Which to go for: mahenge or blue tourm?

[DecoDaze]

What about this one from Prima? I don't know the price, but you could inquire?

https://www.facebook.com/primagemsusa1/videos/1728612624032525/?autoplay_reason=gatekeeper

Oh, it's beautiful, minousbijoux! I did indeed inquire, and it is over 7cts and more than 4x my budget. But they're going to look for a smaller version for me... should hear back about my prima blue tourm options tomorrow.

Update: I received the gemfix spinel. I'm attaching a couple of quick photos; I plan to do a more thorough photo shoot with the prima spinels on Saturday.

 

[DecoDaze]

A couple more...

 

[lilmosun]

does it turn a neon hot pink in bright direct sunlight just like it would under a uv light?

 

[DecoDaze]

does it turn a neon hot pink in bright direct sunlight just like it would under a uv light?

No, not really. I'm just supposed to hold it in direct sunlight, right? And it should be obvious? When I shine my UV penlight on it, it glows neon hot pink, but it does not do that outside. I'll do more (and better) photos on Saturday, including UV pen ones, but it's really not as glowy as I expected/hoped, based on reading and photos here!

 

[PieAreSquared]

does it turn a neon hot pink in bright direct sunlight just like it would under a uv light?

No, not really. I'm just supposed to hold it in direct sunlight, right? And it should be obvious? When I shine my UV penlight on it, it glows neon hot pink, but it does not do that outside. I'll do more (and better) photos on Saturday, including UV pen ones, but it's really not as glowy as I expected/hoped, based on reading and photos here!

Mahenges won't look the same under bright direct sunlight as they do under a UV light. Actually, I don't know of any stone that will...Sunlight is composed of (in ascending order) UVA, UVB, UVC, visible range, and infrared (A,B, and C) wavelengths. A "UV light" is mainly UVA and contains very little "visible" light, which is why it is also called a "black light".

Skip the bright direct sunlight! Far better is shaded outdoor light. Direct sun makes almost every stone "black out"; it is just too strong to see the color. You should get a much better color reading in the shade.

Can't wait to see all four together!

 

[DecoDaze]

does it turn a neon hot pink in bright direct sunlight just like it would under a uv light?

No, not really. I'm just supposed to hold it in direct sunlight, right? And it should be obvious? When I shine my UV penlight on it, it glows neon hot pink, but it does not do that outside. I'll do more (and better) photos on Saturday, including UV pen ones, but it's really not as glowy as I expected/hoped, based on reading and photos here!

Mahenges won't look the same under bright direct sunlight as they do under a UV light. Actually, I don't know of any stone that will...Sunlight is composed of (in ascending order) UVA, UVB, UVC, visible range, and infrared (A,B, and C) wavelengths. A "UV light" is mainly UVA and contains very little "visible" light, which is why it is also called a "black light".

Skip the bright direct sunlight! Far better is shaded outdoor light. Direct sun makes almost every stone "black out"; it is just too strong to see the color. You should get a much better color reading in the shade.

Can't wait to see all four together!

Thanks for the feedback, PieAreSquared! I'm looking forward to having the others to compare. Hard to judge when it's my very first Mahenge.

 

[T L]

does it turn a neon hot pink in bright direct sunlight just like it would under a uv light?

No, not really. I'm just supposed to hold it in direct sunlight, right? And it should be obvious? When I shine my UV penlight on it, it glows neon hot pink, but it does not do that outside. I'll do more (and better) photos on Saturday, including UV pen ones, but it's really not as glowy as I expected/hoped, based on reading and photos here!

Mahenges won't look the same under bright direct sunlight as they do under a UV light. Actually, I don't know of any stone that will...Sunlight is composed of (in ascending order) UVA, UVB, UVC, visible range, and infrared (A,B, and C) wavelengths. A "UV light" is mainly UVA and contains very little "visible" light, which is why it is also called a "black light".

Skip the bright direct sunlight! Far better is shaded outdoor light. Direct sun makes almost every stone "black out"; it is just too strong to see the color. You should get a much better color reading in the shade.

Can't wait to see all four together!

Diamonds and other stones tend to fluoresce the same, but less as intense, in sunlight, than under an artificial UV light source. Good quality mahenges should get more saturated and red under sunlight, so their fluorescence is there, but not as blindingly strong. Here's an example. It is clearly showing off it's fluorescence here in direct sunlight.

 

[lilmosun]

Sorry for the confusion...I was in the car waiting and typed a quick unclear response. TL is correct (of course) the fluorescence isn't as strong, but I was using the comparison to more describe the effect.

 

[DecoDaze]

OK, got it. Look for direct sunlight glow, but not as much as a UV light. It's also supposed to glow in low light, right? It does, a little bit, in patches. I think it'll be helpful to see all four stones together, especially since the folks at Prima indicated that the three they're sending have different levels of neon. To be continued...

ETA: But, as I said, probably not until Saturday. I'll see posts tomorrow, but my day is crazy-making, so probably won't be able to respond until late.

 

[T L]

I would just avoid any mahenge that looks like a rhodolite or other red family garnet. Nothing wrong with garnets, but mahenges are so expensive because of the intense saturation they have. I once obtained a mahenge that looked like a dead ringer for a rhodolite, and it had no glow whatsoever under a UV light. It was a pretty stone, but it wasn't what I would consider a nice quality mahenge. I returned the stone because if I wanted a stone that looked like a rhodolite, I would have bought a rhodolite, which are much more affordable.

 

[chrono]

I think it'll be helpful to see all four stones together, especially since the folks at Prima indicated that the three they're sending have different levels of neon.

This is a good idea. I've found that good Mahenges will look better outside compared to inside. Interestingly, good Mahenges will also not black out under direct sunlight. I thought this rather unusual and am not sure why. Another thing to look out for is the indoor colour shift. Some brown out, some become very orange and some have very little shift.

I just remembered this about Prima as I was driving to work this morning. Don't get me wrong, Prima is a fantastic vendor but maybe this is only happens to me and involved the two times that I purchased from them. One is for a mint garnet and the other is for a Mahenge spinel. I described what I want in detail (finest colour) and they came back with suggestions that they are the best ones currently available. I asked a lot of questions and it sounded like the stones are what I am looking for. Then I decided to email them pictures of example stones similar to what I am looking for. Prima then said the quality I am looking for is higher (I thought that's what I asked for in the first email ) and came up with another set of suggested stones. Prima sent me the suggested stones which I appreciate! It can be expensive and risky for a vendor to send out a bunch of stones at one time to customers to review. Of those suggested, only one or two were great and the rest had modifiers that I specifically said I don't want or were not saturated enough. For the Mahenge, a friend hand selected 2 pairs for me and those blew Prima's selection out of the water.

 

[minousbijoux]

I think it'll be helpful to see all four stones together, especially since the folks at Prima indicated that the three they're sending have different levels of neon.

This is a good idea. I've found that good Mahenges will look better outside compared to inside. Interestingly, good Mahenges will also not black out under direct sunlight. I thought this rather unusual and am not sure why. Another thing to look out for is the indoor colour shift. Some brown out, some become very orange and some have very little shift.

I just remembered this about Prima as I was driving to work this morning. Don't get me wrong, Prima is a fantastic vendor but maybe this is only happens to me and involved the two times that I purchased from them. One is for a mint garnet and the other is for a Mahenge spinel. I described what I want in detail (finest colour) and they came back with suggestions that they are the best ones currently available. I asked a lot of questions and it sounded like the stones are what I am looking for. Then I decided to email them pictures of example stones similar to what I am looking for. Prima then said the quality I am looking for is higher (I thought that's what I asked for in the first email ) and came up with another set of suggested stones. Prima sent me the suggested stones which I appreciate! It can be expensive and risky for a vendor to send out a bunch of stones at one time to customers to review. Of those suggested, only one or two were great and the rest had modifiers that I specifically said I don't want or were not saturated enough. For the Mahenge, a friend hand selected 2 pairs for me and those blew Prima's selection out of the water.

That is unfortunate - kinda like you needed to know the secret handshake upfront to get their best stones! Could it be that you provided a price range and they let that guide the quality level of the stones they thought you wanted or did you say "my budget is unlimited; give me the best you got"?

 

[DecoDaze]

Thanks, TL and Chrono, for your insight on the Mahenges. I have them in hand now and have 20 minutes to play with them. Will post pics as soon as I can--and beg for feedback.

In the meantime--these are all possibilities on the tourmaline front. They're all much smaller than the lovely ones posted recently, and all under budget. I'd love to hear your thoughts on their color!

 

[DecoDaze]

Aaaaand... I apparently couldn't help myself. A couple of quick photos:

In their boxes. Round box is gemfix, rest are Prima. From top left, clockwise: Prima 2.15, Prima 1.76, Prima 1.65, and gemfix 1.70. The larger oval, top left, looks like it has a window when it's pressed against the white fabric in the box, but it's not obvious on my hand.



For the rest: from my palm out = 2.15, 1.76, 1.65, 1.70 (gemfix)

Direct sun. Sorry it's blurry, but it does reflect what I saw. The 1.76 and the 1.65 (two in the middle) were the most glowy, despite Prima's evaluation that the big one had the best neon color...



And two in the shade outside. The 1.76 is the most glowy in indirect sun--it has the most red, but also significant orange.





When I shine my UV light on them, only the gemfix one gives off a real glow through the whole stone.

 

[Siameseroo]

Thanks, TL and Chrono, for your insight on the Mahenges. I have them in hand now and have 20 minutes to play with them. Will post pics as soon as I can--and beg for feedback.

In the meantime--these are all possibilities on the tourmaline front. They're all much smaller than the lovely ones posted recently, and all under budget. I'd love to hear your thoughts on their color!

Ooh I love the third one! Do you have specs for the stones?

 

[DecoDaze]

Thanks, TL and Chrono, for your insight on the Mahenges. I have them in hand now and have 20 minutes to play with them. Will post pics as soon as I can--and beg for feedback.

In the meantime--these are all possibilities on the tourmaline front. They're all much smaller than the lovely ones posted recently, and all under budget. I'd love to hear your thoughts on their color!

Ooh I love the third one! Do you have specs for the stones?

Yes, I'm a bad PS'er!

Tourm 1:
7.8 mm ascher cut
3.20 cts

Tourm 2:
7.0 x 9.0 mm cushion cut
2.80 cts

Tourm 3: (too small for me, I think)
Indicolite 5.8mm Sq. Cushion 1.01cts

Tourm 4:
Indicolite 9x6 Pear 1.31cts

The first two are significantly more expensive (and also significantly bigger, of course!)

ETA: I don't know how much of it is the different photography, but the first two definitely look less saturated/more gray to me.

 

[DecoDaze]

After playing a bit more with them, I find that the spinels all glow under my UV light. I'll post photos of it later tonight, with some other photos of the stones in diffuse light, with the sun lower in the sky. I know you're all waiting with bated breath.

 

[lilmosun]

Do any of these stones scream "gotta have" at you? It doesn't seem so based on your comments. What your eyes see and what you love is most important.

From your pictures, none of them would strike me as "the one" based on the stated budget. But I also know that I can't seem to capture the true color/glow of my mahenges no matter how hard I try (but my cell phone pics are crappy for most stones in general). Nor do I have the eye for evaluating stones in pictures that others here have. I also haven't kept up with mahenge prices except to know that they have really gone up.

But you are paying a premium for a mahenge - a nice one will completely jump out at you. You shouldn't try hard to see this. Don't rush just to have one. Of course, I say this knowing that once I made up my mind to have one, I wasn't that patient...lol.

(When I was looking for a magenta mahenge, Prima said they didn't have what I was looking for and came back with other recommendations. In the end I did buy one from them - Yvonne Raley actually found it for me. I don't think its because they held it back so much as it was lost in their inventory and because it was old stock, the pct price was actually cheaper than the others).

 

[DecoDaze]

Do any of these stones scream "gotta have" at you? It doesn't seem so based on your comments. What your eyes see and what you love is most important.

From your pictures, none of them would strike me as "the one" based on the stated budget. But I also know that I can't seem to capture the true color/glow of my mahenges no matter how hard I try (but my cell phone pics are crappy for most stones in general). Nor do I have the eye for evaluating stones in pictures that others here have. I also haven't kept up with mahenge prices except to know that they have really gone up.

But you are paying a premium for a mahenge - a nice one will completely jump out at you. You shouldn't try hard to see this. Don't rush just to have one. Of course, I say this knowing that once I made up my mind to have one, I wasn't that patient...lol.

(When I was looking for a magenta mahenge, Prima said they didn't have what I was looking for and came back with other recommendations. In the end I did buy one from them - Yvonne Raley actually found it for me. I don't think its because they held it back so much as it was lost in their inventory and because it was old stock, the pct price was actually cheaper than the others).

So, the short answer is no, none of the stones scream "gotta have" at me. I think they're beautiful, but no. And I think you're right that that means none of these is the one for me. I'm not in a rush--was just in a rush to get these particular stones so I could compare all four at once. And I think this is still very helpful in my search (and am definitely looking for thoughts from different folks who know Mahenges).

I wonder if it would be worth asking Yvonne to help with this--seems like she's been great help to a lot of people on PS.

FWIW, more photos, taken later in the day (but same order on my hand, with the gemfix stone closest to the tip of my fingers):







Order is mixed up here, but gemfix stone is on the right:

 

[Lovinggems]

I agree with you none of these stones are screaming 'pick me'. Hopefully you'll find something gorgeous soon.

 

[Acinom]

On the green front: the indicolite cushion in the 3rd pic looks promising. Did you receive any hand pics?

On the red front: does any of the stones speak to you / makes your heart sing?

 

[T L]

I believe Yvonne gets her stones from Prima, just food for thought.

 

[minousbijoux]

I believe Yvonne gets her stones from Prima, just food for thought.

TL: I may be misunderstanding your comment, but Decodaze got her spinels directly from Prima, save for the one she obtained through GF.

 

[T L]

I believe Yvonne gets her stones from Prima, just food for thought.

TL: I may be misunderstanding your comment, but Decodaze got her spinels directly from Prima, save for the one she obtained through GF.

I was just responding to this comment of hers.

"I wonder if it would be worth asking Yvonne to help with this--seems like she's been great help to a lot of people on PS."

I should have quoted it so that my comment made more sense.

 

[minousbijoux]

I believe Yvonne gets her stones from Prima, just food for thought.

TL: I may be misunderstanding your comment, but Decodaze got her spinels directly from Prima, save for the one she obtained through GF.

I was just responding to this comment of hers.

"I wonder if it would be worth asking Yvonne to help with this--seems like she's been great help to a lot of people on PS."

I should have quoted it so that my comment made more sense.

Oh got it - sorry!

 

[DecoDaze]

I believe Yvonne gets her stones from Prima, just food for thought.

TL: I may be misunderstanding your comment, but Decodaze got her spinels directly from Prima, save for the one she obtained through GF.

I was just responding to this comment of hers.

"I wonder if it would be worth asking Yvonne to help with this--seems like she's been great help to a lot of people on PS."

I should have quoted it so that my comment made more sense.

Thanks, TL. I was thinking of a comment that someone made (can't remember who) that they rejected the stones that Prima sent out, and then Yvonne found the perfect stone in Prima's stock--a stone that had been overlooked by the folks at Prima. Of course, I think that was a couple of years ago, so I'm guessing any old stock that Prima had has been sold long since. The price I pay for being way late to the Mahenge train.

On the green front: the indicolite cushion in the 3rd pic looks promising. Did you receive any hand pics?

On the red front: does any of the stones speak to you / makes your heart sing?

Acinom, No hand pics as yet--I think the indicolite cushion is a little small at 5.8 mm. But the color is promising, perhaps. I'll ask for hand pics of the pear, though.

And no, none of the reds/pinks speak to me. And the last couple of purchases I've made--the golden beryl and a small suite of emeralds that I haven't posted about--have. I have them in my home safe when I'm away, and can't wait to take them out and admire them. And no, I just don't feel that way about any of the Mahenges. But that's OK. I don't think I really expected to find the perfect stone in the first week of looking!

I agree with you none of these stones are screaming 'pick me'. Hopefully you'll find something gorgeous soon.

Thanks, Lovinggems!

 

[SparkliesLuver]

I'm sorry none of them tugged at your heart strings, DecoDaze. It's a tough one to shop for, I think. I know you'll find it though!

 

[chrono]

That is unfortunate - kinda like you needed to know the secret handshake upfront to get their best stones! Could it be that you provided a price range and they let that guide the quality level of the stones they thought you wanted or did you say "my budget is unlimited; give me the best you got"?

Minou,
I gave Prima free reign with regards to size and budget. I wanted quality first and foremost.

 

[chrono]

Direct sun. Sorry it's blurry, but it does reflect what I saw. The 1.76 and the 1.65 (two in the middle) were the most glowy, despite Prima's evaluation that the big one had the best neon color...

Sounds like you are experiencing the same thing I did with Prima. Their recommended stone(s) did not meet my expectation but once I emailed them pictures of what I am looking for, Prima was able to come up with a better selection for me. Perhaps you need to do the same?

 

[SparkliesLuver]

DecoDaze, what uv flashlight do you have? I should already have one but I don't. I'm noticing there's quite a spectrum range, so I want to be sure to get one that'll work for this purpose. Anyone have any insight? Thank you. <sorry for thread-jacking, DD>