What do you think of these probably Mahenge pink spinels?

[polarisfire]

Hi guys,

So I just got these two pink spinels from a smaller vendor on Etsy , listed as Mahenge, and I was wondering if they were worth keeping. I’m trying to get a vivid hot pink stone and since the prices are high these days, not sure if this is the best I can do.

Smaller one is 1.2 carat (~$1200) and the bigger one is 1.5 ($1600). Both have cutting problems, but the smaller one’s is super obvious - the pavilion is very lopsided so one side is deeper than the other and there’s definitely extinction. The bigger one has a nice color but does this count as glowing? In lower light it looks a little sleepy and it looks better in sunlight. The smaller one has more purple but more brilliance.

Now, I give you photo spam: took these photos with my phone in my car in afternoon.



Thanks in advance for your advice!!

 

[polarisfire]

More pictures this time in indoor sunlight next to a window



Indoor fluorescent light :

 

[SparklePolo]

Hi, fellow Mahenge spinel seeker here, although I'm looking for pinkish red

The larger (1.5 ct) one looks more hot pink than the smaller one. Do you have a UV light to test the fluorescence?

 

[polarisfire]

I agree about the larger one being more hot pink. I don’t have a UV light yet but I shall get myself one.

Any mahenge experts out there? My dreams are a color like these:

 

[PieAreSquared]

Nobody else can determine what YOU are seeing in real life. Does what you see on your hand look to you like the dream color picture you posted?

 

[icy_jade]

I found that my spinel was a shade more intense/darker after setting if it helps? I think the new mahenges just aren’t as intense as the initial ones from what I’ve seen.

I like the bigger much more than the smaller one.

Mine has a wonky cut and lots of inclusions. Pics of before and after setting...

Before


I never managed to accurately capture the color irl but this came close imo in reflecting the mix of orangey-pink I saw irl:


After
And after setting I stopped seeing orange, just pink and more intense looking:




Agree with checking for UV but depending on what you want, it will be difficult to find a mahenge spinel as glowy as some I’ve seen here. Or you can but pay a mind boggling price...

 

[qubitasaurus]

I'd keep the big one, send back the small one.

Reason being that they are hard to find at the moment, and I predict you'll pay at least 2k per ct if you want a super nice coloured one above 1.5 ct (unless you have the patience for one to turn up on loupetroop. Waiting for this would probably take at least 12 months unless you get lucky).

AJS gems had some nice looking ones from memory. You could also ask juliab jewelery as I think that is where your inspiration photo comes from. Or ask the person selling katharath's spinel on loupetroop -- can someone else remember the link for that one though? However it is at least 2.5 k from memory. I think katharath's mahenge stones were actually from the cliche of juliab's mahenges you are using as inspiration (at least I think some of them came from that lot. She had several).

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

I like the big one. I feel like it's a more true pink and the bigger size doesn't hurt either!

 

[polarisfire]

Thanks for the input so far. Def thinking about keeping the bigger one but intrigued by the mention of katharath’s spinel. If someone finds the link I would be thankful! In the meantime I’ll search through loupetroop and see if I come across it.

Jade, seeing pics of yours is definitely helpful. Looks like they may not all be so intense. It sounds like it would be hard to find one as intense these days
I’m open to being patient and waiting for the right one to come along on loupetroop...

 

[polarisfire]

Is katharath’s mahenge the one with the tulip setting by Julia b? If so I found it- emailed seller.

 

[qubitasaurus]

Yes it is this one

https://loupetroop.com/listings/loo...guese-cut-mahenge-spinel-18kyg-ring-by-juliab

You'll have to find the current seller though. As this was the first time it was listed on loupetroop, now it has been relisted by the person who purchasee it.

I went back to look again and was no longer sure if your inspiration picture came from juliab's site as her current listing is this one

https://www.etsy.com/listing/186234725/neon-pink-red-mahenge-spinels?ref=shop_home_active_195&frs=1

(For some weird reason I thought I had seen the picture you posted before, so assumed it was the one used in the listing above. Edit ok I think I found your inspiration photo http://cecileraleydesigns.blogspot.com/2014/10/mahenge-spinel-revisite.html?m=1 in which case you want to look at what prima gems is carrying as that likely would have been the original source.).

 

[arkieb1]

They are expensive for the size and a nice but not a top pink.

 

[polarisfire]

Thanks arkieb!

 

[T L]

I hate saying this, but I don’t think the mahenge coming out of the mines these days is worth the price per carat. The old mine material was really exceptional, so I would look to other locations for the best hot pink spinel you can afford.

Honestly, the old mine material was much nicer than those stones you said were your ideal color. Those are purplish pink, and the old mine material was a hot pink ior pinkish red.

 

[qubitasaurus]

Yes it is this one

https://loupetroop.com/listings/loo...guese-cut-mahenge-spinel-18kyg-ring-by-juliab

You'll have to find the current seller though. As this was the first time it was listed on loupetroop, now it has been relisted by the person who purchasee it.

I went back to look again and was no longer sure if your inspiration picture came from juliab's site as her current listing is this one

https://www.etsy.com/listing/186234725/neon-pink-red-mahenge-spinels?ref=shop_home_active_195&frs=1

(For some weird reason I thought I had seen the picture you posted before, so assumed it was the one used in the listing above. Edit ok I think I found your inspiration photo http://cecileraleydesigns.blogspot.com/2014/10/mahenge-spinel-revisite.html?m=1 in which case you want to look at what prima gems is carrying as that likely would have been the original source.).

Finally found the current listing

https://loupetroop.com/listings/rings/1-dot-58ct-mahenge-spinel-ring-in-18k-yg-size-9;27596

 

[polarisfire]

Thanks guys! Sent the person with katharath’s ring a message. Hopefully this will work out.

I hate saying this, but I don’t think the mahenge coming out of the mines these days is worth the price per carat. The old mine material was really exceptional, so I would look to other locations for the best hot pink spinel you can afford.

Honestly, the old mine material was much nicer than those stones you said were your ideal color. Those are purplish pink, and the old mine material was a hot pink ior pinkish red.

What other locations-Are you talking about Burma spinel? Do you have some examples of PS folks’ with the old mine material? I was looking through some older threads and drooled over Xrises collection. I wish I could buy just one of his spinels off of him lol.

 

[T L]

There’s a wide variety of nice material in this thread.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/show-us-your-mahenge-spinels.138168/

Burma seems to be producing the nicest hot pink material these days.

 

[polarisfire]

Hi guys, I’m incorrigible on the hunt so here’s another mahenge I ordered from Yvonne Raley. Very clean but I was hoping it would be a cooler toned pink? Whaddya guys think?

Her pics:



My really bad indoor fluorescent light pic:



Under UV light:



It doesn’t look like it fluoresces much, eh? A little concerned about that and whether this is standard red pink balance for mahenge or more on warmer side.

Will do more natural light pics tomorrow.

 

[chrono]

Strong orange secondary if that's something you like.

 

[T L]

Hi guys, I’m incorrigible on the hunt so here’s another mahenge I ordered from Yvonne Raley. Very clean but I was hoping it would be a cooler toned pink? Whaddya guys think?

Her pics:



My really bad indoor fluorescent light pic:



Under UV light:



It doesn’t look like it fluoresces much, eh? A little concerned about that and whether this is standard red pink balance for mahenge or more on warmer side.

Will do more natural light pics tomorrow.

If it looks like it could pass as a pinkish garnet, it isn’t a high quality mahenge, but the newer mine material. Does it at least get more vivid in sunlight?

 

[icy_jade]

I don’t like the extinction pattern

 

[polarisfire]

Yeah, the extinction pattern is not the best. Maybe I'm just new at it and I didn't think about it before you mentioned it.

Took some more photos in natural light this morning. Less orange for sure.
These are in the shade inside my car


These are in more direct sun through the window:

 

[T L]

Well does it knock your socks off, or are you meh about it? If you’re focusing on extinction patterns, it doesn’t sound like you’re excited about the color.

 

[voce]

It's possible to be excited about the color and still not like the extinction pattern. For example, I am thrilled with the color of my avatar ruby, but I can still criticize the extinction pattern in some lighting (though this is probably shadowing, not true extinction).

 

[polarisfire]

I love the sparkle all the time and I sometimes lose my socks on the color when it's in brighter lighting. Because I like the color in the bright parts, I think the shadowing might actually be why it's a little questionable in lower lighting.
(I keep taking it out of my purse repeatedly at my desk to check again how it looks in the office lol. I'm so productive.)

 

[voce]

I think it sounds like if you keep taking it out to look at it, it's a keeper. Also, I like your pics both in the sun and indoors better than Yvonee's pics. This one looked like an especially dreamy color to me.

 

[Arkteia]

Dark but large. Then, the light is dark. I think maybe a slight recut would work.

 

[polarisfire]

Sooo, I'm now the proud beneficiary of katharath's mahenge ring. I've joined the PS circle of life HAHA. I loveee it!





and now (if you've seen me elsewhere around here), hoping the neon stone gods will smile on me for a unicorn paraiba someday...

 

[distracts]

Sooo, I'm now the proud beneficiary of katharath's mahenge ring. I've joined the PS circle of life HAHA. I loveee it!





and now (if you've seen me elsewhere around here), hoping the neon stone gods will smile on me for a unicorn paraiba someday...

Amazing! That’s one of my favorite mahenge rings here. Look at that color!

 

[IslandBB]

Sooo, I'm now the proud beneficiary of katharath's mahenge ring. I've joined the PS circle of life HAHA. I loveee it!





and now (if you've seen me elsewhere around here), hoping the neon stone gods will smile on me for a unicorn paraiba someday...

Gorgeous! Katharath has great taste! I was the lucky beneficiary of her Vietnamese blue spinel stacker and I’ve never seen another color like it!
Enjoy!