5 recommended loose gemstones?

[theatre_girl]

Well, sadly my last post didn''t go through, which means this one (instead of being witty and entertaining) will be far more direct.

I am looking to start a colored gemstone collection. What are your top 5 that I would be remiss not to include? My main criteria is to get the best stone at the best price (isn''t it always?) I am not going to set any of these, I just want to invest wisely. Thoughts?

Oh, I have a 10X gem loop, tweezers and ideal-scope for diamonds. What else would be a good to have handy?

 

[neatfreak]

By invest, do you mean INVEST? Or just spend your "fun money" wisely?

Because most gems are not investments...

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 3/17/2008 4:57:45 PM
Author:theatre_girl
Well, sadly my last post didn''t go through, which means this one (instead of being witty and entertaining) will be far more direct.

I am looking to start a colored gemstone collection. What are your top 5 that I would be remiss not to include? My main criteria is to get the best stone at the best price (isn''t it always?) I am not going to set any of these, I just want to invest wisely. Thoughts?

Oh, I have a 10X gem loop, tweezers and ideal-scope for diamonds. What else would be a good to have handy?

Well, that depends how into this you want to get...

I have:

Chelsea Filter
Calcite Dichroscope (and some dodgy polaroid thing that Gem-A sent me...

)
Portable Polariscope
2 Spectroscopes
Belomo 10x triplet loupe in black casing.
Monochromatic light - the refractometer is waiting for me to save up the pennies...

Dodgy UV light
Digital scales

On my shopping list:
Darkfield Loupe
Refractometer
Microscope (ouch!

)
Long wave/short wave UV light

Plus: assorted tweezers, stone cloths, stone holders, flexi lights (ugh..), spare loupes (for friends who will put their fingers on my lenses

)

I also have about 35 or so text books - I really like Robert Webster''s ''Practical Gemmology'' (6th Ed) for the theoretical stuff and Richard W. Wise''s ''Secrets of the Gem Trade'' for a great book that is much more ''bed-time readable''.

I would put the dichroscope, chelsea filter and spectroscope high up the list for starters, as well as a really good BLACK CASED loupe - not the crappy chrome things.

On the stones, if I had some spare $$$ hanging about, I would buy:

Chrysoberyl
Spessartite Garnet
Demantoid Garnet
Red Spinel
Siberian Amethyst (or more sphene!)

If I won the lottery:

Ruby - the finest Mogok has seen (okay, if I''d won a few lotteries

)
Kashmir Sapphire
Demantoid Garnet
Tsavorite Garnet
Every other garnet going - the best I could find of each type.

Oh, and all of these are for me to keep in little boxes in Pandora/Fagin''s Gem Den - forever and ever....

 

[colormyworld]

Well hello theatre_girl. I would have to say the most handy thing to have around would be a gemologist. LOL


As far as stones to collect, I guess that would depend on where your intrests takes you. Are you looking to aquire fine examples of the most popular gems? If this is the case. I would look for an emerald, ruby,blue sapphire (there are many other colors) for starters. After that The feild is pretty wide open. Alexandrite, spinel, garnet,( ther are many kinds) Aquamarine, Tourmaline, (many colors) Peridot, Amethyst, ( and other quartzs) Topaz, Zircon, and don''t forget about Tanzanite which is a zoisite and also comes in differnt colors. There are many more also. These are some of the more widely know though. You could also stick with one varity say corundum. Ruby and differnt color sapphires. The garnets would be another option.

As noted by neatfreak gems are somewhat hard to liquidate quickly so should not be considered investments.

 

[marcy]

If money were no object I''d get:

Alexandrite
Paraiba Tourmaline
Red Spinel
Tanzanite
Demantoid Garnet

If I could afford high end stones I would get:

Ceylon Sapphire (bright royal blue)
Spessartite Garnet
Tsavorite Garnet
Color Change Spinel
Aquamarine (the color of the ocean)

If I just wanted to start a very affordable collection I would get:

Rhodolite Garnet
Swiss Blue Topaz
Iolite
Amethyst
Blue Zircon

Have fun picking what you want.

 

[desertgem]

Hi Theatre Girl,

A collection is a great way to learn more about colored stones, and various instruments have been mentioned. You said you don''t plan to mount them, so you are not hampered by ideas of size, cuts,even windows ( except for your personal limits). It is rather neat to get a mineral specimen or rough to go with a faceted gemstone. Also, if you aren''t going to mount them, you don''t have to be quite as concerned with the hardness factor

These are mostly inexpensive as they are not common for jewelry, but I think they "ROCK"

Sphalerite - ( also called zinc blende) I like the ruby reddish color best
Kyanite - the deep blue color
Clinohumite- I like the red color better than the more yellow

Sphene- Talked about in different thread.I Like the lighter shade myself
Chrome Diopside- I like it better than Tsavorite for color, but soft and brittle

The Clinohumite will probably be the most expensive.

One could also start a Garnet or Tourmaline color series.

Jim

 

[marcy]

Jim, I like your suggestion of a color collection of garnets and tourmaline.

 

[desertgem]

Hi Marcyc,

When I first started I got a copy of Schumann " Gemstones of the World" book and in the Garnet descriptions, there was a string of stones of the spectrum, and it just caught my intentions. Sometimes I think I have a transition and then I find another that fits a color in between

, but that is what makes a collection a long term interest. Tourmalines will be a fun series also!

Jim

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 3/18/2008 2:20:31 AM
Author: desertgem

Hi Theatre Girl,

A collection is a great way to learn more about colored stones, and various instruments have been mentioned. You said you don''t plan to mount them, so you are not hampered by ideas of size, cuts,even windows ( except for your personal limits). It is rather neat to get a mineral specimen or rough to go with a faceted gemstone. Also, if you aren''t going to mount them, you don''t have to be quite as concerned with the hardness factor

These are mostly inexpensive as they are not common for jewelry, but I think they ''ROCK''

Sphalerite - ( also called zinc blende) I like the ruby reddish color best
Kyanite - the deep blue color
Clinohumite- I like the red color better than the more yellow

Sphene- Talked about in different thread.I Like the lighter shade myself
Chrome Diopside- I like it better than Tsavorite for color, but soft and brittle

The Clinohumite will probably be the most expensive.

One could also start a Garnet or Tourmaline color series.

Jim

Mmmmm, Sphalerite...

 

[theatre_girl]

Decisions decisions… All of them so yummy!!

Neatfreak- INVEST was probably a stronger word than what I intended. At the very root of it, I just want to enjoy creating the collection and not spazz about throwing money away because I know I’m making good purchases. Also, I want be proud of it when I hand it down through the generations. (Or, keep my preciousness locked away where no one can sneak a peek but me [insert evil laughter]

haven’t decided which yet.)

Pandora II- your list of Gem instruments is just what I needed. I am tooling around online to see where I can get some good deals on the dichroscope, chelsea filter and spectroscope. As for the books, Wise’s is by my bedside as I type (and is the reason for my being bleary-eyed this morning to work *sigh

). I will put Webster’s on my list!

Jim- I do soooo love the idea of a color tourmaline collection, as I have always been quite fond of them. Although it will be a strong test of my will power to try and keep away from the other pretties.

Desertgem- I am not too familiar with Sphalerite and Clinohumite so I am going to look into those. As for Sphene, I honestly haven’t seen one that jumped out at me. Admittedly, I have had limited exposure to this gem but I will catch the other thread you mentioned and see if I can’t be swayed. (I honestly haven’t met a gem yet that has failed in doing so.)

Well, I have lots of reading and browsing to do (and somewhere in there I have to find time to eat) so I thank everyone for their comments! I will start posting some images of what I find and perhaps everyone could chime in with feedback. If anyone else has their dream list

vs. reality list

… please send it my way!

 

[Pandora II]

If you are going to buy instruments, as well as Websters (there''s a latest edition (1993) on Amazon for $18 by the way), I found ''Gem Identification made Easy'' is very helpful in learning to use them.


I''m currently putting together a ''nasty rock'' collection for study purposes for my FGA - and hoping to build a ''beautiful rock'' collection, a la Matthew''s Collection in the Natural History Museum, over my lifetime.

I''ve just bought 3 sphene, and they are incredible! I also saw another great one in London last saturday (2.2ct for $180) there was also a fabulous demantoid garnet as well - $5.5k for 2.10ct

Have you seen some in real life or just in pictures?

I think this one of Revolution''s shows some of the best effects:

 

[RevolutionGems]

Yep, gotta admit, that is (so far) the finest sphene I have cut. I just got in another parcel of rough from Pakistan. It is lighter in color and some of the pieces are HUGE! By huge, I mean that several are over the 100ct mark and one EXCEEDS 300cts.

I will post some more pics when I get some cut.

 

[Harriet]

My current wishlist:
Kashmiri sapphire
Mahenge spinel
Fluorescent ruby
Cuprian tourmaline
Bixbite

 

[chrono]

My top 5 current wish list:
1. Unheated Kashmiri blue sapphire
2. Deep blue moonstone
3. Demantoid with horsetail inclusion
4. Nigerian Spessartite
5. Mahenge spinel