blue to pink spinel color change...........

[digdeep]

Chrono, minousbijoux, Pregcurious..........thanks so much!! Yes, Incandescent and florescent lighting shows pink with a touch/shade of orange in it. It definitely changes color dramatically.... it also can go "clear" in really bright sunlight at just the right angle. Don't ask me what angle that is.........??? It did a REALLY good job of confusing me....

 

[Michelez]

I have a Luc Yen spinel and I totally love it - such rich colors!

 

[digdeep]

Wow! How beautiful......and BIG! That is gorgeous.......

Do you know if Luc Yen is the only area that this color change spinel is found? I'm asking because I hadn't even thought about origin...........it was just a 'pretty' spinel until this forum thread.

 

[Michelez]

I'm not sure. I got this spinel from Brad http://www.thegemtrader.com/

This one was never posted to the website because he sourced it just for me. I don't think it's officially a color changer but it does change color from blue to purple. If you send him an email, I'm sure he could answer questions about color change spinel.

[email protected]

 

[digdeep]

Thanks Michelez........I will contact Brad. He might be a good detective on where this gem came from........

 

[chrono]

I've seen spinel from Tanzania that come close to this colour, complete with the colour shift.

 

[T L]

Yes, color shifting spinel is very common. I have several myself, although they go from a violet blue to a more grape purple.

Depending on tone and saturation, the shift can be lighter, darker or grayer variations of those hues.

 

[digdeep]

Thx Chrono and TL,

I have seen the blue/purple shift, but not the colors in my stone which caused my confusion. If they are attributed to certain areas like Tanzania then I can check those sources more closely. The origin for this stone was "SE Asia", so it didn't come from Tanzania--and I may never know where it's origin was, but I'd like to find another one............

 

[chrono]

I thought TL has one or two Tanzanian lavender to pink spinels, but sounds like I'm incorrect.

I did this a while back (combining the different looks of the stone under various types of lighting) so you all get tortured with pictures of my Luc Yen now.

 

[digdeep]

TORTURE ME! TORTURE ME MORE!!

The lower left photo looks like you caught the neon "pop" that I see in my ring too........nice pic's!

 

[T L]

I thought TL has one or two Tanzanian lavender to pink spinels, but sounds like I'm incorrect.

I did this a while back (combining the different looks of the stone under various types of lighting) so you all get tortured with pictures of my Luc Yen now.

I actually do, but I just mentioned the violet to grape ones. I forgot about the others. Too many gemstones.

 

[Marlow]

Love your spinel!!!

Chrono, forgive me - the setting of the last spinel is ugly!!!

http://www.ssef.ch/fileadmin/Documents/PDF/640_Facette/SSEF-FACETTE21-Bd.pdf

I have both kinds of cobalt bearing - the vivid blue and some CC Co spinel - but tiny stones....

I believe that these kind of CC spinel have a small amount of chrome + iron and tiny amount of cobalt...

5 to 20 ppm (parts per million!!!) - incredible - imagine a bath tube with 100liter water - you need half a liter to color it red and a DROP of cobalt to color it blue....

Would be interesting to do some research on these gems....

 

[katharath]

Thx Chrono and TL,

I have seen the blue/purple shift, but not the colors in my stone which caused my confusion. If they are attributed to certain areas like Tanzania then I can check those sources more closely. The origin for this stone was "SE Asia", so it didn't come from Tanzania--and I may never know where it's origin was, but I'd like to find another one............

I've owned a few gorgeous spinels that were crazy color shifters, purchased from Dana, that were listed on the site as location being "SE Asia"; when I received them, the gems were marked on the packaging as being from Burma. It's my understanding that this is sort of a code for Burmese spinels. Any of Dana's that he lists are pre embargo, but you can get into complications trying to market Burmese gems online even when they ARE preembargo. I've seen Jeff Davies and someone else - maybe Tan? - do something similar, they say something like "origin available upon request" on certain spinels or other gems, and they usually means Burma.

I am far from an expert, but at this point I'm probably more experienced with spinels than any other gem - I've owned several Burmese; probably about 10-12 Tanzanian spinels in various lavender, blue (dark to lighter but "regular", not cobalt), pale pink colors; maybe 10 or so mahenge spinels; and one teeny pair of genuine cobalt blues (Luc Yen) that are incredibly small but gorgeous blue color. Oh and a pair of Luc Yen lavenderish blues. Out of all of these I've sold many and have pared my collection down to just 8 loose spinels remaining, and I've set a few mahenges which I've kept.

In my experience almost all spinels are shifty; I think I've only owned one that I would say doesn't shift much at all (a very saturated mahenge, and even that one will still fluoresce to a bit redder in sunlight). The Burmese I've had were quite shifty, and many of the regular Tanzanian spinels shifted at least a little if not a lot. Even my tiny cobalt blues shift from neon blue to slightly purple in incandescent light. The mahenges will shift to show more orange, or more pink, or fluoresce in sunlight to show more red.

I really adore spinels - the lighter gems, when precision cut, usually show fantastic dispersion. I think Dana's and Barry's are usually the best for that aspect. There's so much to love about these gems!!

Sorry for the spinel rant

 

[Marlow]

To my knowledge there is no ban on spinel from Burma - "only" ruby and jade(ite)!

SE Asian could be a term course they mix many vietnamese and burmese gems. I think some colors are very special ( Namya hot pink, fine red from Mogok and lavender and blue from Luc Yen) - but you find fine red and pink in Luc Yen too.

 

[katharath]

Marlow, I have no idea about the embargo honestly - I'm just going by what I've seen vendors doing and saying .

Per Dana's page he quotes:

"NOTE .... We will no longer be selling anything that is Burma named per the rules from Paypal; even though I purchased the gems prior to 2001; it is not worth having the account frozen... If you want one of those gems I bought and re-cut prior to the 2003 embargo; just ask me about one of them."

And the spinels that I bought from him were marketed as being from "SE Asia" online, but when I received them he had noted on their packaging that they were from Burma.

The only reason I mention it was in response to the previous question about "where SE Asia" referred to for the previous poster

 

[Marlow]

O.K.

It is a paypal ban! New to me...

 

[mastercutgems]

Hello All

Just checkin in to see what everyone is showing and telling and saw this topic..

quote "The new legislation, known as the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta's Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2008, was signed into law by President Bush on July 29th, 2008, and will take effect 60 days from the signing. It extends previous legislation from 2003, which already banned the import of all gemstones from Burma. But a loophole in the existing law allowed the import of Burmese gems that were cut and polished in other countries such as Thailand.

The new law closes this loophole, but not for every kind of Burmese gemstone. The new law only addresses ruby and jadeite. It doesn't affect any of the other varieties of gemstones from Burma, such as spinel, zircon, peridot, maw-sit-sit and kyanite. These can still be imported as long as they are processed outside Burma. "

There seems to be a fine line on the procurement of the gems that were "cut" in Burma... I am playing it safe after Paypal shut my account down until I could prove I bought the gems from Burma before 2002. Well of course I save everything and I had over 150 gem certificates origin and treatment of all those spinels... Lucky me I only had to fax them about 20 to prove I did not buy them after 2002... Well let me tell you if you have your business checking account or system like paypal frozen until you can prove all the data; you will not run the risk of having it happen again...

Sooooooo therefore I side with caution and do not put Burma on anything on the site.... I can show you certificates , etc. after the sale but it makes no sense to wake the sleeping giant when you do not have to...

Just wanted to make it clear; you can buy a gem that was mined in Myanmar; it just has to have been cut in another country but proving that can be a risky situation...

Neat topics lately I think the Burma gems seem to shift more than others; but I have cut more Burma gems than all the others combined; to me they have more dispersion but it is hard to get a lab to confirm that. It may be that they come in more pastel and less saturated colors that help bump up the volume on the reflective properties???

Most Respectfully;

Dana Reynolds
ASG Certified
Supreme Master Gem Cutter
#96CGE42

 

[mastercutgems]

LOL I just noticed my wife Rachelle has been on this topic

I will have to watch my P's and Q's as I never know when she may be lurking on here
Is nothing sacred any longer

Most respectfully;

Dana Reynolds
ASG Certified
Supreme Master Gem Cutter
#96CGE42

 

[Starzin]

digdeep - whatever it's origin, it's a lovely stone that will be endlessly fascinating by the looks of things - congratulations!

TORTURE ME! TORTURE ME MORE!!

I agree! To both you and Marlow - this now has it's own very sparkly setting - check Chrono's threads

ETA: Thanks for the clarification Dana and yes, it isn't worth the aggravation - I think you cover it very well for everyone.

LOL! Well you did tell Rachelle to come here

 

[digdeep]

Thanks Starzin for the support......and I will look for Chrono's ring.

Hey Dana and Rachelle, I’m the one who started this thread.........and I’m SO HAPPY you have both visited! Thanks for joining in the discussion and sharing the story behind Paypal and Burma gems.
Maybe you can see what my confusion was with this stone and it's color. It sure is beautiful and I've loved it even before I knew what it was!! One thing I learned is that the 'in between' or 'transition' color is like a curve ball......I never knew where it was going to land, color wise. So I have learned to stick to the bright lights......outdoor, incandescent, and florescent if I ever get another gem like this one!
I'd like to offer my eyeball’s in addition to Rachelle’s and your’s on any spinel's that are controversial in color..........I’d be glad to help out.....
Also, your comment about Burma spinel and dispersion is helpful and interesting.............now back to your website

 

[mastercutgems]

LOL Starzin

But she never listens to me so I did not think she would then ???

Most Respectfully;

Dana Reynolds
ASG Certified
Supreme Master Gem Cutter
#96CGE42

 

[katharath]

Thank you for clarifying, Dana. I think you have handled the embargo situation very well, by the way; no disrespect was intended at all in any of my posts, as I hope you know; you are one of my very favorite vendors!

 

[mastercutgems]

Hi Katharath

No one said anything that offended me; most all know I am one of those ole thick skinned Southern boys LOL

I love my clients they are always so nice to me

Most Respectfully;

Dana Reynolds
ASG Certified
Supreme Master Gem Cutter
#96CGE42

 

[Starzin]

LOL Starzin

But she never listens to me so I did not think she would then ???

Aaaah... the traps we set for ourselves...

 

[chrono]

My cushion CC spinel is still unset. The big oval, however, is happily set. This one doesn't shift to pink but I see pink flecks often.

 

[Marlow]

Do you really need so many CC spinel???

 

[chrono]

Do you really need so many CC spinel???

Ummm....yes, I do?

 

[Marlow]

Luc Yen too???

Were did you buy them?

 

[chrono]

The rectangular cushion is from Luc Yen, from Brad (the Gem Trader)
The square cushion is Tanzanian, 2nd hand from a PSer
The oval is from Luc Yen, from Antoine Hoang (Kingdom of Red Spinel)

 

[Marlow]

The last vendor - easy to deal with?

Luc Yen spinel is difficult to buy here - extremely expensive or only tiny stones....