Color Change Garnet

[momofive]

Hi!
This is my first time in the Colored Gems forum. I saw this post in SMTB and had never heard of a CC stone before. Can anyone tell me some reputable places to research these??

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/blue-bekily-madagascar-color-change-garnet-engagement-ring.163160/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/blue-bekily-madagascar-color-change-garnet-engagement-ring.163160/[/URL]

 

[Pandora II]

I don't know where you would start to be honest. These kind of stones in that size with a really good colour-change are not only very rare but also a very pretty price as well.

Best bet is to send out a request to a load of gem-dealers and be prepared for a fairly long wait for something of fine quality.

I have a couple of CC garnets - both under 1ct. One is teal green to red and the other is a purple grey blue to raspberry. They are both strong changers but even so they spend a lot of time looking like shades of mud as they need specific lighting to show the change at it's best (as do 99.9% of CC stones).

My green-red is one of the most expensive stones in my garnet collection or I'd have a few more as I love them (odd as I'm not an alex fan...)

ETA: multicolour.com might have a few.

 

[cokitty]

FineWaterGems has them up from time to time. I bought one for my little sister as funky take on her birthstone, she quite liked it.
I would post photos, but the error message wants me to upload them here.

 

[cokitty]

Oh I am so silly! The pear cut sapphire in my avatar is a color change...
1.8 Color Change Pear Cut Sapphire

 

[momofive]

Thanks so much. I didn't realize they would look muddy most of the time. Any other thoughts?

 

[cokitty]

Thanks so much. I didn't realize they would look muddy most of the time. Any other thoughts?

They dont look muddy, it typically looks either blue or purple, I just wanted to catch the shift.

I think a garnet will be a great deal less expensive, but I would pick on color before cut...

Oval Color Change
I love this but cannot figure what I would do with it...

 

[cokitty]

A bit bright for my taste, but you might like them...

 

[Aerix]

Aside from Finewater Gems, I've also seen some at Gemfix, one at Precision Gem and another at Gem Rite:

http://www.gemfix.com/garnet_malaya.html
http://www.precisiongem.com/Gemstones/Gemstones/Gemstones/ColorChangeGarnet.html
http://www.gemrite.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=227

I think the ones CoKitty linked to from AJS are quite pretty though.

 

[momofive]

Thanks so much for the links. I am fascinated by the color changes!! Do you know of anywhere I can go see some in person? I live near NYC. My engagement ring's center stone is 2ct. (see avatar) and this would be a rhr, so I don't think I want to go too big, but I am a visual person and would like to see it dropped into a setting to get an idea.

 

[chrono]

A colour change sapphire is rarely muddy but colour change garnets commonly will appear so. CC garnets are also rarely well saturated, in addition to being overly dark in tone.

 

[momofive]

Thanks Chrono, I guess I have a lot more research to do for this. That is probably why the ps'r in SMTB took a year to find his stone.

 

[momofive]

What do I have to be concerned about regarding treatment? (Remember, I know NOTHING about colored gems.) Also, as far as inclusions and grading reports go what should I look for? It appears that some vendors will send the stone to the lab for a price, but is that after you buy it? I'm guessing it is, and then you have an inspection period. I'm guessing that depending on the price of the stone you may or may not choose to do this.

 

[chrono]

With regards to CC garnets? They are almost always untreated although I've heard and seen undisclosed clarity enhanced (fracture filled) garnets. I find that it is unnecessary to obtain any sort of lab memos at this point in time for garnets unless it is a high value item. However, my answer will be very different if you are referring to CC sapphires.

 

[deorwine]

By coincidence I was just about to post a thread about my new color-change garnet! I'll get that tonight (I don't have time to get all the pics now), but for now here is a pic that kind of shows that muddy color. My garnet is a beautiful deep green color in the shade of bright sunlight and a beautiful slightly-reddish-purple in incandescent, but in diffuse lighting, cloudy days, and fluorescent it's pretty much grey with a slight tinge of bluish-purple. It can be even greyer than the pic (and I've intentionally desaturated the pic because my camera made it look a much more saturated than it is to my eye).

That being said, it's not a displeasing grey to me, and I loooove the stone, especially because a) I am a huge garnet fan, and b) the color change is quite good in shady bright sunlight and incandescent. But just be aware that this is probably what you're signing up for; that way you won't be disappointed. (My first and second cc garnets I returned because I wasn't expecting the muddiness.)

Also, I've found from my previous experience that you do NOT want to get a cc garnet that is windowed, as I found the window basically washed out the color change so I couldn't even see it in good light conditions.

Ed of Wildfish Gems has some new CC garnets in that he says are really nice, and that I believe he claims don't go as muddy as most. If I had the budget and didn't have one already I'd so want to check them out.

 

[T L]

CC garnets are also rarely well saturated, in addition to being overly dark in tone.

Yes, and I saw lots of them at the last Intergem show, and

 

[Pandora II]

A colour change sapphire is rarely muddy but colour change garnets commonly will appear so. CC garnets are also rarely well saturated, in addition to being overly dark in tone.

it all depends on the colours. A violet to blue CC won't muddy, but I have a blue-green to orange-red CC sapphire and that looks like a brownish maroon colour most of the time - especially in London.

Totally agree about windows.

Regarding treatments, gradings etc, coloured stones aren't graded like diamonds. There are clarity grades by they are based on eye visible rather than loupe visible and also divided by type of stone - a VVS emerald will have plenty of inclusions, a VVS aquamarine will have almost none.

If you want a report on a stone then a mini one is about $30 and basically confirms that you have a natural 'x'. If you want a more detailed report then expect to pay upwards of $100 and if you want tests to look for Be diffusion or similar then it can be 2 or 3 times the price. It's not normal for a stone to come with a report unless it's very expensive. Personally I only get reports on stones that are over $2k and then only if I have a particular reason to want one.

It will usually be at your cost to have a report done, most vendors will agree to a return and refund if the lab says the stone is not as described.

 

[LD]

The Bekily colour change garnets are (generally speaking) a very nice find and the colours particularly good but they are not the easiest to source. A few bits of information for you:-

A blue garnet is VERY rare. Most garnets are a blue/green but if they have a lab report stating blue only then the price is usually bumped up accordingly. So a blue colour changer is a real beauty!

CC garnets come in varying different colour ways: red/green - ignoring a blue garnet, this is the most sought after of the colour change combinations. Shiraz red to peach brown. A champagne colour to rose pink. And various other combinations.

CC sapphires come in a multitude of colour ways also. However, people often sell CC sapphires as colour changers when in reality the shift is minimal.

With all colour changers you need to check:-

- that you love the colour in both lighting conditions i.e. the red and the green as you may find that the gem is sensational in one colour way and a bit bleurgh in another!

- in one of the colours the gem may appear more included, cloudy or muddy looking.

I collected colour changers for many years and LOVE LOVE LOVE them. If you search on my name you may find some photos of some. What I would say is that photographing cc gems is a challenge to say the least. I find it IMPOSSIBLE to capture the daylight colour but the incandescent colour is easy to photograph!

 

[LD]

Here are some pictures for you to see:

 

[momofive]

deorwine and Lovingdiamonds - Thank you for sharing! Your stones are beautiful. I am really getting excited about finding something. I have some small diamonds from my mother's wedding ring that I would love to incorporate into a setting if I find the right stone. From what I've read on some of the vendors from this thread, the Bekily garnet seems to be the way I would like to go. I did check out Wildfish gems and will keep haunting the site to see if one catches my eye. In the meantime, I really would love to see one in person, so I might venture into NYC and look around.

 

[zeolite]

cc garnets https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/color-change-gemstones.135463/

 

[momofive]

Can someone tell me what you think of this one? I've never bought any gemstones online, but if the dealer is reputable (He has a 99% positive feedback, but I have to figure out how to view it) it sounds good. (I know, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually isn't!!)

http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200630868671&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en

 

[momofive]

Also, what questions should I ask when looking at cc garnets? What about the proportions? Are needles OK? It seems some people like the inclusions and some don't. I can see inclusions in some of the photos, even though it says VVS, orVS. Are these magnified? Should I be looking for eye clean?