pink sapphire or pink spinel - what do you think?

[Tuffy]

if you have to decide between these two - which would you choose?

 

[Tuffy]

see the pink sapphire on top

 

[Tuffy]

pink spinel on the left

 

[Pandora II]

If the pear shape is the sapphire then that one for definite.

Otherwise, both are nice and it would come down to factors like price, treatments, size, clarity etc.

Sapphire is on the harder side as well which is a plus.

 

[Tuffy]

the pear is also a spinel that one requires lots of cash to burn... sigh..

the sapphire in the hand shot is treated. The spinel is not treated. sapphire is just over 2 ct while the spinel is 1.6ct. difference in price about $500.

The sapphire looks more saturated to me and full of fire. but I suspect the spinel would look more pink compared to the sapphire. you think?

 

[Tuffy]

here's another pix of the sapph

 

[Tuffy]

the dimensions for the spinel: 8.5 x 5.9 x 4.1 mm

for the sapphire: 8.04 x 5.64 x 5.42 mm

both are eye clean according to vendor

 

[T L]

Do you have a vendor photo of the sapphire? Does it come with a reputable lab report? The spinel isn't the most saturated mahenge I've ever seen, especially for the price, which to me is very high, unless you can negotiate it lower. Perhaps mahenge prices have just gone through the roof again, because to me, that spinel lacks saturation that I would require for that pricetag. I'm referring to the vendor photo for the spinel when I say it lacks saturation. I've certainly seen more saturated mahenges on his site,and for less $$$ per carat, and not too long ago.

ETA: Big bowtie on the spinel oval too.

Sorry, just a lot pickier when it comes to very high pricetags.

 

[Tuffy]

the sapphire doesn't come with a lab report. need to pay extra for it. here's the vendor's picture

out of curiosity, do you think the pear spinel is well saturated?

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Your hands are absolutely beautiful! Oh and good luck on choosing a stone...

cheers--Sharon

 

[NKOTB]

Out of these two, I like the sapphire better. And I concur - beautiful hands!

 

[Tuffy]

hee hee - those are the vendor's hands. I am trying to get more handshots before ordering so as to minimise the need to return.

 

[T L]

the sapphire doesn't come with a lab report. need to pay extra for it. here's the vendor's picture

out of curiosity, do you think the pear spinel is well saturated?

I think the pear is slightly more saturated than the oval, but not by much. It also looks to be cut very deep, which isn't that great if you're paying a fortune per carat. You want good face up for your money. I guess it's difficult as some dealers cut for weight rather than beauty, and with expensive material, that's what tends to happen. I do like that the pear doesn't have a very distracting bow tie, unlike the oval. I have lots of poorly cut stones too, but at least I didn't pay too much for them. I'm not saying they have to be precision cut, but I do think that you can find a better cut than that oval.

BTW, I did calibrate the saturation and brightness on my monitor, so I think I'm looking at it with a decent monitor view. The saturation should pop on my monitor, and it doesn't. While they're both pretty stones, I'm not sure if the prices are justified, and it seems than anything pink, and a spinel, coming out of the ground in Tanzania is labeled a "mahenge," even though the original material was much much finer. I would probably try looking for regular pink spinels in this case, even if they're from Burma, Sri Lanka, etc. . . as the marketing name of Mahenge might cost you more money, but the look would be identical to these particular stones. JMO, and if others disagree, or think I'm being too harsh, that's fine. I just want to give my honest opinion as I've seen so many of these stones in person.

 

[canuk-gal]

hee hee - those are the vendor's hands. I am trying to get more handshots before ordering so as to minimise the need to return.

Still gorgeous!

 

[T L]

the sapphire doesn't come with a lab report. need to pay extra for it. here's the vendor's picture

out of curiosity, do you think the pear spinel is well saturated?

I would require the seller to obtain a lab report before I purchased it, and from a reputable lab. I don't like the idea of the buyer obtaining a lab report for obvious reason well known to this forum.

I like the fact that the sapphire is better cut, although lighter in tone (the bow tie isn't as obvious). However, we're looking at photos from two different vendors as a comparison, so it's hard. Does the sapphire appear less orange to you in person, or identical in hue to the spinel? The sapphire seems a tad bit sleepy too, does it have silk?

 

[T L]

Here's a marquise on his site that is much more saturated than the oval, see the difference? It has that typical "mahenge" look. If you're looking for a more delicate pink color, that's fine, but I wouldn't pay "mahenge" prices for it, especially for only 1.62 carats. The marquise to me is a much better buy due to the face up, the cutting seems better than both this pear and the oval, and it's over three carats, and I think a more reasonable price, especially for the color/size. If you're interested, I would ask him about this stone.

 

[chloeishere]

I like the color of the sapphire better (and the cut, too) than the oval spinel. When you say the sapphire is treated, do you mean it's heated, or some other treatment? If it's beryllium diffused, I would probably not consider it a good deal. I do think you should get a lab report too if it's a fairly costly stone.

I think that marquise spinel is a gorgeous color!

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

To me even with the bowtie the spinel looks more vibrant. The sapphire looks more even in tone, and better cut but I would choose the spinel. However with that said I think I would not buy it at that price if this is the one I saw on the Swala site. Just me.

 

[ooo~Shiney!]

Tuffy, is that the color of pink you are going for ?
I am just asking because of course, you want to get the best and prettiest
stone you can buy for your money, but you also want to get the stone
that has the COLOR that you are loving....
Some folks are looking for just that certain particular shade of pink (red, orange, blue, green, etc etc etc.)
that they see in their mind's eye....

Love that Marquise too !!!! That would be my pick as well, if I were picking....

But I also think the Sapphire is prettier, if you must choose between the two
and that's just my personal opinion based on the pictures you are sharing.

 

[Pandora II]

The sapphire gets my vote.

I'm going to disagree with TL here and say that IMO, the spinels are very well saturated and would definitely fall into the 'Mahenge' box for me.

I've seen Burmese stones that have a more orange cast to them and superb saturation, but I have never seen a Sri Lankan stone that comes close in terms of colour to the pinks you have here. The Sri Lankan strong pinks don't have the saturation and tend to look colder.

Obviously there are always exceptions, but I looked at a lot of spinels out there and the ones that really caught my eye turned out to be Tanzanian spinels that had been sent there for cutting!

I've no idea on pricing - other than that everything seems to be going up, up, up.

 

[T L]

The sapphire gets my vote.

I'm going to disagree with TL here and say that IMO, the spinels are very well saturated and would definitely fall into the 'Mahenge' box for me.

I've seen Burmese stones that have a more orange cast to them and superb saturation, but I have never seen a Sri Lankan stone that comes close in terms of colour to the pinks you have here. The Sri Lankan strong pinks don't have the saturation and tend to look colder.

Obviously there are always exceptions, but I looked at a lot of spinels out there and the ones that really caught my eye turned out to be Tanzanian spinels that had been sent there for cutting!

I've no idea on pricing - other than that everything seems to be going up, up, up.

Thanks for your honest opinion Pandora, as always.
I actually have Tanzanian spinels that color, but I didn't pay anywhere near that much for them, maybe one tenth the price because they weren't that hot hot hot pink color or pinkish red. I guess for the price point that this oval is listed at, I would expect much better color, also in lieu of the fact that it's under two carats. Spinels above two carats, and this was told to me by Eric as well, jump up exponentially in price, so I can't figure out why it's priced so high, especially because it's so small. I think perhaps Mahenge spinels, or just Tanzanian material (regardless of the "Mahenge" origin), may have taken another price jump.

I don't know, but this oval reminds me a little of Tajikistan material, which Gene sometimes has for sale. It's very very pretty, no doubt, but doens't have the "neon" color that the Mahenge spinel find is known for.

 

[Tuffy]

ladies - thanks for your views! everything does seem so expensive nowadays. sigh... I will probably pass on the spinel cos if I get a spinel, I would like it to be hot pink and this one isn't. so hard to find... for the marquise shaped spinel - wouldn't it be quite hard to set it?

not decided on the sapph.. hai. looks saturated, just not sure if the colour is right for me. the vendor picture looks good but the handshot looks rather different.

 

[T L]

ladies - thanks for your views! everything does seem so expensive nowadays. sigh... I will probably pass on the spinel cos if I get a spinel, I would like it to be hot pink and this one isn't. so hard to find... for the marquise shaped spinel - wouldn't it be quite hard to set it?

not decided on the sapph.. hai. looks saturated, just not sure if the colour is right for me. the vendor picture looks good but the handshot looks rather different.

No, it shouldn't be hard to set at all? Marquise is a standard shape, and if you get custom work, it should be fairly easy to set. I would just do v-prongs at each end. If the color is accurate, I think it's a good buy.

 

[RubyLove4me]

Spinel will hold value longer and its more rare.

VEry hard to mine spinel.

Good luck.

 

[minousbijoux]

Please note that thread is quite old. OP has likely resolved this issue some time ago.