Will this be too dark?

[BWise]

What do you all think of this Mahenge Spinel? Will this be dark in person? I''ve never bought anything from Dan but heard many good things about him here. For those of you with experience with his photo accuracy, I''d appreciate some insights.

 

[VapidLapid]

My experiences with Tan are that the videos are more accurate than the still photos, so I dont think this will be too dark, rather kinda right on the mark.

 

[Arcadian]

No, that won't be too dark at all. I tend to rely on the video, sometimes the photo can be accurate, sometimes its the video. I try to look at a stone that shows close enough of the same for both.



-A

 

[T L]

I don't think it will be too dark.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

Date: 6/22/2010 8:51:44 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
I don''t think it will be too dark, but it is lacking a little in saturation for a Mahenge. Maybe it will be nicer in person. It''s also a wonky cut, and I know you''re a stickler about good cutting. I hope you like it.

Maybe I am missing something, but to me, there are no modifiers and the color looks like it was hit by a nuclear blast it is so bright.
yingh, if you are the one who picked it up, can we get more pics?

 

[T L]

Date: 6/22/2010 9:09:10 PM
Author: brazen_irish_hussy

Date: 6/22/2010 8:51:44 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
I don't think it will be too dark, but it is lacking a little in saturation for a Mahenge. Maybe it will be nicer in person. It's also a wonky cut, and I know you're a stickler about good cutting. I hope you like it.

Maybe I am missing something, but to me, there are no modifiers and the color looks like it was hit by a nuclear blast it is so bright.
yingh, if you are the one who picked it up, can we get more pics?

I just deleted all of that from my post. It is not a top color Mahenge, but I shouldn't judge it as so, especially for the price. It's still a pretty stone. I wouldn't say it's nuclear blast bright, but it's a pretty color. I have seen more saturated ones on his site, but they were more expensive per carat too.

When I typed all of that, I didn't realize Yingh already bought it. Sorry Yingh. I just wanted to be honest since you were asking for opinions. I hope you love it.

 

[Upgradable]

It has been on my watch list. I think it looks like a beautiful stone! It will likely be much more red than hot pink, but I''ll bet it has tons of sparkle and personality when you see it IRL!

 

[marcy]

It looks very pretty.

 

[iLander]

I think it will be lovely.

If not, it''s not very expensive to send back, so it''s worth a shot.

But I think you got a great deal!

 

[chrono]

It''s a good Mahenge spinel for under $700 and it probably will not be dark. Do let us know your opinion when you receive it.

 

[BWise]

Ladies, thanks for offering your opinions.

This was somewhat an impulsive purchase, after failing to find a decent size/shape/color Mahenge from other vendors. I decided to give it a try. I want a pinkish red stone and this one looked good for the price. Then I had a little buyer''s remorse, worried about the color having too much plum in it. Well, we will see.

This 2.29ct spinel has my ideal color but it is in heart shape. I can never see myself wearing a heart shaped stone.

I be sure to take pictures and post here - speaking of which, are we ever going to get PS 2.0?

 

[Lovinggems]

Very pretty and nicely priced!

 

[chrono]

The heart looks to have better saturation but might be a little sleepier? Maybe it is just my monitor but it doesn’t sparkle as much as the one you’ve chosen. Well, if all goes well, PS2 will be up and running on July 5th.

 

[BWise]

I received this spinel a few days ago. The color is exactly what I have wanted, but the cut, sigh, it has a medium sized window!

 

[BWise]

I really like its color. Not dark at all as I had worried. Is the window visible when mounted? It sits very high in the ring holder but I want to get a feeling of the window. I need to decide quickly whether to keep it or not.

 

[BWise]

Expert opinion needed on the window please - will it close once set?

 

[BWise]

Cupped view showing the color.

 

[BWise]

Last one, I thought it is pretty neat to see the hot pink flashes.

Opinions, please.

 

[T L]

If the window really bothers you, perhaps ask someone like Jerry Newman of gem mart services to close it up. He's very reasonably priced. I don't know if the window will close in a setting, and it's a pity because it's a very pretty color. Perhaps send him the video link and ask him his professional opinion. Hopefully you won't lose too much carat weight. You got it for a great price, so I would be ambivalent sending it back. It might be worth a recut.

 

[dzop]

Is it that big a deal if the window doesn't fully close? It's really not that big of a window, IMO. (The one really objectionable picture you posted seems to be a tilt window.) The color is superlative.

 

[Lovinggems]

I don't think the window is too noticeable in the ring holder thing. Do you have an empty setting that you can try with your stone?
I love the colours of Mahenge spinels, they're really something special.

 

[chrono]

The window looks medium sized and from the back view, may not be a candidate for a recut as it looks to be on the shallow side. How well is the window minimized in the ring holder?

 

[movie zombie]

is it more of a tilt window? as noted above, not too noticeable in the holder. personally, i think the stone has great color and had it not had that window would have cost more than you paid for it. its ok to accept the window in light of the wonderful color.

mz

 

[BWise]

Thanks everyone for offering your thoughts. I think I am going to keep it. Despite the window, it has a good combination of color, size, and clarity, all for the price I paid. It will be hard to find that again and I was discouraged by my search with Swala.

To minimize the window in setting, should I have an open gallery, or have a closed gallery that doesn't allow much lights to come in at the bottom?

What color gold do you think? I am generally not a YG person, but I like the look in the holder that is close to 22k look.

Lastly, an interesting observation. Tan called the shape oval, but I think it is close to cushion. If I were to look at LOGR setting, shall I start with oval or cushion?

 

[T L]

I think a halo would close it up Yingh. It's more on the pink side, then red, so I would go with white gold, unless you think you see more orange in it IRL.

 

[BWise]

The color shifts. In daylight it is just like what I have pictured. At evening it turns to an orangy pink. I will try to capture the color.

Hard to decide on the gold color.

 

[chrono]

I love how it looks in your richly yellow ring holder and that's the metal colour I would choose. It looks like an enclosed style gallery setting should minimize the window well. In terms of setting, I'd still go with an oval over a cushion because of the rounded ends. In a cushion setting, the rounded ends might "overhang" and end up looking a little odd.

 

[brandy_z28]

Nice color on that stone yingh! This might sound crazy but check out rose gold with the spinel. My new ring has 18k rose gold bezels from JKT and I think it works perfectly, brings out more of the red.