Help Judging a Mali

[MrsM]

Need some expert help here evaluate a stone. I am not familiar with mali garnets and just purchased one and am not sure how to feel about it. What is the ideal color of a mali, if there is one? I feel like I am seeing some bronze color instead of something between yellow->green. Am I mistaken that that is the ideal color range? Also not seeing the dispersion I expected. Correct me if you see something different and I am totally mistaken!!

 

[movie zombie]

not an expert re mali garnets but the one I got from Gene many years ago sparkles like crazy sending out gold and copper glints.
it is the 2nd from the left in this picture....which just does not do it justice re its green color. your stone on my monitor appears to be yellower.

 

[T L]

Need some expert help here evaluate a stone. I am not familiar with mali garnets and just purchased one and am not sure how to feel about it. What is the ideal color of a mali, if there is one? I feel like I am seeing some bronze color instead of something between yellow->green. Am I mistaken that that is the ideal color range? Also not seeing the dispersion I expected. Correct me if you see something different and I am totally mistaken!!

Well, ideally, a Mali shouldn't be brownish, or shift to a more brownish color, which is sounds like yours does. They should be more yellow/green. However, based on the price, and what you can accept, it may be keeper despite not having ideal color. Not everyone can afford or attain ideal color. An alternative to Mali garnet is also yellow Tanzanian chrysoberyl, if you're looking for such a yellow green stone with good light performance. Again, they can be more brownish too, but ideally a yellow green with no color shifts to brown.

 

[RedSpinel]

I really like garnets. I kinda see them as an underdog in the world of colored gems. But the vast majority of people in the world are unaware of all the different types of garnets out there, like the Mali garnet. I bought one about 10 years ago, and although I am not an expert in Mali garnet color, mine is generally a pure golden yellow and approx 2cts. Its cut well in a round cut, and its very bright with no eye visible inclusions. I dont know if golden yellow is the prime color tone, but I like it. I also own 2 matched yellow beryls that are slightly larger(but slightly less carat weight due to beryl's low density). Those 2 beryls are more of a pure yellow color as opposed to my Mali garnet which is more golden-yellow in color. I also own a Chyrsoberyl, and its got a very slight green tint mixed in with its predominately yellow-ish color. I own a small Malaia garnet, but its a very different color, more of a peach pink-ish orangish color. I dont know if my color description makes sense, but thats the best way I can describe the color of that Malaia garnet.

I find that garnets can be surprising in all the different colors you can find in the same garnet families at times. Like the Spessartite in another thread. Its red, although most people imagine the color orange when thinking about Spessartite garnets. I just wish I could find a not-too-dark Rhodolite garnet with the typical soft Rhodolite color, just without the also typical black facet faces that are all too common in many red colored garnets. I bought at least 6-8 different Rhodolites over a few years trying to find that medium colored stone that doesnt show too dark or too light, but when I receive them I was disappointed because they ended up being darker than in the advert pictures. Sigh....

 

[jbkhere]

not an expert re mali garnets but the one I got from Gene many years ago sparkles like crazy sending out gold and copper glints.
it is the 2nd from the left in this picture....which just does not do it justice re its green color. your stone on my monitor appears to be yellower.

Sorry for the threadjack but MZ I love what you've done with your stones in this picture! You've inspired me to pull out a few languishing in the dark to someplace safe where I can enjoy them!

 

[MrsM]

Thanks for the input. I am a garnet lover also and was hoping for a brilliant golden yellow mali, but somehow this one just does not speak to me. What do you guys think of the color--does anyone else see brown or am I imaging it? Is the darkness just an indication of it not being a great cut? I have a smaller, less saturated mali which glows and I was just hoping this one would do the same...think it is going back . The search goes on!

 

[MrsM]

@RedSpinel: Can you post a picture of your 2ct mali just so I can get an idea of the color of yours?

 

[OTL]

I have a 2ct light tone mali garnet. It's yellowish green, with no brown in it. But it's pretty light. My ideal Mali color would be like this, and much much more saturated.

 

[T L]

Thanks for the input. I am a garnet lover also and was hoping for a brilliant golden yellow mali, but somehow this one just does not speak to me. What do you guys think of the color--does anyone else see brown or am I imaging it? Is the darkness just an indication of it not being a great cut? I have a smaller, less saturated mali which glows and I was just hoping this one would do the same...think it is going back . The search goes on!

When you compare this picture to OTL's picture directly above, then yes, you can see the brown. I'm not sure how accurate your photo is in color, but if it's accurate, then yes, it is brownish.

 

[minousbijoux]

not an expert re mali garnets but the one I got from Gene many years ago sparkles like crazy sending out gold and copper glints.
it is the 2nd from the left in this picture....which just does not do it justice re its green color. your stone on my monitor appears to be yellower.

Sorry for the threadjack but MZ I love what you've done with your stones in this picture! You've inspired me to pull out a few languishing in the dark to someplace safe where I can enjoy them!

To threadjack on the threadjack, all I can think of is that MoZo must not have cats...

And yes, Mrs. M, I see brown in the stone - and also some nice dispersion in one of the photos.

 

[PrecisionGem]

I view Mali garnets and for that matter many of the less known or popular stones, as ''what color do YOU' like. If you want a brown stone, and many people do, then a brown Mali can be spectacular, as can a gold one, yellow or green one. There is no right answer to many stones, it's what you like. With some stones like ruby sapphire etc, differences in color mean a large change in price, but for these lesser known stones, the price impact is much less if at all. So it boils down to what you like, and only you can answer that.

 

[RedSpinel]

MY collection is in a safe deposit box, and the only picture I have in my computer are pictures of the entire tray of gem boxes that its stored in. But you can copy it and zoom into the gem box its sitting in and look at it that way, I tried it and it works OK, and you can clearly see the accurate color, but it doesnt do the stone justice.

****I keep getting an error message saying "500 INTERNAL SERVER ERROR" every time I try to upload and save the picture.

I'll try again later....

 

[RedSpinel]

I tried uploading it a different way using its URL from Imgur, but this site wont allow me ti upload any photo from any site other than here, and there is some internal server error still, that wont let me upload a picture from here. Isnt that convenient and sensible!

 

[MrsM]

Thanks for trying RedSpinel--that is okay. I've decided not to keep the stone as the color is just not exciting me.

Thanks for the input, Gene. Did not realize that color does not play as large a role in garnets...

 

[T L]

Did not realize that color does not play as large a role in garnets...

Color plays a huge role in all colored gems.

 

[VapidLapid]

Here are my two mali garnets. Each is the ideal color for the stones. There are many ideal colors. As long as the stone is happy with its color and makes the most of it, it is ideal.

 

[movie zombie]

not an expert re mali garnets but the one I got from Gene many years ago sparkles like crazy sending out gold and copper glints.
it is the 2nd from the left in this picture....which just does not do it justice re its green color. your stone on my monitor appears to be yellower.

Sorry for the threadjack but MZ I love what you've done with your stones in this picture! You've inspired me to pull out a few languishing in the dark to someplace safe where I can enjoy them!

LOL, this was on a higher book shelf that the cats could not access.....

I love mali garnet....but like all garnets there are many variations and it is up to the buyer to decide what and which characteristics pleases his/her eye.


and re color stones: it is ALL about the color! it is just that as I said above, the buyer has to decide what anad which characteristics pleases his/her eye.

difficult when starting out, I know, but trust me you develop an eye.

 

[RedSpinel]

@RedSpinel: Can you post a picture of your 2ct mali just so I can get an idea of the color of yours?

OK, finally got Pricescope to accept my picture. For several hours there was a server issue last night. Anyway, my collection is in a safe deposit box at my bank, and the only pics I have on my computer are pics of the gem tray that this Mali garnet is encased in. But this picture was taken at a fairly high pixel rate, so if you download it to your computer, you can zoom in and see the stone up close with relatively good resolution. This picture wasnt taken in the best light(a cold color tinted compact fluorescent bulb), and it doesnt do them justice, but the color tint of the mali garnet is pretty accurate at least, but the color tints of many of the others is way off in this picture. It didnt seem to do a very good job accurately reproducing pinks, reds etc.

Here it is, its on the far left, and its the gem 2nd down from the spessartite in the top left corner. Its the golden yellow round.

 

[MrsM]

Thanks for trying RedSpinel--that is okay. I've decided not to keep the stone as the color is just not exciting me.

Thanks for the input, Gene. Did not realize that color does not play as large a role in garnets...

Aargh! Just realized what I wrote...I meant to put the word "price" in "...color does not play as large a role in PRICE of garnets." Yes, I know color is everything in colored stones.

VL--The color of that asscher mali is what I love and want!!

 

[chrono]

Ummm...I'm confused; to me, colour plays a large role in the price of garnets. A strongly saturated slightly yellowish green Mali garnet will easily cost more than a slightly yellowish brownish Mali garnet.

 

[PrecisionGem]

By color I mean color in the more general sense. Yellow, green, brown etc. of course there are variations within a color, and well saturated stones of any color always get a preference over stones with low saturation. 'The Guide' doesn't list Mali garnet, but for stones like zircon there is a price listing for blue and also brown, and then 'all other colors'. Interestingly brown is priced higher than 'all other colors' category. So they are pricing red, yellow, green zircon the same. This is what I meant for the garnets too. Now certainly a really fine strong yellow would bring a higher price than a dark red with poor saturation. Likewise a bright saturated red would bring a higher price then a yellow with a strong brown modifier.

 

[T L]

By color I mean color in the more general sense. Yellow, green, brown etc. of course there are variations within a color, and well saturated stones of any color always get a preference over stones with low saturation. 'The Guide' doesn't list Mali garnet, but for stones like zircon there is a price listing for blue and also brown, and then 'all other colors'. Interestingly brown is priced higher than 'all other colors' category. So they are pricing red, yellow, green zircon the same. This is what I meant for the garnets too. Now certainly a really fine strong yellow would bring a higher price than a dark red with poor saturation. Likewise a bright saturated red would bring a higher price then a yellow with a strong brown modifier.

That's rather odd about zircons, but then again, they're not a heavily marketed gemstone. I would imagine blue zircons are higher priced than the other colors though. I think the brown zircons you're speaking of however have a primary color of brown, whereas in the case of the OP's mali garnet, its a modifier. A brown or grey modifier can lower the value of gem.

 

[Lee Little]

The brighter the green in a Mali, the better, however, a little brown in a yellow makes it look more golden thus making it better to many people. To my eye 24 Karat gold is gorgeous but some people would complain about it being too brown.

 

[RedSpinel]

The brighter the green in a Mali, the better, however, a little brown in a yellow makes it look more golden thus making it better to many people. To my eye 24 Karat gold is gorgeous but some people would complain about it being too brown.

Really, there are people who see brown in 24kt gold? I have never seen pure gold as brown at all. Well, maybe if it was dropped into a mud puddle, then shown to me. Then I'd see brown!

Is it an addition of brown that makes some yellow stones look "golden"?

 

[chrono]

When gold is dirty or oxidized, it can appear darkish, so I wonder if this is what Lee meant? I do not wear my 24K pieces often enough to see any darkening but my 24/7 wear 22K bracelets do show signs of oxidation. I've seen the local bench heat it up over their "torch" to make it shiny yellow again.

I noticed that some people interpret a touch of brown in a yellow coloured gem as golden. I suppose golden sounds nicer than slightly brownish yellow.

 

[LoversKites]

Chrono and RedSpinel, I've always interpreted stones with colour described 'gold' as slightly brownish yellow. Do you think that's unfair?

 

[T L]

Chrono and RedSpinel, I've always interpreted stones with colour described 'gold' as slightly brownish yellow. Do you think that's unfair?

Not Chrono or Redspinel, but I think gold should really be a very slightly orangey yellow IMO. If it has brown, there's probably a loss of saturation there. However, I don't like to use descriptors as "gold," "cornflower blue," "lotus blossom pink," "mandarin" etc. . . and colors should be best described using the GIA gemset values, with tone and saturation being noted.

 

[LoversKites]

Chrono and RedSpinel, I've always interpreted stones with colour described 'gold' as slightly brownish yellow. Do you think that's unfair?

Not Chrono or Redspinel, but I think gold should really be a very slightly orangey yellow IMO. If it has brown, there's probably a loss of saturation there. However, I don't like to use descriptors as "gold," "cornflower blue," "lotus blossom pink," "mandarin" etc. . . and colors should be best described using the GIA gemset values, with tone and saturation being noted.

Hmm... I'd love to see that. Do you (or anyone) have an example of a slightly orangey yellow stone that shows a gold colour? I haven't seen something like that - maybe except in FCDs.

I definitely agree that descriptors like the ones you mentioned are pretty much useless in representing the real colour of a stone.

 

[chrono]

Well, it depends on what you and I (or anyone else) interpret what "gold" coloured is. This is why I shy away from such descriptors.

 

[T L]

Chrono and RedSpinel, I've always interpreted stones with colour described 'gold' as slightly brownish yellow. Do you think that's unfair?

Not Chrono or Redspinel, but I think gold should really be a very slightly orangey yellow IMO. If it has brown, there's probably a loss of saturation there. However, I don't like to use descriptors as "gold," "cornflower blue," "lotus blossom pink," "mandarin" etc. . . and colors should be best described using the GIA gemset values, with tone and saturation being noted.

Hmm... I'd love to see that. Do you (or anyone) have an example of a slightly orangey yellow stone that shows a gold colour? I haven't seen something like that - maybe except in FCDs.

I definitely agree that descriptors like the ones you mentioned are pretty much useless in representing the real colour of a stone.

Very pale yellow spessartite garnets. Some can be very yellow, but have a slight orange component, hence, "gold" or "golden" color.

http://www.thegemtrader.com/Sep-08-Spess.gif

http://www.langantiques.com/university/images/2/28/Cutspess.JPG