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Help me find a knock your socks off spinel

bright ice

Ideal_Rock
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I thought I should just start a new thread so that you guys might be able to help me find "MY" spinel :cheeky:

I have a light pink round coming from Jeff White.

I want another one but in a knock your socks off color, vibrant neon pink with more red tones. Something more similar to Chrono's. I know it will be a journey but I have the time unless I die first.

I want something in the 3-5 ct range. Not a price limit set in stone but would certainly to like keep it reasonable just depending on what we find. So throw it out if you find it, no matter the price.

PLEASE help me :errrr:
 

bright ice

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I worry about the return problems that other PSers speak of. I have heard that it is very difficult if not impossible.
 

Barrett

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That 3.77ct stone really pops! Fantastic color!
 

y2kitty

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BUT, has it not been strongly implied here by some posters that Swala photoshops their gems & people are afraid to say anything b/c others love them so? I'd hate to see bright ice buy another spinel that does not knock her socks off and she can't return.
 

AGBF

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bright ice|1305993290|2927272 said:
I thought I should just start a new thread so that you guys might be able to help me find "MY" spinel :cheeky:

I have a light pink round coming from Jeff White.

I want another one but in a knock your socks off color, vibrant neon pink with more red tones. Something more similar to Chrono's.

What about the red one that is also en route to you? Where does that fit in? The one about which HotPozzum gave us all the heads up?

Deb/AGBF
:read:
 

y2kitty

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AGBF|1305997449|2927300 said:
bright ice|1305993290|2927272 said:
I thought I should just start a new thread so that you guys might be able to help me find "MY" spinel :cheeky:

I have a light pink round coming from Jeff White.

I want another one but in a knock your socks off color, vibrant neon pink with more red tones. Something more similar to Chrono's.

What about the red one that is also en route to you? Where does that fit in? The one about which HotPozzum gave us all the heads up?

Deb/AGBF
:read:
Deb, it arrived and did not match description. There are pictures in the thread.
 

AGBF

Super_Ideal_Rock
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herekittykitty|1305998339|2927306 said:
AGBF|1305997449|2927300 said:
bright ice|1305993290|2927272 said:
I thought I should just start a new thread so that you guys might be able to help me find "MY" spinel :cheeky:

I have a light pink round coming from Jeff White.

I want another one but in a knock your socks off color, vibrant neon pink with more red tones. Something more similar to Chrono's.

What about the red one that is also en route to you? Where does that fit in? The one about which HotPozzum gave us all the heads up?

Deb, it arrived and did not match description. There are pictures in the thread.

Thank you so much for filling me in, herekittykitty. I found the thread to which you referred above. I was so sorry to read about that disappointing experience bright ice had. I had had high hopes for that stone!!!

Deb/AGBF
:read:
 

Aoife

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I'm not under the impression that Swala Photoshops. But I do think that at these price points it is reasonable to ask for a photo showing the gem on fingers so you can gauge real life appearance. You might also want to look at as many threads on Swala gems as you can to get an idea of vendor photo vs. IRL.

EDTA: The return problems rest not with Swala, but with the reality that you would be returning a gemstone to a country where "interesting" packages have a tendency to go astray. I know Arjunajane did end up returning a Tsavorite, but I can't remember how she did it. Courier service? Can't recall.
 

ooo~Shiney!

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The color of this maybe? TL's Spinel ? :appl:

TLupdclosespinel.PNG
 

AGBF

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ooo~Shiney!|1306000094|2927314 said:
The color of this maybe? TL's Spinel ? :appl:

What a great shot! I want to eat it!!!

Deb
:saint:
 

minousbijoux

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I would contact Tan at Odyssey et al. Recently he had a deep, highly saturated Mahenge oval in your carat range for about $5K (if I remember correctly). It seems to have sold in the last day or two, so you might want to contact him and see what else he has - some of the super expensive ones he is showing now look overly dark to me. But as we well know, he has good quality.
 

ooo~Shiney!

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Hee Hee, I like to eat that one, too, Deb :sun:

Here is another, does this seem to be a nice color to you ?
about 4.5 cts

mahenge-tanzania-spinel-gemstones-spi-00376-l.jpg
 

ooo~Shiney!

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I know what many of you are saying, and you are true watch-dogs for us all,
and for that we owe a million thanks. :appl: :appl: :appl:

brightice, pictures really help me.
give us an idea what you like,
and let us all help :))

(edited to add a picture of Chrono's Swala Spinel..... Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Holy Grail !!!!)

5ctpearmahenge.JPG
 

bright ice

Ideal_Rock
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ooo~Shiney!|1306000870|2927323 said:
Hee Hee, I like to eat that one, too, Deb :sun:

Here is another, does this seem to be a nice color to you ?
about 4.5 cts
This one is a great looking stone, I'll go back and look at it again, looked at it a couple times.
 

T L

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Be REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY careful of buying from Swala anything super expensive as his return policy stinks and it's too precarious to send back to Africa if you don't like it, in fact, I don't even think you can return it to Africa. Otherwise, I'd say he has a good selection, but I wouldn't just focus my attention with Eric. I really wish he had a return center located in the States, or somewhere domestically, because then I would attempt to buy from him as well.

Aside from that, I don't think you'll get any pinkish reds from any of the lapidaries, including Jeff White. They also get much of their rough from Swala, and I don't know what quality he's giving them, but it certainly hasn't been pinkish red from what I've seen, maybe pink to orangy pink. I think I've personally given up looking for Mahenges myself, as they've all been really orangey, and the prices super high for what they are. I think many dealers are just trying to pass off poorly saturated pink spinels as Mahenge's, and they are not. Not to discourage you, but it may take a while to find anything acceptable.
 

y2kitty

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Personally, I am waiting for people to get sick of their Mahenges and put them on the bistro. :saint:
 

bright ice

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Anyone dealt with AJS gems?

I do like this one :love:

Described as electric neon firey mahenge spinel. 4.54ct, 10.62 x 8.79 x 6.82

checker board cut 4.54ct spinell.jpg
 

T L

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bright ice|1306009019|2927386 said:
Anyone dealt with AJS gems?

I do like this one :love:

Described as electric neon firey mahenge spinel. 4.54ct, 10.62 x 8.79 x 6.82

I see orange. I know, go hit me over the head with a club. :arrow: :oops: I think once you see a really nice one in person, every other one looks orange. It's also pretty included, are you okay with that? If the price is right, it may be a good deal, but you want a "knock your socks off spinel" and I don't see this as one. However, it is way less orange than the one you're returning.
 

T L

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Although it's a heart, this one seems to have that neon color without the orange. Compare it side by side with the one above, and you'll see it's more saturated. However, the one above is lovely, no doubt, and the size of it is really nice for the price, but it's included, looks pretty sleepy, and not quite top of the line saturated if the photo is accurate. If you're looking for the best, I would skip it, but you have to weigh your options.

BTW, there is a GRS report with this one stating it's "vivid" pink. Nice stone.

http://www.ajsgem.com/gemstones/spinel/spinel-3.13-carats.html

spinel-mahenge-tanzania-gemstone-spi-00346-l.jpg
 

bright ice

Ideal_Rock
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TL|1306009437|2927393 said:
Although it's a heart, this one seems to have that neon color without the orange. Compare it side by side with the one above, and you'll see it's more saturated. However, the one above is lovely, no doubt, and the size of it is really nice for the price, but it's included, looks pretty sleepy, and not quite top of the line saturated if the photo is accurate. If you're looking for the best, I would skip it, but you have to weigh your options.

BTW, there is a GRS report with this one stating it's "vivid" pink. Nice stone.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-95ct-HOT-PAIR...ultDomain_0&hash=item4cf72ee498#ht_2618wt_958

The link does mot match that photo
 

T L

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Sorry about that, I edited my post above with the correct link.
 

Laila619

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I love the first oval at the top of the thread, and the heart. Both are gorgeous colors!!
 

bright ice

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What do you think of the color of this one. It is a 1.66 ct.

Trilliant 1.66 spinel.jpg
 

T L

Super_Ideal_Rock
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bright ice|1306019616|2927475 said:
What do you think of the color of this one. It is a 1.66 ct.

The color looks photoshopped big time. Of course, some dealers use photoshop to try to represent the real color of the stone, and others do not. I don't know the vendor of that stone either.

Always buy from a reputable vendor as there are synthetics that look identical to the real Mahenge spinels.
 
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