What do you think of this Mahenge?

[hannaht]

At your convenience, would you please give me you opinion of this Mahenge Spinel? I've relatively new to attempting to choose quality gemstones and I appreciate your point of view.

 

[T L]

What is the carat weight? Are you potentially buying it from a reputable dealer because there are lots of synthetics out there. I don't see any discernable inclusions in that stone.

 

[AGBF]

Hi, hannaht-

That's a beautiful picture. You didn't give us any information on the stone, though. What do you know about it and where did you get that information? I am really just expanding tourmaline_lover's question (a lot). Showing us a picture and asking "do you like this? " leaves out too much vital information. It would be like showing us a photograph of a man and saying, "should I marry him?".

Who is selling it? Have you seen it in person? What is its carat weight? Is it the color you want? Please, tell us everything!

Deb/AGBF


Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

 

[hannaht]

Sorry I didn't provide more information. I have purchased this stone from a very reputable Canadian dealer, but have not yet received it. She just cut it from rough she has on hand. It is about 1.35 ct. Its a barian cut pavillion with step cut top rectangular cushion -- 7.8 x 5.95mm. When she sent the photo I thought it was beautiful, but as I said, I have so very much to learn and that's why I'm asking for your input.

 

[T L]

Thank you, based on the cut and where you bought it, I think I know who you got it from. I would evaluate it in various light sources as these stones tend to color shift to a more orange color, and sometimes that is not as desirable (unless you like that). It is very pink, and I assume that's what you want. The more desirable colors are a pinkish red, but the pinks are lovely as well. I am on my poor monitor so I cannot really comment on the saturation (strength of the color), but it appears to be a pretty stone.

 

[hannaht]

[/size]
Thanks, Tourmaline Lover. I was specifically in the market for a hot pink gemstone, And when I saw this my reaction was, its what I'm looking for. When I receive it I will check it in several lighting sources, as you suggest.

 

[VapidLapid]

I think its really nice.
On a side note is it just me or do mahenges seem to have doubled, no, tripled and more in price in the last 3 months? Swala seems now too embarrassed to even list their prices to account members.

 

[T L]

I think its really nice.
On a side note is it just me or do mahenges seem to have doubled, no, tripled and more in price in the last 3 months? Swala seems now too embarrassed to even list their prices to account members.

Yes, I've noticed the tremendous price increases as well on many people's sites, not just Swala.

 

[T L]

[/size]
Thanks, Tourmaline Lover. I was specifically in the market for a hot pink gemstone, And when I saw this my reaction was, its what I'm looking for. When I receive it I will check it in several lighting sources, as you suggest.

What you don't want is something that can pass easily for a rhodolite garnet or any red family garnet. If you can view it in the sunshine, notice if it gets mroe saturated, that means it has good UV fluorescence. I once bought (and returned) a Mahenge that not only looked like a rhodolite garnet, but the UV fluor was very weak. It's not that anything is wrong with rhodolite garnets, but nice Mahenges should not be mistaken for rhodolites (pinkish purple garnets), especially in the sun.

 

[Jim Rentfrow]

There is not much rough coming out and what is coming out is small so it is hard to be able to cut even 1-2 carat stones lately it seems. I believe I know the seller of that stone. She only sells good items, plus she was just interviewed by CBC for gemcutting.

 

[PrecisionGem]

The stone flavor of the month on Pricescope drives the prices up. For good prices, be the first to buy something different. I think the same has happened with certain eBay vendors. Once they become popular on Pricescope, the prices start to rise.

 

[LD]

The stone flavor of the month on Pricescope drives the prices up. For good prices, be the first to buy something different. I think the same has happened with certain eBay vendors. Once they become popular on Pricescope, the prices start to rise.

Do you think that's true? For example, on another thread we've been talking about the shopping TV channels and how they always seem to show gemstones a few months after we see a lot on here. Surely it's more about availability to the market? For example,appeared today I got an email and flavour of the gemstone shopping telly channels in the UK is ............. welo Opal!

Hannaht - I'm going to be honest if you don't mind? I know the cutter and some of her work is fabulous. However, personally, I'm not keen on this stone. For me there are too many "black" areas in the gem and it's not as overall vibrant looking as a lot of others I've seen. For example, just look at the colour on this one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1-45ct-Screaming-Oval-Natural-Tanzania-Hot-Pink-Spinel-/370179187146pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item56306621ca

Of course, with your stone, you can be assured it will be well cut. The one that I've linked to and the ones in that Ebay store are less well cut but some of his stones have a phenomenal colour.

 

[Arcadian]

I like the cut, its doing that half and half thing that some ovals can do though. The cut looks familiar (its that one of Lisa's stones?)


-A

 

[hannaht]

Yes, it is. She's a wonderful person to do business with, and I believe her to be very reputable.

Thanks, Everyone, for your input. Loving Diamonds -- I also wondered about the black spots, but I am hoping that is the photo. I won't know until it is received. Cut is very important to me as I have enough jewelry with poorly cut gemstones. But color is also essential. I tried to bring up the gemstone you referenced on E-Bay, with no luck. Apparently it is no longer available. If you are interested, I will let you know when it arrives.

 

[Jim Rentfrow]

Mahenge's are very hard to photograph, my guess is it looks much better in the hand than on the monitor. I believe Lisa has a very good return policy as well just in case.

 

[Swala Gem Traders]

Hi All, it's been a while,

Hi Vapid. No no, we're not too embarrassed to show prices. We've just lacked the time. Nothing else. As a matter of fact, given the very poor production, the prices are all but high.

Do understand that the gem "industry" is very different from most other "industries" in that the products do not come out of factories. Nobody decides what and in what quantity comes out of the earth...

The good thing about this post is that I'll take a few minutes to upload our prices

Voilà.

 

[T L]

To the OP,
I think the best thing to do is review it when you get it, and take pictures, and ask people for advice in this subforum. Many of us own Mahenge spinels. When I obtained my first Mahenges, I wasn't sure what a good one was supposed to look like in person. However, after uploading some photos and talking about the color with people here, I was able to make a good determination if I should keep them or not. However, the photos should be somewhat reprsentative of what you see IRL. It helps to take good pictures.

If you love it upon first sight, then scratch the notion of getting other opinions.

Incidentally, I highly recommend searching this subforum for "Mahenge spinel" and reviewing many different photographs and examples. Pricescope has a huge database of photos of all different kinds of gem species and colors, probably the largest I'm aware of.

 

[Michael_E]

However, personally, I'm not keen on this stone. For me there are too many "black" areas in the gem and it's not as overall vibrant looking as a lot of others I've seen.

Black areas? I think that those are areas of "head reflection" that were discussed in the extinction thread a few days ago. I have a feeling that at arms length this stone would be really grand. I particularly like the color in those areas that are not reflecting bright pink. They seem to be kind of a orangy red and give great contrast to the brighter colors without the whole stone looking like fluorescent plastic.

What's the deal with all this "vibrant" talk anyway. Do you want a gem or a fishing lure?

 

[y2kitty]

Swala's prices are not listed, but emailed Eric and they did not seem astronomical.

 

[LD]

However, personally, I'm not keen on this stone. For me there are too many "black" areas in the gem and it's not as overall vibrant looking as a lot of others I've seen.

Black areas? I think that those are areas of "head reflection" that were discussed in the extinction thread a few days ago. I have a feeling that at arms length this stone would be really grand. I particularly like the color in those areas that are not reflecting bright pink. They seem to be kind of a orangy red and give great contrast to the brighter colors without the whole stone looking like fluorescent plastic.

What's the deal with all this "vibrant" talk anyway. Do you want a gem or a fishing lure?

Mahenge spinels can have a neon pink quality and while I see some evidence of that in this gem, it (to me) is looking more garnet like. Yes the extinction could be caused by head obstruction ......... but then it could be caused by the cut also. There's no way of being absolutely 100% positive by looking at a photograph.

If Hannaht wants a Mahenge (more along the lines that we see on this board) then this, for me, isn't it. It's a lovely gem but it's not screaming the hot pink/fluor that I've seen in others (and indeed own). You obviously don't like the "fluorescent plastic" look. I do. I don't like my Mahenges to look like garnets or have an orangey red. You do. Neither of us are right/wrong, we just like different things!

I have to say I had to think long and hard before I posted because I was aware that I was criticising a stone cut by one of our loved lapidarists but if I ask somebody "does my bum look big in this" I'd much prefer an honest answer than somebody saying "no, it looks tiny" and then I go out doing a double J-Lo impression.

 

[Arkteia]

In all fairness, the question was, "what do you think of my bum?", not "does my bum look big?"... I bought several stones from Lisa and she has her trademark cut... it makes the stones very bright and scintillating. I would not advise to bezel stones with this cut, but then, it holds true for many spinels. Also, Lisa definitely buys good material.

I bough two spinels from Eric and initially did not like the first one (Mahenge), but in hindsight, I think that the price is more than fair for a stone of such a size, clarity and color. Mine has a bowtie, but many spinels do. The other spinel, a small lavender, is very pretty and very well-cut.