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First Spinel- Help!

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sunshinegal

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 15, 2022
Messages
38
This will actually be my first CS purchase ever (if you don't count my yellow diamond), and I know a decent amount about what I'm doing with diamonds, but not at all with CS. These are the videos I've received from the vendor, and there is definitely a window you can see in the indoor video which I've inquired about, and they told me they can close it and still keep the weight above 2 ct. I feel silly being so picky over something that isn't super high dollar, but I'd like to get this purchase right. What do you think about it? Anything I'm missing? Color is pretty much exactly what I'm looking for, and vendor says stone is 98% clean. Thanks for any help!

https://imgur.com/a/XjeHcTo

https://imgur.com/a/KZhEeyE

https://imgur.com/a/2z83g1B
 
(Oops, I don't know how I embedded the videos, I just meant to post the links. Hope this doesn't cause any issues!)
 
It has a beautiful delicate color. I have yet to own a pastel shade, but I plan to rectify that one day. How do you feel about the price? Is it in line with what you're seeing?
 
ItsMainelyYou said:
It has a beautiful delicate color. I have yet to own a pastel shade, but I plan to rectify that one day. How do you feel about the price? Is it in line with what you're seeing?
Click to expand...

Thank you! The price is reasonable, I think (from what I've seen). I just don't know enough about spinels to know if I'm missing anything.
 
Pretty stone.

I really don't think there is a window. The stone is a step cut with a very light color. Many times, a stone in step cut with such a light color may appear to be windowed but it is due to just that, a very light shade of color, especially when held in tweezers with nothing behind it.

Once set it will darken a hair and the perceived window will close.
 
Thank you both! The vendor said it wouldn't lose any face up size to tweak the window, just weight (which I'd be fine with). Worth it? I was planning to set it E-W as a pendant, so would a pendant setting still close things some?
 
sunshinegal said:
Thank you both! The vendor said it wouldn't lose any face up size to tweak the window, just weight (which I'd be fine with). Worth it? I was planning to set it E-W as a pendant, so would a pendant setting still close things some?
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There is no window. I would leave it be. The stone borders on shallow, but not enough to window. You have it recut, it may ruin the stone as it is not deep and they will have to steepen the pavilion.
 
I totally agree with Fred and Chrono! Please don't recut that beauty. I believe what you're seeing is a slight tilt from the light tone in combination with the step faceting. But I wouldn't call it a true window, as I can clearly see light reflection off all pavilion facets. I'm super fussy about cut and I myself would leave it alone. How exciting that this is your first CS! And it's a spinel!! Big congrats to you. :appl:
 
P.S. Now I want to see your yellow diamond! :)
 
sunshinegal said:
(Oops, I don't know how I embedded the videos, I just meant to post the links. Hope this doesn't cause any issues!)
Click to expand...

Only: what is going on in the background of that first video?? :eek2:

You say the color is exactly what you are looking for but I can not tell what color it is, tbh. Is it pale gray or violet or blue? If these are all vendor shots and you are hoping for color, you may be disappointed.

I think it's very pretty and a cool cut.
 
LilAlex said:
Only: what is going on in the background of that first video?? :eek2:

You say the color is exactly what you are looking for but I can not tell what color it is, tbh. Is it pale gray or violet or blue? If these are all vendor shots and you are hoping for color, you may be disappointed.

I think it's very pretty and a cool cut.
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Are they termites or ants? I was wigged out too!

200.gif
 
I love a good pastel. Just know that in some lights it may look clear, grey or even taupe. That isn't the stone's fault, you can't have a pastel spinel without some 'meh' color shift. Actually, you can't have a spinel without some 'meh' color shift, unless you spend mega bucks or are really lucky. It's a beautiful shade and I love the cut. Go for it!
 
gemcutter here: that stone has a little bit of a window, but not much. The only way to "close" the window is to make the angles deeper, not shallower. And the only way to do that is the recut the girdle, and then recut the whole pavilion with steeper angles. So the the stone would lose face-up size to fix the very small window. I concur with group: leave it alone, it already looks really good
 
I think the color is right. I have seen many of these and all of them shift color from a strong bluish violet outside to a pure violet under LED and fluorescent lighting including a lot of commercial lighting.
 
LilAlex said:
Only: what is going on in the background of that first video?? :eek2:

You say the color is exactly what you are looking for but I can not tell what color it is, tbh. Is it pale gray or violet or blue? If these are all vendor shots and you are hoping for color, you may be disappointed.

I think it's very pretty and a cool cut.
Click to expand...

Not everyone likes bright colors and SunshineGal is looking for a soft pretty violet color. I think it looks very pretty!
 
I think it’s a very bright and pretty pastel color. What country is it from? It looks Sri Lankan, just curious.
 
It's gorgeous - and the price seems great too!!

Pale spinels can shift quite a bit in different lights, so if you're on the fence I"d ask for video and still photos in direct light, LED and Incandescent light since the videos all look like shaded/filtered natural light.

If you buy it I hope you'll share more pictures! Pastel spinels are my fave :kiss2:
 
Thank you all for your feedback, it has been most helpful! Would you believe I'm having a hard time getting off the fence? I love it, but hearing that it may look colorless in some lights has me doubting. I have a diamond pendant already and am wondering if I should look for something slightly more saturated. I just don't know what to do.
 
sunshinegal said:
Thank you all for your feedback, it has been most helpful! Would you believe I'm having a hard time getting off the fence? I love it, but hearing that it may look colorless in some lights has me doubting. I have a diamond pendant already and am wondering if I should look for something slightly more saturated. I just don't know what to do.
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It won't look colorless in any light. I promise.
 
sunshinegal said:
Thank you all for your feedback, it has been most helpful! Would you believe I'm having a hard time getting off the fence? I love it, but hearing that it may look colorless in some lights has me doubting. I have a diamond pendant already and am wondering if I should look for something slightly more saturated. I just don't know what to do.
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I love all spinels. This one looks a bit grey especially in the first photo but a lot of spinels have some grey in them. You should ask for hand shots (stone on a hand) to get a better idea of the color in bright and dim light, indoors and outdoors.
 
sunshinegal said:
Thank you all for your feedback, it has been most helpful! Would you believe I'm having a hard time getting off the fence? I love it, but hearing that it may look colorless in some lights has me doubting. I have a diamond pendant already and am wondering if I should look for something slightly more saturated. I just don't know what to do.
Click to expand...

Let me share my thoughts on this. Do you prefer rainbow sparkles/flashes or a solid color? It tends to be paler colored spinels that have diamond-like rainbow flashes because a more saturated stone will not show many different colors of scintillation. This is why a lavender spinel, where spinels are concerned, often sell for more than a more saturated color. In my own collection, the stone in the middle is pale enough to show other colors in strong daylight, but the right stone only shows lighter shades of the main color.

PXL_20220501_060403438.jpg
 
T L said:
I think it’s a very bright and pretty pastel color. What country is it from? It looks Sri Lankan, just curious.
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I’m curious about the origin too. Vietnamese spinels tend to be less grey than the ones from Sri Lanka.
 
I just want to say Spinel’s in this color can come from many source countries, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Tanzania, to name three of the usual suspects. I've seen too many to count from all three countries. In other words, it just does not matter. My apologies, but it does not. All that matters is the purchaser's satisfaction. Cool? :)
 
That's a great question! Is there one with both? :P2 Normally, I'd say rainbow sparkles/flashes all the way, but with this being a pendant, maybe it'd be better to have a more solid color? As you may be able to tell, I'm majorly in the weeds with all of this. Your spinels are beautiful, btw!

voce said:
Let me share my thoughts on this. Do you prefer rainbow sparkles/flashes or a solid color? It tends to be paler colored spinels that have diamond-like rainbow flashes because a more saturated stone will not show many different colors of scintillation. This is why a lavender spinel, where spinels are concerned, often sell for more than a more saturated color. In my own collection, the stone in the middle is pale enough to show other colors in strong daylight, but the right stone only shows lighter shades of the main color.

PXL_20220501_060403438.jpg
Click to expand...
 
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