Could you show your beautiful spinels collection?

[TKC]

Here is another spinel of mine, glowing reddish orange. It sometimes shows its brilliant glowing bright red color only under less bright lighting condition. I don''t know why I like spinels so much. Any of you want want to share your spinels collection? Spinels are very brilliant stones especially if they possess beautiful color as well. Don''t you agree?

 

[BWise]

That is absolutely amazing!

That color! Never see it before - drooling...

It is until recently that I start to look into spinel, a discovery dangerous to my pocketbook.

I only have two spinel - light violet and blue. Here they are.

 

[MINE!!]

Yummy thread just told DH that I wanted a spinel as a a next wedding day present!!!

 

[widget]

I WANT A BIG BEAUTIFUL RED OR PINK SPINEL!!!! And all this talk about them lately has only made me want one more!

For now, this is what I do have: a small pair of bright ovals, said do be sort of a "padparadscha" color... 92ctw:

 

[TKC]

Hi YingH, I like your pear cut blue spinel

I am also collecting pear cut gemstones. Any of you have spinels that resemble the color of glowing green emerald? I am just wondering if they exist. What about peacock color (blue green)?

 

[movie zombie]

Date: 6/30/2005 11:42:51 PM
Author: MINE!!
Yummy thread just told DH that I wanted a spinel as a a next wedding day present!!!

i was wondering.......CONGRATULATIONS, Mine!!!!

 

[Scott Terence]

Here is one I picked up last year and I am still unsure how I would like to set it, maybe someone has a suggestion

I am thinking a choker pendant with a simple brushed metal setting that shows off the stone but also has a sleek, refined look.

It is a bit on the bigger side, which is making the setting hard to envision, at 10.4x8.00x4.70 mm. Hope you like it...

 

[TKC]

Hi Scott, that color looks amazing. Does the real color look exactly like in the picture? I am just wondering, if the real spinel is just like the picture, you will be the happiest person on earth. It looks like that the spinel was photographed under controlled lighting condition with a strong light. Without the strong light, like natural daylight, the stone will look darker and has some dark area. I hope my guess is right. This is the reason I don''t like using controlled lighting condition (different appearance with natural daylight)). Also, it may need to use color enhancement to make the stone more bright and intense by brighten up the darker and dark area. It also your stone was probably photographed under strong artificial fluorescent daylight without spotlight because there is no sparkle shown on the picture. I hope my guess is right.

 

[Scott Terence]

Hi TKC,

You are correct that the vendor did use controlled lighting, for this particular picture. The stone was graded as a "strongly purplish Red with medium light tone and moderately strong saturation - stpR 4/4".

In person it is in fact a bit lighter than than the picture indicates however under shaded natural or incandescent light (indirect) lighting conditions it looks exactly as depicted. When under spot light conditions (like jewelry store lighting) it has a great deal of dispersion and the color lightens up a bit. Under fluorescent lighting it is a bit mixed... if the bulb has a yellowish hue the stone takes on an orange-pink color (a bit Padparadscha-ish) and when the bulb has a more balanced white/blue tinge, the stone is more straight pink.

As for the dark areas, perhaps you are referring to a "bowtie" effect. In the indirect incandescent or fluorescent lighting conditions, there is no dark region, just like the photo shows. However under direct lighting yes, there is are darker areas but then I also get a diamond like dispersion due to the high crown, so I am ok with that compromise. To be fair, the vendor did not backlight the stone in this case so we are seeing a face up only light return. In the past I have purchased stones with both front and back lighting and that really did lead to getting a stone that was much darker than anticipated. Ever since getting this particular stone, I have been an avid lover of spinel and would very much like another if the right stone appeared and it was not too much $$$.

Thanks for looking and perhaps if i can get my digital camera to keep a charge, I will attempt more natural light conditions.

Best regards,
Scott

 

[golden_eyes]

Beautiful spinels! I''m getting a digital camera in the very near future and will post pics of my 2.36ct oval red then...

Just curious...how do inclusions affect the value of spinel? My stone has kind of a feathery clear/white inclusion near the girdle that you can see if you look for it face-up, and is a little easier to spot from the side. It doesn''t bother me, but how much does a stone''s value increase if it is eye-clean versus not eye-clean?

Spinel is such an awesome stone - mine is a nice bright red in natural light, and a juicy orange in fluorescent.

 

[golden_eyes]

Scott - would you be willing to share the name/contact information of the vendor that sold you those spinels? They look lovely and well-cut.

 

[Scott Terence]

Ofcourse golden_eyes

The vendor from whom I purchased this Burmese pink is Multicolour (you can google them for the website). In this case, they had a new parcel of Burmese hot pink stones in and I was lucky enough to reserve this one even before the color grade came out.

And speaking of inclusions, I would also like to know how then affect value, since my stone has a white crystal inclusion close to the pavilion on the edge of the stone (but still completely in the stone). I can see it even face up but that is because I have particular eyes and I can often see VS2 inclusions in diamonds. I have heard that the Red spinels tend to have the most issues with inclusions (having them) and I would wonder if the chromium content had anything to contribute to faulty crystal formation or if the conditions that yield Red stones is more harsh etc. Perhaps one of our kind experts has an explaination?

 

[TKC]

Hi Scott, how luuuuuuuucky you are to have that stone

I took a look the Multicolour website. Their prices on spinels are fairly affordable and cheap, but when it comes to Be treated sapphires, their prices are quite expensive, even for the smaller ones. Anyone knows why?
Like the following sapphires
http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?639334759
http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?-1672103294
http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?1169187525