Red Burmese Spinel - decent price?

[Anarkali]

Hello,

I know the listing is saying "sold" but they still got the item in stock.
Is it a decent price for a emerald cut flaming red burmese Spinel?

http://www.burmathai.com/servlet/the-5/Beautiful-Burma-Mogok-Red/Detail

 

[davi_el_mejor]

IMO It's a little orange... Not a pure red, but that's neither here nor there.

Are you in the US? You may run into issues with the embargo the US has on Myanmar/Burma.

Price - A little (not too much) for the amount of orange I percieve in the stone. I think a better number would be 5-6k based on the one picture and what I've seen others being sold for.

 

[minousbijoux]

From the photo, it looks to be an intense, vibrant red with an orange modifier, if accurate. At over 3 carats, its a great size. The price seems high to me, but I admit that I have not been pricing 3+ carat Burmese red spinels lately. I would suggest that you contact Jeff Davies to see if he has anything comparable for less money - he seems to have Burmese spinels for sale regularly and his prices are competitive. I also would make any sale contingent upon a report from AGL.

 

[Anarkali]

Here's another picture of it:

 

[minousbijoux]

It appears not to be eye clean - there is some kind of noticeable inclusion in the top right corner. That will lower the price if its really visible to the naked eye. If so, I would say its currently considerably overpriced.

 

[GliderPoss]

What a beautiful stone! I see a slight orange modifier and a inclusion on the corner BUT if I had the coin - I'd totally buy it!

 

[chrono]

Guesstimating if the price is right will depend on the following:
1. How accurate is the colour shown?
2. Does it turn too muddy or brown indoors?
3. The level of extinction?
4. Is it eye clean? Is that lint or an inclusion on the top right corner?
5. Any fluorescence?
6. How long is the review period? Shipping charge? Refund and return policy?

 

[Anarkali]

Guesstimating if the price is right will depend on the following:
1. How accurate is the colour shown?
2. Does it turn too muddy or brown indoors?
3. The level of extinction?
4. Is it eye clean? Is that lint or an inclusion on the top right corner?
5. Any fluorescence?
6. How long is the review period? Shipping charge? Refund and return policy?

Information from seller:
1. Red with slight undertone of Orange (as pictured).
2. No.
3. Little (doesn't show any black or "dead" zones).
4. Eye clean (only 1 inclusion seen under loupe), not visible to the naked eye.
5. Unknown.
6. 14 days moneyback guarantee. Shipping fees $50.00.
7. Origin: Burma, Mogok.

 

[chrono]

Colour looks nice, even if a touch dark and not strong in saturation (a bit brickish in colour). A bit pricey and I doubt it is eye clean. You can see the inclusion clearly in the original listing (lower left corner). How will you handle shipping back to Asia? I did not see any address listed but the office seems to be in South East Asia.

 

[Anarkali]

Colour looks nice, even if a touch dark and not strong in saturation (a bit brickish in colour). A bit pricey and I doubt it is eye clean. You can see the inclusion clearly in the original listing (lower left corner). How will you handle shipping back to Asia? I did not see any address listed but the office seems to be in South East Asia.

If you look at this picture, it's located at the upper left corner. I asked the seller about it and they claim it's not visible to the naked eye. "The gem is absolutely eye clean - and also loupe clean with the exception of one small inclusion in one corner."

 

[aaronl]

There are a number of aspects to that website that would make me think twice (or three times) before making a purchase.

First, it's not just that spinel that's marked as sold - it looks like everything on the website is marked as sold.

Second, the site lists a "Beautiful Unheated 1.63ct Burma Ruby" that is also described as a "completely unheated Sri Lankan sapphire", and which in the picture appears to be on the purple side of red but is described as having a "pastel lilac/lavender hue".

Third, on the website your "Red with slight undertone of Orange" spinel has a background that is red with an undertone of orange. The aforementioned "pastel lilac/lavender" ruby/saphire has a background that is light purple. A couple of sapphires have backgrounds that are blue. The background material appears to be the same for most shots, including the four I just listed and the one you've shared above, and it concerns me that whenever the color seems to deviate from that near-white color the modification in hue is consistent with modifying the image to make the stone's color more appealing. The photography on the site is often poor, so I don't want to read too much into bad photographs, but even if it's a matter of bad photography I'm left with little faith that the colors depicted on the site are accurate.

 

[LD]

This is a hefty purchase with an unknown seller so my advice is to ask for handshot photos - both indoors and outside - before pulling the trigger.

I suspect that this gemstone will darken in natural lighting and the colour may be different from the photograph you've linked to.

I'm also concerned that the vendor states that the gemstone is eye clean. It cannot be - that's impossible because we can all see it (and it's quite prominent from some angles). I would think it's a natural but I also suspect that as the gem is turned the light will catch on it.

To be honest though the inclusion is actually not really much of a deal because this is a large stone and I would be more worried if it were totally clean!

 

[chrono]

As explained by various other PS posters, this in one stone and vendor where I would be very cautious with since nobody seems to have purchased from him before. It is up to you whether you are willing to risk ordering the stone and trying to get a refund. This is not a small amount of money. I suspect the colour may not be as shown in person, it will shift to a muddier colour indoors and will show more extinction in person as well. I also doubt it will be eye clean. Good luck in whatever your choice may be.

 

[new-beginning]

have you considered this pinker and smaller stone?

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FzfM3tA_O9XI&h=4AQEmSadY

 

[Anarkali]

have you considered this pinker and smaller stone?

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FzfM3tA_O9XI&h=4AQEmSadY

I do not like the color, neither red, neither mahenge .. too pink.

 

[chrono]

have you considered this pinker and smaller stone?
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FzfM3tA_O9XI&h=4AQEmSadY

I agree that this spinel is lacking in saturation, not looking red at all but rather orangish pink.