 

[Cave Keeper]

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On 7/21/2004 2:10:29 AM mogok wrote:

:
AIGS website on line!
:
www.aigsthailand.com
:
----------------

Question 1: Now that we know of a proper certificate issuing place in Thailand, I wonder if it is possible for someone, who buys from a Thai site, to instruct them to deliver the gemstones purchased to aigsthailand's office, c/o Mogok, for inspection and verification by aigsthaland's qualified AGTA(?) personnel?

Question 2: If any of the gemstones are found not to be as stated, apart from overflowing descriptive words used for the purpose of making a hard sell, will aigsthailand accept the buyer's instructions to return the unacceptable gemstones to the seller?

 

[mogok]

Hello,
Well when you buy a stone in a Thai website you can possibly ask them to send the stone to AIGS laboratory in order for the stone to be checked. Usually they will charge you the price of the report.I dont see any problem with that...I think that this is possible. In the trade we call that a "third party opinion", I have used that sometimes while negociating gemstones: If the stone was what it was supposed to be: I paid the report, if not then the seller had to take care the bill!

Anyway working on such a project for people willing to buy stones from a Thai website is I think possible. At least we can try...

Whatever I would be happy to help you or any other pricescope member.

All the best,