Padparadscha journey

[T L]

Another one- sorry for the spam! Waiting on more pics in different lighting tho

1.56ct, unheated, Sri Lankan

No dark backgrounds.

 

[Lilith112]

No dark backgrounds.

Waiting on more vendor pics! Requested dim indoors, normal indoors, bright sunlight, and against a white background under direct bright light.

Also, it's certificate....is a EGL cert strong enough?

 

[qubitasaurus]

I think prices have gone up steadily over the years because it was def cheaper in the 90's...but then again, China's economy was very different back then.

True! I do like it, but feel like...the color's almost too saturated for my taste? Not sure if it's the lighting, but the pink/orange almost looks harsh instead of soft/romantic :/ But again, that could just be the lighting going on. I do like how it doesn't seem to have any extinction; that's promising!

I always think it would have been an interesting place to have lived, since it experienced such a dramatic change. So true for so many Chinese cities though.

For SG you can also check Jewelery Point inside Far East -- they mainly set stones but they have a cabinet full of loose gems as well. Agree with Icyjade everything will be offered with nanyang gem institute reports as that is the local lab.

The 1.56 looks really nice, silky but better colour. 2 ct is a nice size and looks cleaner from the pics but it definitely has more brown in the photos than the 1.56. Sort of depends on what they look like in real life. As photos of gems clasped between tweezers are not that easy the evaluate as the light comes from both the back and the front and sides of the stone. Whereas once the stone is set the light will only hit it from the front (so it won't look nearly the same). Also judging anything on a grey/silvery background is similarly fraught -- it could be much lighter than the pictures imply and thus align with your ideal, but could also be even browner which would be bad.

 

[Lilith112]

I always think it would have been an interesting place to have lived, since it experienced such a dramatic change. So true for so many Chinese cities though.

For SG you can also check Jewelery Point inside Far East -- they mainly set stones but they have a cabinet full of loose gems as well. Agree with Icyjade everything will be offered with nanyang gem institute reports as that is the local lab.

The 1.56 looks really nice, silky but better colour. 2 ct is a nice size and looks cleaner from the pics but it definitely has more brown in the photos than the 1.56. Sort of depends on what they look like in real life. As photos of gems clasped between tweezers are not that easy the evaluate as the light comes from both the back and the front and sides of the stone. Whereas once the stone is set the light will only hit it from the front (so it won't look nearly the same). Also judging anything on a grey/silvery background is similarly fraught -- it could be much lighter than the pictures imply and thus align with your ideal, but could also be even browner which would be bad.

Taking notes, taking notes....hopefully SG isn't too busy in terms of work so I can have some time to shop around for gemstones!

True, very agreed. Hmm, maybe ask the vendor to lay the pad in a gemstone box and take pictures of it in different lightings? What tends to be the most unflattering lighting for pads?

 

[T L]

Waiting on more vendor pics! Requested dim indoors, normal indoors, bright sunlight, and against a white background under direct bright light.

Also, it's certificate....is a EGL cert strong enough?

I have never heard of EGL, maybe someone can comment further on that lab. Glad you’re getting more photos.

 

[chrono]

EGL would not be my go-to lab for coloured stones. Then again, some have different tolerance levels and would not mind it.

 

[Lilith112]

EGL would not be my go-to lab for coloured stones. Then again, some have different tolerance levels and would not mind it.

Yeah, I've already said that if I buy, I require a GRS certificate. Right now, still waiting on more vendor pics and then I'll decide if I want to see it in person I guess.

 

[Arcadian]

EGL would not be my go-to lab for coloured stones. Then again, some have different tolerance levels and would not mind it.

Can agree with this. I don't consider them to be top tier, and for sapphires in particular, I would prefer a top tier lab.

 

[qubitasaurus]

Taking notes, taking notes....hopefully SG isn't too busy in terms of work so I can have some time to shop around for gemstones!

True, very agreed. Hmm, maybe ask the vendor to lay the pad in a gemstone box and take pictures of it in different lightings? What tends to be the most unflattering lighting for pads?

Did you end up with any pictures from your shopping expedition ?

Probably get someone to send you pictures of the stone sitting on the back of their hand, then at least you have a reference point in the background for whether the skin colour looks natural (usually this is helpful as cameras and monitors can distort colours so being able to gauge the colour of the background and whether it looks realistic can help you guess at whether the photo is accutate). I would have said dim fluorescent lighting at night is usually miserable conditions to view any gem. I don't own any pads though so I would not know what their arch nemesis is in terms of lighting condition (and I would note that several of my reddy pinkish coloured stones quite like the led lighting in my house at night. I sort of twitch every time I talk about this point as I feel like if I properly understood chromophors and the black body spectrum for different lighting sources then I would be able to say something sensible, but since I am lazy I just half ase it and make a guess every time!)

 

[Lilith112]

Did you end up with any pictures from your shopping expedition ?

Probably get someone to send you pictures of the stone sitting on the back of their hand, then at least you have a reference point in the background for whether the skin colour looks natural (usually this is helpful as cameras and monitors can distort colours so being able to gauge the colour of the background and whether it looks realistic can help you guess at whether the photo is accutate). I would have said dim fluorescent lighting at night is usually miserable conditions to view any gem. I don't own any pads though so I would not know what their arch nemesis is in terms of lighting condition (and I would note that several of my reddy pinkish coloured stones quite like the led lighting in my house at night. I sort of twitch every time I talk about this point as I feel like if I properly understood chromophors and the black body spectrum for different lighting sources then I would be able to say something sensible, but since I am lazy I just half ase it and make a guess every time!)

No...unfortunately, got flooded with work this weekend

But I did receive more vendor pics for the 1.53ct pad! Please see as below:




Vendor says it the pictures/videos fail to capture the orange flashes/shift, hence why it looks more pink than in real life.

 

[Lilith112]

Any thoughts on it? I think as long as it's more orange in real life, it looks quite nice so far, even has some silkiness to it.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE it in the first two pics! Has it been turned upside down in the third one? Slightly worried about window/brown but it could just be from a bad angle.

The colour in the first 2 pics is perfect

 

[Lilith112]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE it in the first two pics! Has it been turned upside down in the third one? Slightly worried about window/brown but it could just be from a bad angle.

The colour in the first 2 pics is perfect

Not sure if the third one is the angle; it's a screenshot from the vendor's video (videos are all here: https://we.tl/t-JbmLXrVa0x)

 

[chrono]

Love the colour but the third picture shows the poor cut quality.

 

[Arcadian]

Pads are difficult for me. I love a well cut stone, I do, but color.... I'll take certain cut imperfections for the color.

Pads seem to be where a off cut also might affect how a person views the color. But its also hard to tell from images. The last image had me like not in a good way. Could be the angle, shadow, whatever (image looks quite blurry to me) but IMO needs to be seen in person to really gauge the color and if the cut is actually good or not.

 

[natasha-cupcake]

The saturation is a bit over medium, which doesn't bother me at all and is nice if you're fair skinned. The color is very pretty. I think it's a teeny bit more on the pink side of pad rather than the orange-y side, but lovely nonetheless. I thought I saw a significant feather in the video. Did anyone else see this? Or do I have no idea what I talking about?

 

[Lilith112]

@Arcadian @chrono True, I still need to see it in person to see if the cut is distracting. Is it the sides that are cut wonky?

@natasha-cupcake Vendor says the volor is mor orange in real life so hopefully, has more of a color shift in person! Could you circle where the feather is?

Another 1ct sunrise pad I recieved pics of yesterday:



FYI out of the bottom lineup, if anyone sees a good one, feel free to point it out!

 

[natasha-cupcake]

@Arcadian @chrono True, I still need to see it in person to see if the cut is distracting. Is it the sides that are cut wonky?

@natasha-cupcake Vendor says the volor is mor orange in real life so hopefully, has more of a color shift in person! Could you circle where the feather is?

Another 1ct sunrise pad I recieved pics of yesterday:



FYI out of the bottom lineup, if anyone sees a good one, feel free to point it out!

I thought I saw the (possible) feather in the video. I can't see anything in the still photos. In the video #1569136951799 starting around the 8 or 9 second mark going to around the 11 second mark. But I could be wrong. Also, I love the emerald cut one!! The color looks like the perfect orange/pink balance (to me, anyway).

 

[chrono]

The emerald has pretty nice cut for an EC and I like the balance of colour in the line up.

 

[Lilith112]

I thought I saw the (possible) feather in the video. I can't see anything in the still photos. In the video #1569136951799 starting around the 8 or 9 second mark going to around the 11 second mark. But I could be wrong. Also, I love the emerald cut one!! The color looks like the perfect orange/pink balance (to me, anyway).

Ohhh, I'll be on the lookout for that when I see it in person! I just got updated that it should arrive in Shanghai in about 10 days for me to check out in person

Was very tempted by the color of the emerald cut one (and price is really good; under USD1000), but the setting I have in mind is for either a round or a kinda fat oval...so I passed lol. Another vendor sent me a handful of 1-3 ct pads in very shaded indoor lighting:



The two that are circled are ones I'm interested in. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[chrono]

Picture quality is too terrible to be able to make out any important details.

 

[icy_jade]

I see windows. But can’t make out the color at all.

 

[Lilith112]

Picture quality is too terrible to be able to make out any important details.

Video it was screencapped from here: https://imgur.com/a/of9XvsP

 

[chrono]

Video quality is so terrible that all the stones look dead and showed nothing but extinction. There's no way I can select anything from such a video. The vendor should only have 3 to 4 stones per video. As of now, everything looks horrible.

 

[Lilith112]

Video quality is so terrible that all the stones look dead and showed nothing but extinction. There's no way I can select anything from such a video. The vendor should only have 3 to 4 stones per video. As of now, everything looks horrible.

I think the video might look better on your phone since I originally received it via WeChat. On my phone, it displays hi-res enough I think.

 

[chrono]

I viewed it on both my huge monitor and iPhone and am sorry to say it's only marginally better. Loads of shadowing and colour is dull.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

I think the ones you have circled a worth an exploration. Check for windows though! I am suspecting windows. That said I have a pink sapphire with a sort of window and it's fine unless you take it off your finger and shine a light through the bottom of it.

The others are too pink! I still like that one I got all excited about at the beginning!

 

[Lilith112]

I think the ones you have circled a worth an exploration. Check for windows though! I am suspecting windows. That said I have a pink sapphire with a sort of window and it's fine unless you take it off your finger and shine a light through the bottom of it.

The others are too pink! I still like that one I got all excited about at the beginning!

Are you referring to the one I'm still waiting on more pictures of? The 1.56ct one: https://www.pricescope.com/community/attachments/wechat-image_20190922154126-jpg.713616/

I've already asked the vendor for high-res pics of the circled ones, but they're all at GRS awaiting certification. Oh well-- at least these have proper international certification papers! I'll have to wait until after Chinese golden week (10/

 

[Lilith112]

I'm not active on Instagram (would spend too much if I did), so I picked this up when she listed on Etsy. Only spinel I own I can claim looks Jedi.



First one looks definitely windowed. Pass. Second one, looks like with the way they're holding the stone they're hiding a window. Would definitely ask for more pictures if the color interests you.


This one has the nicest cut and is high saturation, plus the cert checks out. But on my computer monitor it looks a little brownish, so you can do a bit better.


This one looks the best to me. Keeping my fingers crossed and hope it checks out!

Oooh what do you think of the spinel? Any setting ideas? I really like her taste-- she found me my current sapphire and was very patient w/my myriad of requirements lol.

Still waiting on natural sunlight pics for the 1.56ct one. It's currently being sent over to Shanghai from Sri Lanka, so I should be able to see it when Chinese Golden Week's over (10/. Fingers double crossed here!

Also, got in contact w/the seller that has the ideal color 5ct pad from the first page-- she says she has similarly colored ones in smaller sizes, but they're all at GRS being certified right now. So also waiting on that

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Are you referring to the one I'm still waiting on more pictures of? The 1.56ct one: https://www.pricescope.com/community/attachments/wechat-image_20190922154126-jpg.713616/

I've already asked the vendor for high-res pics of the circled ones, but they're all at GRS awaiting certification. Oh well-- at least these have proper international certification papers! I'll have to wait until after Chinese golden week (10/

Wait is that big Chinese celebration thing coming up soon?

Cuz I asked my jeweller about a setting and he said to wait for a bit. Sometimes we confuse each other (Google translate convos only) so I just rolled with it but that makes sense now!