raddygast
Shiny_Rock
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2004
- Messages
- 179
My numerous attempts to find a suitable red gemstone for an engagement ring have failed thus far.
It is somewhat discouraging. I suppose I have picked the color most difficult to "get right" and certainly not the best idea for the budget I''m working with (under 2K for the stone). At first I thought I''d go for red spinel -- after much reading, everything I read about spinel as the "underdog" stone made me like it more, on top of the fact that they are untreated and unenhanced for color. The mystique was very commending.
Unfortunately, those bloody things are impossible to find. I''ve only seen 6 so far, and that says something -- even FINDING spinels to look at is a serious game. None of them were really what I was looking for. Some had beautiful cut, some definitely did not. Some were cheap, some not so cheap, some were clear, some not. Found one or two with decent color, but still nothing that screamed out "you''ve found me."
At one place -- a really upscale jeweller in Toronto with an address that, in itself, was intimidating -- I was shown a supposedly fabulous 0.72ct spinel in YG. It was orangeish. A lot of life but just not red at all. Then for comparison they showed me a ruby set in a just-under $6K platinum ring. I figure at least $4K for the ruby (this is Canadian, so I dunno, $3300 USD), and it was only 1.12 ct. My jaw hit the floor and I was dizzy as I walked out to see another spinel which, by comparison, looked positively muddy and brownish-pink. This ruby was so beautiful -- and it wasn''t even pure pigeon''s blood red as I imagine it -- it had a touch of pink that was quite obvious but not detracting at all like those mall store rubies. This was RED with a whisper of pink that was so attractive I would have probably bought it on the spot had I been rich enough to actually shop there.
Anyway, so now I am very close to despair. That stone was so damn nice that I think I may have been sucked over into the dark side of rubies, which is unfortunate for me because I don''t think $1800 USD or so will go very far in that category. Even though I''m perfectly willing to buy a heated stone, that seems to make no difference because rather than heating making stones cheaper, it has seemed to keep everything the same and simply shot the prices of unheated stones WAY up.
Would like to avoid all the other nasty stuff like flux-healing and oiling, but even if I were willing to go for the most man-interfered stone possible I doubt I could get the color I''m looking for.
Does anyone have any suggestions? The best thing I can think of is ajsgems.com, in their upper range of price. I suppose I could get any candidates over to Mogok at AIGS and have him tell me if it is nice or just "ho-hum." But I am still very worried.
All the local jewellers have many excellent sources for ruby, and are glad to show them to me, with their traditionally absurd markup of course. I''m sorry but I can''t pay $3200 USD for a 1.06 ct round, and I seriously doubt they paid more than $1700 for the same.
Anyway, just wanted to fill people in. It''s crippling when you have ideas for settings and have done so much thinking about things, but the finding of the stone progresses at the most cruel snail''s pace imaginable. And you can''t make it go any faster, no matter how many places you call or email -- you have to wait for people to "get back to you."
Then, when they call, you get all excited, only to go in and see some sorry excuse for a lump of lattice with horrible proportions, skewed keel, color zoning, and an appalling lack of saturation. I guess this is why they call it "gem hunting."
It is somewhat discouraging. I suppose I have picked the color most difficult to "get right" and certainly not the best idea for the budget I''m working with (under 2K for the stone). At first I thought I''d go for red spinel -- after much reading, everything I read about spinel as the "underdog" stone made me like it more, on top of the fact that they are untreated and unenhanced for color. The mystique was very commending.
Unfortunately, those bloody things are impossible to find. I''ve only seen 6 so far, and that says something -- even FINDING spinels to look at is a serious game. None of them were really what I was looking for. Some had beautiful cut, some definitely did not. Some were cheap, some not so cheap, some were clear, some not. Found one or two with decent color, but still nothing that screamed out "you''ve found me."
At one place -- a really upscale jeweller in Toronto with an address that, in itself, was intimidating -- I was shown a supposedly fabulous 0.72ct spinel in YG. It was orangeish. A lot of life but just not red at all. Then for comparison they showed me a ruby set in a just-under $6K platinum ring. I figure at least $4K for the ruby (this is Canadian, so I dunno, $3300 USD), and it was only 1.12 ct. My jaw hit the floor and I was dizzy as I walked out to see another spinel which, by comparison, looked positively muddy and brownish-pink. This ruby was so beautiful -- and it wasn''t even pure pigeon''s blood red as I imagine it -- it had a touch of pink that was quite obvious but not detracting at all like those mall store rubies. This was RED with a whisper of pink that was so attractive I would have probably bought it on the spot had I been rich enough to actually shop there.
Anyway, so now I am very close to despair. That stone was so damn nice that I think I may have been sucked over into the dark side of rubies, which is unfortunate for me because I don''t think $1800 USD or so will go very far in that category. Even though I''m perfectly willing to buy a heated stone, that seems to make no difference because rather than heating making stones cheaper, it has seemed to keep everything the same and simply shot the prices of unheated stones WAY up.
Would like to avoid all the other nasty stuff like flux-healing and oiling, but even if I were willing to go for the most man-interfered stone possible I doubt I could get the color I''m looking for.
Does anyone have any suggestions? The best thing I can think of is ajsgems.com, in their upper range of price. I suppose I could get any candidates over to Mogok at AIGS and have him tell me if it is nice or just "ho-hum." But I am still very worried.
All the local jewellers have many excellent sources for ruby, and are glad to show them to me, with their traditionally absurd markup of course. I''m sorry but I can''t pay $3200 USD for a 1.06 ct round, and I seriously doubt they paid more than $1700 for the same.
Anyway, just wanted to fill people in. It''s crippling when you have ideas for settings and have done so much thinking about things, but the finding of the stone progresses at the most cruel snail''s pace imaginable. And you can''t make it go any faster, no matter how many places you call or email -- you have to wait for people to "get back to you."
Then, when they call, you get all excited, only to go in and see some sorry excuse for a lump of lattice with horrible proportions, skewed keel, color zoning, and an appalling lack of saturation. I guess this is why they call it "gem hunting."
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