Mahenge garnet take two

[thirdrock]

My second Mahenge garnet arrived. This one sparkles like crazy. It’s hard to photograph though. Currently, the lighting is capturing more purple than pink. In the outdoor shots, the plastic lid is on the case.

 

[thirdrock]

 

[fredflintstone]

Looks quite a bit like the first garnet except more pink in most your pics. As long as you are happy...

 

[thirdrock]

Looks quite a bit like the first garnet except more pink in most your pics. As long as you are happy...

Maybe my phone is the problem. The garnet is supposed to be precision cut and flawless. Do you see any issues?

 

[thirdrock]

Another try. Garnets seem to be hard to photograph.

 

[fredflintstone]

The stone looks fine. It looks eye clean and that is how colored gemstones are graded for clarity. Some dealers use flawless or loupe clean, but this is just a sales pitch as with diamonds. If you cannot see the inclusions and they do not affect the clarity and brilliance of the stone, it just does not matter.

Yes, the stone looks very well cut. Precision cut.

As I wrote, as long as you like it. Stone’s does not have to be precision cut to be beautiful, but clarity is a different matter though. Most want an eye clean stone.

I take you are just starting to buy colored gemstones. It is good to ask questions, but many times new buyers to colored gemstones have this perfect idea in their mind of what a gemstone should be. Very rarely do you run onto a perfect gemstone. I know I did over 40 years ago. Then I learned what to expect and went on to sale gemstones.

Your looks very nice. I do not know what you paid for it and that is a factor too, but to be honest, unless a gemstone is very flawed, others here cannot make the decision for you.

 

[thirdrock]

The stone looks fine. It looks eye clean and that is how colored gemstones are graded for clarity. Some dealers use flawless or loupe clean, but this is just a sales pitch as with diamonds. If you cannot see the inclusions and they do not affect the clarity and brilliance of the stone, it just does not matter.

Yes, the stone looks very well cut. Precision cut.

As I wrote, as long as you like it. Stone’s does not have to be precision cut to be beautiful, but clarity is a different matter though. Most want an eye clean stone.

I take you are just starting to buy colored gemstones. It is good to ask questions, but many times new buyers to colored gemstones have this perfect idea in their mind of what a gemstone should be. Very rarely do you run onto a perfect gemstone. I know I did over 40 years ago. Then I learned what to expect and went on to sale gemstones.

Your looks very nice. I do not know what you paid for it and that is a factor too, but you to be honest, unless a gemstone is very flawed, others here cannot make the decision for you.

This one was 3 times the price of their other Mahenge garnets of similar or greater size.

I had told the person I bought it from that I thought it looked included in one photo so I was going to pass on it. He didn’t know what I was talking about at first and said that it was flawless. Then he looked again and said that it must be an artifact of the camera. It did seem like a lot of reflection. The other photos looked good. He sent a close up video that looked very clean and restated that it was flawless. I am looking at it under 30x and 60x magnification. I would say that it looks very clean even under 60x magnification, but I do think you’re right that flawless can be a misleading term.

I was not happy with the last garnet as soon as I saw it. This one really doesn’t look like the last one, except maybe in my photos. I liked this one and planned on keeping it, but you are making me think that there is something wrong with it that you are not willing to say.

Maybe someone else will speak up. I’m not asking anyone to make a decision for me. I know it’s hard to tell from photos. I don’t want people to be afraid to mention things though, in case I’m overlooking something. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[fredflintstone]

I was not happy with the last garnet as soon as I saw it. This one really doesn’t look like the last one, except maybe in my photos. I liked this one and planned on keeping it, but you are making me think that there is something wrong with it that you are not willing to say.

No, there is nothing I'm holding back.

I will say again, it depends how much you paid for it. There is a problem if you paid too much, but I/we don't know what you paid or even how big the stone is.

I think you may be looking for reasons not to keep it. I really don’t know. Maybe your just very cautious. Again, I don’t know.

Keep in mind, in Diamonds, flawless is considered no inclusions visible at 10X, the average loupe magnification. Garnets are type 2 stones, meaning some inclusions are normally present, even if you cannot see them with the naked eye. I'm not sure what you are using at 60x other than a microscope (there are loupes that claim 30x/60x, but good ones are very expensive), but if it is clean at 60x, then you have either an exceptionally clean garnet or a synthetic. But Garnet it is not unheard of being that clean, but rare.

 

[fredflintstone]

GIA Gem Clarity Types​

A gem’s clarity code won’t tell you the whole story. You also need to know its clarity type.

Some gem species frequently contain many noticeable inclusions. Other typically have few inclusions. This varies due to the many ways gemstones form underground. The GIA has divided colored gemstones into three categories or types: I, II, and III.

The following table divides some popular colored gemstones into these clarity types.

I Usually eye clean	II Usually included	III Almost always included
Aquamarine Chrysoberyl, yellow and green Heliodor Morganite Smoky Quartz Spodumene, all Tanzanite Tourmaline, green Zircon, blue	Andalusite Alexandrite Corundum, all (ruby, sapphire) Garnet, all Iolite Peridot Quartz (amethyst, citrine, ametrine) Spinel, all Tourmaline, all but green, red and watermelon Zircon, all but blue and colorless	Emerald Tourmaline, red and watermelon

 

[fredflintstone]

Oh, one more thing. I don't want to scare you with the word synthetics.

99% or more of the synthetic gemstones sold on the market for genuine colored gemstones is Ruby, Sapphire, Alexandrite, and Emerald. Very, very, very, rarely Garnet. Then if it was it would probably be for a much more expensive Garnet like Tsavorite, blue to green color change Alexandrite like Garnet and Demantoid.

 

[thirdrock]

Oh, one more thing. I don't want to scare you with the word synthetics.

99% or more of the synthetic gemstones sold on the market for genuine colored gemstones is Ruby, Sapphire, Alexandrite, and Emerald. Very, very, very, rarely Garnet. Then if it was it would probably be for a much more expensive Garnet like Tsavorite, blue to green color change Alexandrite like Garnet and Demantoid.

That’s okay. I’m not worried. I did know that about garnets.

I was able to capture a video of the stone. It looks so much better in the video and in real life than the photos. I am liking it more and more. Would you say that garnets are hard to photograph?

 

[fredflintstone]

That’s okay. I’m not worried. I did know that about garnets.

I was able to capture a video of the stone. It looks so much better in the video and in real life than the photos. I am liking it more and more. Would you say that garnets are hard to photograph?

Depends on the color. Vivid green, vivid red/orange combo and vivid purple are hardest to capture. Your color, not so much, but it does depend on the camera and the experience of the photoghraper.

 

[ShinyPink]

Here is a photo of my mahenge garnet I purchased from Gene. It is one of my favorite stones and sparkles like crazy!

 

[thirdrock]

Here is a photo of my mahenge garnet I purchased from Gene. It is one of my favorite stones and sparkles like crazy!

Pretty. Do you have real life photos?

 

[thirdrock]

Depends on the color. Vivid green, vivid red/orange combo and vivid purple are hardest to capture. Your color, not so much, but it does depend on the camera and the experience of the photoghraper.

Yeah, I don’t remember having this many problems with other types of gems. I’m just using the camera on my phone.

 

[thirdrock]

The color doesn’t look as bright on YouTube as it does in real life or on my phone, but it’s the best I can do.

 

[ShinyPink]

@thirdrock This was indoors.

 

[thirdrock]

@thirdrock This was indoors.

Very pretty ring!

 

[milton333]

The color doesn’t look as bright on YouTube as it does in real life or on my phone, but it’s the best I can do.

It's beautiful! I'm a garnet enthusiast, and would be very pleased to own that one.

Mahenge is a region of origin, not necessarily a description of color, and Mahenge garnets come in a range of colors, from purple-pink to pale peachy. I'm personally very partial to red raspberry colored garnets.

My Mahenge garnet, which falls in this color range, is lovely under all but the dimmest lighting, and never goes brown or orange the way garnets often do. Just saturated color without brown modifier, and very lively and sparkly.

Obviously you're the one who has to be satisfied, but I can't see any reason to be skeptical of this one, it looks great.

 

[thirdrock]

It's beautiful! I'm a garnet enthusiast, and would be very pleased to own that one.

Mahenge is a region of origin, not necessarily a description of color, and Mahenge garnets come in a range of colors, from purple-pink to pale peachy. I'm personally very partial to red raspberry colored garnets.

My Mahenge garnet, which falls in this color range, is lovely under all but the dimmest lighting, and never goes brown or orange the way garnets often do. Just saturated color without brown modifier, and very lively and sparkly.

Obviously you're the one who has to be satisfied, but I can't see any reason to be skeptical of this one, it looks great.

Thank you for your comments! I was shown some of the pale peach ones in the past. They were pretty but not right for my setting. This one doesn’t have any brown either. I can’t seem to capture the color but it’s a much more bright pink to purple than it looks on screen. I do think I’ll be happy with it. I haven’t seen it in bright light yet because it was an overcast day, but it can only get better.

 

[Autumn in New England]

I think it's a really attractive color, @thirdrock, and the cut is simply divine! It also sounds like you're very pleased with it, so don't second guess yourself on our account. Congrats and enjoy, my friend!

 

[thirdrock]

I think it's a really attractive color, @thirdrock, and the cut is simply divine! It also sounds like you're very pleased with it, so don't second guess yourself on our account. Congrats and enjoy, my friend!

Thank you so much! I do like it a lot. I’m just frustrated that I can’t seem to capture what it looks like with a photo. The vendor did mention it was one that you need to see in person. It’s very bright pink today. My iPad was a little better at capturing the pinkness than my phone, but it’s still much nicer in person.

 

[thirdrock]

No, there is nothing I'm holding back.

I will say again, it depends how much you paid for it. There is a problem if you paid too much, but I/we don't know what you paid or even how big the stone is.

I think you may be looking for reasons not to keep it. I really don’t know. Maybe your just very cautious. Again, I don’t know.

Keep in mind, in Diamonds, flawless is considered no inclusions visible at 10X, the average loupe magnification. Garnets are type 2 stones, meaning some inclusions are normally present, even if you cannot see them with the naked eye. I'm not sure what you are using at 60x other than a microscope (there are loupes that claim 30x/60x, but good ones are very expensive), but if it is clean at 60x, then you have either an exceptionally clean garnet or a synthetic. But Garnet it is not unheard of being that clean, but rare.

It’s 3 carats. How much should I have paid?

 

[milton333]

It's hard to give definitive information on pricing. Mahenge garnets were discovered fairly recently (within the past 10ish years) and there's some indication that they may be close to "mined out." For a precision cut of a somewhat limited material, possibly $125-200/ct? With some material and some vendors, there are jumps in the per-carat price at certain carat milestones, and 3 ct is one of those, so it could be higher. Ultimately, the price/value is whether you feel delighted by your purchase for the price you paid. Colored gemstones in larger sizes tend to be "no two alike," so if you love the stone and it was within your budget, I'm not sure that there's a direct market comparable necessarily to say that there's one correct price. I own a lot of garnets in various shades, and fwiw, my Mahenge has a very unique personality that isn't interchangeable with others, so even though I've paid less per carat for other garnets, I don't feel like I overpaid for this one.

 

[thirdrock]

It's hard to give definitive information on pricing. Mahenge garnets were discovered fairly recently (within the past 10ish years) and there's some indication that they may be close to "mined out." For a precision cut of a somewhat limited material, possibly $125-200/ct? With some material and some vendors, there are jumps in the per-carat price at certain carat milestones, and 3 ct is one of those, so it could be higher. Ultimately, the price/value is whether you feel delighted by your purchase for the price you paid. Colored gemstones in larger sizes tend to be "no two alike," so if you love the stone and it was within your budget, I'm not sure that there's a direct market comparable necessarily to say that there's one correct price. I own a lot of garnets in various shades, and fwiw, my Mahenge has a very unique personality that isn't interchangeable with others, so even though I've paid less per carat for other garnets, I don't feel like I overpaid for this one.

Thank you. I feel the same way. I was just curious as to what Fred meant by his comment. I was wondering what would be considered paying too much. This garnet was priced at $400 per carat, but I haven’t liked any of the others I’ve looked at. I am also limited by size. I’ve been looking for years for a stone for a particular setting. I started with sapphires and ended up keeping one, even though it was too large. Garnets are easier to find in rounds so I started looking at those instead. Even if it doesn’t work for the setting, I think it would make a pretty pendant. I think buying gems would be a lot more fun without limits on size and shape.

 

[fredflintstone]

Thank you. I feel the same way. I was just curious as to what Fred meant by his comment. I was wondering what would be considered paying too much. This garnet was priced at $400 per carat, but I haven’t liked any of the others I’ve looked at. I am also limited by size. I’ve been looking for years for a stone for a particular setting. I started with sapphires and ended up keeping one, even though it was too large. Garnets are easier to find in rounds so I started looking at those instead. Even if it doesn’t work for the setting, I think it would make a pretty pendant. I think buying gems would be a lot more fun without limits on size and shape.

At $400.00 a carat, that is too much. $200.00 a carat max. Sorry to say.


People are paying really high price for a trade name. Mahenge Garnet is a Malaia Garnet. People are paying for the name. If the stone was six carats plus, maybe, I would not though. You can get a very nice Malaia Garnet for $200.00 to $250.00 at six carats. You can find an equally nice Rhodolite for cheaper.

My apologies, but I was asked.

 

[thirdrock]

At $400.00 a carat, that is too much. $200.00 a carat max. Sorry to say.


People are paying really high price for a trade name. Mahenge Garnet is a Malaia Garnet. People are paying for the name. If the stone was six carats plus, maybe, I would not though. You can get a very nice Malaia Garnet for $200.00 to $250.00 at six carats. You can find an equally nice Rhodolite for cheaper.

My apologies, but I was asked.

I appreciate your honesty. I guess I better consider returning it.

 

[fredflintstone]

Of course that is up to you.

 

[Autumn in New England]

Thank you so much! I do like it a lot. I’m just frustrated that I can’t seem to capture what it looks like with a photo. The vendor did mention it was one that you need to see in person. It’s very bright pink today. My iPad was a little better at capturing the pinkness than my phone, but it’s still much nicer in person.

Oh honey, I gave up trying to photograph my faceted, transparent gems a long time ago! I kept upgrading phones and, nope, never an improvement. lol Photos never seem to do our stones justice, and so unless I have a decent vendor pic, I usually refrain from posting them altogether. But PSers realize this, I think. If I see a good looking gem on this site, I know it must be 100% better in person. Although your photos may not be capturing the "life" of the stone in person, it's clear this is a beautiful garnet, my friend!

 

[thirdrock]

Oh honey, I gave up trying to photograph my faceted, transparent gems a long time ago! I kept upgrading phones and, nope, never an improvement. lol Photos never seem to do our stones justice, and so unless I have a decent vendor pic, I usually refrain from posting them altogether. But PSers realize this, I think. If I see a good looking gem on this site, I know it must be 100% better in person. Although your photos may not be capturing the "life" of the stone in person, it's clear this is a beautiful garnet, my friend!

Thank you so much!