anyone else into the the more non-traditional colors?

[strmrdr]

While blue and red corundum are way kewl im finding myself drawn to the other colored corundum more and more.
Same with garnets - orangey to orangish brown ones == yummy
Same with spinel
Same with zircon the honey ziron call to me more than most of the blue ones.
and many more.

Anyone else feel the same way?

 

[strmrdr]

as an example I have this garnet on the way:
http://www.diamondexpert.com/

 

[strmrdr]

hmm upload not working again.....

 

[strmrdr]

not working in ie either.....

 

[strmrdr]

Worked with a file name of a12 but not GR00185a.jpg ..

Anyway here it is :}

 

[leggs]

I am very attracted to that steel blue spinel colour and some of those peachy shades of pink sapphire with a silvery look. I just look but at least when I can buy I will know what I want and it won''t be traditional and never a diamond.

 

[strmrdr]

steel blue spinel is awesome.
I was looking a baby blue colored spinel in a ring the other day awesome color but it had a huge window right thru the crown so I passed on it.

 

[valeria101]

Turquoise is my color (and fav stone). So the dirt cheap sapphire that comes in light greenish blue (aqua) looks particularly appealing to me.

 

[suzannecallison]

I love the color of this one

and this one

stop me

I really like the one you have on order. I''m practicing buying inexpensive odd colored stones, just to see what I get. Is this an addiction?

What will I do with all of them??

Suzanne

 

[MJO]

Suzanne1,

Your 3 stones look like colors of Oregon Sunstone.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 11/21/2004 11:48:57 AM
Author: suzanne1
I love the color of this one

and this one

stop me

I really like the one you have on order. I'm practicing buying inexpensive odd colored stones, just to see what I get. Is this an addiction?

What will I do with all of them??


Suzanne

Yep its an adiction lol
Iv been doing the same.
I take them out every couple days and dream up different ways of mounting them!
One day these will go into a ring...no a bracelet ... no a pin ... no no a pendant.
hehehehehe
it will actualy be kinda a sad day when I do get them mounted cuz It wont be as much fun plying with them.
I even bought some signity star cz's to play with.


ps. I love that honey zircon its yummy!

 

[suzannecallison]

Date: 11/21/2004 2:16:18 PM
Author: strmrdr

Yep its an adiction lol
Iv been doing the same.
I take them out every couple days and dream up different ways of mounting them!
One day these will go into a ring...no a bracelet ... no a pin ... no no a pendant.
hehehehehe
it will actualy be kinda a sad day when I do get them mounted cuz It wont be as much fun plying with them.
I even bought some signity star cz''s to play with.


ps. I love that honey zircon its yummy!

I try to stay away from those honey colors but something won''t let me...and believe it or not, I was on wink''s site this morning trying to decide which fancy shape CZ''s to buy. I think I''m going to be crazier than you.

MJO,
The first stone is a honey zircon, the 2nd a Nigerian tourmaline and the 3rd is a sunstone. Do you have any of sunstones? Do they flash a copper color? Quickly, tell me all about them

Suzanne

 

[katbadness]

Date: 11/21/2004 2:16:18 PM
Author: strmrdr

Yep its an adiction lol
Iv been doing the same.
I take them out every couple days and dream up different ways of mounting them!
One day these will go into a ring...no a bracelet ... no a pin ... no no a pendant.
hehehehehe
it will actualy be kinda a sad day when I do get them mounted cuz It wont be as much fun plying with them.
I even bought some signity star cz''s to play with.


ps. I love that honey zircon its yummy!

strmrdr,

OMG... this is exactly how my bf would describe what I do with my collection!! The fact that I don''t mount them, I just "play" with them.... Hahahaha...

It doesn''t help that some of the stones in my collection are not really mountable because they''re too soft..

I gravitate towards stones that has in between colors, it seems...
Rhodochrosite/Padparadscha sapphire = pink orange..
Turquoise/paraiba tourmalines = blue green..
Tanzanite/iolite = blue purple..
etc.

Though if somebody hands me a red red ruby/crayola blue sapphire, I won''t turn it down!!

.

My e-ring of choice, will definitely not be diamond..

 

[MJO]

Suzanne1,

I have a collection of sunstone. Some are golden, some are green, some are bicolor, some are orange and some are red. I try and find them with no shiller flashs but do have examples of some that flash like a copper penny. I have a 3ct round that is the best pure red stone I own. I have a carving by Will Cox that he entered into the 2003 AGTA Cutting edge awards. Now that is an interesting piece.

 

[suzannecallison]

Date: 11/21/2004 7:12:40 PM
Author: MJO
Suzanne1,

I have a collection of sunstone. Some are golden, some are green, some are bicolor, some are orange and some are red. I try and find them with no shiller flashs but do have examples of some that flash like a copper penny. I have a 3ct round that is the best pure red stone I own. I have a carving by Will Cox that he entered into the 2003 AGTA Cutting edge awards. Now that is an interesting piece.

I am still very much in the learning stage. Sunstones caught my eye on the web sites, though I have yet to see one. You must have been collecting them for a while. Do you have any pictures?

Suzanne

 

[MJO]

Suzanne,

I will try and take pictures tomorrow. Look at the following websites for info on Oregon Sunstone.

Gemstoneartists.com and from there go to the link he has on the Dust Devil Mine

 

[valeria101]

Andesine... chinese sunstone. No schiller - bright orange-red

You like ?

 

[MJO]

Val,

Very nice. Is it as bright as Oregon Sunstone?

 

[valeria101]

Date: 11/21/2004 10:13:50 PM
Author: MJO
Val,

Very nice. Is it as bright as Oregon Sunstone?

Yeah... it seems to be the same material, although... I did not look into the technicalities this far. These are very clean, about the same range of red/orange as Oregon but not all that large. At least I do not know of larger stones of this kind - perhaps 5cts or so. Worth asking around, if interested.

 

[MJO]

Ana,

Oregon sunstone is the only sunstone I know of that contains copper. Just like paraiba tourmaline contains copper. This seems to be what gives it it''s brilliance. 5ct cut stones of top quality is rare in Oregon Sunstone. Also they can get expensive for top quality bicolor, green and red. I have heard blue oregon also but I have never seen picutes of it. I am wondering if it is more of a blue green. I actually paid $750/ct for a top 3 ct Red stone. That is the most I have ever paid for sunstone. I did buy an 18ct red stone for $700/ct but I think I got ripped off. This is before I found out that some reds were coming from other places and not Oregon. I believe it could be from China. I bought it 3 years ago.

 

[valeria101]

Red Oregon Sunstone.... $700/ct... Wow! I am more used with, say, $200! so probably have no idea what I am talking about

Anyway, I can easily imagine that superb cutting and schiller can bring prices anywhere one wants them to be.
Not sure about the copper content of the Chinese material, but the same type comming off Madagascar and elewhere in Africa has it too. Schiiler as well. I have not followed up too diligently on what happened with the production from these localities though. Some muddy-green-violet stuff come from Tanzania, but nothing to call blue. And this is where my info stops.

The large one is the carving by Will Cox, right ? If so, the price per carat seems immaterial to me...

 

[pyramid]

emeralds for me

Especially emerald cut emeralds of 1 carat or larger in size.

 

[strmrdr]

I really like this one that val posted on another thread:

 

[MJO]

Ana,

The price on red sunstone depends on the pureness and intensity of the red color. The 3ct of mine is the most pure and most intense I have seen. Also the color doesn't shift in different lighting or when the stone is rocked from side to side. The 18ct is probubly from Madagascar since the crystals in the stone look different to anything I have seen in Oregon sunstone. It doesn't have that "pop" either. I have a 9.75ct tricolor that is interesting. It looks like an analusite having green yellow/gold and coppery red was you move the stone. The piece by Will Cox is a little over 40cts and is cut like a sea shell. Actually the most interesting caving I have is a 500ct Rhodochrisite Owl Carved buy Terris Cotter Shank. It was one of 3 commissioned by the owner of the Sweet Home Mine. The color of the caving is out of this world. There is a picture of it on the following website:

http://www.gemartlab.com

Another interesting site is www.gemartists.org. Richard Homer is a member of this organization also.

 

[suzannecallison]

Date: 11/22/2004 7:58:52 AM
Author: pyramid
emeralds for me

Especially emerald cut emeralds of 1 carat or larger in size.

Emeralds are the best.And Sapphires. And Rubies. I just don''t have the funds to buy so I keep looking for a subsitute, and then I see other colors and then it''s three hours later...
I just ordered Mr. Hughes book as an early Christmas present for myself.

Suzanne

 

[MJO]

Suzanne,

Check out this website for a short description of different stones with pictures. The first is lapis.

http://airesjewelers.com/Gem_Profile_Lapis.htm

 

[suzannecallison]

Excellent site! Thanks. I''ll be up all night..

Suzanne

 

[chantal990]

I love emeralds and tsavorite. I love the beautiful vibrant greens in these stones. I actaully wanted an emerald e-ring until my FH talkied me into a traditional diamond so I am currently having the ring I wanted made up with a 2.14ct Columbian Emerald which I am having made into a ring with white sapphires instead of diamonds.

But the proudest member of my gem collection is pictured it''s an 0.74 untreated ceylon sapphire and I love it.

 

[suzannecallison]

Wow! That is a beautiful sapphire! What do you plan to do with it?
Suzanne

 

[valeria101]

Date: 11/22/2004 10:38:52 AM
Author: MJO
Ana,

The price on red sunstone depends on the pureness and intensity of the red color. The 3ct of mine is the most pure and most intense I have seen.

Surely understand this

Not having hunted down the perfect sunstone yet... I am no as acquinted with what makes the type famous. It doesn''t help that my taste happened to favor the multicolor type that seems to be less expensive.

GANA''s "roster" makes great refference. It''s quite amazing there was no mention of it yet around here. Thanks for the reminder.