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Thoughts on this Jedi spinel?

Nick_G

Shiny_Rock
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Are the top 'jedi spinels' more fluorescent than any rubies then? I seem to remember reading that the best rubies had the best red fluorescence, but maybe a select few spinels beat them.
 

arkieb1

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Labs in places like Asia are now writing "Jedi" on reports for neon spinel. Jedi spinels can be hot pinks and neon reds and they can be a bit orangey red or orangey pink and still neon.

Sometimes it depends on the cut and the depth of the stone, sometimes just the material itself. Other times there are plenty of vendors selling bright coloured spinels as "Jedi" that technically, I don't think, are as bright or as vivid as the original "Jedi" material. It's become a bit of a trendy label overused on places like IG to sell stones....

Labs are classifying "Jedi" from Man Sin, Namya (which is rarer) and other mines in Burma, all three produce neon spinels. Some labs do not list where specifically, ie which area they come from. Vietnam also occasionally produces neon red and pink spinels that are almost identical to the Burmese ones. Many labs cannot tell the difference between the Vietnamese ones and the Burmese ones, the Vietnamese ones used to be cheaper but have gone up dramatically in price.

"Jedi" doesn't always look neon in all lighting, it should, but sometimes when it's really shallow or flat cut it's less neon looking and still "Jedi" material... And the vendors that mine and or cut it will tell you their preference is never rounds - you will rarely if ever see a round "Jedi" (the exception is small melee round "Jedi" stones) they prefer things like cushions and other shapes that have a bit of depth to them, that will give a better depth or boost of colour. At least that has been my experience.
 
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DauphineMucha

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Labs in places like Asia are now writing "Jedi" on reports for neon spinel. Jedi spinels can be hot pinks and neon reds and they can be a bit orangey red or orangey pink and still neon.

Sometimes it depends on the cut and the depth of the stone, sometimes just the material itself. Other times there are plenty of vendors selling bright coloured spinels as "Jedi" that technically, I don't think, are as bright or as vivid as the original "Jedi" material. It's become a bit of a trendy label overused on places like IG to sell stones....

Labs are classifying "Jedi" from Man Sin, Namya (which is rarer) and other mines in Burma, all three produce neon spinels. Some labs do not list where specifically, ie which area they come from. Vietnam also occasionally produces neon red and pink spinels that are almost identical to the Burmese ones. Many labs cannot tell the difference between the Vietnamese ones and the Burmese ones, the Vietnamese ones used to be cheaper but have gone up dramatically in price.

"Jedi" doesn't always look neon in all lighting, it should, but sometimes when it's really shallow or flat cut it's less neon looking and still "Jedi" material... And the vendors that mine and or cut it will tell you their preference is never rounds - you will rarely if ever see a round "Jedi" (the exception is small melee round "Jedi" stones) they prefer things like cushions and other shapes that have a bit of depth to them, that will give a better depth or boost of colour. At least that has been my experience.

I know you are very experienced with spinel and I am not. I am puzzled to hear that Jedi always look neon in all lighting. Doesn’t it vary depending on the light source? If you view the Jedi indoor away from windows...still neon? Or just “darker” neon?! How about under the table or something with much less lighting? Very confused.

Ed said it here.



would you pls show pictures? I remembered seeing your collection of glorious spinel before, but curious how they would look under no so ideal conditions. I don’t own any so I don’t know much.
 
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DauphineMucha

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Just had another thought.

If the material is Jedi, would somewhat decent cut help the gem to perform better under low light? If the facets are done well, they might catch vey bit of low lighting to glow?!
 

arkieb1

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I know you are very experienced with spinel and I am not. I am puzzled to hear that Jedi always look neon in all lighting. Doesn’t it vary depending on the light source? If you view the Jedi indoor away from windows...still neon? Or just “darker” neon?! How about under the table or something with much less lighting? Very confused.

Ed said it here.



would you pls show pictures? I remembered seeing your collection of glorious spinel before, but curious how they would look under no so ideal conditions. I don’t own any so I don’t know much.

Well yes and no, "Jedi" are brighter I guess even when it's dark you add any type of lighting even in bad conditions and "Jedi" stones are still brighter than stones that are not. Here is a really fast photo that hopefully helps illustrate what I'm trying to explain, keep in mind this is a bad photo, taken quickly with an Iphone it hasn't been set up in any way or taken with a good camera..... It has been taken on a dark overcast cloudy day, next to a window with a overhead verandah or balcony ie it's still an indirect not direct lighting source in a darkish room with NO lights on - so what I'm spelling out here is that I've intentionally taken a photo of some neon spinels in low to really bad daylight lighting;

IMG_0915-1.jpg

In the photo see how the front larger loose stones which are "Jedi" rough from Joe Henley are still fairly neon and glowing. The stones in the packet in the top left above the loose stones are supposed to be "Jedi" you can see some stones are more neon than the rest, next are supposed to be neon crystals from Man Sin, are they neon? Yes these in better lighting are, are they Jedi, a few might be, most probably are not. The packet of hot pink tiny crystals far top right are neon hot pink "Jedi" from Namya, again see compared to the other stones there is no disputing how neon in low lighting these stones are.

The packet in the middle the flat carre cuts I bought specifically to make something I had in mind, it was sold to me as "Jedi" and I believe is still "Jedi" material but because the cuts are all nearly flat you don't get the depth of colour in these that you do in the others, some of them, you can just see the edges are still neon in the pinker pieces, the reds some bits light up more than others especially in much better stronger lighting ie bright overhead lighting and out in the sun.

The bottom right hand packet are neon spinels, they are not what I'd classify as "Jedi" but a number of these pieces still light up or are bright vivid and glowy out in the sun and when you have strong lighting.

But hopefully you can see the big loose crystals, the top far left packet with a few crystals and the top far right packet with the hot pink crystals are much more neon in any lighting ie the "true Jedi" if such a thing exists versus just neon pinks and reds. If we are splitting hairs it's this vividness that looks like there is a light on in the stones effect in just about any lighting situation that differentiates true "Jedi" from non "jedi."

Here is a photo of the same flat cuts in shop or strong overhead lighting (the packet in the middle where I said some of the edges are neon in bad lighting) they are all really well cut but they are just flat cut, so it's not about how "decent" the cut is necessarily IMHO, the depth of the cut gives these stones a more intense colour so they look like pretty spinels but perhaps meeeh compared to the others above yet in good lighting now look at the colour;
 

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ItsMainelyYou

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This GIA article shows some really good specimens of what top jedi spinel looks like.
The chromium in spinel is a factor in the flourescence. Jedi's have an incredibly pronounced and reactive flourescence, even in low light situations. That's what he's holding in his hands in the picture here. jedispinel.jpg
 

arkieb1

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Neon Pink Red Spinel.JPG

These are older "Jedi" inside my house non direct lighting and no overhead lighting above.

And below the same larger "Jedi" rough crystals as the previous post in much better lighting;

IMG_0735.PNG
 

Pennyc

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Are there particular gem vendors that sell Jedi spinel ? I am blown away by the neon colours I would love to make a dainty ring with a small spinel (under 1ct maybe around .5) I am not so concerned about it being a true Jedi spinel but definitely want it to be that super neon bright colour.
 

voce

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thegemcollector on Instagram. She has an Etsy store but only updates it with gems she's not able to ask via Instagram.

Another is higems, also Instagram.
 

JackTrick

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I’ve purchased Mansin spinel from both higems_ and thegemcollector and have generally been quite pleased.

Sharing pictures here so you can compare for yourself how they look.

From top to bottom.
Mansin from thegemcollector, mansin from thegemcollector, then a general Burmese spinel, and a mahenge spinel.
ED1487CB-0CF2-4BC4-A350-B32FBD209ED5.jpeg

From left to right.
Mansin from higems_, and then from other sellers a mansin cab, mahenge, synthetic, random.
2B6D83A0-A36E-4C61-ABD4-6DAECC4CE6A0.jpeg
 

arkieb1

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I'd also add Joe Henley because he really knows his stuff and Vlad's stones if you can afford it from his website, if not he sells cheaper stones under Yarvorskyy on ebay which is the smaller, sometimes native cut, and just random stuff he wants to clear which are often great prices, I've picked up some really cool stones including spinels from his Ebay shop it's shipped from Asia so it might take a while but well worth the effort.
 

DauphineMucha

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I'd also add Joe Henley because he really knows his stuff and Vlad's stones if you can afford it from his website, if not he sells cheaper stones under Yarvorskyy on ebay which is the smaller, sometimes native cut, and just random stuff he wants to clear which are often great prices, I've picked up some really cool stones including spinels from his Ebay shop it's shipped from Asia so it might take a while but well worth the effort.

Had no idea Vlad sells on eBay!
 

Pennyc

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Thanks for the tips guys will try and locate the eBay store
 

ItsMainelyYou

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Are there particular gem vendors that sell Jedi spinel ? I am blown away by the neon colours I would love to make a dainty ring with a small spinel (under 1ct maybe around .5) I am not so concerned about it being a true Jedi spinel but definitely want it to be that super neon bright colour.

Here's a really nice little burmese red! Great price too.
 

arkieb1

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Here's a really nice little burmese red! Great price too.

Here's a tip for buying any stone - ask for a photo against a white not a grey background and if possible a pic of the same stone sitting on the back of a hand, in directly sunlight and not in direct sunlight, that will give a MUCH more accurate indication of colour.
 

DauphineMucha

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Here's a tip for buying any stone - ask for a photo against a white not a grey background and if possible a pic of the same stone sitting on the back of a hand, in directly sunlight and not in direct sunlight, that will give a MUCH more accurate indication of colour.

I often wonder what seller would do if we ask to see “bad” pictures of the item for sale...

OP and the Etsy spinels look to be photographed under a single source of ideal light, even there are multiple pictures, no?
 
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arkieb1

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I've done that before walked around the inside of my house and taken photos and videos I've then put on YouTube, of stones I want to sell in different lighting situations in my house for people so they can see the stones at their worst. Having said that many many vendors do not have the time or energy particularly if it's an inexpensive stone to bother so you have to learn to read photos and any photo enhancement and lighting tricks and attempt to understand what they are, and think about what each stone will really look like.
 

Pennyc

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Thankyou so much for the helpful tips I will take a look at the stone listed above.

I am wondering if anyone has a link to the Yavorskyy Ebay account? I can't seem locate it using that name?
 

lovedogs

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Thankyou so much for the helpful tips I will take a look at the stone listed above.

I am wondering if anyone has a link to the Yavorskyy Ebay account? I can't seem locate it using that name?

I think its closed down. But if you visit his website and choose "easy selectipn" it's all under $100. Favorite window shopping!
 

ItsMainelyYou

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Here's a tip for buying any stone - ask for a photo against a white not a grey background and if possible a pic of the same stone sitting on the back of a hand, in directly sunlight and not in direct sunlight, that will give a MUCH more accurate indication of colour.

This vendor is also on Instagram where they showcase their much more expensive prime stock, so I'm sure they would have no issues showing you their Etsy stones through Insta pics and videos.
I think this is the Etsy stone!
 
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Pennyc

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Thank you so much @ItsMainelyYou so so helpful I was already following Stella Maris Gems too.

@lovedogs oh no more things to distract me from study :)
 

ItsMainelyYou

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Thank you so much @ItsMainelyYou so so helpful

Anytime, finding little deals is one of my favorite things to do. ;))
I'm from New England, it's in the blood:lol:
Bonus! It's cut by Dan Stair who is a talented lapidarist.
 

voce

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Anytime, finding little deals is one of my favorite things to do. ;))
I'm from New England, it's in the blood:lol:
Bonus! It's cut by Dan Stair who is a talented lapidarist.

Oh what have you done? I couldn't resist and just pulled the trigger after you said Dan Stair cut it, and posted that video.
 

ItsMainelyYou

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Oh what have you done? I couldn't resist and just pulled the trigger after you said Dan Stair cut it, and posted that video.

You swiped it?! :lol: Before I COULD?!
Dammit, I was trying to be a good person, hahahahahaa.
@Pennyc Don't worry, they have several others and finding little neons are much easier than finding large ones!
 
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voce

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You swiped it?! :lol: Before I COULD?!
Dammit, I was trying to be a good person, hahahahahaa.
@Pennyc Don't worry, they have several others and finding little neons are much easier than finding large ones!

I have a supreme weakness for neon red gems. Usually the price point deters me, but you found a super cheap one. :oops2:
 

ItsMainelyYou

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I have a supreme weakness for neon red gems. Usually the price point deters me, but you found a super cheap one. :oops2:

I know, I know, me too.
His prices are really good and his material matches, which isn't too common.
 

voce

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@Pennyc I'm sorry, it completely slipped my mind that you were looking for a small sub-carat neon red spinel. Did you want to purchase this one? I must admit, I lost my mind after I saw the video posted by @ItsMainelyYou . :oops2: I could talk to the vendor and see what we can do if that's the case.

Edit: I could also offer it to you at cost, and if for some reason you don't like it, you can "return" it to me :lol-2:. In any case, I'm truly sorry I forgot that @ItsMainelyYou posted it for you, @Pennyc, instead of for the public.
 

Pennyc

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Ha ha @voce oh well I snooze and I lose he he all good I will contact the seller and see what they have :) I really appreciate you pointing out some good sellers everyone and @ItsMainelyYou if your spidey senses pick up on any other good stones I am keen to know
 
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