Ebay mini-haul

[Bex]

I've been considering spinels for an e-ring/wedding ring, but I've never actually seen one in real life. So I decided, in the name of science and research, that I should order some inexpensive ones from ebay to get an idea of what they might look like, and what various sizes look like in hand. (hint: smaller than expected in my sizable hands!) This was also before I discovered PS and learned to recognize things like windows, so the cuts are definitely less than perfect. But considering that this was a pretty minor investment, I'm pretty happy with the stones.

Here's the first batch:



From left to right, more or less

Peach sapphire 1.75ct, 6.1X6.1mm
Red spessartite garnet 1.24ct, 6.6x5.3mm
Pink spinel 1.16ct, 7.1x5.8mm
Purple/grey spinel 2.9ct, 9.8x7.4mm
Silver/lilac spinel 1.32ct, 8x6mm
Round green sapphire 0.97ct, 6.4x5.6mm
Pear peridot 1.64ct, 8.7x6.9mm
Pear green sapphire, 0.71ct

Here's a few close-ups that came out okay despite my ancient point and shoot canon. I also understand now why everyone complains about taking pictures of spinels. The colors are so much more vibrant in real life, although not quite as bright as the emay photos.

 

[katharath]

Ha!! "In the name of science and research..."

Love it! I should use that one on my husband, lol. "I needed to buy this sapphire for important research that I'm doing..."

Seems like you've been having fun with your gem buying! Has this helped you decide what you want for your ering? I LOVE spinels (and also garnets and sapphires, those are my favs). What color gem do you want?

 

[quietlysw]

They look like beautiful! Love the lolly colours - they look good enough to eat Personally I'm gravitating towards the silver/lilac stone... but I know how difficult it would be choosing from the rainbow array of spinels! Do you think that your skin tone suits certain colours?

 

[FrekeChild]

I love learning stones! These are actually pretty good learning stones. Mind sharing the vendor photos?

 

[minousbijoux]

Its such a good idea to do what you have done - start out and experiment by buying inexpensive stones in various types, hues and sizes. You get a good sense of the shapes and colors you like this way. In addition, it offers an opportunity to experiment with the best size and shape for you.

 

[Bex]

As requested, here are the vendor pics:










Here they are all again in my photo:

Most are pretty close... the sapphire is much more peach in real life, the lilac spinel a little darker, and the garnet is brighter in their picture, but I think they were overall pretty fair representations!

 

[Mico]

Which is your favorite

 

[koolchicken]

I have to agree, this was a good idea. I've thought about creating "example sets" with stones from 4x4mm all the way to 12x12mm from someplace cheap like gemselect. I planned to do a set for oval, cushion, round, and trillion- the shapes I'm most likely to buy. It would actually be nice if places offered little sets like that.

 

[Bex]

Koolchicken, have you thought about going to a bead store and looking at flat backed crystals/rhinestones? The ones by me usually have them in the mix and match section for 0.10-0.50 a piece. I have quite a selection of czech glass beads at home, but those are much more difficult to balance on your finger (I tried, and failed.)

As for my favorite, it's definitely the dark lilac spinel. Which is probably a good thing, since it was also the most expensive of the bunch! The whole lot only ran me about $80, including shipping though, so it wasn't a huge investment. Getting my favorites set will definitely be a little more costly though, from what I'm seeing!

 

[koolchicken]

Bex, I actually hadn't thought about that. I'll have to find a store when I move to the mainland. I think gluing them to a sheet of card stock with the measurements could be a very helpful resource tool. But having some actual gems to compare seems a bit more fun.