Pixy Joins the Mahenge Fan Club

[fierypyropixy]

I've looked at the Mahenge spinels on Swala's site for a long time now. It was pretty clear (at least in my mind) that Eric was "The Man" to see about one. Selection, knowledge, etc. I didn't have a great budget, but there was one little pear on his site that looked really suitable.

In the course of email, he suggested that the little pear had a slightly bigger brother that he would recommend over the inquiry pear. When he sent me it's picture . . . I may have sat here at the computer with my mouth open. It was so intense!

(Splitting these up into posts for the sake of storytelling. )

 

[fierypyropixy]

At 1.32ct, the pear was 7.6 x 5.6 x 4.35. And I worried that it's small stature was just too tiny to be able to appreciate the color . . . which is why we're all here. So I asked about others. I asked about this trillion that BrightIce had posted in her thread.

I also told him I upped my budget, to go bigger.



In the meantime, he was delayed in his response, and I stared at this twosome for quite a long time.

I made my crazy little paper cutouts to get a feel for what we were talking about.



I spent hours going back and forth with myself, because the color was amazing on that little pear, and it's shape such a sweet little shape, well suited to the color . . . but that trillion would be so much more an expanse of color.

But I really have to commend Eric. That man would NOT encourage me to buy something more expensive, no matter how hard I tried!

And believe me, I TRIED. I upped the budget. Twice. To spread out the net and whatnot. But Eric had nailed down the color for which I was searching, and wouldn't deviate for something that was a slightly lesser color, but larger, just for the sake of making a bigger sale. And I REALLY admire that.

To satisfy my questions about "BIGGER!! BIGGER! Pixy MUST HAVE MORE!!!!" . . . he half-heartedly proffered up two ovals.



But that pear still grabbed my heart every time I studied these pictures. And that must be a crazily STRONG pull, because I love the BIG gems so much. My sense of BIG kept pushing for that trillion . . . but wondering how I'd set it. But the sense of personality kept dragging me back to that pear.

 

[chrono]

Am I ruining the story by jumping in right now? I can clearly see that the pear trumps the 2 ovals in the group picture, even though the pear is the smallest one. Still, that trillion is mighty tempting. You'll have to share how accurate Eric's pictures are compared to what you see IRL as well.

 

[talamasca]

I can so see why you keep going back to the pear, cos that colour is lovely

I love that you do cut outs. I do it too and I try to either colour them or I copy the picture of the gem and re-size it!!!

 

[fierypyropixy]

Eric was really steadfast in his recommendation that the pear, though small, was the top for me.

This felt like a really truthful recommendation, because the other gems were more pricey. So . . . after some handshots of the gems, and after writing him an email which I revised about 243 times, each time switching my "I will take . . . . " sentence to the OTHER gem . . . I pulled the trigger on the baby pear.

And then I proceeded to freak out on BrightIce's thread, because the tracking went nowhere. And I was envisioning baby pear lost in some crevice of some shipping warehouse . . . lost for all eternity.

(Yes, I get dramatic in my paranoia.)

Then one day I was sitting here in my office, which faces the street, and watched in slow motion as the DHL van pulled up to my curb and stopped. It was two in the afternoon, and here I was still in my pj pants, and here came the DHL man towards my door.

How horrifying! I debated . . . wait one more day for a re-delivery and spare the embarrassment of having this deliveryman know that it's afternoon and I still am in my pajamas? Or throw all self-respecting modesty to the wind and GET MY BABY PEAR!!!!

DHL man witnessed the pajama pants at two in the afternoon.

And let me tell you -- I see why Eric had the pear on it's side in all the pictures. I never thought about it before . . . but pears are incredibly difficult to prop in an upright position! I put it off for a while, before realizing that I needed to put SOMETHING out there. So . . no handshots as of yet . . . just little box shots of glowy Mahenge goodness. No overhead light, sort of bright day outside, sort of near a window.









She's amazing.

 

[bright ice]

WOW, WOW, WOW Just STUNNING. I can see why you were mesmerized by it.!!!

 

[kt]

OMG...what a color. wow!!

 

[fierypyropixy]

Am I ruining the story by jumping in right now? I can clearly see that the pear trumps the 2 ovals in the group picture, even though the pear is the smallest one. Still, that trillion is mighty tempting. You'll have to share how accurate Eric's pictures are compared to what you see IRL as well.

Haha, no, you didn't ruin anything! That trillion IS mighty tempting. It looks very juicy.

Let's see . . . IRL, it is just a tad bit darker than Eric's studio shots . . . but of course that's to be expected. You can definitely see that neon-ish influence in certain shots at certain angles. I keep thinking "amped up Watermelon Jolly Rancher" . . . but when I google images of that, those are too red/orange influenced.

I hope he doesn't mind if I share them, but he took two quick hand shots of the whole group, and the pear is really accurate in those.

 

[stargurl78]

That stone is GORGEOUS! What a STUNNING color and I just love pears

Soooo, are you happy with the size?? What are your plans for it?

 

[chrono]

Beautiful! The pear is also my pick in the hand lineup.

 

[JewelFreak]

Yeah, what sort of home are you going to put that FANTASTIC little baby in?

 

[Upgradable]

Holy Mother of Pearl!!! MORE MAHENGE ****!!!!

That is the lovliest stone I've seen in quite a while? Are you thinking ring? Because I'll go hunting this gorgeous double halo I've been drooling over forever.

 

[kelpie]

They all look so delicious! This is gem pron at its best! I love the color on that trillion but the pear really does have the ultimate mix of shape/cut/color.

Funny when I went to Swala's store in Arusha a few months back the selection was so different from the oodles and oodles of candy-like spinels, tsavs, tourmalines, and spesses on their webpages....it was case after case of tanzanite, especially in the fancy colors. I guess that's what tourists buy. I saw just 2 or 3 spinels but the color was gorgeous. Maybe they carry more at the Dar branch which is closer to the spinel producing Morogoro region.

 

[fierypyropixy]

Talamasca -- Thank you! Ooh, little tiny printouts of the gem . . . that takes it to the next level! I will have to try it!

BrightIce -- Thank you, yours is so lovely too. I ENVY the size of your big beautiful pear. It's like we are initiation sisters in the Mahenge Fan Club!

Thanks KT -- "Wow" is what I keep saying, over and over.

Chrono, I'm v.glad I have your approval, it is v.v.reassuring.

Stargurl and JewelFreak -- You know, the size may not be as bad as I'd worried. It's a nice little respectable size, but it's different from my usual whopper amethysts and the like.

I'm thinking . . . it might be a while, because I hope to go back to Eric for a Christmas present. Maybe make a suite, so I'm not sure this one would be pendant or ring. I sort of thought about . . .

Three stone ring. Pair of bright green tsavorite slightly smaller pears flanking the spinel . . . they make me think of leaves. OooShiney pictured her spinel on a leaf in some shots, and it made me think about the leaf theme.

I found some little calibrated tsavorite pears at Multicolour. $14.94 apiece, 4x3. Didn't buy them (yet) . . . the shipping ends up being more than the stones, so it's caused me to hesitate. Especially not knowing, and sort of not wanting to jump the gun like I usually do.



I don't know anything about their quality -- I wondered if they'd be too dark. I also bet that when it comes time to set the spinel, I might be better off letting the jeweler source the sidestones. But . . . I can't stop thinking about bright green leaves to the side. A loose interpretation, of course. Pretty simple, standard setting -- I think with the small size, it couldn't take much more than this.

(Don't know whose ring this is, sorry.)

 

[fierypyropixy]

Holy Mother of Pearl!!! MORE MAHENGE ****!!!!

That is the lovliest stone I've seen in quite a while? Are you thinking ring? Because I'll go hunting this gorgeous double halo I've been drooling over forever.

LOL, Uppy, that is high praise from you, given that beautiful ring in your avatar! Thank you. I ALWAYS think ring, that's my problem. I'd LOVE to see your double halo.

I wonder . . .halo in tsavorite melee?

Kelpie -- Thank you, I kept doubting myself, but I'm so glad everyone approves of my choice. That's so funny about their store being so much tanzanite -- I never would have guessed. I thought it would be a lot of these beauties. Did you notice any mandarin spesses? I'm on the search for a good one, and have been wondering about one from them that I bookmarked.

 

[athenaworth]

GD I love those!!!! I wish I could sell everything I have an get one of those!

 

[Upgradable]

Holy Mother of Pearl!!! MORE MAHENGE ****!!!!

That is the lovliest stone I've seen in quite a while? Are you thinking ring? Because I'll go hunting this gorgeous double halo I've been drooling over forever.

LOL, Uppy, that is high praise from you, given that beautiful ring in your avatar! Thank you. I ALWAYS think ring, that's my problem. I'd LOVE to see your double halo.

I wonder . . .halo in tsavorite melee?
Kelpie -- Thank you, I kept doubting myself, but I'm so glad everyone approves of my choice. That's so funny about their store being so much tanzanite -- I never would have guessed. I thought it would be a lot of these beauties. Did you notice any mandarin spesses? I'm on the search for a good one, and have been wondering about one from them that I bookmarked.

Oh, yum yum yum!!

 

[kelpie]

Holy Mother of Pearl!!! MORE MAHENGE ****!!!!
Kelpie -- Thank you, I kept doubting myself, but I'm so glad everyone approves of my choice. That's so funny about their store being so much tanzanite -- I never would have guessed. I thought it would be a lot of these beauties. Did you notice any mandarin spesses? I'm on the search for a good one, and have been wondering about one from them that I bookmarked.

That was the weird thing...there was only one finished spess that was 4 or 5 ct oval. I did get to play with tons of rough though.

 

[Upgradable]

Here's the mount to which I was referring: http://cgi.ebay.com/Pear-14kt-Solid-W-Gold-0-60Ct-Diamond-Semi-Mount-Ring-/310332251791?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item48413e5e8f

 

[T L]

Am I ruining the story by jumping in right now? I can clearly see that the pear trumps the 2 ovals in the group picture, even though the pear is the smallest one. Still, that trillion is mighty tempting. You'll have to share how accurate Eric's pictures are compared to what you see IRL as well.

Haha, no, you didn't ruin anything! That trillion IS mighty tempting. It looks very juicy.

Let's see . . . IRL, it is just a tad bit darker than Eric's studio shots . . . but of course that's to be expected. You can definitely see that neon-ish influence in certain shots at certain angles. I keep thinking "amped up Watermelon Jolly Rancher" . . . but when I google images of that, those are too red/orange influenced.

I hope he doesn't mind if I share them, but he took two quick hand shots of the whole group, and the pear is really accurate in those.

Very nice. I like the trillion and the pear the best in the lineup. Congrats on your beautiful new stone!

 

[T L]

Here's the mount to which I was referring: http://cgi.ebay.com/Pear-14kt-Solid-W-Gold-0-60Ct-Diamond-Semi-Mount-Ring-/310332251791?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item48413e5e8f

I have that mount, it's really cheap looking IRL. I would get something nicer.

 

[Indylady]

Yowza, love the pear.

 

[natsplat]

OH wowwwwww that's beautiful!

 

[platinumrock]

Oh my goodnessssss...that pear is just mesmerizingly stunning!!! The color reminds me of raspberries and watermelon. YUM!!!

You can set it in dental floss, and it will still be gorgeous. Congrats on an awesome find!!

 

[LD]

Beautiful and a great choice. A big thumbs up to Eric for hitting the mark so well. I've always found his very friendly and helpful in all my dealings with him.

I agree with TL though that I'm not sure that setting is good enough for your beauty. I bought a single halo diamond ring from LOGR for my black diamond and it was very pretty and looks much more expensive that it was so might be something you could consider?

 

[ForteKitty]

Amazing spinel. I love how it glows and pops in the low light pics... just amazing!

 

[Laila619]

What a delicious, plump juicy pear!!! It is just stunning!

 

[cokitty]

That is a lovely color!

 

[NKOTB]

Wow. Mahenge **** is right! Absolutely gorgeous.

 

[fierypyropixy]

Thank you everyone for your kind words!

And thank you for the double halo, Uppy . . . I'm sorry that you found it not up to par in person, though, TL. I DO like the metal-edged halos, much like the "Legacy" settings that are so loved.

Does the idea of tsavorite pear sides not sound good? I enjoy color a lot, and like to mix colors that will bounce off of each other a lot, like pink and orange, or pink and green. My idea folder is full of twists like that.

I have plenty of time, though . . . there are a few projects in front of this, and as much as I want to wear this one around in any way possible, RIGHT AWAY (!!), I also want to see if I could jockey myself into another, larger one.