Looking for a tsavorite on a budget

[mimB]

From Bruce @ Bridges Tsavorite: 0.99ct Tsavorite, Cushion, 6.04x5.40mm, Medium Minus

 

[mimB]

From Bruce @ Bridges Tsavorite: 1.02ct Tsavorite, Cushion, 6.42x5.80mm, Medium Minus

 

[minousbijoux]

Interesting...it seems for the last two lighter tones stones, you lose the bluish quality as it gets lighter.

I'll have to study them all more to narrow them down and give you my thoughts.

Can you tell us what type of lighting they were under? Were you by a window, or is that incandescent lighting?

 

[mimB]

Interesting...it seems for the last two lighter tones stones, you lose the bluish quality as it gets lighter.

I'll have to study them all more to narrow them down and give you my thoughts.

Can you tell us what type of lighting they were under? Were you by a window, or is that incandescent lighting?

Hi, Minous, thank you for stopping by!

These were taken between 2-4pm today, by a window at the peak of a sunny afternoon - but the stones themselves were in the part of the room not directly touched by sun rays.
The results of the photos are curious - I think the best way to tell the change in tone might be by looking at the change of pinkness in my skin - I think the camera tried to make all the stones more or less uniformly green, so my some my skin is pale, and for others - more pink or yellow...
In person, there is no doubt that the lighter tone they get, the more yellow they get.
I have also found it interesting that the lighter ones look bright - I specifically asked Bruce for as little extinction as possible, and I realize the extinction will get lighter as the tone gets lighter - but perhaps it's also due to the larger facets?
(Oh, and all my questions are curiosity speaking - I'm not sure that came across well in the previous posts - I'm not planning to make decisions based on really tiny details about the stones, but I am very interested in learning how particular visual effects are caused).

Thus far I had an easy time discarding a couple of stones that I definitely won't keep, but narrowing down the rest... not so easy
I have an optimistic impression of this collection though - I'm pretty sure I'll be stopping my search on one of them.

 

[minousbijoux]

Okay, good job! Now your next task - not necessarily for us, but for you - is to look at those that are still in the running at night. In incandescent and fluorescent light. It sounds like you know what to look for re extinction, etc. Whenever I go all analytical on myself, I stop, basically look away or close my eyes, and ask myself "what is the color I'm looking for?" I visualize the ideal color so that I'm back remembering what I'm doing. You might need to do this once or twice while you're looking at them all in different lightings...

 

[tara3056]

So glad you think you may have found "the one" in this bunch! Do you like them better than Yvonne's stone so far, or is it still in the running?

What do you think of the Medium Minus color in general? Do you like the slightly yellowish hue, or not?

Do any of the others exhibit more blue than the rest, and do you like that quality? It's kind of hard to tell from pics (believe me, I know), but in the batch I got, only 2 of the 4 had any blue.

I'm jealous you have so many stones to play with!! (Oh and if you lived in my same town, I'd be begging you to come photograph my stones )

 

[mimB]

Hello gals!

Minous -
Thank you for suggestion! I completely didn't think of that, even though totally planned to oogle them in all possible light sources
I'll make that my goal for today

Tara -
Wait to see the comparison pics... my camera struggled to tell the green tones apart, I think, so they ALL look soooo green. Unbelievably gorgeous. Also made me a little paranoid about being robbed this week. :/ (And I have plans to write Bruce a gushy e-mail about him being the Tsavorite master).
Ooh, and it's actually my SO's camera - I'll look up the model once I'm home - it honestly does most of the work. I don't know how to make the best use of it at all - thus far, I've only used three controls: flash on/off, zoom, manual focus.
(So maybe once I know how to use it and maybe control white balance, I *could* actually capture the tone variation between the stones? *Wishful thinking*)

Yvonne's stone is in the top three of my choices, lol - together with two from Bruce - a 1.04 ct M, and a .99ct M+.

As for medium minus... When there is nothing to compare it to, and no image of the ideal green in my mind, it's a terrific tone actually - I look at those stones and they look bright in any light, even the extinction is bright. However, when I place them next to anything yellow gold, yellow sapphires, etc - they look far more yellow than green. And I really would like a grassy green to pop off my finger
Amazingly, they were the easier to photograph - I mean, they look magical effortlessly, while the darker tones stones were moody and refused to behave for the camera.

About the blueness. I have immense trouble seeing it when looking at a single stone at a time, but - I can see it easily if I compare them to Yvonne's stone (which predominantly flashes in a bluish-green).
Jason's stone has very very minor blueness, as he himself pointed out.
Bruce's 1.04ct M+ and 0.99 M+ both have it (but not as much as Yvonne's, but I'm not sure if that's because they're shallower?).
The 1.04ct M I'm considering has a hint of it?
But I'm soo not an expert on this -- It's so fun to play though!

Now, first batch of comparison pics - taken yesterday by the window either in shadow or in direct sunlight.

 

[chrono]

I am going to request a very challenging task from you. Can you photograph ALL the stones together (lined up side by side)? To help you keep track of which stone is which, you can line them up just as you pictured them on PS. At this point, it is critical for them to be viewed side by side. It is going to be very difficult to capture their true colour as well but do your best! At this point, I might discount the medium minus because they look yellowish even though they are bright.

ETA
You already did that. I'll have to write a new post after this.

ETA2
Need BIGGER pics. Much bigger. Hand shots not necessary if you can get accurate colour to show.

 

[mimB]

Chrono, hi!

I'll see what I can do about bigger pics - I did this complicated thing to get them from my home machine to my work machine, and saved them in a smaller size by accident - so just now was racing to edit in the original size in the previous message.
I'm not sure that succeeded.
If it doesn't work while I'm at work, I'll try again in the evening.






Is there some way to make sure that they show up in their original size on PS?

 

[mimB]

Yup, so I'm lost on how to make these bigger - they're almost 2MB when I open the file on the MS Picture Viewer, and they get resized to a mere 250 KB once attached to a PS post...

 

[chrono]

I think you are on the right track here: perhaps we can do it this way - how about grouping up the stones?

Group 1: Yvonne, Gem Select, and Bruce's 3 medium darks
Group 2: Yvonne, Gem Select and Bruce's 2 medium (or was it medium plus?)
Group 3: Yvonne, Gem Select and Bruce's 2 medium minus

I understand this is going to take a LOT of time. That said, you have the stones in hand. What do YOU see? What do YOU think?

 

[GemFever]

Whoa, MimB, you got so good at photographing stones so fast! Majorly impressed.

You know my opinion, I'm still in love with Yvonne's stone. But dying to hear which you choose

 

[chrono]

Another idea to help you narrow down your options: take a good look at all of them under the dreaded fluorescent lighting. You should be able to spot the olive / grayish yellow / extinct green ones fairly quickly.

 

[minousbijoux]

I have to second Gemfever here - you have done a great job with photos. I can't believe I'm doing this, but I feel ready to give an opinion, IF the photos are accurate.

I am basing my opinion on two photographs. If these are not representative, please let me know. I was really rooting for the medium minuses just because as you said, they seemed brighter. However, I didn't care for the yellow tint, but maybe I could've lived with it, until I saw the two photos marked "on dusty inside of black ring box" in shaded indirect light and in direct sunlight. These two photos sealed it for me. My three favorites largely on color, a bit on cut, are (sorry I don't know which they are, I just know their position):

Definitely the two on either end. Also in the running are the two next to the one on the left end but needing more pics to see the shape more clearly (actually, I'll go look at some of your other pics and see if I can see them better).

Now I'm getting excited for you!

 

[mimB]

Chrono, thank you for the grouping suggestions!
Will try them out today evening

I've actually ended up going through the first round of filtering this morning (at least I'm pretty sure about this - unless when I group all the stones as you suggested under my kitchen/evening lights, the following selection doesn't perform) - and ended up bringing the following 4 to check out at work:
Yvonne's 1.46ct
Bruce's 0.91ct M+ cushion
Bruce's 0.79ct M+ radiant
Bruce's 1.04ct M cushion



Then I pretty quickly ruled the radiant out.
The 1.04 is very obviously lighter than the rest, but I really like it's glow, and am happy about it's green.

In fact... I am still keeping Yvonne's in mind, but my current decision making is between the following two (I really really like them both, for different things):

 

[mimB]

Whoa, MimB, you got so good at photographing stones so fast! Majorly impressed.

You know my opinion, I'm still in love with Yvonne's stone. But dying to hear which you choose

I think I am so going to disappoint the public opinion by pleasing myself...
I'm really leaning toward either the 0.91 M+ (shallow, less extinction than in all others - I end up seeing bigger patches of green) or the 1.04 M (because it's got this lively terrific green against my skin color - although maybe I should try harder to look at them against metal, since my skin will be paler during winter)...

But - eeek!

Oh - GemFever - do you know any local stores I can go to look at yellow and white gold settings (to plop stones into)?

 

[davi_el_mejor]

out of all the line ups I prefer Yvonne and the .91 M+

 

[mimB]

Another idea to help you narrow down your options: take a good look at all of them under the dreaded fluorescent lighting. You should be able to spot the olive / grayish yellow / extinct green ones fairly quickly.

... I feel really silly... is fluorescent lighting these long lamps that consist of tubes that get used in office buildings?
Because if so, the last four I posted look to die for under it. *cries in indecisiveness*

 

[minousbijoux]

Aaarrrrgh! When I looked at the other pics, some of the ones I chose look overly dark. I chose the ones I chose because I see bluish green and good saturation. However, they should not be going dark.

I tend to judge my stones by 1) indirect mid day outdoor light, 2) indoor night light - typically incandescent but maybe fluorescent; and 3) fluorescent light like at work (if it applies to you and I think you said you work in a cubicle so probably yes). You have 1) taken care of and if you can narrow it down, then do so. I think you said you were not interested in the medium minuses, so eliminate them from the pics. Then take the remaining stones and check them out in 2) and 3). See if there are others that go dead or that you can knock out for other reasons. Then take the remainder, hopefully no more than 3 or 4 and look carefully at them for their cutting. For me, if I have gotten down to a few based on color, then I go to cut, shape, and size on finger.

You are almost there and I know you can do it!!!

 

[chrono]

Looking at the individual pictures, I would have made the same choice you did. How does Yvonne's stone stand up to the 0.91M+ and the 1.04 M?

Yes, fluorescent lights are the long white tubes used in offices.
How about halogen and incandescent lighting?
Indirect sunlight and direct sunlight?

 

[minousbijoux]

I think I am so going to disappoint the public opinion by pleasing myself...

This is the best news in this whole entire thread!!! That is exactly what you should be doing, and, IMO, a mark of a true, experienced gem lover!

 

[minousbijoux]

I missed some posts there while I was typing and you were adding more pics - great job by the way. But please don't make the mistake of picking from the photos; pick based on what you see with your eyes.

If what you say stands, you have done it for all intents and purposes! Get the formality of the other lighting out of the way, and you are home free!

BTW, does Bruce ship them on memo, or do you have to pay for them all upfront?

 

[GemFever]

Best local places to plop rings into possible settings -- my house I have the ring holder, and then an empty setting with a 14K YG basket. Other than that, I'm not sure. Going into actual stores stresses me out, to be honest... well, particularly the part when you play with their settings, and then walk out without buying anything.

Sigh, if I weren't so broke, I'd nudge you towards the two stones you like, and then take Yvonne's for myself But, alas, am broke.

 

[chrono]

Please be super careful with the temporary ring holder (if you have one) because if not careful, it could chip a tsavorite.

 

[mimB]

Ooh, how to catch up with all the posts between my posting pics (on which note, gals, I'm soo immensely pleased you're contributing to this thread - the presence of a discussion rather just my own blabber rises my level of excitement to near hyperactivity. I mean, really, it's energizing. I feel like I could tackle a marathon).

To try and summarize suggestions:
- lighting to try out: incandescent, potentially halogen, indirect sunlight (I also wish I'd get a rainy day impression, since it's different from being in the shadow)
- evaluate cutting last, after color; same with size - after color;
- be careful not to make decision based on photos of stones - keep looking at them directly
- be super (very!!!) careful when using the temporary setting to view tsavorites

Yvonne's stone's performance:
If we define performance in terms of color and sparkle (shimmer even maybe, given the Portuguese cut), then her stone outperforms all others. As you heard, GemFever is still smitten with it
When the light catches it right, it's this explosion of green shimmers; when the light doesn't catch it right, it's a green darkness in the center with epic green shimmers running on the edge. In utter shadow (6am morning, curtains closed) you can still tell it's green and deep in color.
So it's pretty magnificent - but despite that, my feeling of adoration is noticeably higher for the 1.04M and 0.91M+.
(And it gets to illogical levels - I'll tell myself, the 0.91 also has facets that, when off, are these patches of darkness - but some other voice kicks reason out and goes puuurrrrr).

Process of ordering stones from Bruce (TARA, if you're still reading, come tell whether this was the case for you!)
In my case, Bruce explained to me how my final shipping charges would be affected by viewing stones in person (both in the situation if I return all or keep one), took down my credit card information for insurance purposes, and shipped out the 7 stones (which, he stated, was quite a lot more than he typically ships out for comparison). I have a paper listing down their specs and their cost.
There is no way I'd be able to afford looking at all these if I had to pay upfront - I believe I have a little under 7K of tsavorites on my hands right now.
Lol, in fact, when I told that to my SO, he was like... so what happens if you ship these a day or two late?
My response face:

 

[minousbijoux]

So Mim, you are SO much like me in that you are highly analytical. Please don't get so caught up in the minutiae. If you live in a place where it rains a lot, then consider a rainy day, otherwise don't worry about it.

You have done almost all the hard part. From here on out, turn off your machine (whatever the gizmo was like radar they used in the first star wars movie) and Let the Force Be With You!

 

[tara3056]

Yes, Bruce shipped stones to me on memo too (he charged a reasonable shipping fee, considering the superfast shipping). If I kept a stone, he would only charge me x; if I returned all the stones, he would have charged me x * 2. Once I told him the one I wanted to keep, he charged my card for the stone's price + 1 way's worth of shipping to get the other stones back to him.

I have nothing but compliments for my dealings with him. He was always very prompt to reply to emails (unlike some vendors!), didn't pressure me a bit, and was very lovely and kind to chat with. I think he knows he has solid products (maybe they aren't precision-cut and some of them may fall short, but on the whole, very nice) and is confident in them.

mimB: I don't even know where to start! I need to go look at your pics more closely, but I too, would have excluded the medium minuses from consideration. So far I really love all the stones you picked in your narrowing down. They are gorgeous and I'm not sure you can go wrong!

Here's a question: Pricing. You can outright name the prices of each stone if you wish (I don't think its against any policies or vendor rules), but otherwise, what about listing your narrowed-down stones in order of price per carat? You don't have to SAY what the price per carat is, just which the order would be based on that. Since most of them are about the same, carat wise (with the exception of Yvonne's stone which is considerably more), a price per carat should show what the VENDORS think is the ideal color/saturation/cut combo. That doesn't mean it will be yours, but should be an interesting exercise to see in any case.

I'm so excited for you You've got some beautiful stones and you just can't go wrong! And by all means, go with the one that makes you purrrrrrrrr the most!

 

[chrono]

It is a joy to help you narrow down the selection. I get to do it for free while imagining it's for me!

The arrangement you have with Bruce is called a "memo". There are some variations of it and yours is one of them. I've also had this done when I was shopping for my tsavorites and although I only had 3 stones in hand, the total was definitely well over $10K. This is usually only done when there is a level of trust with the customer. It is great that you are able to view so many stones at once without breaking the bank as this is one of the best ways to shop for a stone.

 

[GemFever]

Soon you will choose the stone, and then... step #2, choosing the setting! Even more agonizing! Good luck

Can't wait to see the completed ring on your finger. It will be absolutely fabulous!

 

[tara3056]

And speaking of setting it... what are your thoughts/plans for that?