- Joined
- Mar 2, 2013
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- 6,307
In my quest for a good, ‘crimson red’ CS - not having the budget for a nice, sizable natural Burmese Spinel or Ruby 
- I started looking at alternatives awhile ago, and only recently came across both of these garnets which showed the most promise color-wise given the vendor pics & descriptions, so I ordered them both to see them in person. I think both are beautiful in their own right, so I’m not posting this so much to suggest one is better than the other.
Rather, I’m hoping this might help someone else considering both garnet types, as I couldn’t find any side-by-side comparisons to understand the difference when I was searching. And these both happen to be the same size, albeit different cuts (rhodolite has a taller crown while the umbalite has a larger, lower table. Both of these were described by the vendors as being “more on the red side” (Rhodolite/PrecisionGem) and “crimson red” (Umbalite/Litnon). To my eyes, the Litnon garnet is more ‘crimson’ than the pics reveal (they look slightly orange-ish in the photos but it is really a ‘crimson red’ IRL) and the PG garnet looks more reddish-purple than purplish-red IRL to me.
My observation of the two side-by-side strictly on ‘color performance’ is that the rhodolite seems to ‘black-out’ a bit easier/more frequently, whereas the umbalite tends to be brighter more often in terms of color consistency and not black-out as much, if at all (which these pics do not show, actually, they show the opposite of what I see IRL). I tried to take a variety of pictures to show them in different light settings and angles, but it was more to show the color & faceting as opposed to trying to show one/other ‘at its worst’, if that makes sense. Again, both are beautiful stones, and it’s really a ‘first-world problem’ to own both.
Indoors, diffused light (Rhodolite top; Umbalite bottom):
Outdoors, indirect light (Rhodolite top; Umbalite bottom):
Also outdoors, but I’d tapped my iPad Pro screen to focus and the color changed/white-balanced (not sure):
Indoors, diffused light (Rhodolite left; Umbalite right):
Indoors, diffused light (Rhodolite right; Umbalite left):
Indoors, diffused light (Rhodolite top; Umbalite bottom):
Obviously, these are both cut by different people/from two different vendors. But I am curious - if anyone can answer - why the cuts vary so much (e.g., in terms of the facet pattern, crown angle, etc.). Is there that much of a ‘call’ by one vs. the other garnet material/type to have a lower crown and chunkier facets, or is it simply a matter of cutter preference based on the material?
Lastly, if anyone else has any pictures, comparisons, or commentary about the differences between these two varieties of garnet, please feel free to chime in and add your photos, thoughts, observations, etc. I wish I could have found more direct comparisons explaining (in layman terms) how these two differ when I was searching, so every little bit of information might help the next consumer!
- I started looking at alternatives awhile ago, and only recently came across both of these garnets which showed the most promise color-wise given the vendor pics & descriptions, so I ordered them both to see them in person. I think both are beautiful in their own right, so I’m not posting this so much to suggest one is better than the other. Rather, I’m hoping this might help someone else considering both garnet types, as I couldn’t find any side-by-side comparisons to understand the difference when I was searching. And these both happen to be the same size, albeit different cuts (rhodolite has a taller crown while the umbalite has a larger, lower table. Both of these were described by the vendors as being “more on the red side” (Rhodolite/PrecisionGem) and “crimson red” (Umbalite/Litnon). To my eyes, the Litnon garnet is more ‘crimson’ than the pics reveal (they look slightly orange-ish in the photos but it is really a ‘crimson red’ IRL) and the PG garnet looks more reddish-purple than purplish-red IRL to me.
My observation of the two side-by-side strictly on ‘color performance’ is that the rhodolite seems to ‘black-out’ a bit easier/more frequently, whereas the umbalite tends to be brighter more often in terms of color consistency and not black-out as much, if at all (which these pics do not show, actually, they show the opposite of what I see IRL). I tried to take a variety of pictures to show them in different light settings and angles, but it was more to show the color & faceting as opposed to trying to show one/other ‘at its worst’, if that makes sense. Again, both are beautiful stones, and it’s really a ‘first-world problem’ to own both.
Indoors, diffused light (Rhodolite top; Umbalite bottom):
Outdoors, indirect light (Rhodolite top; Umbalite bottom):
Also outdoors, but I’d tapped my iPad Pro screen to focus and the color changed/white-balanced (not sure):
Indoors, diffused light (Rhodolite left; Umbalite right):
Indoors, diffused light (Rhodolite right; Umbalite left):
Indoors, diffused light (Rhodolite top; Umbalite bottom):
Obviously, these are both cut by different people/from two different vendors. But I am curious - if anyone can answer - why the cuts vary so much (e.g., in terms of the facet pattern, crown angle, etc.). Is there that much of a ‘call’ by one vs. the other garnet material/type to have a lower crown and chunkier facets, or is it simply a matter of cutter preference based on the material?
Lastly, if anyone else has any pictures, comparisons, or commentary about the differences between these two varieties of garnet, please feel free to chime in and add your photos, thoughts, observations, etc. I wish I could have found more direct comparisons explaining (in layman terms) how these two differ when I was searching, so every little bit of information might help the next consumer!
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