zultanite anyone

[rparker1998]

does anyone have any zultanite or any feelings about it? I have a gorgeous 1.75 carat piece in white gold with small diamonds going down the band. This gem changes colors depending on the lighting. It goes from champanges and pinks in low light/candellight to kiwis, greens and golden browns outside.

 

[T L]

That''s the marketing name for Turkish Diaspore. Some of it seems to be pretty. I''ve been meaning to get one for my collection for some time.

 

[rparker1998]

pretty shot

 

[Harriet]

Honest opinion?

 

[rparker1998]

Date: 12/14/2008 7:17:30 PM
Author: Harriet
Honest opinion?

of course - i welcome both positive and negative opinions - after all we are all entitled to an opinion.

 

[Harriet]

Objectively speaking, zultanite is too soft to be used as a ring. Moreover it has multiple cleavage planes. Subjectively speaking, I don''t like the colour -- it can have brown, grey and yellow secondaries. Not my favourite. BUT, as I''ve maintained, colour is completely subjective. No offence taken, I hope.

 

[rparker1998]

Date: 12/14/2008 7:58:11 PM
Author: Harriet
Objectively speaking, zultanite is too soft to be used as a ring. Moreover it has multiple cleavage planes. Subjectively speaking, I don''t like the colour -- it can have brown, grey and yellow secondaries. Not my favourite. BUT, as I''ve maintained, colour is completely subjective. No offence taken, I hope.

its a 6.5 to 7 hardness on the mohs scale - not too bad, but compared to a diamond, yes it is softer. However, considering Tanzinite, Zircon, peridot are all in the same hardness, i guess it''s more about liking the colors.

I like it, because of it''s rareity and the fact that it only yeilds 2% of the stone after cutting. 98% is lost during cutting.

no offense taken )

 

[Tuckins1]

I think it''s purty.

 

[Harriet]

rparker1998,
We''re good. Btw, welcome to this forum!

 

[T L]

Zultanite, like any stone, comes in several qualities. I did see a beautiful one being outlined by David Federman in "Modern Jeweler" magazine. I thought, by the picture (who knows what it looks like in real life), that it was a very attractive stone that went from pastel green to pastel pink. I know some of the TV shopping channels are really hawking it now. Unfortunately, I do not trust their quality from what I've seen.

 

[rparker1998]

Date: 12/14/2008 9:00:04 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
Zultanite, like any stone, comes in several qualities. I did see a beautiful one being outlined by David Federman in 'Modern Jeweler' magazine. I thought, by the picture (who knows what it looks like in real life), that it was a very attractive stone that went from pastel green to pastel pink. I know some of the TV shopping channels are really hawking it now. Unfortunately, I do not trust their quality from what I've seen.

i purchased mine from a tv shopping channel and i absolutely love it. I even looked at it under a gemscope and it was gorgeous. It's a very fascinating stone - you really have to see it in person to appreciate it's beauty. The tv and even the pictures above by my own admiission don't do it justice.

Thanks for the welcome - i've just found this place receently and can't seem to tear myself away.

 

[packrat]

I''d never heard of it until I started watching one of the jewelry channels..I think the color changes are pretty!

 

[mochi]

That''s facinating. I have never heard of this stone before. This is the reason I love PS, I''m always learning and hearning of new things and am always mesmerized by the knowledge of the posters here. GOSH DARN IT.... i love you guys!

 

[T L]

It's all over ebay as well, just do a search on "diaspore". You can see many more examples there. The TV shopping channel, well one of them that I know of, coined this stone "zultanite" to make it seem that they are the only ones selling it, and that they have exclusivity to it. However, you can find it all over the place on ebay. I don't think many of the cutters that PS'ers commonly go to have any specimens. It would be nice to find some cut by Barry, Jeff, or Gene, etc. . . . (hint hint)

I've seen it cut in a really fancy snowflake shape once, and other fancy shapes. It might be a good gem for cutting. The color change aspect makes it nice for collectors as well. The color changes stones come primarily from Turkey.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Honestly I absolutely love the ones I have seen and yours is really beautiful. The hardness factor prevents me from buying one though. They are a very unique gem and you are fortunate to have one. More pics if you can please.

Lisa

 

[Harriet]

Date: 12/14/2008 9:00:04 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
Zultanite, like any stone, comes in several qualities. I did see a beautiful one being outlined by David Federman in ''Modern Jeweler'' magazine. I thought, by the picture (who knows what it looks like in real life), that it was a very attractive stone that went from pastel green to pastel pink. I know some of the TV shopping channels are really hawking it now. Unfortunately, I do not trust their quality from what I''ve seen.

I handled a specimen that the distributor had sent to a jeweller, in the snowflake cut actually. I presume that the distributor sent one of pretty high quality. I just couldn''t bite and even tried to talk the jeweller out of stocking it. Don''t hate me!

 

[rparker1998]

definatly will post more pics - i just got the stone cleaned - boy was it filthy!!! i''m embarressed to post new pics of how clean and shiny it is.

I think I''ve seen some people calling chrome diopside zultanite.
, but if you look the chrome diopside stone is actually green - dark green where the zultantie is acutally a honey/glaze color.

More pictues soon. i love my stone it has so much fire and brilliance.

 

[T L]

Chrome diopside is not the same as Zultanite. Perhaps the diopside and the disaspore names are confused???

 

[LD]

Here''s my Zultanite/Diaspore Snowflake. The photos do a really bad job of showing the colour but IRL it''s a pale apple green in natural daylight, changes to a soft peach and then has dark pink flashes under electric light. It''s a terrible gemstone to photograph the colour shift.

 

[LD]

Here''s one I had made into a ring - again, bad photographs (sorry)!

 

[packrat]

Oooo pretty!! I love the greeny browns!

 

[rparker1998]

Date: 12/15/2008 10:49:48 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
Chrome diopside is not the same as Zultanite. Perhaps the diopside and the disaspore names are confused???

you''re right. I got the two names mixed up.

 

[rparker1998]

I''m hoping to get more pictures of my newly clean ring tomorrow. Not feeling well tonight

 

[rparker1998]

as requested - hand shot of my clean zultanite.jpg

 

[rparker1998]

...see the pretty pinks?

 

[rparker1998]

pretty tans

 

[Harriet]

rparker1998,
If I may, how much do Zultanites cost?

 

[Harriet]

Date: 12/14/2008 6:35:01 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
That''s the marketing name for Turkish Diaspore. Some of it seems to be pretty. I''ve been meaning to get one for my collection for some time.

Which has been around for quite a while and in quite a quantity. Doesn''t it resemble an andalusite?

 

[chrono]

Yes, Turkish diaspore has been in circulation for a while. I've seen them hyped as Zultanite on JTV but was not impressed. My opinion is that most of JTV's gemstones are overpriced for their quality.

 

[rparker1998]

Date: 12/16/2008 8:55:21 PM
Author: Harriet
rparker1998,
If I may, how much do Zultanites cost?

it really depends on where you get it, but i paid apx 850 for mine. It''s white gold, with diamonds down the band and it''s 1.75 carats I beleive. I don''t have the spec card at the moment. They have it on gemstv a lot, which is where I got mine during one of their premier zultanite specials. I''ve seen 1/2 carats with less diamonds go for 1200 lately.