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Sub 3 carat spinel search

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metinemre

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 16, 2024
Messages
31
Hi everyone, I`ve been collecting any shiny crystal looking stone since I`m a little kid but never purchased gem stones in collecting level. I`ve been lurking in forums lately. Of course looking for the best I can afford. Mostly looking for spinels in sub 3 carat range. Did anyone purchase from starlanka or gandharagems? I appreciate if you can please suggest any on line web site I can check. I checked the trusted vendors post but didn`t see these two web sites. TIA
 
Both! Trusted vendors for sure. What kind of spinel are you hunting? And welcome to PS!!
 
Autumn in New England said:
Both! Trusted vendors for sure. What kind of spinel are you hunting? And welcome to PS!!
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Thank you. Happy to be here. I like the red, blue and gray to purplish gray the most. I`m looking for 10x8mm 9x7mm 8x6.5mm cushion cut in general, maybe oval. Eye clean to VVS and of course IF lop clean possible. I like the prices of both vendors. Looks like Stralanka has some nice feedback here but I couldn`t find any first and experience or reviews of Gandhara here. Any similar vendors/web sites that I should look at? US or international is fine.

Since I live in Phoenix, I`m also planning to go to Tucson show. Never been there before. Would it be better to wait for the show for better quality/price hunting?
 
metinemre said:
Thank you. Happy to be here. I like the red, blue and gray to purplish gray the most. I`m looking for 10x8mm 9x7mm 8x6.5mm cushion cut in general, maybe oval. Eye clean to VVS and of course IF lop clean possible. I like the prices of both vendors. Looks like Stralanka has some nice feedback here but I couldn`t find any first and experience or reviews of Gandhara here. Any similar vendors/web sites that I should look at? US or international is fine.

Since I live in Phoenix, I`m also planning to go to Tucson show. Never been there before. Would it be better to wait for the show for better quality/price hunting?
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I sort of shop a mixed bag of vendors myself, but for a start, take a look at our list of recommended sellers... https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/list-of-vendors-for-reference.208782/

Personally, I might wait for Tucson. Nothing like shopping a gem in person! Good luck!!
 
Autumn in New England said:
Personally, I might wait for Tucson. Nothing like shopping a gem in person! Good luck!!
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This. It's what has made our own sapphire search so hard, we are just 6 weeks away from JOGS in Tucson, and there is one international vendor in particular that always has marvelous sapphires at a reasonable enough price (from a consumer perspective).

We go twice a year and nothing compares to seeing rows and rows of gemstones up close! Fall show is smaller than winter but still worth a look :-)
 
I'm not sure where you find a loupe clean spinel above 3 carats that is decent not too dark red and not a large amount of dollars these days, overly dark reds, dark blues from Africa, and greys and purple greys there is still plenty of material coming out of Burma that is clean and reasonably priced.
 

I purchased a few that I liked from Gandhara, starlanka and mastercutgems web sites, waiting for them to arrive now. ​


Also, I`ve been searching Etsy crazy since I looked at spinel collections on almost every suggested vendor`s web site. I do have some Etsy links to share and ask if any of these are worth to buy? Stone quality vs price or any of these etsy vendors looking risky or I should feel safe.
Shall I post the links here? Or Pm anyone who can help me? Cheers
 
jenzgemz said:
Meant to share this with you, it's been on my saved items list for a little bit. I think it's really lovely, someone else would have to share thoughts on quality/dimensions/etc: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1356333938/311-cts-gem-color-green-blue-spinel-will?click_key=f1014547069a38daa49fa00b5d1dfae9c7760de7:1356333938&click_sum=2b3db66d&ref=shop_home_active_50&frs=1
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Not a bad stone, but I think you can find better. It has some green and gray in it with a darker tone, which is not ideal. The saturation is also listed as a 3, which is pretty weak for a blue spinel. Might be colored predominantly by iron with very little cobalt. But the price is appropriate. Cut looks nice... and it's clean.
 
Quick update, Starlanka is amazing, very responsive, very professional, total of three different purchases. Total of 12 spinels. On my 2nd purchase 2 inexpensive stones had some inclusions I didn`t like. Suhail offered me a refund or discount on my next purchase. Eventho my third purchase was three times more than my 2nd purchase amount he still give me a very nice percentage discount. Highlt recommended.

Gandhara is also very responsive and professional I didn`t like the stone when it arrived, return was easy.

Mastercutgems is also superb. I purchased small oval cut sapphires and rubies lots 5mmx3mm, ecatly as described.
 
jenzgemz said:
Meant to share this with you, it's been on my saved items list for a little bit. I think it's really lovely, someone else would have to share thoughts on quality/dimensions/etc: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1356333938/311-cts-gem-color-green-blue-spinel-will?click_key=f1014547069a38daa49fa00b5d1dfae9c7760de7:1356333938&click_sum=2b3db66d&ref=shop_home_active_50&frs=1
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I think this may have been the spinel that Jim sent me to view a while back. It looks very blue in the video but he describes it as green/blue. If it is the same stone I returned it but probably should have kept it. It was a bit on the dark side, a darker teal color but really beautiful.
 
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