Orange Garnet Vintage Ring

[rainbowtrout]

I was shopping around Boston today and came across a ring I rather liked:

orange garnet, about .5 carat, in a decently nice gold setting with a touch of filigree. The garnet was lovely, if a touch dark. The man wanted 350 for it.

Was that a decent price? I''ve only ever shopped for the merlot-colored garnets. I''m also not sure if garnets are heat treated....

Thanks! I''d never had a hankering for orange stones but I think I might be a convert now.

 

[valeria101]

Half carat is quite small for garnet... even if very nice, I still think the price is mostly for the setting.

My 2c


Re. heating: aside demantoid, I've only heard the other types are never treated in any way and definitely not heat treated (the subject received some comment on another recent thread).

 

[Richard M.]

Hi,

I think the ring is probably overpriced unless there''s something special about it like several nice diamond side stones. There''s more than one type of orange garnet and some are more valuable than others. The first task is identifying the species or variety: spessartite, hessonite (grossular), malaia, or?? A half carat dark-toned spessartite, the most valuable of the group, probably wouldn''t bring that price.

The great thing about garnets is lack of treatment: no heating (except some demantoids), no coatings/fillers, no synthetics. Someone will probably point to man-made YAGs and GGGs because they''re called garnets, but they''re not synthetics. They don''t duplicate any known natural garnets and they''re not silicates, a garnet requirement.

 

[rainbowtrout]

Thanks guys, maybe I''ll buy a loose stone then and have it set....thinking of a concave cut spress.

 

[jszweda]

Good luck on finding a concave cut spess.

There was a guy on here who had one when I went to search the forums. It was gorgeous though. It looked like a yellow and orange starburst. I had never seen anything like it. If you want a concave cut, unless you just luck out and find one, I have a feeling you may have to have it recut. It would probably look awesome if you had something like that, but I would be a little scared to have something like that recut-personally anyways.

 

[strmrdr]

link to concave cut spess cut by the master cutter himself.

http://winkjones.com/specials/splash_of_color.php

 

[valeria101]

Date: 1/13/2006 8:10:35 PM
Author: jszweda

Good luck on finding a concave cut spess.

Lucky?

Well. it is big, and the price tells a long story... (3k worth of it), but if this is any indication what a smaller sample might look, by all means - such a garnet would be very lucky !


I don''t think you must take on the risk of recuting - big or small as it is. It may just take ordering a concave cut orange garnet from one of the custom cuters who does this. Richard Homer is most oftem mentioned, but there must be others. Every maker of concave cut gems seems to have his own slightly (or vastly!) different style relative to this. At Concavegems, I have seen some of the smallest concave cuts and surely the most tightly pached facets on them (re: the ''sunburst'' look). But there are others, sure that - and concave facets have their appeal regardless.

Just IMO

Btw... about fancy cut color - how do you like these !? Ok.. I was surprised, and had to share the ''find'' somehow. So stryking

Spessatite is not on the list of offers (yet?), but yellow beryl is...

 

[jszweda]

Ana,

That is nice.

The one I saw on here was a little more oblong, and one of the reasons I liked the cut was because it had that starburst effect. Trust me, I am not saying yours is any less...don''t get me wrong here. The one you have in your picture though has a lot more uniformity in the pavillion facets as far as the color goes.

I might have to search back to find the pic and post a link...but what was unique about it to me at least was the contrast. It was as if it was perfectly coordinated between hues of reddish orange and pure yellow. If you can find a concave like that and you like it...more power to ya.

I haven''t really seen that many concaves in the spessertite though, that''s all.

 

[jszweda]

Ana,

Here is the link to the other thread, and if you scroll down you''ll see it. It came from Wink-the same guy str was talking about who has them. I didn''t remember who it was that had it, but that''s the only time I have ever seen a concave spess.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/spessartine-mandarin-orange-garnets.14972/=

It''s a little different from what I remember, but regardless I liked it. I thought it was really unique-and I agree that it''s not semi-precious. LOL

 

[rainbowtrout]

I''ve never actually seen one of those uber fancy cuts in person..my first instinct is that they look kind of like a paperweight..

I''ve ogled the 3k spress from cherrypicked before, heh. I''ve been tempted just to get a 25 or 30 dollar spress from ajs.com though, seeing as I can''t afford any of Richard Homer''s nice stuff--he seems to only cut the larger sizes. I would adore an amathyst or a dark orange spress from him though. Well, one day when the disposable income floats my way!

 

[MINE!!]

YUMMY concave cut spess.... It''s got my vote. Wink has Richard Homer''s work. I was able to get a beautiful spess from Richard and I am totally in LOVE with it.. YUM YUM...

I do not think that a concave cut spess would be difficult to find.

I know that the smaller spess would not ''show'' the concave well. It looks better in larger sizes.. from what I have heard. Mine is a 2.3 or so.. and it is a yummy color... IMO anyway.

Here is a pic of my yummy. I know that Richard would be willing to help you find something.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 1/13/2006 9:10:53 PM
Author: jszweda

The one you have in your picture though has a lot more uniformity in the pavilion facets as far as the color goes.

I might have to search back to find the pic and post a link...but what was unique about it to me at least was the contrast.

I kept wondering about this - because the cutter is the same, the material... the style. And unless the pictures alone were adding contrast, no good explanation for the different looks came until ''clarity'' came to mind. Some of the ''mandarin'' garnets are not that clean, and the haze of inclusions (a ''rain'' like splash of included crystals and tiny feathers) make color stand out more at the expense of brilliance, and contrast.

Case in point (I think):

(11 carat Mandarin Garnet, Zambia, picture by Africagems)

Pala mentioned their 5 carat orange garnet is not quite the cleanest (probably allot less included that the example though) - which is not bad for the type etc. but matter of fact.

I may not be ready to swear on this without having seen these two stones, but if you like the glittery look, it may well be a matter of clarity.

Btw, Re. small concave stones: The smallest concave cut rounds done for a Pricescoper (was it ''ColorGemstoneNut''?) were half carat sapphires - no reason a garnet couldn''t go the same route.