chrysoberyl, sapphire or spinel?

[gemmygemma]

Back again, still mulling over with my gf what to do about this ering. We founf a local jeweler who has a style she likes and can make us the setting for about $1000. That gives us $1000 to spend on the stone. The jeweler can source gems for us to look at but does not have a large variety on hand, and mostly basic things like blue, pink, and yellow sapphires. No spinels or chrysoberyls, though he has set a lot of sapphires and they all look good to us. He is willing to work with outside stones and we think that might be the best option.

However, we are having a hard tim choosing between the big three. Any input you have would be appreciated! We know we like precision cut over native and are less picky about color than cut. I know that's a cardinal sin in gem land but we like many colors and want to look at a colored stone, not diamond, but it's ok if the color is lighter or not ideal as long as the cutting is perfect and there is a lot of light play for sparkle. We want any color but pink (although red is ok). Purple is okay as long as it doesn't look like an amethyst. We want something that is roughly the size of a 1.25 - 1.5 diamond. We want sparkle and light, so we were thinking round, supernova oval or supernova modified into marquise with a high crown. We were thinking of contacting Barry Bridgestock, Michael E, and few other cutters.

Sapphires
Pros - no explanation required (ie, everyone has heard of it and knows they are valuable), looks nice in light bright blues and other less saturated shades, for example, someone got a songea sapphire that was the "color of the ocean" and we liked that.
Cons - more expensive, not as sparkly as other two. Seems boring in our price range. Am I wrong?

Spinels
Pros - very sparkly and less expensive than sapphires for what you get
Cons - hard to find nice ones that aren't too dark or have too much extinction. What colors? Reds seems expensive, nice blues are hard to find, name recognition issue

Chrysoberyl
Pros - very sparkly and not very expensive. We like those high crown ones that michael e cut. Would a brownish one (even though we know it is not desirable) resemble a cognac diamond and look nice in rose gold? We like that look quite a bit.
Cons - only comes in yellowish greenish. Like this color in theory but have never seen irl so hard to say. Sounds risky.
Also name recognition for sure.

Brown Diamonds
I know we'd have to go way down on our size for the price, but we wonder if a brownish diamond is really want we want. Seems like we could get close to a half ct...?

 

[packrat]

Hello! If you're wanting a yellow, I would vote chryso hands down. I love mine and just spent some time browsing thru my pictures of it earlier today since it's currently w/Michael E waiting to start my project and I miss it. I love it so much I want another one. I would vote for supernova as well, b/c that's what I have and what I want again. It sparkles like a son of a gun and the high crown makes me giddy. Some have their asschers, and I think I'll be the supernova girl haha.

Mine is a tish bigger than 8x6 and it wasn't expensive at all. Most of my pictures show a bit of brown which I can't figure out where it comes from b/c the stone IRL has a bit of green.

Does it matter to your SO if it's a stone that is recognizable by name or would she like something that very few others have as an ering stone?

 

[T L]

Don't forget that spinels and chrysoberyls are always untreated (to my knowledge) and sapphires are often dyed or heated to get their color. Name recognition in my opinion should not be an issue. It is name recognition that makes some unworthy gems higher priced than others. Poor spinel, although rarer than corundum, gets a bad rap because it's not marketed like ruby and sapphire are.

I feel my spinels and chrysoberyls are special because they are uncommon.

Chrysoberyl also comes in a golden yellow, but often they can be brownish. Unfortunately, nothing to me really can resemble a diamond, so don't look for a diamond substitute in a colored gem, but something that can hold it's own and be beautiful for what it is.

 

[gemmygemma]

So we're pretty close to going for a golden chrysoberyl with a high crown and some kind of elongated shape, so, yeah, like asupernova or somevariation thereof.

Couple of questions:

Do chrysoberyls flourese or color shift or do any fun special things we can look for? Do spinels?

If we're looking for sparkle or play of light, is there any reason to consider spinels over chrysoberyls? The main point here is to have something that she can gaze at... what colors should I look for in the $1000 price range? I assume not redred or blueblue. We don't want pink. I assume a less saturated color because of the play of light emphasis.

 

[PinkTower]

You might want to just email Michael and ask him everything you are wondering about. I am a repeat customer, as are others on here. I find him to be easy going, and I find his writing very easy to read and understand. Sometimes, I don't understand something clearly the first time it is explained. I don't feel uneasy about asking him to answer practically the same question, only posed slightly differently, two or three times until I am sure of what I want.

 

[T L]

So we're pretty close to going for a golden chrysoberyl with a high crown and some kind of elongated shape, so, yeah, like asupernova or somevariation thereof.

Couple of questions:

Do chrysoberyls flourese or color shift or do any fun special things we can look for? Do spinels?

If we're looking for sparkle or play of light, is there any reason to consider spinels over chrysoberyls? The main point here is to have something that she can gaze at... what colors should I look for in the $1000 price range? I assume not redred or blueblue. We don't want pink. I assume a less saturated color because of the play of light emphasis.

Because spinel and chrysoberyl are very hard stones, they take a great polish and have an amazing luster that I cannot capture in any static photograph. They have to be seen to be believed. I wear a violet/blue spinel and chartruese chrysoberyl every day, and I can't stop looking at either one. However, both are really nice specimens of their species, and both have high crowns, one is an oval (spinel) and the other is an elongated cushion (chrysoberyl). They both sparkle, break up the light, and scintillate. Blue spinels often shift to a more violet or purple color. I have yet to see one that doesn't. My chrysoberyl goes more yellow outdoors, and more green in artificial light. Both are very saturated for their species and I have to say that my chrysoberyl literally glows neon, the color is so intense. Do not let good color deter you. In my opinion, I think the good color along with the amazing luster and sparkle, are the reason I wear them everyday. Here's my spinel. It has pink flashes that I cannot capture with the camera. I have posted a billion photos of my chrysoberyl all over Pricescope. I'm a bit obnoxious.

 

[gemmygemma]

These are great opinions and info. It's good to know that michael has such good customer service.

TL I know that gems of the calibre you have take a lot of looking to source, and that a lot of people have been trying to get the neon chrysoberyl for a while. That said, do you guys think that top color (of any color spienl except pink)AND top cutting in the size I want (around 7 mm or a bit smaller) is doable for under $1000?

 

[T L]

I assume you don't want top color chrysoberyl from your above posts, so yes, it's definitely doable for the chrysoberyl for the size you want, very doable. I think of all the popular lapidaries here, in my opinion of course (others can disagree), Barry Bridgestock has the best priced precision cut violet spinels for the quality (acstones.com). I would contact him. My spinels came from an ebay dealer, odysseygem, and because they weren't precision cut, I saved some $$$. I would just stay away from medium dark to dark toned stones.

 

[gemmygemma]

Thanks for the lead on Bridgestock. I was planning on contacting him anyway. Hopefully the violet isn't too amethyst like. I just don't want the uneducated to assume it's something "semiprecious" even if it's beautiful and even if it's actually something they've never heard of.

For the sake of conversation/decision making, if I were able to even find top chyrsoberyl in the size and range, I would be interested...

 

[T L]

The problem is that ordinary faceted chrysoberyl, being such an uncommon, unknown gem except for it's cousins alexandrite and cat's eye, is priced all over the place. I paid a very low price (way way under $1K) for my three carater, and I've seen prices as high as $4000 for the same color in a similar size. That is one gem you really need to shop around for, for great color, and good pricing. I've seen unexceptional colored precision cut ones for a lot of money simply because they were precision cut. You really need to shop around for them.

The color of fine amethyst can have a lot of blue in it, so some spinels can be of similar color, but they will always have better luster, and a much much higher RI than quartz (amethyst). I think my spinel looks the color of a nice tanzanite, but it's far more durable, and I like the luster better.

 

[gemmygemma]

This is great, thanks. I will keep looking and email some folks and think about timeframe and work on it.

I was showing the chrysoberyls to my gf and she brainstormed a ring in the style of our local jewel with a golden (less green) chrysoberyl bezel set with a wavy knife edge with brownish yellowish and pinkish diamonds set on one side of the edge. It's like something we saw. I think the chrysoberyl would look nice if it were kind of muted like the brownish diamond shades. This was in rose gold. Actually, I think a lavender color might work, too.

Last question, would there be any problem with bezeling something with a high crown or anything else about the cuts we have talked about?

 

[T L]

The bezel goes around the girdle of the stone, so I don't think there would be a problem bezeling a high crown as long as you find a very experienced jeweler to do the job. Many jewelers just do not have the skill required to do a fine bezel. For examples of sharp and very fine bezels, see the work of James Meyer. Many bezels are uneven and shoddily done or there is too much metal covering the stone. Who wants their stone to look smaller by covering a significant portion of it up?

Sounds like a unique and very pretty design you have in mind, and since you're not looking for high quality of color in a chrysoberyl, brownish golden yellow is easy to find, and very inexpensive. Here's some from Barry.
http://www.acstones.com/productcart...dSupplier=10&resultCnt=10&keyword=chrysoberyl

 

[Arkteia]

Boy, are they cheap! Mine came from Tan, windowed and cost more...

 

[chrono]

Chrysoberyl cut with a high crown will sparkle a lot as the material has a high RI to begin with. Some chrysoberyl will have a stronger shift (greenish yellow to green) but others are more muted. I also love lavender spinels because with the right cut, will sparkle amazingly well. For play of light, it isn’t the saturation that dictates this but mostly the tone. If the tone is too dark, it is more difficult to see the different colour sparkles. Of course, if the saturation is too low, then the body colour will be unattractive to the eye. Since you are looking at precision cut stones, there’s no need for concern that the cutter isn’t going to cut for maximum brilliance. In terms of bezeling something with a high crown, I do not see any issues with it. As with all other setting work, the fineness depends on the skill of the benchperson.

 

[gemmygemma]

Again, great info and advice.

I know I said this already, but last question.

We've been getting into the warmer colors vis a vis chrysoberyl. I read in another thread that there were padparadscha colored spinels. Wherr would I go about seeing examples of theses? Any opinions on them? I know padparadscha is a pretty contested term, but I'm thinking light colored warm tone that is definitely not pink or orange but somewhere in between.

 

[T L]

Again, great info and advice.

I know I said this already, but last question.

We've been getting into the warmer colors vis a vis chrysoberyl. I read in another thread that there were padparadscha colored spinels. Wherr would I go about seeing examples of theses? Any opinions on them? I know padparadscha is a pretty contested term, but I'm thinking light colored warm tone that is definitely not pink or orange but somewhere in between.

Here's mine, I paid very little for it, compared to a real padparadscha. If you type on ebay "padparadscha spinel" I'm sure you'll see tons in varying colors of pink, orange and brown. It's usually a selling ploy. I did not buy mine as a padparadscha colored spinel, but as a pink-orange spinel that I thought looked like a padparadscha, and I wanted it as an interesting color spinel to add to my collection. The AIGS memo states the color as pink-orange.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/padparadscha-spinel.138788/?hilit=spinel

 

[gemmygemma]

What do you guys think of this yellow sapphire?

http://www.thegemtrader.com/July 2005 Yellow Sapphire Page.htm

 

[LD]

Interesting question you post! Let's see if we can narrow it down even further ...........

Presumably this is for an every day ring? Then you need to think about durability. The most durable in terms of scratchability is a diamond followed by Sapphire and Chrysoberyl. Spinels are not normally considered everyday wear.

Sapphires:-
If you want a precision cut in a bright glowing gem and you don't mind a sapphire that's been treated to get the colour then your budget is certainly do-able. If you have a problem with treatments, then you may find a precision cut 1ct+ stone with a great colour difficult to track down. Not impossible but you may have to wait. By the way, you mentioned your jeweller has lots of sapphires, including yellows? From experience I can tell you that 9/10 yellow sapphires will have been lattice diffused to get that colour. Typically they are NOT as sought after (by gem collectors) or have a value equivalent to their more nature counterparts.

Spinel:
Red spinels are difficult to find and virtually impossible within your budget to find a 1ct+ red precision cut that holds its colour. Red spinels can also black out in natural light and be most unattractive which I don't think you want at all. You can get other colours and you mentioned blue but within your budget, you're looking at one that may have a hint of grey rather than a pure blue.

Chrysoberyls:
Great sparkle and good for an everyday ring. You could get a colour shift Chryso that ranges from yellow/green to brown/orange. However, I'm not a fan of that particular colourway but you may like it. Have a look at www.multicolour.com - they have a number that you can look at. Do they look like diamonds? No.

Brown Diamond:
You could probably find a brown diamond within budget but I doubt whether it would be precision cut.

 

[LD]

What do you guys think of this yellow sapphire?

http://www.thegemtrader.com/July 2005 Yellow Sapphire Page.htm

That's a great price for a heated only sapphire and a very pretty cut. However, it is very brown indeed. It's not a vanilla or canary yellow. To some people this will look like a dirty yellow. Have you seen one like this in real life? It's not to everybody's taste.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

LD - why don't you consider spinels an everyday ring? I find that, both in terms of scratchability and toughness, they are quite hardy.

 

[chrono]

What do you guys think of this yellow sapphire?

http://www.thegemtrader.com/July 2005 Yellow Sapphire Page.htm

The price is in line for something that looks brownish on my monitor. The plus about this sapphire is that it is very well cut.