ISO square red-orange spinels

[Pretzel]

I am getting an engagement ring and have decided on a square red-orange spinel with a halo of diamonds in a platinum setting with diamonds partially down the bands. I am intrigued by non-standard cuts and I love asscher cuts, but I feel they look best in light coloured stones so I am only restricting the stone to proportions. I want it relatively square!

I started out looking at sapphires, but, after reading this forum and others, realised that spinels were a more cost-effective choice for my preferred colour. Ideally, I want an orange-red stone, but I can be swayed by a stone with purple red tones if it is especially bright and lively. Definitely no magenta or pink. Peach and champagne are acceptable, but not too light!

We have a budget of around $1000 for the stone, which should be around 6.5 mm wide (range 5 to 8 ).

Strangely, that doesn't seem to be the limiting factor. I've gone through all of the sites on the forum's vendor list and found only ten stones to bookmark. None of them are the colour I'm searching for.

Unheated Oval Spinel - orange
http://www.ajsgem.com/gemstones/spinel/spinel-1.43-carats.html-1

Medium light reddish orange spinel
http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?960531821

Deep reddish orange spinel
http://wildfishgems.com/inc/sdetail/1080/14613

Cinnamon orange spinel
http://wildfishgems.com/inc/sdetail/1080/16890

Red spinel
http://www.palagems.com/php/db_search.php?action=gemdetail&inventory_number=20973

Pastel pink spinel
http://www.yavorskyy.com/pastel_pink_spinel_6.71_ct-p-2023.html

Pink spinel
http://www.spectralgems.net/spinel/spinelpinkcush1_56ct/

'PADPARADSCHA' spinel
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-66CTS-EXCELLENT-OVAL-CUT-NATURAL-RARE-PADPARADSCHA-COLOR-CEYLON-SPINEL-/360754701791?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53fea7e5df

Purplish red spinel
http://wildfishgems.com/inc/sdetail/1080/5913

Unheated Cushion Spinel - red
http://www.ajsgem.com/gemstones/spinel/spinel-1.06-carats.html

I won't say which one is our favourite, as I'd like to know what you think.

...

I liked the look of this site, but the selection is too purpley/pink/dark:
http://www.gemfix.com/spinel.html

I love the designs/cuts of this site, especially the trinity hexagon cut:
http://www.osirisgems.com/Designs.html

This is the perfect colour, a harvest red-orange, if it were just a bit more vibrant:
http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/sapphires/c-9-unique-sapphires/p-50158-cushion-unique-sapphire-u4444/

You can see it photoshopped in the setting here:



My thoughts were... could I ask a precision cutter to find me a suitable rough and cut me a spinel? Is that possible? Practical? Would love to hear from people who have done it, and how long it might take to get the stone I am searching for. I'm willing to wait!

 

[Niel]

It wouldnt be square i dont think, but Peter T had some orangy red spinel rough that he doesnt have posted on his site, the far right stone in this pic, if i remember right, is about 5.3 mm , so the oval might be about the mm requirement youre looking for, and my budget was less than yours when he was showing me this, so though he didnt tell me the price, id bet its in budget. not sure if its still there, but hes amazing and doesnt hurt to email

Just an idea as you wanted a precision cutter

this was pre cut id assume


I am no expert and ive only done it once, but i have gone around looking for a specific type and color of stone from a few precision cutters. It worked out very well for me. And it seems like a lot of cutters dont have all their stuff on their sites, so wahts the harms in asking, right?

 

[carmen1]

These are sapphires and more elongated in shape than I think you are looking for, but perhaps close to the color you are looking for?

http://www.rwwise.com/products/id|1640 -- I believe the price would be 1/2 off on this

http://mastercutgems.com/preview.php?cat=301&id=7051

 

[Niel]

also did you see this one from multicolour? was it too included for you? It seems to have a nice color, and a squarish and under 1k

http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?188953609

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

I like the reddish orange stone from wildfish for 1550.00. Looks like a nice saturated color. I did not look at al of them. Too many for me to look thru.


Annette

 

[minousbijoux]

I'm not sure the RWise stone is the color you seek (and although nice, is a bit pricey for a non-pad stone with brown in it). Also the Mastercut stone looks like brownish orange (nothing against brown if you like it, just want you to be aware of it). I know that Multicolour is a highly regarded seller, but if you were serious about that stone, I would ask a lot of questions about hue, tone and saturation. There are no landmarks so to speak in his photos (same for the vid) so its hard to get a sense of what the stone would actually look like in hand, if you kwim. For example, ask how dark it is in normal ambient daylight. Also ask how saturated it is - whether closer to medium or very strong (If medium, it may end up brown tinged, or, if light in tone, then reading as a bit washed out like a salmony pinkish red). And a hand shot would be helpful as well.

From your description, Peter Torraca's seem closest in color, maybe or is it too dark and too saturated?

 

[minousbijoux]

Oh, and what is "ISO"? Forgive me if that is obvious to others...

 

[athenaworth]

I think it's "In Search Of." But I could be wrong.

 

[Pretzel]

ISO = in search of

I agree with nearly everything you wrote, minousbijoux. The stones look lovely, especially the mastercut one, but nothing is quite what I'm looking for. The Peter T stones look closest in colour but perhaps too dark? I will contact him to ask him about any potential cuts.

Thank you for the suggestions and tips. I find the hand shots to be very useful in visualising the colour and ring. It is how I chose the colour I want... I love green and blue but orange would look much nicer on my skin. I don't mind a brown tinge, as long as there are other colours brightening the stone up.

 

[colorluvr]

Do you prefer orange-red or red-orange? The ones that have more orange can sometimes turn a bit brown in some lighting and (from my experience) the ones that are more red can be a bit dark without good lighting. If you are searching, try searching under "flame" spinels. That is the color that I consider mine.... more red in some lighting (with flashes of orange) and then more orange in other lighting. Both of these were taken with a cell phone, so not that great of a photo, but it does show how the stone can shift depending on the lighting.

In the first photo is where it looks more red (but you can see the orange tone). It's an almost square cushion ~ 8mm stone set in an inexpensive LOGR setting, (I wear a size 6 - 6.5 for reference) but I bought the setting a long time ago and had the diamonds upgraded so they are very white and sparkly IRL. BTW, it usually doesn't look as dark as the first photo, but it looks the most red when it's in lower lighting and shows more orange in brighter lighting... second photo is in my office with "not too yellow" fluorescent lighting.

 

[colorluvr]

One more (fuzzy one) showing even more orange. If you like this color, then "flame" might get your some more hits in your searching.

 

[minousbijoux]

CL is right, they are often called Flame spinels. Its funny, cuz when I'm looking for spinels of pure red or red with that slight violet/purple, I swear all I see is flame spinels, but I just did a search for you and could not find any that I thought were decent on first blush...

 

[carmen1]

Jeff Davies posted this one a few days ago and it sold within minutes (if I'm recalling correctly). However, if you like the color you may want to contact him and see if he anything similar in the works.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/454441418620731567/

 

[colorluvr]

Jeff Davies posted this one a few days ago and it sold within minutes (if I'm recalling correctly). However, if you like the color you may want to contact him and see if he anything similar in the works.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/454441418620731567/

Excellent idea - Jeff is a great resource for spinels (among many other stones) and many of his are precision cut now. Another color you might search on is "apricot". That is the color the stone in the center ring was advertised as, even though I think it's more "persimmon". Ring on left is one I posted above and ring on the right is pure red - no orange (even though my camera doesn't capture it well), but the comparison can gives you an idea of the middle stone. BTW, my stone on the left was not advertised as "flame", it was advertised as orange, but once I got it, I realized it was the same color as the ones being advertised as "flame", so that's what I call it.

 

[Pretzel]

Thank your for sharing the photos of your rings! They do look lovely!

I'm not sure of the different between red-orange and orange-red, but I definitely want something lighter and more orange than the stones pictured in the rings.

The Jeff Davies one (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/454441418620731567/) looks gorgeous! My ideal would be a bit lighter and less brown. All of the (few) 'orange' stones I've seen seem to be quite mono-chromatic and lack the range of tones that the Jeff Davies stone has, for instance. I will try searching for 'apricot'.

 

[colorluvr]

Thank your for sharing the photos of your rings! They do look lovely!

I'm not sure of the different between red-orange and orange-red, but I definitely want something lighter and more orange than the stones pictured in the rings.

The Jeff Davies one (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/454441418620731567/) looks gorgeous! My ideal would be a bit lighter and less brown. All of the (few) 'orange' stones I've seen seem to be quite mono-chromatic and lack the range of tones that the Jeff Davies stone has, for instance. I will try searching for 'apricot'.

Good luck!