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Rhodocrosite

Don't have any set, but I do have these, bought about a month ago. Hoping to have them set into earrings. I'm interested in answers too.

--- Laurie

RhodoPr. 8,1 x 6.1 3,72.gif
 
No help to offer here, other than to say that that is a great color!
 
I suppose it could be mounted in a pendant but would still have to be in an extremely well protected setting due to it's softness. Rhodocrosite, IMHO, is more of a collector stone to be appreciated for the color and high RI. Rhodocrosite's also a tough stone to cut and polish due to the softness (3.5-4.0 is way easy to scratch) and the perfect cleavage but the finished stones are well worth the trouble :mrgreen:

Pete
 
@ minousbijoux yes I know, I kinda had it on watch for a while because of the color. I had done some research on the stone which is ridiculously soft, softer then the sphene I have.

@jewelfreak, those are really lovely! I had heard about how hard rhodocrosite is to facet, some won't touch it because of the cleavage. I've seen the beads before but rarely cabs or facted.

@ruffysdad, do you think if the gold were high quality, like say 18-22k that it would be easier to set? Say a very simple prong setting. Bezel would protect it but I don't it would be possible given the softness of the stone, would it?

-A
 
I know ACS used to have a fair bit of Ben Kho's (who's won awards for faceting the stuff) work but I'm not sure if Barry still deals with him or not. I'd at least start by asking Barry if he could get a recommendation from BK for a good setter. Alternatively, I'd just buy the rhodocrosite pendant on ACS.
 
I have a pair of earrings and a necklace, which I'm more than happy to show a picture of. The rhodochrosites are range of size from 3.5 to 4mm rounds and the necklace also has a violet blue spinal as the center stone, all bezel set in 14k white gold.

rhodoneck.jpg
 
Probably using a higher grade of gold might help as far as the mounting goes. If nothing else, 22k yellow gold with rhodocrosite would look spectacular ! :mrgreen:

Pete
 
@ kismet, thanks. I remember some of those pieces from a while back and will check ACS for them.

**edit** I did check and saw 2 pieces. Both were considerably smaller but one was already bezeled an more expensive than the unset 4ct stone. I'll send an email to barry about it to find out some info.

@ Fiaind, thanks for showing those. I see that their bezeled which is lovely and preferable! I'm curious to know if that was custom or purchased that way (if custom can you share the goldsmith??)

-A
 
Arcadian, the color of your posting is so terrific, better than my pair. I'm glad you're asking these questions -- same ones I had but hadn't gotten around to posting them yet. Mine were not expensive, but the one you're looking at is another story. Let's hope there's a way!
 
I love rhodochrosite and I think I could be tempted to set one as a pendant - very high karat gold with very simple prongs to avoid heart attacks all round.

I hope you don't mind my being honest about the stone. I love the colour, really lovely example, but I don't like the actual stone very much especially the clarity. I've seen much nicer examples. If you are wanting a large stone then this is probably good for the price, but if you'd rather have smaller and cleaner then I would keep looking.

I'll see if I can find some pics of others for you.
 
Ben Kho, an award winning lapidary, buys air time on Gem Shopping Network. He sells a lot of very very high quality rhodocrosite, very clean and highly saturated. He always indicates it's not suitable for jewelry and it is mainly a collector's stone. I think lower quality, more opaque rhodocrosite is more suitable for pendants. If you scratch it, it's not a major loss.
 
@ pandora Of the ones that I've seen, this was probably some of the best in terms of faceted. Larger may not get me the color AND the clarity , so if I had to choose, I would go with color (as long as its not a cushion cut 8-) ) Smaller ones I've seen start going toward pinkish, but yes I would consider them as long as they struck the chord. I have to go to my jeweler tomorrow anyway so I'll see how they feel about doing something this soft with high kt gold. I've kinda got the feeling they're not gonna want to touch it but never hurts to ask. If I did do it, it likely would not be until next year sometime, just because I have so many other projects going.

@TL, I didn't know that. Unfortunately I'm going to be traveling for a few weeks, and who knows what types of tv channels I'll have access too :lol: . I did go to his website though and looks like they may broadcast his shows there ( it says service unavailable now but I'll try to check again later today)


-A
 
Arcadian|1307047486|2936419 said:
@ pandora Of the ones that I've seen, this was probably some of the best in terms of faceted. Larger may not get me the color AND the clarity , so if I had to choose, I would go with color (as long as its not a cushion cut 8-) ) Smaller ones I've seen start going toward pinkish, but yes I would consider them as long as they struck the chord. I have to go to my jeweler tomorrow anyway so I'll see how they feel about doing something this soft with high kt gold. I've kinda got the feeling they're not gonna want to touch it but never hurts to ask. If I did do it, it likely would not be until next year sometime, just because I have so many other projects going.

@TL, I didn't know that. Unfortunately I'm going to be traveling for a few weeks, and who knows what types of tv channels I'll have access too :lol: . I did go to his website though and looks like they may broadcast his shows there ( it says service unavailable now but I'll try to check again later today)


-A
Click to expand...

His stones are above and beyond anything I have ever seen in rhodocrosite. Think Mahenge hot pink spinels on steroids. OMG!! He had a 30 carat one that was supposedly the largest and finest one in the world, in a precision Portuguese cut. I was hanging off my chair in a puddle of drool. I can't even find a photo of this superb material online. Yeah, I would hate to scratch that!! They're from the "Sweet Home Mine" in Colorado.

You can watch Gem Shopping Network online too. They have a website.
 
Don't TL!

For some reason they really appeal to me and make my mind divert from garnets everytime I see one - was oggling the one in the Natural History Museum on Tuesday: top colour, super-clean plus a stunning mineral specimen with gemmy crystals both from the Sweet Home Mine.

They look very edible... like watermelon flavoured sweeties! :lickout:
 
Here's one cut by Ben Kho, and the photo doesn't do this material justice at all. From what I saw, his was neon!! However, that was Sweet Home Mine material, and this one from the Gem Trader, is from China. Not sure if that makes a difference. This is a nice stone though.

http://www.thegemtrader.com/Oct 10 Rhodochrosite Page.htm

The fifth stone down on this page was another Ben Kho rhodochrosite.

http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/articles/2005/mar05/0305mg2.html

Pandora, it's a pity they're so soft. ;(
 
Both the necklace and the earrings were custom work. I decided I simply had to have them because I loved the color of the smaller stones and they were not available for purchase anywhere already set. They were done by Jennifer Dood of Dood's Jewelry & Gallery in Ionia, MI. She's set other soft stones for me: sphalerite, opal. I'm not quite sure she'd set anything that soft again in 14k white. I /think/ she was joking when she said never again. :saint:
 
I believe from my research there is an extensive difference between the China and Sweet Home Materials. Having a very large piece of sweet home rough with host rock attached, I have done quite a bit of research on this stuff. I agree that it is WAY TOO soft to set, unless you are looking for a super special occasion piece and I'd say go with a bezel set whatever and an extremely skilled jeweler who is used to working with such soft stones as the Rhodo.....

Basically the China pieces have excellent color, but are less scarce than those of the Sweet Home Mine. The sweet home mine is known for it's beautiful raspberry reds and clarity where as the China pieces have the beautiful raspberry red and deep crimsons but cease to have the clarity...If I recall correctly.

To the OP: good luck in your purchase ;0)
 
Thanks all. from what I've seen and researched online, I see a color difference between the SHC and Chinese. Preferably I want SHC Rhodo as its more pinkish red. I think Ben Kho's cutting can lend a lot to the stones though, but the one on the gem trader, I can't say I was thrilled colorwise.


I figure if I do it, it will be only once. I'm going to speak to my local guy tomorrow to get a sense of what they think. I also figure I'd have to go with a bezel so 22K it would be. I wouldn't put a jeweler through that multiple times :bigsmile:

Anyway I'm kind of brainstorming as the stuff is just freaking lovely (but so soft, gahhhh!) and the plan is to not buy 1K+ gemstones so they can sit in a box...so that means I'm really thinking this one over carefully.

I'll give that shopping network a spin TL. Hopefully I can stand it (gem shows drive me so batty)

The seller in the OP also lists a bixbite thats over 1ct.didn't look half bad. But I also read scarce over 1ct too.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1-32ct-Rare-Gem-Utah-Red-Emerald-Beryl-Bixbite-Gemstone-/190522089273?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5c005f39

-A
 
Arcadian|1307090243|2936770 said:
Thanks all. from what I've seen and researched online, I see a color difference between the SHC and Chinese. Preferably I want SHC Rhodo as its more pinkish red. I think Ben Kho's cutting can lend a lot to the stones though, but the one on the gem trader, I can't say I was thrilled colorwise.


I figure if I do it, it will be only once. I'm going to speak to my local guy tomorrow to get a sense of what they think. I also figure I'd have to go with a bezel so 22K it would be. I wouldn't put a jeweler through that multiple times :bigsmile:

Anyway I'm kind of brainstorming as the stuff is just freaking lovely (but so soft, gahhhh!) and the plan is to not buy 1K+ gemstones so they can sit in a box...so that means I'm really thinking this one over carefully.

I'll give that shopping network a spin TL. Hopefully I can stand it (gem shows drive me so batty)

The seller in the OP also lists a bixbite thats over 1ct.didn't look half bad. But I also read scarce over 1ct too.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1-32ct-Rare-Gem-Utah-Red-Emerald-Beryl-Bixbite-Gemstone-/190522089273?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5c005f39

-A
Click to expand...

I DVR Gem Shopping so I skip through a lot!! Ben has a website where you can find out the times he's on GSN.

http://www.benkho.com/

Or email him for some pics. Maybe he has some.
 
Since I won't be traveling for work at least in the next week or so (until they get their isht togther), I'll be able to check out his show. I never get DVR time since my husband uses it to tape nearly everything on the outdoor channel... :nono:

-A
 
wow, those pinks are gorgeous! I don't know much about this stone, at first I thought it was opaque, you can' t see through it. But, it's not, it's really nice. (ps. The mint green beryl carving on that pge knocked my socks off!)
 
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