CC Garnet

[chrono]

What do you all think of this? It''s from Multicolor and seems to fit most of my requirements:
1. Around 1 ct
2. Blue green to Red Purple (I really wanted green but blue green/green blue is fine)
3. Eye clean
4. Not too expensive

My concern is with regards to the darkness of the stone. What do you all think? This will be a fun piece to wear just to see it change colours througout the day as I go under different lighting conditions.

 

[Matata]

Chrono,

Didja see these at ajsgems.com? They don''t provide much info but the pics are pretty. I don''t know anything about CC garnets but from looking at tsavs, spinels, and rhodolites these past few months, I find that the dark toned stones don''t have much life even when they''re well cut.

 

[Matata]

This one is .55

 

[valeria101]

Multicolour are pretty candide in their descriptions... if they say "dark" and the picture looks nice, I would believe the description. If you write them to ask, they''ll probably confirm. It happened to me.

These garnets are often very dark - nice exibits, but tricky for jewelry. That concave cut example looks like a lucky exception

As far as I can tell from the (multicolor) photo, the stone is cut shallow to light it up a bit. Once set, the shallow cut will not help as much.

Of course I have not seen this stone. Juts a hunch

 

[chrono]

Yup. I''ve been shopping for nearly a year now and still haven''t found anything pleasing (or if it is really pretty, it is too much for my wallet

). The AJS ones look too washed out and the inclusions are too noticeable. The problem is many cc garnets are too dark, too washed out or have poor colour change. They are so hard to find. Addlepated''s cc garnet looks really nice. I''m looking for the Alexandrite type change but will settle for a blue green too.

 

[chrono]

Date: 2/16/2005 11:35:27 AM
Author: valeria101
Multicolour are pretty candide in their descriptions... if they say ''dark'' and the picture looks nice, I would believe the description. If you write them to ask, they''ll probably confirm. It happened to me.

These garnets are often very dark - nice exibits, but tricky for jewelry. That concave cut example looks like a lucky exception

As far as I can tell from the (multicolor) photo, the stone is cut shallow to light it up a bit. Once set, the shallow cut will not help as much.

Of course I have not seen this stone. Juts a hunch

Ana,
Based on the stats of the stone (7mm x 5.1mm x 3.2mm) for a 1ct, this cc garnet is on the shallow side?

 

[Hest88]

Has anyone dealt with Imperial Jewels? Their picts are quite impressive.

http://www.imperialjewels.com/

 

[Matata]

Whoop! Nice site, hest. Their mandarine garnets look soooooooooooooooooo juicy.

 

[chrono]

Hest,
I''ve been eyeing that one for quite a while too but hesitated because I''ve never heard of anyone dealing with Imperial Jewels before. The colour sure is eye popping.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 2/16/2005 11:39:35 AM
Author: Chrono

Ana,
Based on the stats of the stone (7mm x 5.1mm x 3.2mm) for a 1ct, this cc garnet is on the shallow side?

No... It looked dull so I jumped to the conclusion.

 

[valeria101]

Somone from "ImperialJewels" has posed here before (about color change spinel), no ?

A smaller cc garnet looks intriguing ''cause it''s definitely not all that dark: link to silver/pink garnet

 

[Hest88]

I''m really tempted to buy one and send it to Richard Sherwood. They''re only a few hundred bucks, so even if I get taken it''s not a huge loss.

 

[chrono]

Ana,
What is your opinion of the teal/purple versus the silver/pink?
I really like the teal one but wonder why it is so cheap?

Hest,
I thought you were going to get a demantoid?

 

[Hest88]

Chrono, I am getting a demantoid, but the CCG is so cheap in comparison that I get one as a play stone. I''m just really curious if Imperial is really any good.

 

[DiamondExpert]

One note of caution - when you see photos of color change stones you should look closely at the facet reflections in each - I am suspect of those photos where the patterns of reflection are perfectly congruent in the two pics, because you would expect different patterns based on the fact that different light sources are used.

Also, as to how dark the stones are, that varies, but many of the photos showing the reddish color are obtained by putting a powerful halogen light right up to, e.g., within a couple of inches, the stone to get that effect.

I have not been impressed with 95% of the CC garnet or corundum that I''ve seen and they are almost always dark stones.

I''m saying all this in response to having spent a huge amount of time (read that as frustration!) trying to photograph these types of stones, with only very limited success - overall I''m not impressed.

I''m sure that there is some great looking stone around, but I don''t believe they are common.

...just one person''s experience

 

[valeria101]

Date: 2/16/2005 12:13:19 PM
Author: Chrono

What is your opinion of the teal/purple versus the silver/pink?
I really like the teal one but wonder why it is so cheap?

''Guess the darkness is the main fault of these stones. Asking for saturated color is a bit much for them anyway... but it''s doesn''t help if you need a small bulb under the stone to tell any color at all let alone color change. The silver/pink one seemed less dark.

The tela one looks darker. It could be attractive if the cut brings up at least some flash showing color. I am not sure if the needle inclusions will be very bad - they are small and scattered. Allot of the color change garnet from this location has these needles inside - they''re not too bad. Some of the garnets with this id. mark are really great (nice color and convincing color change). How this particular stone measures up to the famous family reputation, I couldn''t know. All I can see is the same picture you see.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 2/16/2005 25:20 PM
Author: DiamondExpert

One note of caution - when you see photos of color change stones you should look closely at the facet reflections in each - I am suspect of those photos where the patterns of reflection are perfectly congruent in the two pics, because you would expect different patterns based on the fact that different light sources are used.

Great point ! Thank you !

I came to doubt that this s always fraud as opposed to avoidance of nail-biting photographic frustration, but...

Speaking of color changers: how about Diaspore ? I know it''s out there, but all I have seen is some not very temptiong rough. Does it ever get to have noticeable color change in person ?

 

[widget]

Can I ask a color-change question? This may be really dumb, but can one''s location on earth affect the way a stone reacts to light?

I have an cc stone (alex) that is pretty consistant in California...one color indoors, another color outside. I was sort of startled when in Florida recently, its outside color was definitely more mixed...

widget

 

[DiamondExpert]

widget - more likely it''s the local atmospheric conditions which affect the natural light, rather than your earthly position -- of course, position on earth and the average atmospheric conditions are often related - for example, at this moment I''m experiencing partial sunlight with some clouds and about 70 deg temp

, whereas others might not be quite so lucky! So if we all look at our 5ct., 100% color change alex''s right now, we might see slightly different effects outside!

 

[Hest88]

Date: 2/16/2005 2

5:20 PM
Author: DiamondExpert
One note of caution - when you see photos of color change stones you should look closely at the facet reflections in each

Oooo, great point Gary! I feel so stupid not to have thought of that, but I guess that''s why you''re the expert!

 

[widget]

Date: 2/16/2005 2:38

5 PM
Author: DiamondExpert
widget - more likely it''s the local atmospheric conditions which affect the natural light, rather than your earthly position -- of course, position on earth and the average atmospheric conditions are often related - for example, at this moment I''m experiencing partial sunlight with some clouds and about 70 deg temp

, whereas others might not be quite so lucky! So if we all look at our 5ct., 100% color change alex''s right now, we might see slightly different effects outside!

Ok, everybody...all together, now...let''s all get out our 5 carat, 100% c.c. alex''s. and compare notes!

widget

 

[Addlepated]

I saw some nice examples of past stones sold here. Unfortunately they only have one for sale right now, and it''s pretty dark looking.

For a while I had contemplated buying a calibrated lot from Multicolour and having it made into a tennis bracelet. I think that would be awesome. Maybe someone here should do it so we can see.

 

[DiamondExpert]

Addlepated - MultiColor does their photos the right way - I think you can easily see that.

I having a bit of trouble with your avatar - I keep thinking it''s going to fall off the screen and onto my hand - guess I''m a bit of an arachnophobe after all!

 

[valeria101]

Date: 2/16/2005 5:28:29 PM
Author: DiamondExpert
I having a bit of trouble with your avatar - I keep thinking it''s going to fall off the screen and onto my hand.

Second that ! It moves like the *real thing* too...

 

[Addlepated]

Date: 2/16/2005 5:28:29 PM
Author: DiamondExpert
Addlepated - MultiColor does their photos the right way - I think you can easily see that.

I having a bit of trouble with your avatar - I keep thinking it''s going to fall off the screen and onto my hand - guess I''m a bit of an arachnophobe after all!

Yes, that was one reason I kept going back to Multicolour''s site, because I felt their photos were accurate.

If y''all are really perturbed about my pet buggie, I can change it.

 

[belle]

If y''all are really perturbed about my pet buggie, I can change it.

i thought it was super cool addlepated!! but, your ring is very nice to look at!!

 

[chrono]

I''m not sure if I fully understand all the replies:
1. Almost all cc garnets are on the dark side (pun not intended)
2. Look carefully at the facet reflections. Multicolor''s pictures appear to be real. Imperial Jewel''s picturese are questionable?

So, what sort of questions should I ask the vendor?

 

[valeria101]

Date: 2/17/2005 7:54:28 AM
Author: Chrono
I'm not sure if I fully understand all the replies:
1. Almost all cc garnets are on the dark side (pun not intended)
2. Look carefully at the facet reflections. Multicolor's pictures appear to be real. Imperial Jewel's picturese are questionable?

So, what sort of questions should I ask the vendor?

Hm... "what's the return policy" ? Beyond that, they can do anything with the photos. As much as I can tell, the only purpose of true-to-nature photos is to keep merchandise from being returned.

Without a credible return policy, what reason would they have to bother tell the truth ? It is too hard to check the record of just anyone on the Net. Multicolor we know... but what to do about "Imperial Jewels" with their tempting stuff and short history ?

This is just theory. Hope it makes sense.

It is difficult to photograph color change gems - Imperial Jewels posts lots of images: some that fall the test some that do not. I know it is hard to persuade pictures of gemstones to look like what you see in person.

Someone from this shop (avatar "Tuduru") wrote a bit just about this around here a bit ago. Hope they could pick up this thread.