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Shiny_Rock
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2006
- Messages
- 153
This post is for everyone who's looked at a stone that was on the dark side and thought, "How will that look once it's set?"
This Jeff Davies spinel was bounced to me via Diamondbistro. I was looking for a spinel to replace a blah stone, a really mediocre ruby/sapphire, in a setting that had sentimental value to me. (The ring was made by a jeweler I used to work for, and I was very fond of the gentleman, went to his wedding, etc.) To avoid overwhelming the blah stone, he had set muted chrysophrases beside it in the white gold requested by the original customer. I wanted the setting to have a decent stone in it. This oval spinel was the perfect size for the elevated prong setting - around 9 x 7 mm.
Here's the dealer photo of the spinel:
I didn't manage to get any photos of it outside the setting - it arrived during a wet, dark week, not great for photos. However, here's the set spinel in a black velvet box, in full sunlight:
Here's the spinel on my hand, deliberately at a mediocre angle for the stone so you can see it on its bad behavior:
And here's the spinel on my hand at its best, catching the light:
Motion brings out the best in this stone - it is VERY well cut and has a constant sparkle on my hand. I'm very pleased with this, especially for the reasonable price. The jeweler who did the reset for me had several jewelers and gemologists in the shop, and one of the gemologists asked to have a look. She was favorably surprised. "It is a spinel, and one of the nicer ones I've seen. Even though it's dark it's got a good red tone - more and more of them are muddied with brown nowadays."
Finally, here's the reddish-purple corundum that the spinel replaced - it actually looks better out of the setting, which drained it of richness and enhanced a long brown inclusion in the middle. It looks reddish under fluorescent light, and can muster a pretty flash or two, but sunlight shows its true colors.
This Jeff Davies spinel was bounced to me via Diamondbistro. I was looking for a spinel to replace a blah stone, a really mediocre ruby/sapphire, in a setting that had sentimental value to me. (The ring was made by a jeweler I used to work for, and I was very fond of the gentleman, went to his wedding, etc.) To avoid overwhelming the blah stone, he had set muted chrysophrases beside it in the white gold requested by the original customer. I wanted the setting to have a decent stone in it. This oval spinel was the perfect size for the elevated prong setting - around 9 x 7 mm.
Here's the dealer photo of the spinel:
I didn't manage to get any photos of it outside the setting - it arrived during a wet, dark week, not great for photos. However, here's the set spinel in a black velvet box, in full sunlight:
Here's the spinel on my hand, deliberately at a mediocre angle for the stone so you can see it on its bad behavior:
And here's the spinel on my hand at its best, catching the light:
Motion brings out the best in this stone - it is VERY well cut and has a constant sparkle on my hand. I'm very pleased with this, especially for the reasonable price. The jeweler who did the reset for me had several jewelers and gemologists in the shop, and one of the gemologists asked to have a look. She was favorably surprised. "It is a spinel, and one of the nicer ones I've seen. Even though it's dark it's got a good red tone - more and more of them are muddied with brown nowadays."
Finally, here's the reddish-purple corundum that the spinel replaced - it actually looks better out of the setting, which drained it of richness and enhanced a long brown inclusion in the middle. It looks reddish under fluorescent light, and can muster a pretty flash or two, but sunlight shows its true colors.