Spinels!!

[deorwine]

I just went on a spinel buying spree: an "intense orange-pink" (vendor's words), a bubblegum pink, and a preloved red spinel ring that I love like CRAZY! I am rather worried I am starting to collect spinels Just Because. This could get pricey... it's already getting pricey. Eek! On the other hand, my other obsessions (tsavorites and blue sapphires) are even pricier these days... so maybe it's just as well

Bubblegum pink (just under a carat, well cut but not precision)



Orange-pink (just over a carat, cut by Dana). Weirdly, the pics came out opposite-land (the indoor pic looks the way it looks outdoors and vice versa... weird!!)

Outdoors it is peach-orange. This pic makes it look better than it is -- the pic makes it look a delicate padparadscha color, but no, it's really more of a less delicate peach/flesh color in bright daylight. (Well, uh, not my flesh, which is more kinda yellow-golden-brown -- but we all know what that means, right?? )



Indoors it is much more likely to be orange-pink or even tending towards the pink side:



Next post will have THE RING...

 

[deorwine]

THIS RING, you guys. I was able to snatch up this preloved one from another PSer! Getting a stoplight red spinel has been one of my holy grails ever since I saw a half-carat one and like a fool didn't snatch it up immediately, and then for MONTHS afterwards was stricken by remorse...

I'm not sure if this one counts as stoplight, but it's close enough for me! It does color-shift in different lighting, from rose red to an orangey-pinky-red that I don't really know how to describe except "reminds me of my Mahenge," but I've heard all spinels shift to some extent? And sometimes -- weirdly, often in low light situations where most of my gems black out or otherwise look crappy -- it does look to me like stoplight red.

It's cut by Jeff Davies, just under a carat. I reckon that's too small for most PSers, which makes me happy because it means no one else snatched it up immediately before I had a chance to look at the listings.

I took several pics trying to capture the colors but I wasn't really able to...

This captures the rose-red aspect of the color pretty well:



This one is fairly close to the stoplight red -- on my monitor I can see a bit of pink and a tiny bit of orange. I would call this sort of between the stoplight red and the flame-orangey-pinky-red colors I see in this stone.

 

[FrekeChild]

Oh! I love them all! Especially that red though!

 

[minousbijoux]

Very nice - all of them. I particularly love the red spinel ring - I don't even remember seeing that one for sale and it sure looks like a beauty. Congrats.

 

[JewelFreak]

Wow, I'm having vicarious fun through your great buys! I like them all -- the ring is super, I'm nuts about orange/pinky stones & I could eat up your bubblegum!

--- Laurie

 

[LD]

Can I just say thank you for not posting another blue sapphire thread!!!!!

I absolutely love your new purchases AND the colour shifter has a look of a Malaya Garnet don't you think minus the horrible brown colour they can go?

The ring is yummy also - enjoy wearing it.

 

[kgizo]

They all look great the red and bubblegum are my favorites since they are so bright.

 

[Sakag]

Those are wonderful! The peachy one is curiously compelling. How are you going to set it and the bubblegum?

 

[wordie89]

Second that on sapphire threads! Love the spinels. Have two set in rings and three sitting pretty in my lingerie drawer and in my case you're right; saw that lovely red spinel ring but interested in BIGGER stones. .. the dss for colored stones. Can't wait to see how you set the pinky orange one; I have one in a pear. Enjoy and thanks for sharing.

 

[deorwine]

Thanks so much Freke, minous,JewelFreak, and kgizo!

LD, hee, I know what you mean! I love blue sapphires madly, but sometimes there's just so much of it here that I get to wanting something a little different! (I especially love things like spinels and tourmalines -- and non-blue sapphires -- that can come in lots of different colors!) I'd love to get a Malaya garnet sometime to compare, but I've never seen one in real life.

Sakag, I'm thinking yellow gold for sure for both of the pinky spinels to bring out the pink (although the color shifter may have some problems when it goes peachy... but I think I can live with that). Probably something very simple -- I was thinking one of the simple Daniel M styles -- to bring out the beauty of the stones...

 

[demantoid]

I love the peachy pink one! I just bought a peachy one and I hope it turns out to be as pretty as yours when it arrives.

 

[chrono]

Looks orangish red to orangish pink on my monitor but heck, I'm sure you got a good price on it being a pre-loved stone. Did the setting come with it too? Looks great on you.

 

[deorwine]

Thanks demantoid! I want to see pics when it arrives!

Chrono, I was hoping you'd chime in because I admire your eye (and your honesty) so much! Yes, I agree with your assessment; especially in direct (or bright indirect) sunlight it has more orangey-pink-to-pink components, and in my rotten office fluorescents it's a bright orangey-red, actually a little more so than the pictures appear on my monitor. In dim lighting, it looks more pure-red to me, but I couldn't get a picture of that because they turned out dark; I wonder if it's a biological eye thing? I do think shifty stones are interesting, though, and it always shifts to a very vivid pleasing color, so I'm happy

Yes, it came with the setting -- I didn't think I was a halo kind of person, and (before now) I never would have set a gemstone I bought loose in a halo, but this ring may be changing my mind...

 

[innerkitten]

Wow beautiful ring! Those are all nice and the peachy one is so unique.

 

[chrono]

I don't think I've ever seen a spinel that never shifted. All of them shifted, even if just a tiny bit. If it shifts to another beautiful and pretty colour with good saturation, that's about as good as it gets. The entire package is lovely. Congrats on a good purchase.

 

[pregcurious]

I agree, they all shift. The one my avatar is showing it's purple modifer in bright but overcast day. Indoors, it loses the purple.

 

[Catmom]

Wow, that ring is simply gorgeous!!!

 

[Shushinator]

I asked about that ring but was too late AND saw that orangey pink from Dana too late as well. you're one step ahead of me!

 

[deorwine]

Thank you Chrono, pregcurious, and catmom! It's interesting that they all shift! I think color-shifting/color-changing stones are so cool, and spinels may be becoming my favorite stones, what with their color shifts and their dispersion (sometimes -- the orangey-pink and the bluish-gray shifter I have show dispersion, and the red and pink don't) and their range of colors.

Shushinator, oh dear, I apologize for scooping you twice! At least you got to see pictures? I think most of my spinel cravings have been filled now, and in any case I have no money left to buy any more, so I won't be getting any more for quite a long time (And I'll keep you in mind if I ever have to put them on the preloved board... though I hope not!)

 

[pregcurious]

Red rubies will also shift like red spinels, but the top rubies I have seen usually shift towards pink or purple. I've noticed that spinels usually shift towards orange or purple, but I've seen fewer red spinels (3?) than rubies (many) in person.

 

[minousbijoux]

Thank you Chrono, pregcurious, and catmom! It's interesting that they all shift! I think color-shifting/color-changing stones are so cool, and spinels may be becoming my favorite stones, what with their color shifts and their dispersion (sometimes -- the orangey-pink and the bluish-gray shifter I have show dispersion, and the red and pink don't) and their range of colors.

Shushinator, oh dear, I apologize for scooping you twice! At least you got to see pictures? I think most of my spinel cravings have been filled now, and in any case I have no money left to buy any more, so I won't be getting any more for quite a long time (And I'll keep you in mind if I ever have to put them on the preloved board... though I hope not!)

I love this about spinels! The dispersion in lighter spinels is what made me fall hard for them. You are absolutely right, that you see those amazing splinters and sparks of different colors from the lighter spinels, where you don't see them in the highly saturated reds, etc. This is one of the few things that has me thinking deep colors and strong saturation is not always a good thing, and has gotten me to covet certain spinels.

 

[deorwine]

pregcurious, that's very interesting! I have seen very few (non-synthetic) rubies in person, but yes, now that you mention it, even the synthetic ones will shift to a certain extent, but not to orange. It's funny, my three-year-old LOVES orange, and as a result I'm way more okay with it than I was three years ago

Minous, I am with you all the way with loving the dispersion! You know, interestingly, my grey-blue actually has a reasonably dark body color (although it was cut in a super-brilliant cut by Dana so it looks really brilliant head-on), but it still has crazy dispersion. But none of the high-saturation spinels I've seen (to be fair, I haven't seen a huge number, but I've seen a few) have had any of those sparks of color... I think it's a lovely thing about spinels, that they all seem to be beautiful -- the less saturated colors are still really really pretty and interesting!

 

[pregcurious]

I came back to look at your bubble gum pink spinel. Its the perfect "pink" to me. I can't wait to see how you set.