Recut this spinel or no?

[Cockatiel]

It's funny but in some cases, getting a stone recut to a theoretically 'better' cut doesn't actually result in a more pleasant looking stone.

Had a few cases like that - there was this beautiful red spinel a long time back that had a window but it glowed beautifully red, almost like how you'd expect a vivid cornflower blue to glow. Just beautiful. Had it recut... And it turned totally dark and extinct. No window, but no great color either anymore. And it was a red spinel, so it was a pretty costly loss.

Then there was a likewise beautiful and glowing cornflower blue sapphire, velvet blue, that turned into a totally color-zoned and well... difficult to look at... stone. To make matters worse, the cutter insisted that he improved it just because the brilliance was marginally better and it was better polished. That was the last time he was given anything to recut.

... and to think I was going to vote 'recut' before I read the rest of your thread about the results.

Sorry to hear it happened! I really know that sour feeling of looking at a stone you felt really proud of and seeing that oh yay, now it's better cut but worse off overall. Can totally commiserate.

P.S. Sometimes you also need to have a second look at the stone after a little while. I've kind of found that my memory tends to idealize colors pre-recut and in many cases I end up disappointed with recutting results possibly simply due to having been used to how it looked before (and no amount of staring at it convinces me that the color stayed the same, even though multiple other people seem to think so - so possibly it's a bit of 'idealized memory' there, at least in my case).

I can totally relate to your experience.

 

[Cockatiel]

Some pics here because I hate to leave you guys hanging.

 

[ilovegemstones]

No pics were attached.

 

[Cockatiel]

I don't know if you can tell from pics but it's definitely a lot more silvery now.

 

[Cockatiel]

 

[chatoyancy]

It’s beautiful. Only the last two pics are showing up. All the others just have jpg on them, no pics. It doesn’t look like a morganite or kunzite to me.

 

[IslandBB]

It’s beautiful. Only the last two pics are showing up. All the others just have jpg on them, no pics. It doesn’t look like a morganite or kunzite to me.

I can see all them photos on my desk top. Honestly, I don't think it's as bad as you think Cockatiel. Some of the photos seem ever so slightly grayer, but looking back at the original photos you posted, the gem doesn't look too different- not bad at all! I know it's tough to capture color in photos and it may be subtle, but I do have to say it looks lovely after and the cut does look better, so maybe wait another day or 2 to get used to the change.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

The cut is beautiful. From my monitor the color is definitely different. I can see the silver and it looks a glowy pink/silver color now. Does the spinel show any violet after the re-cut? Thanks for the pics.

 

[Cockatiel]

The cut is beautiful. From my monitor the color is definitely different. I can see the silver and it looks a glowy pink/silver color now. Does the spinel show any violet after the re-cut? Thanks for the pics.

It's definitely more silvery pale pink now, more so than I could capture. For some reason it would appear pale pinkish lavender a lot of times and then when I try snapping a pic, then it comes out looking more lavender. I swear I sometimes see a blush looking stone that disappears on my hand. If it was just a little pink it wouldn't bother me much but it's the silvery look that I am not fond of. Never been a fan of pale pink because it disappears on my skin. There's no violet, just cooler grey lavender when it shifts to its cool side.

 

[chatoyancy]

Now I can see the pics.

 

[T L]

If you’re unhappy with it, maybe you can sell it. Many pricescopers love silvery spinels. I’m really sorry you were disappointed with the results, but I appreciate you posting pictures, as this is a learning experience.

 

[IslandBB]

It's definitely more silvery pale pink now, more so than I could capture. For some reason it would appear pale pinkish lavender a lot of times and then when I try snapping a pic, then it comes out looking more lavender. I swear I sometimes see a blush looking stone that disappears on my hand. If it was just a little pink it wouldn't bother me much but it's the silvery look that I am not fond of. Never been a fan of pale pink because it disappears on my skin. There's no violet, just cooler grey lavender when it shifts to its cool side.

Looking on a tablet and now I see more of a color difference. I agree with TL, there’s definitely a market for silvery spinels if you want to sell since it didn’t turn out as you hoped. Thanks for sharing.

 

[evergreen]

It looks like the stone has a lot less contrast after the recut, with more uniform light return. Maybe you were really attracted to the scintillation from all the "off" and "on" virtual facets, and now that so much of the stone is "on", it's harder to see color and not as visually interesting? I'm torn: I think I do prefer it after the recut, because the extinction and windowing bothered me, but I agree the color doesn't look as saturated. I'm sorry you're disappointed with it!