Show your Spessartite

[T L]

Ok, well I figured as much. I thought if it was more Orange than Red, that it would be some form of "Mandarin". What kind of value would this stone have if sold by a retailer? Does my investment of around $200 allow for any profit if I were to decide to sell the stone? Or is it a loser or worth about what is into it? As I said Im a collector but I do want to try to sell some stones for profit if I ever end up making good decisions on what I'm buying and what I'm investing to have it fixed/recut.

I don't really need sugar-coated responses as I"m trying to learn what I should look at and what I shouldn't as far as value of any stone. When I see spesartites smaller than mine at not-really that much better cutting going for $600 or more I get excited. I see top stones with top color here going for thousands. So with a good cut (that it already has) but not ideal color, is it still worth something like a $500 or $600 price tag or is it a loser? LOL. I don't know how much value the precision-cutting provides either...

I've been collecting/learning as much as I can for a couple of years now..and somehow I thought this particular stone was worth the investment in recutting and thought that it would end up allowing me to make some kind of profit...

Thoughts?

I think $200 is what you could probably get for it if you were an established seller or a person with a good reputation that sells once in a while. If you were Tiffany&Co, that would be a different story. The problem is that the brown is a bit of a turn off for people, and it is also very dark in tone. I tried to recently sell a brighter spessartite around 3 carats, and it was well cut, and I couldn't even get $100 for it. Maybe highlighting the fact that Dan Stair cut it might help you get $200 and you wouldn't have lost much. I know some laps get more money for their stones than others, and no offense to Dan, but he isn't one of them. I see his stones linger a long time when they're sold second hand. Other laps, like Jeff White, Barry Bridgestock, sell in two seconds flat, especially if they're finer color.

 

[GemFever]

Here are mine. The fanta can is there only for fun, my stones aren't fanta-level. I like the oval, it's very bright and very clean, but there's no glow (bummer). Also, it either has a good dose of brown, or extinction (not sure which). I like the red one too, it's fun. Got it for cheap on ebay. The earrings & pendant set are less saturated in color, but with probably more yellow than brown.

 

[ChrisA222]

Thanks...I'm learning as I go. I guess when I said "profit" it really more about owning something worth more than what I had into it, and, if, down the road, I wanted to sell my collection, I made a good choice to invest in the recut. That sort of thing. I don't really plan to "flip" stones, as such, unless I doubled my money, at least.

In this specific case, I bought what I recognized as a stone that had a lot of potential, with orange color, really good clarity...I mean, it is super clean under a loupe, and size--it was over 3.5cts, all for under $100. It just didn't have any life to it because of its darker tone, and especially, the "native" cut. The recut investment was done because I knew that if the pavillion was re-done, the sparkle would come and it has. But, I guess you can't do anything about the tone or the brown. I don't mind a little brown in the orange.

The Spess that I would value the most as far as beauty, isn't the most valuable monetarily. Beauty wise, I would love one that is very much reddish Orange..clearly "orange" and not "red' but..well, you get my drift. It seems the value is in the pure orange, but that nice dose of red really looks best to me. I guess my point is that the "value" of the stone isn't always the most beautiful. Wheras some of these very yellowy orange stones may be "worth" 10x what my darker stone iswhich has some brown, but to me, I would rather look at the stone I have than some yellowed out Orange. LOL.

Some of these stones are AMAZING though!!

 

[minousbijoux]

I'll add my two cents and say that its pretty easy to find spessartite all over ebay that looks like yours. If the color isn't there initially, that is, if its not a sought after color, having it precision cut won't make a heck of a lot of difference. I recently sold some dark spessartites and was pleased that I found someone who would enjoy them, though mine were an absolutely knock out almost vivid, orangey red when bright light hit them. IIRC, the cutting was fine. I sold them really inexpensively - just wanting to clean out my gem box - probably for less than $10/carat. Even at that bargain price, I did not have people flooding my email box. Perhaps two or three inquiries. I made sure the person understood that they were, in many lighting conditions, rather subdued and dark.

 

[ChrisA222]

Bijoux..

I respect your opinion, but my stone does not look like either of those two. The first one you show is very dark and looks red. The second one is definately much redder than mine. While mine is dark, it is definately orange without a doubt. Ignore the vendor pic as it looks nothing at all like the vendor pic. It may be dark, may have a little brown, but it is orange, and not red at all.

THat being said, that bottom pic is the exact color that I value, lol, and the market doesnt. If I knew you had that for sale for so cheaply, I would have been all over it!! That is so nice. But its very reddish orange, mine is much more orange than that. Oh well.

 

[minousbijoux]

Thanks for your response. Sorry for the misunderstanding - I wasn't trying to say that this stone was like yours, but to say that this stone was a spess of a not that sought after color, though it has some redeeming points to it - like yours.

Those two photos are the same stone - one in extremely low light conditions, and the other in indirect north facing, mid-day, outdoor lighting (by which stones are to be judged). Here is another - sorry for the table reflection; its the first photo I came across. The good news is that the person I sold it to was delighted with it (hope she still is).

 

[minousbijoux]

Sorry, just reread my first post and I did say "look like yours." Hopefully, my second post clarifies that a bit.

 

[LD]

Hi Chrisa - I think the point is that your stone really isn't "orange" in terms of a valuable "orange". Many spessartites are "orange" but they have a high degree of brown (as yours has), or red. This devalues the stone significantly in terms of scale of worth. So, if you have fanta orange at the top, brown would be at the bottom in terms of value if you think of it as a sliding scale.

"Normal" spessartites that are unremarkable have less orange and more brown or red. These are exceptionally easy to buy as has been said. You can get them everywhere. Have you increased the desirability/value of your stone? Probably not in all honesty. Having said that, people like different colours and so where one person may want to kill for fanta orange, you're just as likely to find somebody who likes the less desired colours. So will your stone be worth any more than similar spess on the market? Probably not by any reasonable amount. It has good clarity and the cut has been improved but as the stone isn't considered to be "top" in terms of colour there will always be a ceiling to what you'll get back if you ever sell it.

The same can be said for all stones. I understand you're not thinking of flipping them but if I were you I would never buy a stone thinking that you may be able to sell it for more in a few years. Buy what you love and then if you hit lucky and a stone is mined out and you have a good quality one you could make a profit later down the line. In the meantime, just enjoy your stones!

 

[T L]

I did the Fanta test with a bottle of really neon artificial colored Fanta soda (USA bought) with my pear in an old setting (it's the one in the new setting on the prior page of this thread).



I thought it was a neat photo so I wanted to share.

 

[T L]

Here's a better up close photo of my more reddish orange spessartite. Some people like this color, and it was sold to me as a "true mandarin" from Namibia. I don't think it's a true mandarin, nor is it from Namibia. It's almost flawless (unheard of for Namibia) and pretty typical Nigerian color, and Nigerian material is very clean (unlike Namibian). Well, for those interested in the more reddish orange stones, I think this is a good shot.

 

[chrono]

Chrissa,

One cannot predict whether the value of any particular gem will increase or decrease. Sometimes, that type will almost be mined out and if one has a fine example of that gemtype, then the value will go up. If it isn't, then the value will remain flat.

Unfortunately, I see your spessartite as reddish orange as well in your pictures. The tone is also a bit darkish. If you bought it because you love it, great! The market is skewed towards a pure orange though so it will probably not increase much in value over time as these are still plentiful. Also note that when it comes to coloured gemstones, it doesn't matter that it is super clean under a loupe. The clarity that everyone (and the market) aims for is eye clean. In fact, sometimes loupe clean stones run the risk of being a synthetic for those who do not have the right tools to verify the stone. Size will also not play a big role in pricing unless the colour is at least good to very fine.

You are correct about what a recut can and cannot do. It will increase the "life" and brilliance of the stone. It cannot change the tone or modifier colour unless you happen to have a good amount of carat weight loss, which then ends up making the tone lighter and the saturation lessened (browner or grayer).

 

[Arkteia]

These are photos of my Namibian. Taken in haste, in the evening, with my camera. Just to give you an idea of how it looks.

 

[Arkteia]

For comparison a 4-ct stone from Lloliondo.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Mine, 2.47 Nigerian.

 

[GemFever]

Arkteia and Lauren: beauties!

 

[deorwine]

I did the Fanta test with a bottle of really neon artificial colored Fanta soda (USA bought) with my pear in an old setting (it's the one in the new setting on the prior page of this thread).



I thought it was a neat photo so I wanted to share.

Wow. Just wow. THAT is fanta orange!

 

[deorwine]

Arkteia, I absolutely love your stones and settings, especially that Lees one. I'm curious about it: how does it perform in different lighting conditions? I actually made a little reflector bowl like that out of aluminum foil to see how it would look with one of my gems -- it seems to be incredible in direct lighting but maybe actually a little worse in indirect lighting because light isn't really hitting the stone from the sides. Though I imagine for a well-cut bright gem like that you can hardly notice the difference; what a fireball!

 

[Arkteia]

Thank you, Deorwine. I shall try to take photos at daytime. Honestly, it looks well in all lights. I am biting myself at not having bought Marc Sarosi's tsavorite which he was selling at the same time, from the same vault. I wonder who got it. When I got this spessartite, I could not believe my own eyes. Marc called it "spectral", and I agree.

 

[minousbijoux]

Yes, I agree - it looks spectral. It is perfect! I WANT

 

[athenaworth]

God I love orange!!

 

[NKOTB]

Here's a better up close photo of my more reddish orange spessartite. Some people like this color, and it was sold to me as a "true mandarin" from Namibia. I don't think it's a true mandarin, nor is it from Namibia. It's almost flawless (unheard of for Namibia) and pretty typical Nigerian color, and Nigerian material is very clean (unlike Namibian). Well, for those interested in the more reddish orange stones, I think this is a good shot.

Love this one!!

 

[colorluvr]

Comparison photo of three of my oval Fanta spesses. Middle stone is the most "true" fanta. It's 4.48ct, but it's with Jerry Newman right now getting that pesky window removed, so it could come back a bit smaller. The stones on each side aren't as saturated and have a tad bit of yellow, but they will be used for drop earrings (someday) and I wear my hair over my ears, so I'm sure they will be fine. (the one on the right is out of focus a bit, but almost exactly the same color as the opposing oval that is the same size). They don't have any brown that I can see IRL, even though it looks that way on my monitor. The pear and the big oval are almost exactly the same color, so I just think the top photo is too dark.

The pear is the one I posted in the less than perfect thread. It's quite included, but it glows like crazy and is 5.93ct, so I think it will make a nice pendant.

The last photos shows the progression of color of my spesses (larger oval isn't in this photo) from Fanta to almost red.. I had one that had a lot more yellow, but I sold it.

 

[Arkteia]

I think Lauren's ring is a good example of "gems having no pedigree". From Nigeria, but looks very orange. I have seen one stone that was definitely a Namibian, but was more yellow, and another stone I had to return back because it was brick-red rather than orange. We know that not all Mahenges are THE MAHENGES, and recently I saw a string of Vietnamese blue spinels that I did not buy, they were clear blue but desaturated. TL's stone looks pretty orange to me, no matter where it came from.

 

[Arkteia]

I decided to take a photo of my Namibian at daytime and to my horror, realized that the pendant was horribly dirty. I tried to wash it a little bit, just a very light wash, and took the photo again.

 

[blithesome71]

5.64 ct Reddish Orange Spess (Step cut oval 9x10.6x6.4mm) I purchased last 2010 will try to post decent RL shots hehe

 

[chrono]

I decided to take a photo of my Namibian at daytime and to my horror, realized that the pendant was horribly dirty. I tried to wash it a little bit, just a very light wash, and took the photo again.

That light wash makes the stone pop like crazy; such a beautiful intense orange.

 

[LD]

Arkteia

I am fascinated by your pendant. Is the cup behind the stone yellow gold and it's made so that it appears orange because it somehow reflects the orange of the stone? I'm truly in awe of the design.

May I ask how you think it would perform with a grey stone on a white gold background? Since seeing your pendant, I was wondering how it would look with my grey diamond? I wonder if you need strong bright vibrant colours to make the reflector cup work? I've looked at the website for others and I seem drawn to the ones where he's used bright stones but I'd love to know how grey would look. What are your thoughts please?

 

[canuk-gal]

I decided to take a photo of my Namibian at daytime and to my horror, realized that the pendant was horribly dirty. I tried to wash it a little bit, just a very light wash, and took the photo again.

I'd forgotten how glorious orange this baby is!

Loving this thread!

cheers--Sharon

 

[T L]

Artekia,
That is a beautiful stone!

LD,
I think that's a concave gold surface surrounding the stone, which reflects the stone, making the whole disk orange as well.

 

[anythingorange]

bright ice,

Have you received the Spess from Precision Gem yet? I'm eager for photos.