Is this Red Spinel too dark?

[mintbark]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to Pricescope. I've loved red my entire life and always wanted a large ruby, unfortunately it's 2019 and not 2009 and the Ruby market is insane. I recently learned about red spinels and they're beautiful and clear, but I'm wondering if they are worth the price?

An instagram jeweler showed me a pretty spinel, but I'm wondering if it's too dark? I do love deep dark reds, but I'm wondering if it's too pricy for 2k/carat.

I'd love to have a large red cocktail ring, maybe I should look at garnets or lab instead and hope the market eventually cools.

 

[voce]

A red spinel of that size is fairly rare. If your vendor is setting the price at $2k, I can't say that that's not fair. However, do you love the stone despite its darkness? I personally wouldn't pay $2k/ct for it. Also be advised that, if you insist on having a large stone, any imperfections will be oh so much more apparent in a large stone, and it could be that the same material would yield a beautiful smaller stone or an uglier large stone. In larger stones, the color is darker than if that same rough was cut smaller.

 

[chrono]

What's the ct weight and mm size of the stone? It looks quite large. That said, colour doesn't look good. I agree with @voce that large spinels are uncommon but for me, I still wouldn't trade size for colour.

 

[T L]

It looks like a pyrope garnet, so yes, too dark and brownish red.

 

[mintbark]

it's 5ct

 

[voce]

it's 5ct

That works out to $10k I think most PS'ers would agree with me and say they'd rather have brighter and smaller CS in place of the red spinel you posted.

For example, this 2.5ct spinel isn't perfect, but is a step up in terms of color and crystal, and you can get it for only 1/3 of the cost of the 5ct one. https://www.litnon.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=11701

 

[T L]

Or you could save $9500 and get a 5 carat pyrope.

 

[dk168]

Regardless of the price, it is too dark and brown for my liking, based on my personal preferences and all that.

DK

 

[pwsg07]

Rubellite is a good red stone. I have seen a lot of rubellite with bright red on Instagram

 

[mintbark]

Thank you for your advice! TL do you know where’s a good place for me to find high quality Pyrope garnets? I do like deep reds.

 

[distracts]

For me, too dark.

 

[T L]

Master

Thank you for your advice! TL do you know where’s a good place for me to find high quality Pyrope garnets? I do like deep reds.

eBay ( make sure it’s a good seller though )
Mastercutgems.com
Check Etsy too.