Need a new 1.50-2.0 carat round Rubellite- Please help!

[minousbijoux]

The 2 rubellite from Gene are smashing!

Aw, shucks *she says shyly as she scuffs the ground with the front of her foot*


Its all Gene - I just learned to get my name on waiting lists and pull the trigger quickly. I actually forget the mess of inclusions (as seen in Gene's magnified pic) because it is so bright they are really hard to see in hand. I don't know, though, I may end up selling it, because I realize I'll probably never wear a stone that color. I also have some wonderful nieces, some of whom will hopefully (please oh please oh please ) be into colored stones like their Aunt. We'll see.

 

[NKOTB]

Did you check out the one that I posted from Beau-wy? He may have others or rough to cut as well. Mine from him is Nigerian (which are prone to color-shift to brown/orange) but mine does not. He will tell you if they shift.

Here is mine which is probably similar to what he has available.

Excellent summary LD.

Chris, be careful when taking your photos that you don't overstate color. By the looks of going on with the white cotton, the way the shadow on the immediate left side is bluish, means it is oversaturated for color and the color of your stone is likely oversaturated as well, showing more intensity of color than is likely there in hand. OP, if you want help, please feel free to ask questions of your potential new stones before you purchase Just make sure to mask the stone/vendor to avoid lurkage.

LOL Minou and LD - that's a new one! Usually, I get told that my pics are terrible, not that they must be tweaked to look better! Here is Dan Stairs pic, which I think is quite similar in terms of colouring. I didn't buy it from Dan, but he cut it for the vendor.It took me a while to find that stone...it is the perfect Purplish-Red. At least for me. The key with Rubellite is that it holds its color...this stone stays within its Red-Purple, never going towards a brown or Orange.

I had another couple that I also took.

Chris your photos are still "off". See how blue it looks around the stone now? Again, it's not representative. Please don't post a stone that is a lookie likey and say "this looks like mine" as it's really confusing! If you look at Dan's photo the background is completely "off" so who knows what this stone looks like IRL!!!!!

What on earth are you doing with your photos? Are you using Microsoft Paint to try and change the resolution etc? That causes that odd effect of the blurring in the first picture.

I'm a little confused, now, LD. I don't see blue around the stone? And Chris didn't post a pic of a stone that looks like his, he posted the original vendor pic of his stone, which looks quite similar to the pics he took in terms of representation of colour, at least to me.

OP, have you checked with Lisa Elser? She often has a lot of rubellite rough.

 

[LD]

Did you check out the one that I posted from Beau-wy? He may have others or rough to cut as well. Mine from him is Nigerian (which are prone to color-shift to brown/orange) but mine does not. He will tell you if they shift.

Here is mine which is probably similar to what he has available.

Excellent summary LD.

Chris, be careful when taking your photos that you don't overstate color. By the looks of going on with the white cotton, the way the shadow on the immediate left side is bluish, means it is oversaturated for color and the color of your stone is likely oversaturated as well, showing more intensity of color than is likely there in hand. OP, if you want help, please feel free to ask questions of your potential new stones before you purchase Just make sure to mask the stone/vendor to avoid lurkage.

LOL Minou and LD - that's a new one! Usually, I get told that my pics are terrible, not that they must be tweaked to look better! Here is Dan Stairs pic, which I think is quite similar in terms of colouring. I didn't buy it from Dan, but he cut it for the vendor.It took me a while to find that stone...it is the perfect Purplish-Red. At least for me. The key with Rubellite is that it holds its color...this stone stays within its Red-Purple, never going towards a brown or Orange.

I had another couple that I also took.

Chris your photos are still "off". See how blue it looks around the stone now? Again, it's not representative. Please don't post a stone that is a lookie likey and say "this looks like mine" as it's really confusing! If you look at Dan's photo the background is completely "off" so who knows what this stone looks like IRL!!!!!

What on earth are you doing with your photos? Are you using Microsoft Paint to try and change the resolution etc? That causes that odd effect of the blurring in the first picture.

I'm a little confused, now, LD. I don't see blue around the stone? And Chris didn't post a pic of a stone that looks like his, he posted the original vendor pic of his stone, which looks quite similar to the pics he took in terms of representation of colour, at least to me.

OP, have you checked with Lisa Elser? She often has a lot of rubellite rough.

Sorry to disagree but the first photo is a vendor photo of a random stone and then Chris has posted 2 photos both entitled "mine" which is his stone. It's Chris's photos that have a blue/purple halo. Look carefully at the colour immediately surrounding the stone and you'll see the coloured faint haze. This is caused by using either an incorrect setting on the camera or manipulating in a camera software such as Microsoft Paint.

 

[ChrisA222]

Whoa now I've seen everything.

Ld, that is my stone...all the pics that I have posted are my stone.

I dont edit anything, I dont even have a clue how to. I have an Android smartphone that I use, and I set it on automatic.

I took all the pictures on the cotton myself with my cell phone camera.

The pic with the grey background is the original pic from Dan Stair. He cut the stone for Beau Patterson on ebay. It was Beau's rough that he had cut. Dan cut it and snapped a picture for him. He was kind enough to send me Dan's picture.

I wish I knew how to manipulate photos, cause then I'd be able to get rid of whatever blue stuff you guys are seeing.

Is it so hard to fathom that I might have landed myself a really nice Rubellite? Thats not over dark, and has nice saturated purplish-red color? I can't help that the camera is sucky. It is what it is. I bought this stone because it is so red for a Rubellite, with a purplish kick that I adore. Since it seems like my credibility is being questioned, in addition to Dans picture, I will see if Beau has any pictures he took and if he did, I will post them too.

Its been suggested that I like over dark stones, under saturated stones (at times) and...you know what, to each his own. I do like darker stones sometimes. But this stone is killer, one of the best in my collection. I posted it to help the OP see that maybe Beau is worth contacting for a nice piece of Rubellite which he does have. Instead, my pictures come into question and then possibly Im posting stones that aren't my own. I dunno what else I have to do or say.

 

[ChrisA222]

This is the email from Dan Stair about the stone that Beau sold me (and the picture from Dan)


Hi Chris,


That rubellite I recut for Beau is to die for…really. It borders on being eye clean and the colors it shows are very nice, especially under incandescent light. I was tempted to ask him if he wanted to trade that for some of my cutting labor after I finished the thing. Here is a picture of it…





In person, it leans more toward red with some magenta flashes…kind of like a ruby.

 

[chrono]

Chris,
I think what LD is saying is that the picture is over-exposed because the white cotton is starkly white or unnaturally white, meaning the rubellite is much darker than shown.

 

[LD]

Chris for goodness sake calm down and STOP being such a drama queen. I have NEVER said anything about the quality of your Rubellite. In fact I never comment on your stones precisely because you go mental each time anybody says anything you don't agree with.

I've said that your photos look odd and even suggested ways to help. Please look at the photos and tell me honestly if you think they can be a true representation if the fuzzy bit all round the stone is there?

Oh and by the way, I've never had a stone from Dan that looks like his photos. His stones are very nice but the photos are not true to life in my experience.

If you don't like my posts then block me.

 

[minousbijoux]

I *think* LD may be talking about another thread, this one:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/somebodys-gotta-buy-this-stone.177156/page-28']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/somebodys-gotta-buy-this-stone.177156/page-28[/URL] where you recently posted a link to an expensive red spinel of Jeff Davis's saying that you got a smaller one that is similar. But the subsequent pictures of yours show a lesser quality spinel, one that appears to have a slight orangish, some might say even slightly brownish, modifier. At least it confused me, because it took me a minute to realize that the link you posted was for a different stone, not the one you bought. The confusing part to me is that at least comparing the pictures of yours to the photos of Jeff's new one, I would say the new one is considerably higher in quality based on color, but you were saying yours was like that...???

Did that make any sense, or am I off my color rocker here?

 

[minousbijoux]

Whoops. I think I'm only complicating things...and sounds like I was way off on what was being referred to

 

[ChrisA222]

Chrono...it is my stone. I am able to see it. I can see how it is.. I was trying to help the OP by providing a vendor who has nice material. What is the point of some poeple telling me that because of how the cotton looks, my stone is darker IRL. It isnt. I can see the stone in my hands right now. So my integrity, or my vision is being questioned? Am I taking this the wrong way? Ive posted the email and picture from Dan.

It makes PS become not a nice place, when I am posting my own stone, which is in the process of being set into a custom ring, and I am being told that it can't look that saturated in real life, followed by it must be darker in real life. Because of the exposure in the camera? I dont have a clue about any of that.

I really don't know what else to say, but I feel attacked on many fronts. I bought and returned several Rubellites to get that one, because of its Rubellite color.

 

[ChrisA222]

Chris for goodness sake calm down and STOP being such a drama queen. I have NEVER said anything about the quality of your Rubellite. In fact I never comment on your stones precisely because you go mental each time anybody says anything you don't agree with.

I've said that your photos look odd and even suggested ways to help. Please look at the photos and tell me honestly if you think they can be a true representation if the fuzzy bit all round the stone is there?

Oh and by the way, I've never had a stone from Dan that looks like his photos. His stones are very nice but the photos are not true to life in my experience.

If you don't like my posts then block me.

Ld, you said that I was posting a copy cat stone. Minou said that my stone can't be as saturated in real life. Those are the statements that I have issue with.

Drama queen? I would think someone of your stature wouldn't resort to name calling. I've never done anything like that to anyone else.

I did nothing but try to help the OP and I am constantly criticized one way or another. Some people on here are so condescending, really...think about what you are saying sometimes and how it might offend people. I've never come on here and done any of that.

 

[LD]

Chris - seriously?

Any time anybody says ANYTHING that you don't like, you over-react HUGELY. I have not commented on your Rubellite at all. I haven't said anything about the quality or the cut. I've simply said your photos are not true to life, pointed out why and suggested how to improve them. I was asked what I meant and suggested why things may be going haywire. If you make everything personal you will see gremlins in every cupboard then you'll read into things that aren't meant. As a gem dealer you should know that we will critique photos.

In terms of the "copy cat" stone? Minou pointed you to the thread where you did exactly that.

Oh and by the way, you seem to have a short memory, as I seem to recall you hideously lashed out at TL when you first came onto this board so please don't lecture me about offending people. You were exceptionally nasty and condescending to somebody who has years more knowledge and skill than either of us.

 

[ChrisA222]

Ld, I didnt name names, I am still trying not to be a jerk about things. It was not you who said anything about the stone, I was upset with you for suggesting that I posted a copy cat stone.

Im not a gem dealer? So I wasn't expecting a critique on a stone that I own and am in the process of having set....

Also, there was never a copy cat stone. The red stone from that thread is a 1.26ct Spinel. The first vendor pic is Jeff Davies' pic. The rest are mine. They are all of the same stone. I would not post a look a like stone as my own.

 

[ChrisA222]

As far as the TL post, which I did apologize for, did you see the reaction of people who agreed with me? I was calling a spade a spade, thats it. It shouldnt have been done..I was new on the board but i was seeing the same kind of attitude over and over and I couldnt believe nobody was saying anything about it...I've never been condescending on the board to anyone EVER. It serves no purpose. Yet it is done to me all the time and not by you, LD.

 

[ChrisA222]

I *think* LD may be talking about another thread, this one:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/somebodys-gotta-buy-this-stone.177156/page-28']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/somebodys-gotta-buy-this-stone.177156/page-28[/URL] where you recently posted a link to an expensive red spinel of Jeff Davis's saying that you got a smaller one that is similar. But the subsequent pictures of yours show a lesser quality spinel, one that appears to have a slight orangish, some might say even slightly brownish, modifier. At least it confused me, because it took me a minute to realize that the link you posted was for a different stone, not the one you bought. The confusing part to me is that at least comparing the pictures of yours to the photos of Jeff's new one, I would say the new one is considerably higher in quality based on color, but you were saying yours was like that...???

Did that make any sense, or am I off my color rocker here?

OK-I understand now. The link was to a new stone by Jeff showing what he is selling now to show the OP. That was not in the same message as the pics that I posted, down below in the tread.

The first picture I posted was Jeffs vendor pic of my 1.26ct stone, and my pics were my pics of that stone.

 

[LD]

Copy cat is not correct here. I never said those words. I said that you posted a vendor's stone and said yours was similar and then went on to post your stone and it wasn't similar. It was misleading in my opinion. If I posted the Hope diamond and then said I had something similar and posted a photo of an irradiated blue diamond you'd laugh your head off at me wouldn't you? Clearly that's an over-exaggerated example but do you see what I mean?

If you're using a phone to take your photos then I have no idea how you can make them better. I know that some find using an iPhone gives good photos but mine is ok but not brilliant. I am not good at taking photos but I really try to get a true representation (I'm not saying you don't before you react to that). It's tough and it's actually far easier to make stones look far better than they are. I don't know if your phone is over/under exposing because I don't understand it. I just know that what I see shows me that the colours aren't right. How to cure it? No idea! What I'll do in a minute, in a separate thread, is to show you how Microsoft Paint can give a photo that odd fuzzy look.

If you want to continue the discussion let's take it into another thread because the poor OP just wants a Rubellite!

 

[minousbijoux]

Chris: You have learned a lot in a short period of a year - its impressive how many people you've gotten to know and how much you've learned about locations, rough, cutting, and stone type. With you in mind, I've been meaning to start a thread on How do People Learn About Gemstones, because I would like to know all the resources others, like you, have used in their quest for knowledge.

That said, there are areas where you are pretty open about your lack of knowledge, one of them being photography. My comments were meant as constructive feedback, and I believe you took them that way. One thing I will say that I try to do sometimes in light of so many newcomers is temper what is being said by others to be as realistic as possible, since newcomers don't have as sophisticated a gauge yet. So sometimes in your enthusiasm, you talk about this "killer" or "awesome" stone you've just received. Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't. The problem lies then, when the OP is left with the impression that your example of a stone is a top notch or excellent example of its kind when some of us don't agree. You have tremendous enthusiasm, but sometimes it comes off as bragging. I apologize to you, as that pushes my buttons completely, as 1) I don't like bragging to begin with and am admittedly sensitive to it; and 2) I often find myself disagreeing with you about the quality of the stone in question, and feel it is not brag worthy, if that makes any sense. Some of us are way more attuned to color than others. But I'm openly owning the fact that its my issue entirely that I worry about newcomers when you tout your stones.

I have to bounce right now, but I'll come back later and, if no one else has by then, I will show you two photos and you can see why I think that the saturation in your first picture, whether manipulated or not, was overstated.

 

[erinl]

Chris--

The rubellite you posted looks like it is the color that the OP is looking for, so I think that was a good lead. I think checking out Chris' suggested vendor as well as Lisa Elser might be a great idea.

You can check with Gene too. He often checks his rough to see if he has anything suitable. Then he either posts it in his drop or sends you the picture first. His pictures are incredibly accurate, so if the color doesn't look like you had envisioned, it probably isn't. I have asked for certain stones from Gene and sent him pictures of Psers stones that are what I am looking for. I haven't found him to say "this stone isn't as saturated as the one you sent a picture of as a example", instead he will basically describe it and leave it to you to make the call if it is the color you want. I was looking for a mali garnet like yingh's (who isn't!) and sent him a picture. He cut a stone and it was a much different color.


I know nothing about your android and its pictures, nor do I question the color of your rubellite.

I know my blackberry takes pictures that seem a little bit more colorful than the stone often looks, especially when the flash goes off. I used my blackberry to take pictures of the tourmaline I sold to you that you returned...

 

[ChrisA222]

Thanks Erin.

I feel bad for the OP with all of this dialogue. Ive said what I've said and I've finished in a new thread, if anyone wants to take it there instead of continuing to hijack the OPs thread.

The only point of my posts were to check out Beau, even if you dont like his current Rubellites he is a great vendor for them.

 

[Kikimeister]

OP, have you checked with Lisa Elser? She often has a lot of rubellite rough.

I don't know exactly who that is, but a new name is always welcome! I'll google/email her and see what her response is. I've contacted GemFix and they don't have anything extra in their inventory. Neither does Beau-Wy on Ebay. I contacted someone else (I think Precision Gem), but haven't gotten a response back.... Rubellites and especially rounds appear to be very hard to find right now. I have the gem from AJS coming, and I'm crossing my fingers that it works out. Otherwise I'll try the gem from Gemfix, which is pricier, but I don't have many options at this point. I'm tempted to order it and compare the two, but I'm not sure if my credit card can take the hit right now, lol.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions and help, it is very much appreciated! Also, forgive my ignorance, but what does it mean to "mask a vendor/link to prevent lurking"?? Just means to not post direct links? Didn't realize I had done something wrong if that is the case.

 

[erinl]

So if you link to a vendor's site or a stone on ebay and ask opinions and a people tell you how great the stone is, a lurker reading the thread may buy the stone before you have a chance to do so. Some people can also tell what vendor the stone is from just by the way it is photographed, so even posting a picture with no labels or links can be dangerous...

 

[Kikimeister]

Got it. Will go back and edit the posts with the links. I figured that was the inherent risk I ran by posting links.

 

[minousbijoux]

Got another one for you! Bob Kast has consistently had some gorgeous rubellites. I think his tend to be smaller, but he's definitely worth a try, if he's still around. Try him on the sticky at the top of the page.

 

[Kikimeister]

Thanks! Will try him too!

 

[minousbijoux]

When you feel you can, please come back and post photos! We love eye candy!

 

[ededdeddy]

I have tried several times to get a hold of Bob Kast but with no luck. His diamond bistro store isn't operating anymore either.

 

[aljdewey]

From what I understand, the supplier Bob Kast was getting rough from was fairly tapped out, so that's probably not going to be a viable option for the original poster.

If you're a reasonable patient person, you may want to check with Gene. He may have something or have a connection to source it if he doesn't already have it. The two rings I've attached are both his - the cushion leans more pinkish, but the solitaire is just all kinds of red and it's crazy in sunlight.

 

[pregcurious]

Alj, those rings are beautiful!!!

 

[T L]

Got another one for you! Bob Kast has consistently had some gorgeous rubellites. I think his tend to be smaller, but he's definitely worth a try, if he's still around. Try him on the sticky at the top of the page.

Here's a Bob Kast rubellite which looks more red in person. If you can get in touch with him, I would recommend it. It's a small stone, about 1.1 carats, but people see it from across the room and it's been mistaken as a ruby. No brown at all, which is someone one needs to be aware of with many rubellites, especially as they color shift from various light sources.

 

[minousbijoux]

I'm not sure why this thread was resurrected, but since its over a year ago that the OP was seeking a rubellite, I'm hopeful they've found it by now.