I need advice on picking a bright Medium Dark rhodolite!

[ieatbugs]

Hey guys,

I have assembled pieces for my first custom ring but I need advice on the center stone! The sidestones are medium dark royal blue spinels, 6mm and I am having it set in sterling silver. This will be a Special Occasion ring and I'd like a medium dark raspberry-fuschia Rhodolite Garnet in an oval in the center. What should I be looking for, and does anyone have any suggestions? I'd like to go as inexpensive as possible, as I'll be having it set by a new jeweler who I've never used before.

Thanks!

 

[innerkitten]

When I hear fucshia I think hot pink. There are bright rhodolites but I don't know about fucshia. It does come in some lovely shades of pink, purple, and red. I've gotten lucky with a few ebay sellers. Have you tried acstones?

 

[innerkitten]

I purchased a rhodolite from this seller
http://stores.ebay.com/A-GEMDANDY/GARNET-RHODOLITE-/_i.html?_fsub=3&_sid=95472264&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

And some small calibrated garnets from this seller ( and one large stone )
http://myworld.ebay.com/ncestones/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

 

[distracts]

http://www.acstones.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=139&idproduct=4002

I have a rhodolite garnet from AC Stones that looked pretty close to this in the vendor picture and it is a firecracker. It is sooooo sparkly, dark pink/purple with hot pink flashes all the time.

 

[EmmaJoy]

If you are looking for a hot pink, I would go with umbalite garnet, they are often much brighter than regular rhodolite. I am looking for a 4ct cushion/asscher, but have had my eye on this 2.04ct oval which looks to have great color. Good price too - these can get really expensive. It will probably be medium/dark.

http://www.gemrite.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=192

 

[ieatbugs]

When I hear fucshia I think hot pink. There are bright rhodolites but I don't know about fucshia. It does come in some lovely shades of pink, purple, and red. I've gotten lucky with a few ebay sellers. Have you tried acstones?

I've found a picture of the shade I'm looking for!



In fact, this exact stone would be perfect except it is slightly too large to fit in the setting

 

[ieatbugs]

If you are looking for a hot pink, I would go with umbalite garnet, they are often much brighter than regular rhodolite. I am looking for a 4ct cushion/asscher, but have had my eye on this 2.04ct oval which looks to have great color. Good price too - these can get really expensive. It will probably be medium/dark.

http://www.gemrite.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=192

Thanks for the tip: this would be the perfect stone but it's slightly too large for my setting! Noooo!

 

[chrono]

Regardless of your choice, note that some rhodolites tend to become extinct under certain types of lighting, especially those that tend towards medium darks and in larger sizes.

 

[ieatbugs]

If you are looking for a hot pink, I would go with umbalite garnet, they are often much brighter than regular rhodolite. I am looking for a 4ct cushion/asscher, but have had my eye on this 2.04ct oval which looks to have great color. Good price too - these can get really expensive. It will probably be medium/dark.

http://www.gemrite.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=192

They seem to have upped the price on this one since last night! Wonder what's up with that??

 

[ieatbugs]

I purchased a rhodolite from this seller
http://stores.ebay.com/A-GEMDANDY/GARNET-RHODOLITE-/_i.html?_fsub=3&_sid=95472264&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

And some small calibrated garnets from this seller ( and one large stone )
http://myworld.ebay.com/ncestones/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

How was the cut of the gem from the A-GEMDANDY ebay seller? There's one there that looks like the color might be right but the photos are so poor I really can't tell!

 

[innerkitten]

I purchased a rhodolite from this seller
http://stores.ebay.com/A-GEMDANDY/GARNET-RHODOLITE-/_i.html?_fsub=3&_sid=95472264&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

And some small calibrated garnets from this seller ( and one large stone )
http://myworld.ebay.com/ncestones/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

How was the cut of the gem from the A-GEMDANDY ebay seller? There's one there that looks like the color might be right but the photos are so poor I really can't tell!

I bought a round from them. The cut was a little shallow but otherwise nice. As you can see the prices are pretty reasonable, so for what I paid for it was perfect.

 

[innerkitten]

I also got one of these chunky cushion cuts from ncestones. It's dark but beautiful and sparkly in a rhodolite kind of way! These people are such nice sellers. I keep going back. They have the best calibrated small stones too. The calibrated oval amethysts have a nice color to them. Not washed out.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-75ct-BEAUTIFUL-TOP-QUALITY-TANZANIAN-RHODOLITE-GARNET-/220611079219?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item335d71ec33#ht_500wt_1064

 

[beau-wy]

If you are looking for a hot pink, I would go with umbalite garnet, they are often much brighter than regular rhodolite. I am looking for a 4ct cushion/asscher, but have had my eye on this 2.04ct oval which looks to have great color. Good price too - these can get really expensive. It will probably be medium/dark.

http://www.gemrite.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=192

I second the umbalite recommendation, the addition of spessartite to the pyrope-almandine mix significantly enhances the brightness.

 

[chrono]

If you are looking for a hot pink, I would go with umbalite garnet, they are often much brighter than regular rhodolite. I am looking for a 4ct cushion/asscher, but have had my eye on this 2.04ct oval which looks to have great color. Good price too - these can get really expensive. It will probably be medium/dark.

http://www.gemrite.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=192

They seem to have upped the price on this one since last night! Wonder what's up with that??

Perhaps he saw this thread and decided that:
1. Time to up pricing because price has gone up across the board lately, never mind that he bought the rough, cut it and advertised it way before that.
2. Thinks that now that it is getting some free advertising and exposure, lurkers will become interested in this stone and are ready to snap it up before some other PSer gets it.

Regardless, I don't like the thought of both possible reasons for the price increase.

 

[ieatbugs]

If you are looking for a hot pink, I would go with umbalite garnet, they are often much brighter than regular rhodolite. I am looking for a 4ct cushion/asscher, but have had my eye on this 2.04ct oval which looks to have great color. Good price too - these can get really expensive. It will probably be medium/dark.

http://www.gemrite.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=192

They seem to have upped the price on this one since last night! Wonder what's up with that??

Perhaps he saw this thread and decided that:
1. Time to up pricing because price has gone up across the board lately, never mind that he bought the rough, cut it and advertised it way before that.
2. Thinks that now that it is getting some free advertising and exposure, lurkers will become interested in this stone and are ready to snap it up before some other PSer gets it.

Regardless, I don't like the thought of both possible reasons for the price increase.

I have contacted them to inquire about the price increase. I will keep everyone posted with their response!

Still can't find a 5x7 oval garnet...the size seems to be the difficult factor. I might need to have one custom cut, or request one of this size. Not sure.

 

[ChrisA222]

You may want to try asking Jeff Davies or Krystyn at Weblorn, both on eBay. Both have more than a few Umbalites, although they are all larger sizes. My guess is that the 7x5 might be hard to find, most of the "better" garnets seem to be in the 2-3ct range that I've seen.

The first stone is the Umbalite that I just bought from Weblorn, I'd offer it to you but its an 8.25mm round. Its a great color though. As chrono says, it does close up/darken a little in incandescent, becoming mroe of a grapey color, but it still has flash and is attractive. Under the CFL it turns into more of an orangy color, but its only the CFL that does that to the stone. Most of the time, the stone is the awesome pink-purple like the pic, with excellent flash and light return. I think cutting is really important in garnets...a native cut garnet would not perform well especially in incandescent. While my stone is grapey, if it was not cut the way it was, Im willing to bet it would go blackish!


The second stone is the closest that Jeff Davies has, its a bit over 8x6. For anyone else looking for an Umbalite, this one Jeff has is only $65, over 2ct... a lot better price than that $200+ on that was just shown. It may not be the top color, but it looks pretty nice to me...if I needed 8x6, I'd consider this one. He also has different Asscher/Squares in this material at really good prices.

If you can somehow do a square cut, Jeff has a few of the squares..the third pic is a 6.9mm square, I also noticed a 6.5mm square, these are $65.

I know this is a different stone, but I also noticed Jeff had a Purplish-Pink Spinel for $55, although its more of a roval at 6.44x5.85, but maybe it can work?

Maybe you can ask him and see if he has a 7x5 or if he can have one cut for you? Hes great to work with. So is Krystyn at Weblorn.

 

[ieatbugs]

You may want to try asking Jeff Davies or Krystyn at Weblorn, both on eBay. Both have more than a few Umbalites, although they are all larger sizes. My guess is that the 7x5 might be hard to find, most of the "better" garnets seem to be in the 2-3ct range that I've seen.

Oh my, that first stone is absolutely gorgeous! The perfect shade too. I will definitely get in touch with the sellers you suggested. Thank you very much

The blue spinels that are the sidestones are this color:



So I feel like a lot of the pink spinels will be too light and get overshadowed by the sidestones.

 

[chrono]

Other than Welborn's picture, the rest are totally unrealistic!

Jeff Davies' garnets: the spinel is the guiltiest of the lot. Come on! No gemstone actually looks like that IRL. Stop playing around with the exposure and show a realistic picture.
Blue spinels: These look like I can draw and colour these on Photoshop.

 

[ChrisA222]

I love the color of those sidestones! Are those Sapphires? I missed what they were but those are great vivid stones!

If you change your mind and want my round in the first pic, my offer stands--its not a stone that I would ever set, at least for myself, its just going to stay in my collection. While I love it, I am still after THE Umbalite.

What is THE Umbalite? This one...I found this on Uli's website, its of course sold, if I had seen it when it was for sale I would have bought it in a second. If the owner of this stone wants to sell it and reads this, please contact me, maybe we can work a deal! I have lots of cool stones I can trade, or cash..haha! I have of course contacted Uli, and he told me he will let me know if another one like that comes around, but he did say that color is going to be very hard to find.

But yeah, this is the stone I've drooled over since I saw it...

The second stone is for sale on Uli's site, its listed as a Rhodolite but its a great color...too bad this wont fit either, its actually too small. Its .68ct and only 5.8x4.4. May want to try him too.

The best advice I can give you---Get a very, very well-cut stone..it is super-important with the darker garnets. I know I can get a little overboard in how I prioritize cutting, but trust me, it makes a huge difference especially in the lightings that the stone doesn't really like.

 

[ieatbugs]

Other than Welborn's picture, the rest are totally unrealistic!

Jeff Davies' garnets: the spinel is the guiltiest of the lot. Come on! No gemstone actually looks like that IRL. Stop playing around with the exposure and show a realistic picture.
Blue spinels: These look like I can draw and colour these on Photoshop.

Chrono: I have the spinels in person and they actually ARE that color. They are heavily treated though, but for the price I didn't mind that.

 

[innerkitten]

Treated with what? Spinel is generally not treated?

 

[distracts]

They seem to have upped the price on this one since last night! Wonder what's up with that??

Perhaps he saw this thread and decided that:
1. Time to up pricing because price has gone up across the board lately, never mind that he bought the rough, cut it and advertised it way before that.
2. Thinks that now that it is getting some free advertising and exposure, lurkers will become interested in this stone and are ready to snap it up before some other PSer gets it.

Regardless, I don't like the thought of both possible reasons for the price increase.

In that time he also entirely changed his website design, added new pictures for many of the gems (particularly ones that were only photographed on a black background previously), and a lot of the "sale" gems are no longer on sale. I don't think it has anything to do with this thread, as it looks like something that has been in the works for a while. The sale gems rotate periodically as well. The tsavorite I bought, which I didn't post anywhere, went off of sale just before I bought it.

Other than Welborn's picture, the rest are totally unrealistic!

Jeff Davies' garnets: the spinel is the guiltiest of the lot. Come on! No gemstone actually looks like that IRL. Stop playing around with the exposure and show a realistic picture.

I have ordered one stone from Jeff Davies and the color was totally unlike that of the picture and video. The color isn't horrible, but I wouldn't have paid as much as I did if I knew the true color. Unfortunately, the amount I paid is right on the cusp where I don't know if it's really beneficial to return it, or if I should just eat my loss and put the stone in a multi-stone pendant or something.

 

[ieatbugs]

Treated with what? Spinel is generally not treated?

Heated I assume?


"Spinels that are found in the market are mostly untreated since they are almost always completely devoid of flaws and completely clean. Some spinels, however, are heat treated. They are heated to enhance the color of the natural gem to a deeper hue."
from http://www.gehnabazaar.com/gemstones/49/spinel.html

Apparently it does happen:

http://www.gia.edu/research-resourc...ed spinel Identification at April 02 2009.pdf

It was less than $30 for the pair though, so I really didn't mind.

 

[chrono]

Ieatbugs,
If the spinel is indeed coloured like that, I would suspect it being synthetic, not natural. Improvement of colour via heating of spinels is NOT that dramatic. Secondly, the statement made by that website is inaccurate. It is untrue that spinels are almost completely devoid of flaws and completely clean. I've seen plenty of clarity challenged spinels. Heat treatment of spinels is generally new and the results are not very good - the colour does not become super fantastic, unlike corundum.

 

[chrono]

Distracts,
Forgive me if I've brought this up before but did you post the Jeff Davies stone in the vendor / customer picture comparison sticky? It is helpful for future buyers to get some idea what to expect. Another example is with Gemfix whereby I am now reluctant to recommend any stone without the caveat that the stone will be far lighter and saturated than seen online.

Chris,
That first Uli stone is gorgeous, even putting cut aside. Lovely lovely colouration.

 

[ieatbugs]

Ieatbugs,
If the spinel is indeed coloured like that, I would suspect it being synthetic, not natural. Improvement of colour via heating of spinels is NOT that dramatic. Secondly, the statement made by that website is inaccurate. It is untrue that spinels are almost completely devoid of flaws and completely clen. I've seen plenty of clarity challenged spinels. Heat treatment of spinels is generally new and the results are not very good - the colour does not become super fantastic, unlike corundum.

That is totally a possibility, I may be misremembering. Either way, I was under no impression it was a natural stone, and it was priced as such, so that was fine with me. It's my first project and I don't have an established jeweler yet so I didn't want to risk damaging seriously valuable stuff.

 

[distracts]

Distracts,
Forgive me if I've brought this up before but did you post the Jeff Davies stone in the vendor / customer picture comparison sticky? It is helpful for future buyers to get some idea what to expect. Another example is with Gemfix whereby I am now reluctant to recommend any stone without the caveat that the stone will be far lighter and saturated than seen online.

Chrono, I haven't. I just got it a little over a week ago. And I'm so embarrassed about this but I don't think I've ever even looked at that thread. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll take some pics and maybe that will help me decide whether or not I want to return it. I only have a few days left to think about it.

 

[ChrisA222]

Bugs,

Here is a really nice Rhodolite that won't fit your setting, LOL...but, if anyone out there is looking, this one has been on my radar for a long time from artcutgems....I want someone to buy it so that I do not end up buying it myself, as I have too many garnets in this size range...

This one is $115, 1.37ct, and 7.5x5.95..love the cut and color, wow!! I have no experience with this vendor though.

 

[Fly Girl]

Bugs,

Here is a really nice Rhodolite that won't fit your setting, LOL...but, if anyone out there is looking, this one has been on my radar for a long time from artcutgems....I want someone to buy it so that I do not end up buying it myself, as I have too many garnets in this size range...

This one is $115, 1.37ct, and 7.5x5.95..love the cut and color, wow!! I have no experience with this vendor though.

That is a Royal Rhodolite from Rick at Art Cut Gems and the color is gorgeous. I purchased enough of these garnets a few years ago to make a suite of a necklace, earrings and ring. They have an amazing flash under the Home Depot lights and get noticed all the time.

A highly recommended vendor. If you like the color, give him a call, since not all of his Royal Rhodolite garnets are listed on the web site, and he might have the size you are seeking. Prices are reasonable as well.

 

[ieatbugs]

Bugs,

Here is a really nice Rhodolite that won't fit your setting, LOL...but, if anyone out there is looking, this one has been on my radar for a long time from artcutgems....I want someone to buy it so that I do not end up buying it myself, as I have too many garnets in this size range...

This one is $115, 1.37ct, and 7.5x5.95..love the cut and color, wow!! I have no experience with this vendor though.

This one is beautful! I'm still on the hunt... I've gotten a few replies, but not too many, unfortunately. I think I emailed about 5 people about garnets matching my requirements and got only two responses