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Tell me about tsavorite garnets — best sources, interesting features, pics to share

123ducklings

Brilliant_Rock
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Jun 10, 2020
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Hi all,
Recently tsavorite garnets have caught my eye and I’ve been having fun window shopping. I am not looking to buy anything specific at the moment (no specs or budget) I am just enjoying seeing what’s out there and developing a sense of what I like best.

Any tsavorite fans on the forum willing to share your knowledge and expertise? I’d love to hear your favorite sources for tsavorites, any tips or information pertinent to shopping (sketchy treatments I should watch for?), and see pictures of your beauties — really anything you’re willing to share is much appreciated.
 

lilmosun

Ideal_Rock
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Personally, I prefer tsavorites that are well saturated, slight blue modifier (no yellow) and deeper in tone. You do not want a tsavorite that is too dark that it blacks out in some lights. (I have the same preference for mint garnets except for the lighter tone).

I've noticed that the line between tsavorite and mint garnets can vary by vendor - both are green grossular garnets so in shopping I would focus on what you love as opposed to marketing names applied.
 

123ducklings

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jun 10, 2020
Messages
914
Personally, I prefer tsavorites that are well saturated, slight blue modifier (no yellow) and deeper in tone. You do not want a tsavorite that is too dark that it blacks out in some lights. (I have the same preference for mint garnets except for the lighter tone).

I've noticed that the line between tsavorite and mint garnets can vary by vendor - both are green grossular garnets so in shopping I would focus on what you love as opposed to marketing names applied.

Thank you! I had noticed that about color. I’ve been drawn the most to mid-range greens but I will keep an eye out for the lighter range as I’ve seen some lovely lighter stones as well.
 

elle_71125

Ideal_Rock
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I freaking adore tsavorites.

Here are a couple of my absolute favorites.

This mint garnet owned by @aljdewey
02A8623F-F576-4603-BAEB-4D28BB2E08C7.jpeg

This tsavorite owned by @suzanne2
B92B0094-FD5C-40DE-AEBD-1CD36B4B807F.jpeg

This tsavorite was sold by Diamond by Lauren (and how I wish I had the money back then ;(). Personally, I want one just like this...but bigger.
7109CAF9-4A58-4DC8-BFE9-3F1881BC58A3.png
 

dk168

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Messages
12,491
I adore saturated Tsarvorites!

I have only purchased small stones so far, and a sizable one is on my bling wish list.

DK :))
 

voce

Ideal_Rock
Joined
May 13, 2018
Messages
5,161
IMG_20191025_124655351.jpg
Like @lilmosun I also prefer vividly saturated, slightly bluish, not yellowish tsavorite. However, I think I started collecting too late, and all that seemed affordable and worth my money that I've been able to get was this suite of five emerald cut tsavorites I set into a crown ring I designed. Any tsavorites over a carat is expensive, and prices for over two carats are astronomical (at least from my perspective) because the mines are shut down and it's not clear when the governments of Kenya and Tanzania will allow the mines to reopen the way they were run before.

Right now unless money is no object, or if you don't mind buying the mint or gems with more yellow, it's not a good time to buy tsavorites, in my humble opinion. Stock is limited and prices are high. Honestly, I see more value in buying fine qualify emerald at the same price point, if you want a larger size. The examples Rfisher and elle posted are probably around $10k if not more, if such fine tsavorites are still available on the market.

Another alternative is lab tsav.
 

123ducklings

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jun 10, 2020
Messages
914
I forgot this one. It was sold by Gene @PrecisionGem just a few weeks ago. Now that was a killer tsav!
A5B8C350-1AF6-44CF-8D04-BE9A77D71C70.jpeg


There two are mine:

A tsav from Precision Gem
DE2E5441-220D-40BE-97DE-D97F750FB416.jpeg

A mint garnet from Gilded Lane on Etsy.
E13A29A6-BC99-4E31-BC24-3F166F8053DF.jpeg

Thank you so much for the pictures!!! Gorgeous stones, and that pear ring is a real knockout! Your second ring (Gilded Lane) is totally mesmerizing :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2:
 

123ducklings

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jun 10, 2020
Messages
914
IMG_20191025_124655351.jpg
Like @lilmosun I also prefer vividly saturated, slightly bluish, not yellowish tsavorite. However, I think I started collecting too late, and all that seemed affordable and worth my money that I've been able to get was this suite of five emerald cut tsavorites I set into a crown ring I designed. Any tsavorites over a carat is expensive, and prices for over two carats are astronomical (at least from my perspective) because the mines are shut down and it's not clear when the governments of Kenya and Tanzania will allow the mines to reopen the way they were run before.

Right now unless money is no object, or if you don't mind buying the mint or gems with more yellow, it's not a good time to buy tsavorites, in my humble opinion. Stock is limited and prices are high. Honestly, I see more value in buying fine qualify emerald at the same price point, if you want a larger size. The examples Rfisher and elle posted are probably around $10k if not more, if such fine tsavorites are still available on the market.

Another alternative is lab tsav.

@voce I was hoping you’d post, I really admire your eye for stones and your creativity and boldness with jewelry designs.

Thank you so much for that info about the mines! I’ve noticed major variation in prices, especially in the 2ct range and beyond as you mention. I’m in no rush to buy unless the right stone were to really grab me, so I’m happy to window shop and wait for prices to come down (if they will, I hope?).

I have noticed comparatively low prices for loose stones on Etsy. Could you shed any light? They claim to be natural tsavs; I’m wondering if it’s just a complete fraud and I’d actually receive glass/YAG, or if they are just inferior rough/cutting that makes the price. I don’t have the knowledge or expertise to determine what I’m looking at yet just from some listing pictures.
 

voce

Ideal_Rock
Joined
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Messages
5,161
I have noticed comparatively low prices for loose stones on Etsy. Could you shed any light? They claim to be natural tsavs; I’m wondering if it’s just a complete fraud and I’d actually receive glass/YAG, or if they are just inferior rough/cutting that makes the price. I don’t have the knowledge or expertise to determine what I’m looking at yet just from some listing pictures.

Oh, thank you for trusting my opinion so much. I'm just a really enthusiastic hobbyist.

There are bound to be plenty of natural tsavs out there, just as there are plenty of rubies out there, but few rubies/tsavs I consider beautiful. Do the comparatively low price tsavs look like this?


Look at the fourth picture, the hand pic. There's a lot of "bleh" greens when it comes to grossular garnet, and then there's vivid bluish green, which represents the finest, as is what I see in Rfisher and Elle's tsavs. Lighter greens I would personally call mint garnet, though unscrupulous sellers would probably call even a yellowish light green stone a tsav, just as some would call a pink sapphire without red a ruby.

There are fake irradiated green gems that might be masquerading as tsavs in the shops of unscrupulous sellers. Please buy responsibly.
 

123ducklings

Brilliant_Rock
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Jun 10, 2020
Messages
914
Oh, thank you for trusting my opinion so much. I'm just a really enthusiastic hobbyist.

There are bound to be plenty of natural tsavs out there, just as there are plenty of rubies out there, but few rubies/tsavs I consider beautiful. Do the comparatively low price tsavs look like this?


Look at the fourth picture, the hand pic. There's a lot of "bleh" greens when it comes to grossular garnet, and then there's vivid bluish green, which represents the finest, as is what I see in Rfisher and Elle's tsavs. Lighter greens I would personally call mint garnet, though unscrupulous sellers would probably call even a yellowish light green stone a tsav, just as some would call a pink sapphire without red a ruby.

There are fake irradiated green gems that might be masquerading as tsavs in the shops of unscrupulous sellers. Please buy responsibly.

Thank you so much!
 

dk168

Super_Ideal_Rock
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This one was sold on Yvonne's site a while ago:

20201026_015153.jpg

DK :))
 

LD

Super_Ideal_Rock
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@chrono has an amazing Tsav and I have a sneaky suspicion that @TL has one too and @Arcadian has a stunning one. Hopefully they'll be along to share..

These are a couple of mine. I find green stones difficult to photograph so I'm attaching the Vendor's photo which is how I see the gem from Swala and then a pretty graduated Tsav pendant.
tsavorite_garnet_1.jpg

Tsavorite pendant.jpg
 
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123ducklings

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jun 10, 2020
Messages
914
@chrono has an amazing Tsav and I have a sneaky suspicion that @TL has one too and @Arcadian has a stunning one. Hopefully they'll be along to share..

These are a couple of mine. I find green stones difficult to photograph so I'm attaching the Vendor's photo which is how I see the gem from Swala and then a pretty graduated Tsav pendant.
tsavorite_garnet_1.jpg

Tsavorite pendant.jpg

Thank you so much! Both beautiful! That pendant is really interesting — something I wouldn’t have thought to do but I love it. It reminds me of the similarly graduated parcel of pink sapphires someone just bought. This might be my next rabbit hole, lol
 

partgypsy

Ideal_Rock
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6,622
I was lucky to snag my ring on ebay (3 carat stone). I don't think it is the top of the top for one because it does have significant eye visible inclusions but- the color is great (saturated and no gray, off colors). I got it appraised. Guess what the stone alone was appraised for? It was a lot. Because of the color. That said I also like the light and bright colored tsavorites to; it is more important to find a stone you love how it looks, that is in your price range, that is priced fairly than other criteria. Tsavorites are not treated stones.
tsavoritering1.jpg
 
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budmanbudman10

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 15, 2019
Messages
81
I'd recommend the Instagram seller Bahia_jewellery who sold me my super saturated and bright tsavs (between 1-2cts)
 

Catmom

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Apr 6, 2005
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I love Tsavorites!

Here are some of mine...

IMG_3534.jpg

IMG_7740.jpg

IMG_5707.jpg
 

Rfisher

Ideal_Rock
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There's a lot of "bleh" greens when it comes to grossular garnet, and then there's vivid bluish green, which represents the finest, as is what I see in Rfisher and Elle's tsavs.

Sadly I have no fine Tsavorite.
I wish!
 

Arcadian

Ideal_Rock
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Sep 17, 2008
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I got a couple.

The oval is from Swala. And my goodness you can sure tell its near top stuff! NEVER gets dark, sparkles like you wouldn't believe in every light you can think of. I forget the size, I think 1.47cts??? its been so freaking long, but its very much a green with a blue modifier.

I dare not put that ring all the way on because it would need to be cut off (my fingers/hands are very swollen!)

the 2nd stone is 1.63ct stone, which has a yellow modifier. I don't think its half bad really considering what I paid for it, its freaking awesome!!! Not as well cut, but Its still a decent cut. I expect it will set well...but I spent more on the damn report....lol

Then I purchased a few sets of Melee....lol yeah well.. don't know what to do with those either. They're quite light but they're also very very small (1.2 and 2.1mm respectively)

These are quickies with a crop so you can see why I fell in love with them all over again when I moved to SoFL.




Outside

20201026_1637102.jpg

Inside
20201026_161925.jpg

Lots of itty bitty melee!

20201026_162022204.jpg
 

budmanbudman10

Rough_Rock
Joined
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Messages
81
Forgot to post a photo before (oops!). You can see these two tsavs in not great lighting that makes the other stones look bad - but the tsavs still look vividly saturated and bright :)

IMG_0982.jpg
 

voce

Ideal_Rock
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Messages
5,161
IMG_20200415_181127.jpg
This is my bright green tsav, which I lucked out on and was able to acquire on LoupeTroop from another PSer before she went trade. One of my earliest CS acquisitions, so I almost forgot about it. Not the super saturated kind, not bluish. This is the more affordable type of tsav, but even this color is hard to find over two carats.
 
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NKOTB

Ideal_Rock
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Here’s my 4 ct included tsav pear from Prima, My 2.49 ct oval from Precision Gem, 4+ ct mint, 1.9 ct mint from Peter Torraca, and a little tsavvy mint cushion from Gene. Let’s just say I understand your curiosity about greens. :) 13E7F790-24E3-446D-87E8-5EAB4799E5C4.jpeg 0C7D5871-6761-46B0-853D-2CCE24F781FC.jpeg B5FEF29F-E267-4BC4-879E-15FDD01ACE63.jpeg 6777CECD-2D26-445E-9DF8-48EC5BB24F85.jpeg 9C40180A-818F-4B2B-A01D-8D2196879F01.jpeg
 

lilmosun

Ideal_Rock
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Here’s my 4 ct included tsav pear from Prima, My 2.49 ct oval from Precision Gem, 4+ ct mint, 1.9 ct mint from Peter Torraca, and a little tsavvy mint cushion from Gene. Let’s just say I understand your curiosity about greens. :) 13E7F790-24E3-446D-87E8-5EAB4799E5C4.jpeg 0C7D5871-6761-46B0-853D-2CCE24F781FC.jpeg B5FEF29F-E267-4BC4-879E-15FDD01ACE63.jpeg 6777CECD-2D26-445E-9DF8-48EC5BB24F85.jpeg 9C40180A-818F-4B2B-A01D-8D2196879F01.jpeg

No fair hanging onto all of those beauties unset :cry2:
 

lilmosun

Ideal_Rock
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Color me green with envy.

My tsavs and mint garnets. I joined late in the game but was able to get all of mine at a great price preloved. The tsavs are smaller but I really wanted a deeper green w/ slight blue modifier that didn't go black at all which was hard to find when I was looking. The mint has a bit of a wonky cut but I couldn't pass it up due to the saturation/tone/size.

tsavs.jpg
 

LemonMoonLex

Ideal_Rock
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Apr 13, 2018
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My moody gal ♥

She's much darker than many would prefer but I actually adore darker tsavs, especially when they have lots of blue!

I forgot her ct weight but I vaguely remember her being 1.2-1.3cts.

IMG_20200822_124931308~3.jpg

I've since taken her out of her simple bezel setting & have very far plans of setting her in a diamond halo.
 

elle_71125

Ideal_Rock
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Screenshot_20190916-215917_eBay.jpg Here's mine. Just shy of 5cts. She does have some internal beauty marks as I call them, but we are in love, lol

Oh baby! :love: I need to see more.
 
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