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Light pink gems?

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Kashmira

Kashmira

Shiny_Rock
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Aug 16, 2009
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If looking for a light pink gem (round, very well cut, approx 10 mm), are there other alterntives than morganite, tourmaline and kunzite? I know that there are pink diamonds, sapphires etceteras but they would cost a fortune for the size I am looking for.
 
The only other affordable gem I can think of that would be reasonably priced would be rose quartz. Of course, then you are talking about a pretty sleepy stone.

Sometimes, you can find VERY pale pink danburite though it is so pale as to be colorless.

Treated topaz is always an option as well and if you are willing to spend a bit more, you might be able to find a natural pink topaz.

Good luck in your search!
 
Date: 1/5/2010 2:59:26 PM
Author:Kashmira
If looking for a light pink gem (round, very well cut, approx 10 mm), are there other alterntives than morganite, tourmaline and kunzite? I know that there are pink diamonds, sapphires etceteras but they would cost a fortune for the size I am looking for.
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Spinel comes in light pink and when polished and cut well, can take on tremendous sparkle. It''s also durable.
 
Hi Tourm-
Normally I wouldn''t disagree with you but there are two problems with spinel: typically, spinel is only available in small sizes. 10mm stones are few and far between which brings us to problem #2: even smallish spinels can be very expensive. The current Tajik spinel rough (beautiful color, great clarity) is selling for around $30 to $50 a gram in very small (+-1 carat) pieces. That is for rough. On a good day, this rough will yield 25 point stones.

I do agree that spinel makes for a beautiful stone but size and affordability are not two of the qualities it is known for.
 
Thank you Revolution and tourmaline_lover!

What stone is the most durable, spinel, tourmaline or tourmaline? Also is brilliant cut the best cut for the most sparkle?
 
Spinel is harder than tourmaline, and tourmaline is more affordable - unless we are talking hot pink cuprian tourmaline.

Kunzite and morganite are definitely the obvious choices if you want an affordable light pink transparent gemstone. Why are you not interested in these two?
 

Kunzite will fade to a colourless stone over time after continued exposure to UV, so it’s something you might want to take into account. In terms of durability, spinel is the toughest and best for everyday wear among your options. It is also very dispersive compared to the rest. That said, it’s not going to be easy finding one that large although one that pale will bring the price down considerably.


 
Thanks for your replies! I'll guess the best would be a light pink spinel or a morganite. I also love light "seafoam" tourmalines- I guess that I prefer the lighter coloured gems unlike most other people...
 
Yeah, finding a spinel in that size is likely to be expensive (dunno that it would be much savings over a pale pink sapphire, since the lighter pinks tend to be cheaper) and take a while. I haven''t seen too many light pink spinels, and most of the ones I have seen have been 1.5 carats or smaller. 10mm translates to ~3.5 to 4 carats (+/- for spinel weight as compared to diamonds, which I don''t know offhand), so that could be tough.

I''ve heard that not all kunzites fade, although most do. If you can find a color-stable kunzite, that might be worth considering. Neither kunzite nor morganite is recommended for regular ring wear, if that''s a consideration.

Revolution mentioned rose quartz, which I would also have suggested if budget is really tight. It will be sleepy, but it has the right color and it can be pretty when well cut. The hardest part''s likely to be finding a nicely cut stone; most cutters don''t seem to carry it, probably because it''s so cheap that it''s not often worth their time. But I''m sure someone could work with you if you decided to go that way.
 
Date: 1/5/2010 3:56:04 PM
Author: Kim Bruun
Spinel is harder than tourmaline, and tourmaline is more affordable - unless we are talking hot pink cuprian tourmaline.

Kunzite and morganite are definitely the obvious choices if you want an affordable light pink transparent gemstone. Why are you not interested in these two?
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Actually, I find light pink spinel to be quite reasonably priced, even in larger sizes. If it's hot pink, then we're talking bigger bucks. Rubellite tourmaline, and other hot pink tourmaline that do not color shift to orange, are more pricey too.
 
Also, I seem to recall that Dan Stair had a pretty good-sized pale pink tourmaline on his site a couple of days ago. It might have been a Portuguese round rather than a standard round, but I remember thinking it was pretty and reasonably priced. Wish I had the specs for you, but it seems to be in limbo until he does another update. You might drop him a quick email to ask about it or wait for him to do another round of site updates (but then someone else might grab it first).
 
The lighter pink spinels sometimes look grayish to me. I know that those that are really pure in color (even light ones) can be a bit on the pricier side. The sparkle of a spinel is just something else though. Very amazing.

I think its something you should price out and bounce against your budget. If you''ve got wiggle room on your wants (maybe 8mm instead of 10?) you may have an easier time finding a spinel you want.


Tourmaline and morganite is a bit easier to find in the larger sizes. I have never bought Kunzite so I''m in the dark there.


-A
 
Date: 1/5/2010 4:46:38 PM
Author: Liane
Also, I seem to recall that Dan Stair had a pretty good-sized pale pink tourmaline on his site a couple of days ago. It might have been a Portuguese round rather than a standard round, but I remember thinking it was pretty and reasonably priced. Wish I had the specs for you, but it seems to be in limbo until he does another update. You might drop him a quick email to ask about it or wait for him to do another round of site updates (but then someone else might grab it first).
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You don''t mean the "Fancy Brilliant Oval" morganite that was on his webpage some time ago?!
 
No, this was earlier this week (maybe like two days ago? man my memory is awful) and definitely a round tourmaline.

He seems to have a lot of light pink stones though. Probably a good guy to contact when you narrow down what you want.
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Check with Bob Kast too, bobkast.com.
 
Date: 1/5/2010 5:31:13 PM
Author: Liane
No, this was earlier this week (maybe like two days ago? man my memory is awful) and definitely a round tourmaline.

He seems to have a lot of light pink stones though. Probably a good guy to contact when you narrow down what you want.
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OK- thanks!
 
How about this kunzite? It's an oval, but looks very nicely cut, and per the description the color has been stable over 8 years:

http://www.mastercutgems.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=5809

ETA: Sorry, didn't see it was sold when I suggested it! You could see if he has any more rough, but it doesn't sound promising by the description. Leaving the link up there for you just so you can see a nice example of kunzite.
 
Morganite is much less durable than a Spinel.

If you really want something that you can wear with really worrying too much, a pale pink sapphire wouldn''t be that expensive. The more highly coloured/saturated sapphires push the price up but pale ones can be affordable.
 
Date: 1/5/2010 3:40:45 PM
Author: Revolution
Hi Tourm-
Normally I wouldn't disagree with you but there are two problems with spinel: typically, spinel is only available in small sizes. 10mm stones are few and far between which brings us to problem #2: even smallish spinels can be very expensive. The current Tajik spinel rough (beautiful color, great clarity) is selling for around $30 to $50 a gram in very small (+-1 carat) pieces. That is for rough. On a good day, this rough will yield 25 point stones.

I do agree that spinel makes for a beautiful stone but size and affordability are not two of the qualities it is known for.
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Rev,
I'm basing it on light pink, not the deeper pinks. I've seen large pink spinels before, 3 carats, but a more deep pink, not a baby pink. It was affordable too, but had a slight grey mask.

I freely admit I'm not the resident spinel expert here though. There are many people that know way more than I do about these gems.
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I''ve just tried to search Multicolour for you but it''s soooooooooo slow! It might be worth looking on there.

If it''s for a cocktail ring does this mean occasional wear? If yes then Morganite would be ok.
 
TL''s suggestion that you check with Barry and Gene is a great one. Barry has this light lavender pink tourmaline that is 10 mm on his website -- and it is on sale until January 15
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Barry''s rounds are gorgeous and he is a super nice guy and extremely helpful, as well.
 
Thank you everyone! I am in no hurry at all- I think that this will be a "project" for 2010! I don''t want to have to "baby" the ring too much even if I don''t intend to wear it daily.

I was just looking at Barry''s tourmaline- it is gorgeous but it doesn''t seem to have the very light "bubble gum pink" I am looking for. As I said before I also like the "seafoam colour" such as this one: http://www.litnon.com/preview.php?cat=286&id=7787
 
That is indeed a beauty!!!

The material coming out of Afghanistan right now is spectacular. There are even some "Paraiba-type" colors from time to time.

Unfortunately, this material is also quite expensive. The price of that stone wasn''t mentioned but I would guess a stone of that size and color would be...lets just say "significant"

On the positive side, no one can accuse you of bad taste!
 
Date: 1/5/2010 7:07:58 PM
Author: Revolution
That is indeed a beauty!!!

The material coming out of Afghanistan right now is spectacular. There are even some ''Paraiba-type'' colors from time to time.

Unfortunately, this material is also quite expensive. The price of that stone wasn''t mentioned but I would guess a stone of that size and color would be...lets just say ''significant''

On the positive side, no one can accuse you of bad taste!
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It was a little bit more what I had in mind (945 USD) but it is was beyond gorgeous!
 
Kashmira, Litnon has another which is a round and a little bit softer seafoam color.

http://litnon.com/preview.php?cat=119&id=7782 Its quite a large. the cutting..well its on the "meh" side, but not bad for the money and the color may be right on. I got my peridot and kyanite from him, and they''re both right on the money for color.

If you''re not into that one, you may want to keep him bookmarked to check whats available, sometimes those colors can get snapped up pretty fast.

-A
 
Date: 1/5/2010 7:15:46 PM
Author: Kashmira

Date: 1/5/2010 7:07:58 PM
Author: Revolution
That is indeed a beauty!!!

The material coming out of Afghanistan right now is spectacular. There are even some ''Paraiba-type'' colors from time to time.

Unfortunately, this material is also quite expensive. The price of that stone wasn''t mentioned but I would guess a stone of that size and color would be...lets just say ''significant''

On the positive side, no one can accuse you of bad taste!
Click to expand...
It was a little bit more what I had in mind (945 USD) but it is was beyond gorgeous!
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Mention you''re from Pricescope, so you can get a 30% discount.
 
Date: 1/5/2010 7:23:32 PM
Author: Arcadian
Kashmira, Litnon has another which is a round and a little bit softer seafoam color.

http://litnon.com/preview.php?cat=119&id=7782 Its quite a large. the cutting..well its on the ''meh'' side, but not bad for the money and the color may be right on. I got my peridot and kyanite from him, and they''re both right on the money for color.

If you''re not into that one, you may want to keep him bookmarked to check whats available, sometimes those colors can get snapped up pretty fast.

-A
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For some reason I didn''t like that colour as much as the other bt I have bookmarked his site and will check back later to see what is available.
 
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