New to colored stones - which ones are best?

[Raspberry]

Having been loyal to diamonds for too long, I''ve recently become interested in colored gemstones. I think they are rather refreshing among the sea of diamonds and platinums out there!

I''m looking to buy a bauble with either a pink or a blue centre stone and accent diamonds. There are so many pinks - sapphires, tourmalines, spinels, topazes, and there are as many blues - sapphires, topazes, aquamarines, etc.

I am more concerned about sparkliness and durability than I am about color intensity, in fact I prefer the watery pastel colors on me. I understand that this is to my advantage since bright, intense stones are more expensive.

Considerations for cut quality aside, which pink and blue stones are the most lively?

 

[C Smith]

I like the old standby's ruby and sapphire. They may not sparkle the most but they are very long wearing at a hardness of 9. For sparkle, a nice red garnet can be flashy and relatively inexpensive as can blue or red spinel. Aquamarine is nice too for pale blues. Topaz is okay but not one of my favorites. Good luck with whatever you decide

 

[Raspberry]

Thanks for your reply.

I had never heard of spinel prior to coming to Pricescope. Where would I be able to look at one in Vancouver, Canada?

 

[CaptAubrey]

You will get some opinions here, but no one can really answer this except you. Your best bet is to spend some time looking around and just decide which stones speak to you.

There are a lot of differences in the stones you mention--some of them quite subtle--and they''re not easy to convey in writing. Plus, you''re only getting someone else''s views on the subject. I could tell you that I love pink sapphires and pink tourmaline, but does that mean you will too? Pink spinel can also be lovely, but it doesn''t look the same as pink sapphire. Not better or worse, just different.

My $0.02, anyway.

 

[CdnBlingGal]

Date: 8/30/2006 6:41:11 PM
Author: Raspberry
Thanks for your reply.

I had never heard of spinel prior to coming to Pricescope. Where would I be able to look at one in Vancouver, Canada?

Hi Raspberry!

If you are interested at looking at all sorts of different stones but don''t want to go to a jewelery store than I recommend going to Burnaby Gems Ltd. 4611 Hastings Street, Burnaby. They have rotating trays in cabinets full of different loose gemstones. It''s not a high end store selling high quality gemstones but you can take a look and see what a spinel is and just check it out. It''s worth checking out. I''ve purchased real and synthetics from them for studying purposes. Good Luck!

 

[Raspberry]

Thanks for the replies, especially for that address! I will check it out.

 

[strmrdr]

blue zircon is the sparliest of the blues but its rather brittle for a everyday ring but put a well cut one in a pendant and wowsers.

 

[colorchange]

Date: 8/30/2006 5:50:56 PM
Author:Raspberry
Having been loyal to diamonds for too long, I''ve recently become interested in colored gemstones. I think they are rather refreshing among the sea of diamonds and platinums out there!

I''m looking to buy a bauble with either a pink or a blue centre stone and accent diamonds. There are so many pinks - sapphires, tourmalines, spinels, topazes, and there are as many blues - sapphires, topazes, aquamarines, etc.

I am more concerned about sparkliness and durability than I am about color intensity, in fact I prefer the watery pastel colors on me. I understand that this is to my advantage since bright, intense stones are more expensive.

Considerations for cut quality aside, which pink and blue stones are the most lively?

In blue, very nice light blue sapphires may be inexpensive, even in large size, while in pink, I would advise you spinels.
They are often sold overpriced on the net, but you may find some really nice pink spinels from $60/Ct in up to 2.5 Ct size. That''s much much less than diamonds

.

Both will sparkle a lot and are very durable.

 

[Raspberry]

Thank you both for the specific answers.

 

[conitta]

Date: 8/30/2006 6:41:11 PM
Author: Raspberry
Thanks for your reply.

I had never heard of spinel prior to coming to Pricescope. Where would I be able to look at one in Vancouver, Canada?

Hello Raspberry.....May I suggest that you go to ebay and look around.You can get gemstones sometimes for very little and you can see what they look like in person and compare.You can find spinel there for sure.Spinel is VERY "sparkely". Then if you find that you like a certain gem you can look for a better quaility.Let us know what you find....

Connie