All hail Gene! Mahenge Spinel and other bits n’ bobs

[Rainbird]

Hi all! Well, it’s only taken me a year or two to get my act together to post! I’ve been collecting for quite a few years now and although I’ve learned a lot along the way, this forum has been great to further my education, besides getting to drool over everyone’s beautiful gems and jewelry. It’s good to know there are people out there in the world who are as nutty about gems as I am. None of my friends or family is interested and I hate to see their eyes glaze over if I forget myself and start talking about treatments or some such thing. However, my cats will listen to me for hours!

Anyway, Gene is such a talented cutter and all round nice guy - you just have to admire he and his wife’s work for his 'Sound for the Hounds' charity - that I thought it was time I came out of lurkdom to share my latest of his that I’m lucky to own.

First up is this 3.09 ct Mahenge spinel mined in 2009. Graded by Gene: Color 10/10, Clarity 9/10, Brilliance 5/5. My point and shoot photos will never do this beauty justice, but in real life I’m seeing more red with pink tones. The color holds in all lights, no extinction whatsoever, great clarity and amazing brilliance. It’s like a stop light. Unfortunately, the setting experience was quite stressful and has put me off wearing it. So, I’ve decided to reset it. I’m having a bit of trouble deciding what to do, so any suggestions are welcomed.

I'm not sure how uploading the photos is going to work as it's my first time, so I may just try a few to start with. Fingers crossed!

This is the rough it was cut from.




Next up is a 1.46 ct Merelani Mint Garnet in 18k yellow gold. I’m not normally into bezels, but this one looks a bit like a flower in the way it has been done, which is what attracted me to it.



I'll try this and come back with a couple more if that's ok. If not, just tell you've had enough and I'll stop.

 

[SB621]

I think your photos are wonderful! Post more!

Do you mind me asking what the problem was with the spinel? I think it is a lovely color and I personally love the size!

And I also love the garnet ring and how the pongs look. Very cool!

 

[chrono]

So beautiful! Keep those pictures coming as I don't think it will ever be enough.

 

[minousbijoux]

Wow! I love your taste in stones. Can I ask when you bought that spinel from Gene? You say he got the rough in 2009 - is that when he cut it and sold it? That is an unbelievably stunning, saturated, red Mahenge! Its seldom I've seen round red spinels of that size - typically, there is some sacrifice (I see many pear shapes for example). Love.

Your Merelani is beautiful as well (full disclosure: I've never met one I didn't like). The stone is a lovely hue but of course what puts it over the edge is Gene's cutting. Good job on both!

Were you lucky to be quick on the draw with Gene or were these special request cuts?

Again, welcome and congratulations!

 

[innerkitten]

Wow, those are both really beautiful colors! And well cut of course I think setting on the garnet is considered a semi bezel of some sort.
Wondering what the rest of your collection is like!

 

[innerkitten]

Wow! I love your taste in stones. Can I ask when you bought that spinel from Gene? You say he got the rough in 2009 - is that when he cut it and sold it? That is an unbelievably stunning, saturated, red Mahenge! Its seldom I've seen round red spinels of that size - typically, there is some sacrifice (I see many pear shapes for example). Love.

Your Merelani is beautiful as well (full disclosure: I've never met one I didn't like). The stone is a lovely hue but of course what puts it over the edge is Gene's cutting. Good job on both!

Were you lucky to be quick on the draw with Gene or were these special request cuts?

Again, welcome and congratulations!

I remember a spinel he had up for auction to benefit am animal charity few years back. Maybe this was it.

 

[Rainbird]

This is my 2.00 ct Color Shift Sapphire from the Umba region of Tanzania, not heated or treated in any way. It does have the typical needle type inclusions. It’s a really cool stone that shifts from lavender to bright pink to red. It’s not very photogenic though and has been almost impossible to capture the different shifts. There’s no way I’m able to capture the red. I was at a stop light in my car and looked down and saw all these red sparks flashing through the pinky/mauve color. I wish I could have taken a photo, but got honked at, so had to move on! I love these stones with character.

Sorry, but my hands are really that pale. Note to self, to get the fake tan out!

The background is our hardwood floor, just in case you were wondering. This stone looks amazing in the grocery store. I actually took my camera in to try and get a decent photo and got some very strange looks. Yeah, I've lost the plot.


Here’s my yellow 3.53 ct canary yellow zircon from Tanzania as promised. Lovely brilliance and again I don’t think my photos do it justice. It looks like the yellow in Gene's photo. My pics seems to wash the color out. I love how this gem flashes all the colors of the rainbow.

Gene's photo

My pathetic effort!


Lastly a 2.4 ct Afghan tourmaline which has that Paraiba look to it. This is Gene’s photo.


Thanks for looking. I'm off for a lie down now.

 

[chrono]

Wow, you did good. You can lie down now for all your hard work but if you have more pictures, please keep them coming.

 

[minousbijoux]

Love the zircon and am so happy you finally posted it! I know this almost sounds sacrilegious coming from me, since I'm such a color and saturation junkie, but I like the color of your zircon in hand better than that in Gene's photo.

 

[innerkitten]

Ooooh I love the Umba and the zircon!

 

[athenaworth]

Those are AMAZING pieces!! I'm sure everyone here will be more than happy to help you with a reset of your Mahenge (my dream color, btw). Thank you very much for sharing!

 

[Rosebloom]

What an incredible collection! I love it! Please do share more pictures if you have other stones.

I would set the Mahenge in a halo. I'm not generally a fan of halos but with that color and shape I think it would look stunning. I'd have Victor Canera do his Emilya. Yummy yum yum.

 

[pandabee]

What a great variety of colors!!! So beautiful

 

[erinl]

I like how you so casually post this thread with MULTIPLE precision-cut GENE stones is HUGE sizes and PERFECT color!!!! You have a bunch of us jealous over here!!!!

So gorgeous!!

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Please sir, may I have some more??

cheers--Sharon

 

[katharath]

OMG these are to die for! The mahenge and the mint are my favorites but they are all completely amazing!! Thanks for sharing the pics, I'm in love

 

[maccers]

These are so lovely and scrumptious. And that Mahenge is over the top gorgeous.

 

[Rainbird]

I think your photos are wonderful! Post more!

Do you mind me asking what the problem was with the spinel? I think it is a lovely color and I personally love the size!

And I also love the garnet ring and how the pongs look. Very cool!

Thank you Sarah. First of all I must say that I love your taste in jewelry.

There is nothing wrong with the spinel; it's really lovely. It was my own fault in that I rushed to get it set and the jeweler botched it a bit, so when he sent me these huge photos before picking it up, the ring looked horrendous. In actual fact it wasn't so bad in real life, but whenever I look at it, I can see where he just 'made do' rather than fix it. I also wanted the band milgrained, but he decided it looked better without! Anyway, I've now found a really talented benchman, who's a self proclaimed perfectionist and he can't wait to get started.

 

[FrekeChild]

 

[Rainbird]

Wow! I love your taste in stones. Can I ask when you bought that spinel from Gene? You say he got the rough in 2009 - is that when he cut it and sold it? That is an unbelievably stunning, saturated, red Mahenge! Its seldom I've seen round red spinels of that size - typically, there is some sacrifice (I see many pear shapes for example). Love.

Your Merelani is beautiful as well (full disclosure: I've never met one I didn't like). The stone is a lovely hue but of course what puts it over the edge is Gene's cutting. Good job on both!

Were you lucky to be quick on the draw with Gene or were these special request cuts?

Again, welcome and congratulations!

Thank you minous for the welcome. I bought the Mahenge a few years ago. I can't remember now if it were 2010 or 2011. I remember contacting Gene because I wanted something for a special anniversary and he just happened to have this for sale. I guess my stars were all in alignment at the time. Sorry, I can't recall if the mint garnet was on his site or not. Usually though, I miss out when he does his uploads.

 

[Rainbird]

Wow! I love your taste in stones. Can I ask when you bought that spinel from Gene? You say he got the rough in 2009 - is that when he cut it and sold it? That is an unbelievably stunning, saturated, red Mahenge! Its seldom I've seen round red spinels of that size - typically, there is some sacrifice (I see many pear shapes for example). Love.

Your Merelani is beautiful as well (full disclosure: I've never met one I didn't like). The stone is a lovely hue but of course what puts it over the edge is Gene's cutting. Good job on both!

Were you lucky to be quick on the draw with Gene or were these special request cuts?

Again, welcome and congratulations!

I remember a spinel he had up for auction to benefit am animal charity few years back. Maybe this was it.

Thank you for your lovely comments innerkitten. No, this wasn't that spinel. Whoever won that one, must have been over the moon. The only thing I've ever won in my life has been a box of cookies past their sell by date in a local raffle.

 

[Rainbird]

Thank you sarahbear, chrono, minousbijoux, innerkitten, athenaworth, Rosebloom, pandabee, erinl, canuk-gal, katharath, maccers and Frekechild for your lovely comments.

If anyone knows how to take a good picture of a Spessartite garnet, I'd love to know. I was going to post one of Gene's but the camera sees brown whereas in real life it's like an orange/yellow beacon with no brown at all. I kinda gave up on that one.

Rosebloom. I'm going to take a peek at Victor Canera's site for the Emilya. I did buy a Mahenge Spinel from Swala gems years ago and halo'd that one, so I'm not sure I'd do the same again, even though the colors are slightly different. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[loriken214]

GORGEOUS...LOVE THEM ALL!!!

Lori

 

[loriken214]

Wow! I love your taste in stones. Can I ask when you bought that spinel from Gene? You say he got the rough in 2009 - is that when he cut it and sold it? That is an unbelievably stunning, saturated, red Mahenge! Its seldom I've seen round red spinels of that size - typically, there is some sacrifice (I see many pear shapes for example). Love.

Your Merelani is beautiful as well (full disclosure: I've never met one I didn't like). The stone is a lovely hue but of course what puts it over the edge is Gene's cutting. Good job on both!

Were you lucky to be quick on the draw with Gene or were these special request cuts?

Again, welcome and congratulations!

I remember a spinel he had up for auction to benefit am animal charity few years back. Maybe this was it.

I bought Gene's puppy mill spinel in memory of my late mom.....I sent it to Freke to sell for me since I have SLE Lupus and have huge medical bills...it has gone to a new owner and has been set....there is a separate thread about it here on PS.

Lori

 

[pinkjewel]

Wow!!!! What beautiful gems and such gorgeous colors and the sizes!!!!!!!! And I really like your unique settings. I'm so glad you've starting posting your lovely jewels!!!

 

[velouriaL]

Truly gorgeous! You have a great eye. And Gene is, as always, awesome.

I really like the settings on the umba sapphire and the Merelani. Where did they come from?

 

[Enerchi]

WHOA!! Well worth the wait, if we get to gaze upon these beauties!! You have selected incredible stones!! I love the strong saturation in some of them and the cuts are fantastic!! REALLY loving the unique mint garnet setting!! That's so cool!!

Fantastic gems, Rainbird! thanks for sharing!!

 

[JewelFreak]

I have to lie down too after seeing all those gorgeous things! Wow, you've done terrifically! I love the Mahenge, love love the cut -- hope the next setting gives you happy goosebumps. The zircon is gorgeous, so is the Merilani Mint, yum yum, and I lost my heart to your sapphire. Neat setting too!

More pics -- yours are really good. I'm impressed all around.

--- Laurie

 

[NKOTB]

That Mahenge is my holy grail of red Mahenges. I have the 5.4 mm version from Gene, which I love, but at that size...Wow. I've admired that specific piece of rough on his site many, many times!

And the sapphire, and the mint, the tourm...What a stunning collection!!!

 

[JaneSmith]

Thank you so much for posting these beautiful gems. They are gorgeous!