large garnet collection

[CharmyPoo]

You have an absolutely amazing collection. I really enjoyed it!

 

[Harriet]

May we see a closeup of your best Tsavorite?

 

[Fly Girl]

Thank you for showing your garnet collection. Such beautiful stones.

 

[icekid]

ohhhhhhhhh seriously... this thread MADE my horrendous week.

zeolite- you never cease to amaze! how do you ever get anything done at home with all of those pretties to play with???

 

[LaurenThePartier]

I''ve been gone all week (in Denver attending a meeting and stuck on a 2 hour flight from Denver to Dallas for SEVEN HOURS today) - this thread put a smile on my face! Zeolite, your collection rocks!

 

[marcy]

Wow, how amazing. I love your collection.

 

[ma re]

Really beautiful!

Do you have a favorite Mr. Z?

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 4/17/2009 6:15:26 PM
Author: zeolite

demantoids: no mainly because they are too expensive in the quality and size that I demand. I''ve seen some fine ones at $5,000 or above. However my top tsavorite is well above that. I also haven''t seen any top pastel andradites with good dispersion and fine cutting. They are just too rare.

As for the Mali''s: i don''t care much for the brown or deep orange ones. I have a fine rough Mali that will be similar in color to the diamond shaped mali in the picture above.

Pastel garnet article:

http://gia.metapress.com/content/c3264156617m11u8/

Try to buy a reprint. If no luck, I can photo copy my issue for you. I have all but about 2 Gems & Gemology for the last 27 years. By far the best way to get pastel garnets is to see rough dealers and buy the crystals. Jewelers don''t ask for them and collectors snap up the cuts stones, so you will rarely see any. Prices should be about $200 - $300 per carat wholesale, not very high. Color change garnets are much higher, $500 to $2,000 ct wholesale for barely over 1 ct. Two of my CC were in the $2,000 ct range

It''s depressing how much you need to spend to get into even so-so demantoids.... let alone the really great ones in big sizes!

Thanks for the article link - off to buy, they''ve been very helpful at GIA so far on doing pdfs for me but I''ll come back if this one isn''t possible.

I was quite suprised that the chap I bought my pale rhodolite from appeared to know it was a bit special and was kept well apart from his other stones, as I didn''t see them in any of the jewellers. He was one of the mine-owners in Ratnapura, and they were calling it a ''rose'' garnet.

Are the prices for cut or rough?

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 4/17/2009 7:39:39 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
And he''s a man so he won''t put them all in rings.

Thank goodness for that!

So much more beautiful not surrounded by chunks of metal!!!

 

[icekid]

Date: 4/18/2009 7:41:35 AM
Author: Pandora II

Date: 4/17/2009 7:39:39 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
And he''s a man so he won''t put them all in rings.

Thank goodness for that!

So much more beautiful not surrounded by chunks of metal!!!

Seriously! There is something so stunning about a loose stone! But they''re much easier to enjoy daily when you can wear them on your hand.

 

[mochi]

WOW...I''m in heaven

 

[Harriet]

Zeolite, P,
What''s a good size to aim for in a demantoid?

 

[coatimundi_org]

Wonderful collection!

 

[zeolite]

Thank you everyone for your kind compliments on my garnet collection.

I cant pick a favorite, but the largest pink really draws my eye!!!

Yes the large 15.90 ct ple pink pyrope oval is one of my favorites.

Please, more pictures, at least one for each sub-group?

Will take some time. Later?

I can say that I would sit and stare at those beauties all day....

I do, often.

Don''t look at the light! …I-can''t-help-it. It''s-so-beautiful.

They do just pull you in .. gem lovers just can’t help it

Did you say your wife isn''t into gemstones?

Right she just doen’t seem to care or notice.

And he''s a man so he won''t put them all in rings.

Yes, all will remain loose.

I never got a piece of garnet jewelry because I had not seen a garnet in a color other than that red/brown not-so-nice color. Thanks to all of you for educating me.

I hope my collection will open your eyes and show what is possible in color in garnets. They are so under-appreciated as an important gemstone.

May we see a closeup of your best Tsavorite?

I’m working on it.

Do you have a favorite Mr. Z?

I''ts hard to pick favorites, especilly since the cutting is tops on nearly every one. My favorites might be the 3.04 ct emerald cut tsavorite, 15.90 ct oval pink pyrope, 5.68 ct radiant cut spessartite, 9.22 ct malaya heart, 3.17 ct square Barion yellow, 4.59 ct magenta octagon rhodolite, the 2 fantastic chrome pyropes, and my top two CC garnets.

Are the prices for cut or rough? … Prices should be about $200 - $300 per carat wholesale, not very high. Color change garnets are much higher, $500 to $2,000 ct wholesale for barely over 1 ct. Two of my CC were in the $2,000 ct range

I should have made it more clear. These are cut prices.

It''s depressing how much you need to spend to get into even so-so demantoids.... let alone the really great ones in big sizes!

Zeolite, P,
What''s a good size to aim for in a demantoid?

It depends on your quest for quality and your budget. I prefer over 1 ct and don’t want to pay for more than 2.5 ct. You might find a fine color 1.25 ct demantoid wholesale for $2000 to $2600 per carat.

I plan to go into more detail why I don’t own a demantoid in another green gemstone thread.

 

[zeolite]

Date: 4/17/2009 8:41:12 PM
Author: Harriet
May we see a closeup of your best Tsavorite?

I bought this 3.04 ct tsavorite in about 1990. The cutting is good commercial, but not top class. It is also emerald cut, with large broad facets, and yet flawless to the eye, from any and all viewing angles.

It could be recut, but I''m positive that would ruin its superb tone and color, and it really doesn''t need it.

What makes it so exceptional is the combination of both superb color and perfect tone. The vast majority of tsavorites (and of chrome tourmalines) are either too light (with O.K. color) or too dark, with good color but poor brightness and much extinction. It is like a knife edge, where nearly all tsavorites and chrome tourmalines either fall on one side or the other of absolute perfection.

While some fine emeralds can achieve this balance, they can''t begin to match a tsavorite''s clarity or its brilliance.

I spotted this gem in a gem display booth at least 8 feet away, and was stunned by it beauty. It was priced then (and corrected for inflation, now) higher than any other tsavorite in its size range I have ever seen. It was in the same range as 3 ct commercial diamonds (of course not D color, flawless).

I knew I had to have it, even before asking the price. I said, rather than asked, that it was an old stone, that it was not mined recently. The dealer said, yes, it came from a collectors estate. I suspect it was mined between 1968 and 1976 when the tsavorite mines were first opened, and the gem world had not yet discovered its beauty.

My picture really doesn''t capture the beauty that you can see when viewing the actual gem.

 

[Pandora II]

That tsav is outstanding and IMHO doesn't need to be recut - I'd be terrified of losing something in the process. I'm not suprised it was so expensive - it blows anything I've seen IRL over here out of the water!

Just out of interest, when you are judging extinction, what lighting conditions are you using? I ask because my tsav has pretty much zero extinction in daylight, but a fair bit in incandescent. It was cut by a very well-known cutter so I have no doubt that the best possible result was aimed for.

 

[Harriet]

zeolite,
That is a beauty.

 

[zeolite]

Date: 4/18/2009 4:17:28 PM
Author: Pandora II
That tsav is outstanding and IMHO doesn''t need to be recut - I''d be terrified of losing something in the process. I''m not suprised it was so expensive - it blows anything I''ve seen IRL over here out of the water!

Just out of interest, when you are judging extinction, what lighting conditions are you using? I ask because my tsav has pretty much zero extinction in daylight, but a fair bit in incandescent. It was cut by a very well-known cutter so I have no doubt that the best possible result was aimed for.

It interesting that you relate extinction to lighting. I never noticed that.

So, I took one of my gems, strong in extinction, in outdoor shade, in incandescent light and in direct sunlight. My perfect example was a well cut blue tourmaline. It good because it is always dark in tone, it is well cut, and it loses a full 50% of light due to its total absorption down the C-axis.

Extinction was lowest in shade, more in incandescent and worst in direct sunlight. I''m sure the property of extinction was due to the variation in incoming angle of light. You''re in London, right? Very often with heavy overcast. The light is coming in at a very wide range of incoming angles. The incandescent light was narrow, yet still moderately wide, due to the reflector around the bulb. The worst by far was directly parallel sunlight rays.

A top gem cutter once told me, that extinction may occur in a smaller area, in fewer facets, but is much more pronounced, in a well cut gem, than in poorly cut gems. That is because a well cut stone is designed to concentrate reflected light into a narrow cone of light directed into your eye.

My theory is that overcast, wide incoming angle light erases extinction in almost any gem. The light from a wide angle hits and somewhat lights up every facet. Facets that might be somewhat dark are still receiving some light from a wide angle.

Narrow angle light make the extinction worse. Couple narrow angle light with a well cut gem, and in some angles, no light is reflected from one facet into your eye, resulting in a black facet.

And extinction is always much more pronounced in dark toned gem material. Then finally consider a well cut gem with dark tone: any light from one facet that might slightly miss your eye, is absorbed by the extremely dark tone of the material, resulting in inky black extinction areas.

 

[Pandora II]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do that - it makes a lot of sense. Yes, I''m in London and so we don''t get a huge amount in the way of direct sun here.

My stone is towards the dark side of medium dark and in indoor lighting - especially downlighters and some jewellery store lighting, it can go incredibly sparkly partly because it shows massive contrast between areas that are practically black and others that are bright green.

Definitely looks best in normal light - ie not raining, not perfect blue skies etc just somewhat overcast and cloudy - even the darkest areas show a good bright green and no black at all.

I might have a play tomorrow with some other stones (if it''s not sunny

) and see if it''s a phenomenon that is more pronounced in some types of garnet than others - I have a feeling that my mali may have looked best in bright sunlight.

 

[bling addict]

Really amazing collection

Thanks for sharing with us

 

[T L]

Mr. Zeolite,
Have you ever seen a faceted Uvarovite garnet? If so, is there a picture available? I''m dying to see one large enough to be a single faceted stone.

 

[chrono]

The 2 tsavorites are gorgeous; very emerald like in colour and of course the cutting mimics that too.

 

[zeolite]

Date: 4/18/2009 11:22:30 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
Mr. Zeolite,
Have you ever seen a faceted Uvarovite garnet? If so, is there a picture available? I''m dying to see one large enough to be a single faceted stone.

I''ve seen the microscopic un-cut crystals, they are like tiny emeralds, with beautiful color. I doubt they would be as large as 0.01 ct!

 

[babysteps]

Thanks so much for sharing a photo and description of all these beauties! You have such an amazing collection, they are just gorgeous