Oregon Sunstone, red with a lot of clear??

[ger100]

I''d been talking to the Spectrum Sunstone mine folks in Oregon. They had prices listed per carat for various shades of red. Personally I much prefer the red over the green, despite the rarity of the latter.

I asked for the next to the best red, in a 3+ ct stone. They sent me 2 stones: one trillion, a cherry red, and one a red octagon with a burgundy hew. She said that that second one was a very specific color, found ONLY in the mine which was the original Spectrum which Tiffany once owned. The stones were in the $300-400 range, on sale (!). Both were nicely cut. However, BOTH has lots of clear around color. The cherry one was most obvious, with a blob of red surrounded by clear; the burgundy red had it only in the corners. From the top the color seemed good. But the minute you angled them a bit, you could see clear on the edges.

On the Spectrum site, they talk about how to cut an Oregon Sunstone: that the color should be towards the back or centered in such a way that it reflects throughout...showing a lot of clear around it! Mind you, there is probably 50% or more CLEAR than red in these stones, yet they look fairly good and have sparkle. (At least they weren''t striipey zoned like the red Andesine on JTV!

)

Question: **Is this indeed acceptable, that there be only a part of the stone which has color, with a lot of clear around ir? OR, is this in fact, a lesser quality stone?

As I said they were both nicely cut, but the cherry red was really more orange which I didn''t like, and the "Tiffany" was too burgundy and odd looking. Both went back. Sorry, but I can''t accurately photograph colored gems, so there are no photos.

, and these were sent on spec based on a verbal description (no photos). No harm, since they took them back without a fuss. Oh, and for inquiring minds, they told me that they get most of them cut in Asia! Their custom American-cut stones are "way up there," to quote.

Oregon Sunstones: Are they usually cut this way? With a lot of clear around them? Or is this just a way to get more ct weight out of the mostly clear stones, with the more pricey valuable stones made of a solid color??

Also, related, but only slightly: I''ve noticed that red Andesine auctions on JTV seem to go much higher for the VERY dark red...they look almost like mud to me, and not to my taste. Anyone know why??

Thanks
Ger

 

[smitcompton]

Hi Again Ger,
I have received andesine -lab stones from JTV showing no color when tilted in a certain diection. I sent them back and got stones with no clear spots. JTV said this was something that did happen but made light of it. If I were you I would keep trying to get the color you want without the zoning, which is what I call it. The prices seem to be going downward at JTV even for the darker material. The darker material is supposed to be like a ruby. It has the red undertone to give it sparkle, just like a good ruby. I think you might like an emerald cut . I have a pear cut which is nice and I have an emeral d cut which show the red contrast nicely. I have a cushion cut that has smaller red sparkles. Don''t like it as much. The base color is a little brown and I think top quality should be redder. Examples of other stones have been shown on Pricescope before. There s a thread that deals with spesertite and andesine where you will see top grade andesine.
Thanks
Annette