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Fell in love at a gem show

Kelli

Kelli

Ideal_Rock
Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
5,455
I just went to the first gem show I've been to in decades and OH MY GOD. I finally saw a demantoid in person. I don't know much about it except that it put on the most spectacular light show I've seen- even more fiery than my diamond under stage lights. It was an apple-ish green round, probably about 7mm, had horsetail inclusions, and was being offered for over $5K. Sadly that's not even close to something I can afford now or anytime in the foreseeable future. I took pics, but they nowhere even nearly show what a beauty this stone was. I'll show them anyway I guess.

The real reason I'm posting though… Where might I find a smaller, more affordable version of this? I don't remember seeing many demantoids on the sites I usually check. I could deal with a tiny stone if it had that kind of color and fire. Thanks:)

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I second Greg's suggestion of Litnon. Michael seems to have a never ending stream of small, well saturated Russian stones.
 
Thanks guys! I'm going back to the show today and I can't wait just to see it one last time. I think I'll save up for a bit and look around before choosing, but I'll definitely know where to start now. In the thousands of stones I must have seen yesterday, that was the one I left dreaming of. :love:
 
Do you remember the vendor's name? Oh and enjoy the show today - I thought of going as well and decided that right now, it would be too much of a temptation.
 
Very pretty Kelli!

I also like that litnon one a lot.
 
Thanks. I don't remember the name of the vendor. I didn't get too involved knowing I'd never come away with that stone. They did show me some paperwork the second day though, that showed me the APPRAISAL that said the replacement value was around $5K. I looked at the guy kind of knowingly and he then said "I could let it go for four thousand." Whatever. They were supposed to be "wholesale" prices. :rolleyes:

I did see that Jeff Davies one, and he also has two new ones up as of this morning. I don't know if I was just extra smitten because of the big spot lights they had over the stone, but his videos just don't show the fire that won me over. I'll keep looking though, and will definitely contact Litnon when I've got some cash saved, which will probably have to wait until after the holidays.
 
That's one of my complaints about gem shows - the prices are wildly different from vendor to vendor, and its pretty much up to the buyer to ferret out the good deals from the overpriced.
 
Kelli|1385992511|3566025 said:
Thanks. I don't remember the name of the vendor. I didn't get too involved knowing I'd never come away with that stone. They did show me some paperwork the second day though, that showed me the APPRAISAL that said the replacement value was around $5K. I looked at the guy kind of knowingly and he then said "I could let it go for four thousand." Whatever. They were supposed to be "wholesale" prices. :rolleyes:

I did see that Jeff Davies one, and he also has two new ones up as of this morning. I don't know if I was just extra smitten because of the big spot lights they had over the stone, but his videos just don't show the fire that won me over. I'll keep looking though, and will definitely contact Litnon when I've got some cash saved, which will probably have to wait until after the holidays.
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Lighting at gem shows and jewelry stores are optimal for showing off fire, scintillation of high RI stones like diamonds, sphene and demantoid. The base color on that gem looks olive unless it's just the photo, but if it's accurate, it's not the highly desirable chrome green that Russian demantoids are known for. If that's the case, I think $5K is too high, and it's being sold on a premium for origin. To be honest, I've seen Namibian demantoids that same color and clarity for much much less.
 
TL|1386004377|3566104 said:
Kelli|1385992511|3566025 said:
Thanks. I don't remember the name of the vendor. I didn't get too involved knowing I'd never come away with that stone. They did show me some paperwork the second day though, that showed me the APPRAISAL that said the replacement value was around $5K. I looked at the guy kind of knowingly and he then said "I could let it go for four thousand." Whatever. They were supposed to be "wholesale" prices. :rolleyes:

I did see that Jeff Davies one, and he also has two new ones up as of this morning. I don't know if I was just extra smitten because of the big spot lights they had over the stone, but his videos just don't show the fire that won me over. I'll keep looking though, and will definitely contact Litnon when I've got some cash saved, which will probably have to wait until after the holidays.
Click to expand...

Lighting at gem shows and jewelry stores are optimal for showing off fire, scintillation of high RI stones like diamonds, sphene and demantoid. The base color on that gem looks olive unless it's just the photo, but if it's accurate, it's not the highly desirable chrome green that Russian demantoids are known for. If that's the case, I think $5K is too high, and it's being sold on a premium for origin. To be honest, I've seen Namibian demantoids that same color and clarity for much much less.
Click to expand...
I agree, if I was forced to guess solely based on the pictures provided, I would've guessed that stone to be Namibian in origin. Pretty stone, but the color isn't ideal.
 
Both vendors (maybe a married couple?) talked up its origin and its horsetail inclusions and all that stuff. As it turned in the light I wasn't even concerned with the origin or the base color; that FIRE just kept screaming at me. I did eventually get past that and start looking at the color- which seemed olive, then apple, than olive, then apple…. I couldn't decide. If I could have taken it away from those lights I probably could've gotten a better idea. You mentioned olive isn't the most desirable of colors in these stones, but as I always seem to be attracted to the "earthy" shades, maybe that will work in my favor when it's time to actually choose one. As long as it's got that dispersion.

When I went over to the table I was originally looking at a Tsavorite I'd spied from afar. Once I came into view of this one I don't think I even looked at the Tsav.
 
If you like an earthier base, make sure you aren't being charged top colour for it. It is good to bargain at gem shows as you've already noticed. Vendors can move on pricing and some are more motivated to go lower on the last day although that also puts the stone you have your eye on at risk of being sold to someone else in the mean time.
 
Kelli|1386079719|3566632 said:
Both vendors (maybe a married couple?) talked up its origin and its horsetail inclusions and all that stuff. As it turned in the light I wasn't even concerned with the origin or the base color; that FIRE just kept screaming at me. I did eventually get past that and start looking at the color- which seemed olive, then apple, than olive, then apple…. I couldn't decide. If I could have taken it away from those lights I probably could've gotten a better idea. You mentioned olive isn't the most desirable of colors in these stones, but as I always seem to be attracted to the "earthy" shades, maybe that will work in my favor when it's time to actually choose one. As long as it's got that dispersion.

When I went over to the table I was originally looking at a Tsavorite I'd spied from afar. Once I came into view of this one I don't think I even looked at the Tsav.
Click to expand...

When I'm at gem shows, if the vendor allows it, I take the stone near a window, or outdoors in natural lighting. It would be awful to pay all that money and the stone doesn't look half as great in natural light. If I were you, I'd check out Namibian stones.

I have seen some gems that look amazing in the lighting at those gem shows, and when you take them outside and/or in other artificial lighting, they become duller.

Horsetails can be found in other origins as well, like West Asia I believe, so don't take the horsetail to mean much. It should have great color first and foremost.
 
Namibian stones have fabulous dispersion as well. I forgot to mention that. If the color to you isn't top, and you're in love with the cutting and dispersion, then get a well cut Namibian stone. Some sphene also look very much like demantoids, except they're doubly refractive and a 5 on the Moh's scale, demantoid is a 6.5 I believe, so it's slightly harder. I have a 6 carat sphene that same exact color that you're describing. I am hoping to recut it.

Here's a photo of what I consider to be an extremely fine color Russian demantoid. Sorry for the lousy photo. It's part of the Grainger Hall of Gems collection at the Field Museum in Chicago. It is even more neon in person. The stone absolutely glowed. You can't really find this material much these days. The photo doesn't do it justice. The color popped.

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Thanks everyone. I did some more looking around and definitely see the difference as far as color goes, and that picture says a lot!

A little background: I'm from a relatively small town and the gem show I went to is definitely not the kind of gem show you'd find in big cities. It's at a super cheap party hall and is mostly just fossils and minerals with a few tables of "fine" gems- most of which are very poorly cut- and the vendors don't seem to know much about them as far as treatments and origin go. My dad used to take me and now I take my nieces. It's a fun afternoon, but it's probably something that most pricescopers would laugh at. This one table was the only one to have seemingly decent stuff, and I'm sure it just looked all that much better in comparison to the rest.

I'm actually glad to know that a stone like the one I fell in love with is not forever out of reach financially. As much as I'd love to have a top-notch super rare and desirable gemstone… I live on an artist's wages and I'd have to work and save my whole life to own just one piece like that. I'll definitely look into Namibian stones with great dispersion and a fantastic cut… But first I have to save, and I definitely bought a green-blue Afghan tourmaline from Barry last night. Oops. Ok, I'm saving as of today!
 
Kelli|1386165383|3567301 said:
Thanks everyone. I did some more looking around and definitely see the difference as far as color goes, and that picture says a lot!

A little background: I'm from a relatively small town and the gem show I went to is definitely not the kind of gem show you'd find in big cities. It's at a super cheap party hall and is mostly just fossils and minerals with a few tables of "fine" gems- most of which are very poorly cut- and the vendors don't seem to know much about them as far as treatments and origin go. My dad used to take me and now I take my nieces. It's a fun afternoon, but it's probably something that most pricescopers would laugh at. This one table was the only one to have seemingly decent stuff, and I'm sure it just looked all that much better in comparison to the rest.

I'm actually glad to know that a stone like the one I fell in love with is not forever out of reach financially. As much as I'd love to have a top-notch super rare and desirable gemstone… I live on an artist's wages and I'd have to work and save my whole life to own just one piece like that. I'll definitely look into Namibian stones with great dispersion and a fantastic cut… But first I have to save, and I definitely bought a green-blue Afghan tourmaline from Barry last night. Oops. Ok, I'm saving as of today!
Click to expand...

I like those little gem and mineral shows. I enjoy looking at mineral specimens, and I actually bought a very pretty Ethiopian opal from one of those small shows. I haven't been to a huge gem show in two years. The parking and traffic to get to one drive me bonkers.
 
I like the little ones too, but I'd like to check out one of the big ones some day since I never have.
 
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