The best ruby lookalike?

[pwendyp]

At some point in the near ish to mid future, I am hoping to get a red stone/diamond cluster made, very much in the vein of the gorgeous sapphire cluster that LostSapphire has just had made - a beautiful beautiful ring!

For the longest time, I have coveted the stunning Leon ruby cluster, that I am sure many of you have seen and admired.

Recently, at a gem show, I spied a gorgeous ruby - and the young lad almost sold it me for just under $500/£250! I'd never have lived with the guilt - even if I'd managed to get it out the door...but his boss kinda heard our conversation, which basically was me saying 'are you absolutely sure that is the right price?' - and him replying 'well it does have one tiny dark spot'!

It was over 2ct - and in my usual words 'a juicy gumdrop red!'

It was also several thousand $'s!

So - at no point soon, if ever, am I going to get a ruby...so what can I get that is red, juicy, and will look like a luscious gumdrop?

Spinel I know...and very possible...garnet also - I have one, but it's not too good on quality (although colour is good) - but wondering if there's anything else out there, that I am overlooking? Crimson/cherry red...sparkly...deep...gumdrop like.

many TIA

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 9/21/2008 8:23:22 AM
Author:pwendyp
At some point in the near ish to mid future, I am hoping to get a red stone/diamond cluster made, very much in the vein of the gorgeous sapphire cluster that LostSapphire has just had made - a beautiful beautiful ring!

For the longest time, I have coveted the stunning Leon ruby cluster, that I am sure many of you have seen and admired.

Recently, at a gem show, I spied a gorgeous ruby - and the young lad almost sold it me for just under $500/£250! I''d never have lived with the guilt - even if I''d managed to get it out the door...but his boss kinda heard our conversation, which basically was me saying ''are you absolutely sure that is the right price?'' - and him replying ''well it does have one tiny dark spot''!

It was over 2ct - and in my usual words ''a juicy gumdrop red!''

It was also several thousand $''s!

So - at no point soon, if ever, am I going to get a ruby...so what can I get that is red, juicy, and will look like a luscious gumdrop?

Spinel I know...and very possible...garnet also - I have one, but it''s not too good on quality (although colour is good) - but wondering if there''s anything else out there, that I am overlooking? Crimson/cherry red...sparkly...deep...gumdrop like.

many TIA

Spinel would be my first choice, followed by a red spessartite garnet.

Poor quality garnets don''t begin to compare with fine ones. I love showing my garnets to people who have only seen the ones you see in cheap jewellery and watching their expression when they find out what they are.

You will still need to pay a fair amount for a top quality red spinel or garnet - they can easily be in the high hundreds if not thousands of dollars - but will still be much more affordable than a comparable ruby.

There are a few other red stones out there, but they wouldn''t be suitable as they are very much collector gems and tend to be very expensive and come in very small sizes.

 

[colormyworld]

Tourmaline would be another option.

 

[LD]

I have an Andesine that is exactly the same colour as a Tanzanian Ruby. The only time you can tell is in a certain light it will have a more orange hue than the Ruby that leans towards purple/blue. Other than that, I agree that a Spinel is probably a good choice but might be difficult to find? I haven''t looked so not sure.

 

[Babyblue033]

Date: 9/21/2008 9:41:11 AM
Author: Pandora II
Poor quality garnets don''t begin to compare with fine ones. I love showing my garnets to people who have only seen the ones you see in cheap jewellery and watching their expression when they find out what they are.

This is so true! Everyone''s always asking what stone I have in my ring and are shocked to find out that it''s a Garnet

 

[ma re]

For a ring, those mentioned (spinel, spessartite, rubelite) plus an orange sapphire; they can come pretty close to a nice ruby, but in a diferent shade of red. Star rubies can be a bit more affordable than the faceted stuff, if you don''t mind a cabochon.

If it were a pendant, I''d probably suggest a cherry opal.

 

[chrono]

Spinel, rubelite, red spessartite, fire opal and oregon sunstones all have wonderful reds. Unfortunately, there are also drawbacks to almost all of them. It is hard to find a large, clean, and pure red rubellite. Most tend to have quite a bit of inclusions. Clean ones can be found but of course, tend to be pricey then too. Spessartite isn''t as tough as a spinel. Fire opals are soft, as are sunstones.

 

[pwendyp]

Thank you all for the input, it''s very appreciated.

I have been shown some Madagascar garnets, which are beautifully cut...but I have a problem...!

I use a laptop, and the colours just don''t show the same way they do on a PC! But, the couple of people I have been in contact with, have been very good at deciphering my ''gumdrop'' ''cherry red'' and ''bright crimson'' descriptions of what would be perfect for me.

There are a couple of the Mad garnets in the running, and fairly inexpensive, but I might search some of good guys and see if there might be spessartite that might be good.

colormyworld I didn''t realise tourmaline could go to red? There''s one to hunt down and look at!

You guys really are a wonderful wealth of knowledge, it''s good to know there''s a place like this to get the questions answered - oh we are so far behind really over here in the UK...we really don''t have anything like this over here!

This isn''t an immediate project, but it''s great fun to search out the stones, and have one or two ready!

Once again - many thanks!

 

[Pandora II]

I'm in the UK too

If you want to discuss exact colour online, then go to GemeWizard and use their free software - GemeSquare Lite. You can pick the exact colour you like - and then give the code to the dealer.

ETA: Rubellite and red tourmaline are the same thing.

 

[pwendyp]

Thank you Pandora - I''m just headed to look now...

...and now I realise the link between rubellite and red tourmaline! Although most of the rubellite I have seen has purple hues?

I had a feeling I knew you were in the UK

I''m wondering how many there are of us who visit and post on here? Not so many I would guess?

Date: 9/21/2008 4:07:08 PM
Author: Pandora II
I''m in the UK too

If you want to discuss exact colour online, then go to GemeWizard and use their free software - GemeSquare Lite. You can pick the exact colour you like - and then give the code to the dealer.


ETA: Rubellite and red tourmaline are the same thing.

 

[marcy]

I agree Spinel or red spessartite garnet would both be very nice gems for you.

 

[movie zombie]

Date: 9/21/2008 9:41:11 AM
Author: Pandora II

Spinel would be my first choice, followed by a red spessartite garnet.

Poor quality garnets don''t begin to compare with fine ones. I love showing my garnets to people who have only seen the ones you see in cheap jewellery and watching their expression when they find out what they are.

You will still need to pay a fair amount for a top quality red spinel or garnet - they can easily be in the high hundreds if not thousands of dollars - but will still be much more affordable than a comparable ruby.

There are a few other red stones out there, but they wouldn''t be suitable as they are very much collector gems and tend to be very expensive and come in very small sizes.

ditto re everything........

andesine is rather soft/fragile for a ring.

movie zombie

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 9/21/2008 4:29:03 PM
Author: pwendyp
Thank you Pandora - I''m just headed to look now...

...and now I realise the link between rubellite and red tourmaline! Although most of the rubellite I have seen has purple hues?

I had a feeling I knew you were in the UK

I''m wondering how many there are of us who visit and post on here? Not so many I would guess?

I think there are about 10 of us from the UK.

I''ve often wondered why there aren''t more of us. After all, two of the most famous Gemmologists of all time were British - Basil Anderson and Robert Webster, and there is a long tradition of British involvement in gems and jewellery.

London is a major diamond centre where De Beers holds sights...

And yet, there seems to be little more than superficial interest on the part of most people. If I get the odd stone out at work or parties, people are always interested and want to see it, but they never seem to get any more into it than that.

Bizzare....

 

[simplysplendid]

Hi there, what price range are you looking at so that we can help find some?

 

[pwendyp]

Thanks again ladies for the input and the links...very informative - as always!

simplysplendid - I'm not sure yet on budget...as I have a few things to be made first, with the latest few gems that I have bought. But, I'm going to be in a position (hopefully) to get all those projects out of the way over the next three months.

Budget for a ruby look-a-like - hmmmm...a few hundred $ - several hundred perhaps - but no more than that. Tis hard to say...if something stunning passed my way - it might be the one to pave the way to my dream red stone ring!

Pandora - Like you, I can never fathom sometimes the English way over gems and jewellery. I mean, we have some of the most spectacular gems in the world in this country, as part of our Royal Family...and just think of what is in our museums...the Tower of London...etc etc! It feels like the British 'stiff upper lip' thing - and 'we shouldn't go OTT with our jewellery' syndrome.

And yet, we have Hatton Garden, Bond Street...and others...and still the ladies of this country sport no bigger than a carat at most on their fingers usually. I have sometimes chatted to my friends about gems, and other things...they look at me like I am talking in Greek!

Like you...I find it quite bizarre!

 

[simplysplendid]

hello, how about a reddish spessartite? Some of the spessartites can be very red, though not blue-red like ruby..

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 9/21/2008 7:01:20 PM
Author: simplysplendid
Hi there, what price range are you looking at so that we can help find some?

OH NO! there''s an enabler in the thread!

yay!

LS

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 9/21/2008 8:23:22 AM
Author:pwendyp
At some point in the near ish to mid future, I am hoping to get a red stone/diamond cluster made, very much in the vein of the gorgeous sapphire cluster that LostSapphire has just had made - a beautiful beautiful ring!

For the longest time, I have coveted the stunning Leon ruby cluster, that I am sure many of you have seen and admired.

pwendyp:
Thank you for the compliment!

Doesn't that Leon make you swoon??? Here ya go, just to keep you interested:
LS

ETA: sorry about the giant pic. For some reason, when I'm resizing pics no matter what percentage reduction I'm trying for, they come out different every time!