Merelani Mint Garnet Q''s???

[stepcutnut]

Sleepy-I forgot to add, that I love love love the spinel in your avatar I would love to see more of your collection!

 

[stepcutnut]

sleepy-I forgot to add, that I love love love the spinel in your avatar

 

[sleepyspinel]

sure, I can''t pull up the specs at the moment but I''ll look them up after work tonight but here are two collages of the three minty amigos...

 

[sleepyspinel]

and the other

 

[sleepyspinel]

and FYI those are pics I took , not vendor pro shots

 

[stepcutnut]

They are all gorgeous!!! Thanks for the pics---you need to show us more of your lovely collection and give me some photo tips

 

[stepcutnut]

Well time will tell---the Mint is on its way

 

[chrono]

The corpse doesn''t look too bad in the new pictures, so I''d love to see Charmy''s pictures.

As for the blue spinel - the picture is so tiny I can''t even assess the colour.

 

[chrono]

Sleepy,
Thank you for pictures of your mint collection. My understanding is that it is the tone and not the saturation that makes a mint a mint and not a tsavorite. If light toned (strong, medium or light saturation), it is a mint. A tsavorite should be medium tone and upwards, regardless of saturation. I do not claim to be an expert so if anyone knows for sure, I''d appreciate it.

 

[sleepyspinel]

Thanks for the compliments about my avatar, that Mahenge spinel (pre-giant crystal find) is one of my prides and joys. I''ll def rev up the digicam and make color/species themed threads. Glad to hear you bit the bullet. I think the vendor is a pretty straight shooter and if it doesn''t sing for you, then he is in the US so returns aren''t too difficult.

-SS

Date: 5/28/2009 10:20:18 AM
Author: stepcutnut
sleepy-I forgot to add, that I love love love the spinel in your avatar

 

[CharmyPoo]

Here is a photo. I hope the seller doesn''t mind me posting it because I didn''t ask for permission.

The seller is a really great and honest guy. He was responsive.

I was looking for a really vibrant neon stone and didn''t want to take the risk.

 

[sleepyspinel]

Hi Chrono,

The divide between mint and tsav is kind of like pink and red spinel/ruby, difficult to find a defined consensus!

My favorite thing is to straddle the line, which my avatar spinel does for the red hue I think. But I think that your definition is a good working one.

I suppose the only difficulty I have with using tone alone is that at the extremes of tone, the meaning of color saturation becomes less intuitive. For example a slightly bluish green with a light tone and vivid saturation... I can''t visualize that simply because if it was truly vivid, it would have at least a med-light or higher tone... the simple increase in color concentration would invariably increase the perceived level of "darkness/tone" of the stone...you know what I mean?

Date: 5/28/2009 11:50:40 AM
Author: Chrono
Sleepy,
Thank you for pictures of your mint collection. My understanding is that it is the tone and not the saturation that makes a mint a mint and not a tsavorite. If light toned (strong, medium or light saturation), it is a mint. A tsavorite should be medium tone and upwards, regardless of saturation. I do not claim to be an expert so if anyone knows for sure, I''d appreciate it.

 

[T L]

It is also my understanding that these Merelani mint garnets are a specific type of green grossular that are mined in the Merelanii hills of Tanzania. For example, you can have a light to medium light tsavorite from Kenya and call it mint, but it's not a really a Merelani mint. The Merelani mints have a distinct bluish secondary color to them from my understanding. However, everyone and their best friend does try to pass of light colored tsavorites as Merelani mints.

 

[T L]

Date: 5/28/2009 12:15:24 PM
Author: CharmyPoo
Here is a photo. I hope the seller doesn''t mind me posting it because I didn''t ask for permission.

The seller is a really great and honest guy. He was responsive.

I was looking for a really vibrant neon stone and didn''t want to take the risk.

Yes, that''s the picture, greyish green. I wasn''t too enthused when I saw it, but it could just be a bad pic.

 

[sleepyspinel]

Thanks for the additional picture. The veil-like inclusions in the periphery really show up in this lighting scheme... side lighting similar to "dark field" microscopy which is intended to show such features of a stone.

I wouldn''t worry about the stone being too dark since "up close and personal" photography with head obscuration of the overhead light source coupled with the side illumination are working together to get that look from the stone.

My guess is that the scintilation and light return inherint in the cut will make the veils difficult to discern under normal ring wearing conditions/viewing distances. I also believe that the quality of light is very important for evaluating this stone since my experience is that these mints are light sensitive as to how much blue they show from within the light green base color. As always look at it in all sorts of lights and let your eyes reign supreme

 

[CharmyPoo]

I have been told by the seller and the original faceter of the stone that the color is not accurate in the crappy photo. I am sure the stone will be very nice. I can't wait to see it (actually I don't know if I do want to see it and get jealous

)

I am really not a fan of inclusions and was worried the stone is not eye clean.

 

[T L]

SleepySpinel,
THanks for all your expertise, and I would love if you opened a new thread and showed us some of your spessertites.

 

[stepcutnut]

Date: 5/28/2009 12:13:02 PM
Author: sleepyspinel
Thanks for the compliments about my avatar, that Mahenge spinel (pre-giant crystal find) is one of my prides and joys. I''ll def rev up the digicam and make color/species themed threads. Glad to hear you bit the bullet. I think the vendor is a pretty straight shooter and if it doesn''t sing for you, then he is in the US so returns aren''t too difficult.


-SS

Date: 5/28/2009 10:20:18 AM

Author: stepcutnut

sleepy-I forgot to add, that I love love love the spinel in your avatar

It will be fun to see your collection!

I am excited to see the stone in person, I am hopeful that the color will be nice and the inclusions don''t bother me

 

[stepcutnut]

Date: 5/28/2009 11:44:05 AM
Author: Chrono
The corpse doesn''t look too bad in the new pictures, so I''d love to see Charmy''s pictures.


As for the blue spinel - the picture is so tiny I can''t even assess the colour.

I did email and ask for a larger version of the pic, but haven''t heard anything back yet.

 

[stepcutnut]

Date: 5/28/2009 12:15:24 PM
Author: CharmyPoo
Here is a photo. I hope the seller doesn''t mind me posting it because I didn''t ask for permission.


The seller is a really great and honest guy. He was responsive.


I was looking for a really vibrant neon stone and didn''t want to take the risk.

Charmy-thanks for posting that pic as well, I can see why you were not too excited from that photo!

 

[stepcutnut]

Date: 5/28/2009 12:26:26 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 5/28/2009 12:15:24 PM

Author: CharmyPoo

Here is a photo. I hope the seller doesn''t mind me posting it because I didn''t ask for permission.


The seller is a really great and honest guy. He was responsive.


I was looking for a really vibrant neon stone and didn''t want to take the risk.

Yes, that''s the picture, greyish green. I wasn''t too enthused when I saw it, but it could just be a bad pic.

I am hoping that it was just a bad photo of it-as is so easy to do with gems!

 

[stepcutnut]

Date: 5/28/2009 12:30:00 PM
Author: CharmyPoo
I have been told by the seller and the original faceter of the stone that the color is not accurate in the crappy photo. I am sure the stone will be very nice. I can''t wait to see it (actually I don''t know if I do want to see it and get jealous

)


I am really not a fan of inclusions and was worried the stone is not eye clean.

I am hoping that the stone is eye clean as I was told, I too am not a fan of inclusions-but have learned to live with some if I really love the stone, comes with my true passion of colored diamonds!

 

[stepcutnut]

Hopefully Monday-yay!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Date: 5/29/2009 6:45:43 PM
Author: stepcutnut
Hopefully Monday-yay!

Can''t wait to see it!

 

[icekid]

Date: 5/29/2009 6:45:43 PM
Author: stepcutnut
Hopefully Monday-yay!

stepcut- will you say who the vendor is? I cannot figure it out and it is driving me insane. Monday is almost here

 

[T L]

Date: 5/28/2009 12:28:25 PM
Author: sleepyspinel
Thanks for the additional picture. The veil-like inclusions in the periphery really show up in this lighting scheme... side lighting similar to 'dark field' microscopy which is intended to show such features of a stone.

I wouldn't worry about the stone being too dark since 'up close and personal' photography with head obscuration of the overhead light source coupled with the side illumination are working together to get that look from the stone.

My guess is that the scintilation and light return inherint in the cut will make the veils difficult to discern under normal ring wearing conditions/viewing distances. I also believe that the quality of light is very important for evaluating this stone since my experience is that these mints are light sensitive as to how much blue they show from within the light green base color. As always look at it in all sorts of lights and let your eyes reign supreme

I have a 2.8 ct mint green grossular garnet from Tanzania. I don't know if it qualifies as a Merelani mint, but as you state about theses stones, it sometimes appears more blue in certain lighting than at other times. If you click on my user id name, you will see my gallery pictures. It's a trillion listed there. It's also in the gallery if you have that option toggled on. What is your honest opinion of that stone? It is actually more green than it appears in that picture, but as you know, these stones are very difficult to photograph. Be honest, my feelings do not get hurt easily. It was my first mint garnet purchase, well actually my first grossular purchase, so I would be very interested in your expert opinion.

 

[chrono]

Date: 5/28/2009 1:24:35 PM
Author: stepcutnut

Date: 5/28/2009 11:44:05 AM
Author: Chrono
The corpse doesn''t look too bad in the new pictures, so I''d love to see Charmy''s pictures.


As for the blue spinel - the picture is so tiny I can''t even assess the colour.

I did email and ask for a larger version of the pic, but haven''t heard anything back yet.

SCN,
I found the blue spinel webpage and clicked to see the larger picture. That sure is a very beautiful pure blue and large stone, so the inexpensive price doesn''t quite jive with the quality.

 

[sleepyspinel]

Not to threadjack, but since its about mints

I like your mint green stone. Looks well cut and that might be the explaination as to what is going on. As you know I too have a trillion cut mint garnet and it sparkles like the dickens, which bleaches out some of the perceived body color. If one compares my quad/barion cut with the trillion... the quad cut was cut so as to have more internal reflection to pump up the returned light color... at the expense of overall brightness. I have seen your stone and while there is a hint of yellow, I attributed it to the lighting environment... these type of stones really do best under "northern exposure" lighting before noon (indirect ofcourse). Incandescents and afternoon light which are more yellow/red rich in the wavelength spectrum shift the color a bit away from the traditional cool bluish minty goodness that we are all after.

As for the Merelani, Merelini, etc... Tsavs were first discovered at the border between Kenya and Tanzania but (correct me if I am wrong), but due to govt restrictions at the time, it was easier to mine and explore in Kenya and thus the Tsavos National Part and voila! Tsavorite was "born"... thanks Tiffany

What I am getting at is that these stones are basically of the same geological formation and that country borders (adjacent/close proximity as they are) don''t really have much weight since frankly they are arbitrary human-made distinctions. Light toned, green (with a hint of blue) hued, mod-strong and up saturation, grossular garnet is what I would call define as "mint". The locality is really secondary if not less important.

While my humble opinion is in no way expert, I have been fortunate to examine several nice examples of the material and yours is a nice specimen. I wish I could have seen Maxspinel''s stone since that was VERY eye catching... my suspicion would be that her stone would be in between what I call Mint and Chrono''s fantastic med green neon Tsav/grossular. That level of saturation and increased tone really really catches my eye

Date: 5/30/2009 9:18:43 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

I have a 2.8 ct mint green grossular garnet from Tanzania. I don''t know if it qualifies as a Merelani mint, but as you state about theses stones, it sometimes appears more blue in certain lighting than at other times. If you click on my user id name, you will see my gallery pictures. It''s a trillion listed there. It''s also in the gallery if you have that option toggled on. What is your honest opinion of that stone? It is actually more green than it appears in that picture, but as you know, these stones are very difficult to photograph. Be honest, my feelings do not get hurt easily. It was my first mint garnet purchase, well actually my first grossular purchase, so I would be very interested in your expert opinion.

 

[T L]

Date: 5/30/2009 10:26:12 PM
Author: sleepyspinel
Not to threadjack, but since its about mints

I like your mint green stone. Looks well cut and that might be the explaination as to what is going on. As you know I too have a trillion cut mint garnet and it sparkles like the dickens, which bleaches out some of the perceived body color. If one compares my quad/barion cut with the trillion... the quad cut was cut so as to have more internal reflection to pump up the returned light color... at the expense of overall brightness. I have seen your stone and while there is a hint of yellow, I attributed it to the lighting environment... these type of stones really do best under ''northern exposure'' lighting before noon (indirect ofcourse). Incandescents and afternoon light which are more yellow/red rich in the wavelength spectrum shift the color a bit away from the traditional cool bluish minty goodness that we are all after.

As for the Merelani, Merelini, etc... Tsavs were first discovered at the border between Kenya and Tanzania but (correct me if I am wrong), but due to govt restrictions at the time, it was easier to mine and explore in Kenya and thus the Tsavos National Part and voila! Tsavorite was ''born''... thanks Tiffany

What I am getting at is that these stones are basically of the same geological formation and that country borders (adjacent/close proximity as they are) don''t really have much weight since frankly they are arbitrary human-made distinctions. Light toned, green (with a hint of blue) hued, mod-strong and up saturation, grossular garnet is what I would call define as ''mint''. The locality is really secondary if not less important.

While my humble opinion is in no way expert, I have been fortunate to examine several nice examples of the material and yours is a nice specimen. I wish I could have seen Maxspinel''s stone since that was VERY eye catching... my suspicion would be that her stone would be in between what I call Mint and Chrono''s fantastic med green neon Tsav/grossular. That level of saturation and increased tone really really catches my eye

Date: 5/30/2009 9:18:43 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

I have a 2.8 ct mint green grossular garnet from Tanzania. I don''t know if it qualifies as a Merelani mint, but as you state about theses stones, it sometimes appears more blue in certain lighting than at other times. If you click on my user id name, you will see my gallery pictures. It''s a trillion listed there. It''s also in the gallery if you have that option toggled on. What is your honest opinion of that stone? It is actually more green than it appears in that picture, but as you know, these stones are very difficult to photograph. Be honest, my feelings do not get hurt easily. It was my first mint garnet purchase, well actually my first grossular purchase, so I would be very interested in your expert opinion.

That picture was taken in early morning light (around 8:00 am - early morning for me anyways - LOL!!). It came out a bit more yellow in that photo, but was stronger green IRL. It does shift color as the day goes on though, as you mention. Fascinating stones. I love it, and I wish maxspinel could get some better pics of her stone.

Thanks for the honest and detailed opinion!!

I truly appreciate it.

 

[sleepyspinel]

You are very welcome... anytime!