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- Nov 3, 2009
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Chrono,Date: 1/8/2010 8:22:14 AM
Author: Chrono
Interesting set! I love the fact that the main earring stone is interchangeable, which gives them more flexibility and chance to be worn often. As for your pendant, is the stone eye clean? Have you louped it? Sometimes spessartites have very fine inclusions that might affect the sparkle and brilliance that one normally expects. If not, it could be the cutting.
Chrono,Date: 1/8/2010 11:53:08 AM
Author: Chrono
Spessartites are not treated at all; and definitely none are known to be heat treated. I’m afraid that for spessartites, inclusions are not desirable; eye clean stones are what everyone aims for. Loupe clean is asking too mucy of a spessartite. I’m sorry that you were not aware of this, which led you to such a purchase. $2000/ct for a top specimen is very expensive for a spessartite! I have a precision cut 5 ct spessartite cut by Jeff White with amazing colour and saturation for FAR less.
Date: 1/8/2010 11:38:04 AM
Author: crasru
Chrono,Date: 1/8/2010 8:22:14 AM
Author: Chrono
Interesting set! I love the fact that the main earring stone is interchangeable, which gives them more flexibility and chance to be worn often. As for your pendant, is the stone eye clean? Have you louped it? Sometimes spessartites have very fine inclusions that might affect the sparkle and brilliance that one normally expects. If not, it could be the cutting.
As usual, thank you for sharing your invaluable experience! And for your support.
I saw the inclusions under a microscope and I suspect that they are the reason for lack of brilliance. ( I did not comment on it in my postings, but all other spess. that I have been considerning for the project were very clean and brilliant - and I passed on them. I do feel that lack of inclusions may be, alas, indication of heat-treatment although vendors tell me otherwise. But when I browsed through books, 'lacylike' inclusions were mentioned everywhere. To me, inclusions are desirable. Also, Pala's spessartite has vitreous luster but it is somewhat...fatty? (I know that they may be oiled but it idoes not feel like emerald's oil - I just do not know how to describe it). Other stones feel harder.
So there are some imperfections in this stone that set it aside. Since my quirk is absence of any treatment (except for heat in stones that simply do not come unheated) I bought it.
Recently I also bought a Namibian Mandarin orange spessartite from Marc Sarosi (I am going to post pictures of it). It is included - what saves it is precision cut. But the color is pure orange, spectral, stunning. The price is quite competitive and in general I am quite happy with the purchase. Marc's vault is not for low-budget (I'd say mid-range compared to other vendors) but he has good inventory and he delivers. But before I even saw the Namibian stone on the website, I was in communication with some vendors who offered me absolutely clean, basically IF, natural Namibian spessartines that had not been treated. To me, the price was astronomical ($ 2000/ct) even given the rarity and the cut so I passed on them (they were about 4.5 ct each).
The question I am raising here is, are there IF untreated Namibian spessartines in existence? Or is absence of inclusions an indication of heat-treatment? Since I almost ran into a situation of buying mildly thermally treated demantoids for the price of untreated stones (I had mentioned it in one of my prior postings) I am skeptical about too-perfect garnets. It is probably not an issue for pyropes or rhodolites but I would like to know the situation on higher end.
You know, Chrono - hopefully, you will not be too unhappy if I do not give out their names. They are not I-net vendors.Date: 1/8/2010 8:22:14 AM
Author: Chrono
Interesting set! I love the fact that the main earring stone is interchangeable, which gives them more flexibility and chance to be worn often. As for your pendant, is the stone eye clean? Have you louped it? Sometimes spessartites have very fine inclusions that might affect the sparkle and brilliance that one normally expects. If not, it could be the cutting.