Need Opinions On This Mahenge Spinel (Swala)

[BWise]

I have reserved this spinel at Swala. I am waiting for additional pictures to get more ideas on the cut/color. What do you experts think of it?

I asked about the Return policy but Eric told me that they don''t have one and never needed one. I know folks who purchased from Swala are always happy with their purchases, but I want to make sure about the color/cut before I commit to this purchase.

All feedback welcome!

Thanks!

 

[BWise]

I already have a Mahenge spinel from Precisiongems - see picture below, but I want something bigger

As you can see from the picture, the one I have is hot pink. I want one with a tad moe reddish pink. This little guy below is a glowy neon pink.

 

[T L]

I''m sorry Yingh, but one of the reasons I won''t buy from Swala is that Eric doesn''t have a return policy. I think it''s essential if you''re going to be in this business. I hope Eric finds a way to make returns possible, even though he''s in Africa.

 

[chrono]

I’d be too nervous to purchase without a return policy. When I purchased from him, I made sure to ask if he’ll accept the stone back if it doesn’t work out. Perhaps he has revised this policy?

 

[Barrett]

I am sure much of the problem is shipping any stone back to him..got to remember you are shipping to a country ripe with corrupt customs and mail. Some of you know how he ships his stones out..now try shipping them back..heck any package from the US must be a gold mine in the customs guys eyes. I am sure he/they would love to have a return policy but chance of package never getting there, package being stolen, contents in package being stolen, and customs fees probably make it to risky to attempt. I sent an $18 item to sweden a few weeks ago..guy had to pay over $30 in customs fees..all it was was a chunk of pink topaz..like 14ct chunk. Of course I am just assuming these are the reason and do not know for sure.

 

[chrono]

Am Guy,
I totally understand that but when a consumer is considering spending thousands of dollars on a single stone, isn’t it risky to purchase without a backup plan aka return policy?

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I didn''t know Swala didn''t have a return policy, it seems very strange given the cost of some of his gems.

 

[Barrett]

forgot to mention..I think that stone is fantastic looking..classic pink mahenge..good eye

 

[Swala Gem Traders]

All,

Someone I know told me about this post, so I''m sending a short reply.

First of all, I''d love to invite all of you over to Tanzania. You would understand how difficult it is to return anything, especially a gem
We lost a few parcels with gems and jewelry inside. These things tend to happen...

A few things:
. I totally understand the consumer''s side and the difficulty to purchase such a gem without a return policy
. for such reason, we are very careful about what we sell and how we rate our gems; we don''t oversell our gems
. I''ve had a few chats about the subject with other dealers and what I want to avoid, what I can''t afford, is someone ordering a gem with the idea that it will most likely be returned, rather than the idea that returning is the last option.
. people who have ordered gems from us know that a UPS costs us $100. However, we charge $60. I wouldn''t want to lose $40 for each returned gem... And charging $100 to someone to return a gem isn''t very fair either.

. this being said, there are options which we can examine. We have been working on a return policy. Hopefully that will exist soon enough.

Thank you for your understanding.

 

[LD]

Yingh - I''m not sure that the gem from Swala is going to look much more red than the one you bought from Gene. It looks gorgeous but everybody''s idea of colour varies. As Eric is sending you more photos then it may be easier to assess the colour. The colour and size are very nice indeed but as Eric can''t yet offer a returns service then think long and hard.

I have to say that I have dealt with Thailand regularly and sending anything there has the same problems as Tanzania and there are customs charges as well so a seller can easily lose out.

 

[VapidLapid]

Heck, I would much rather put the hundred for postage each way toward my plane ticket and go to Tanzania in person to pick up my stone!
This one does look to be most excellent from the picture. Has anyone had an experience where they bought a stone from Swala and it was not actually better than they expected? Ever?

 

[brandy_z28]

Date: 5/24/2010 3:21:42 PM
Author: VapidLapid
Heck, I would much rather put the hundred for postage each way toward my plane ticket and go to Tanzania in person to pick up my stone!
This one does look to be most excellent from the picture. Has anyone had an experience where they bought a stone from Swala and it was not actually better than they expected? Ever?

innerkitten's spinel comes to mind. She was happy with it after all but there was a bit of a question of color in the vendor photos and what she was seeing.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-spinel-arrived-get-ready-for-lots-of-pictures.138301/

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/i-found-a-spinel.137627/

ETA: I think that spinel looks really nice yingh. Love the color but the no return policy would make me really nervous.

 

[VapidLapid]

Well that answers that!

 

[BWise]

Thanks everyone for chiming in, and it is nice to hear back from Eric about the return policy.

I wasn''t doing comparison shopping since most of the good quality Mahenge spinels on this board were from Swala. However, I couldn''t make up my mind until more pictures can be seen. I cannot spend over 2k just based on one picture. The little guy from Gene (PG) was considered a top color, so that sets my expectation. The Swala stone I have reserved says "top" so I am not expecting anything less given their reputation. Chrono''s pear cut Mahenge was my drool over piece and I believe it was from Swala.

Have to agree that the no return policy does make me nervous, but I also understand Eirc''s limitations. Hopefully if I decide to order the stone, I can get a fall safe promise. Again, I do plan to spend over $100 in shipping back and forth just to ''review'' the stone.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

I looked at that one, but it was over my budget.

What you have to remember about these stones (you may already know from yours) is that they have multiple personalities. Sometimes mine looks regular pink (not too often), sometimes it is hot pink, and sometimes it looks red. Than there is this crazy red glow in low light. I think Chrono said the larger the stone, the more red it has. That stone is not much larger than mine, so I would expect it to go back and forth between pink and red.

Every stone I have received from Eric I have been happy with. I have purchased 3 smaller stones, and the spinel. His pictures are not always accurate, but his descriptions are. My advise is to keep asking questions until every issue you have is clarified. Than decide if the expensive overseas shipping is worth the risk.

 

[T L]

Yingh,
The color of the stone you''re looking at is very nice, but I consider this one to be more of a pinkish red, if that''s something you want. I consider yours more of a pure pink. Both are lovely stones.

http://www.swalagemtraders.com/search-gems/detail.php?pid=2141&cPage=4&sort=&perpage=8&cat=&display1=1&display2=&display3=0&category=&variety=&key=&match=&indicate=&reserve_type=&pagefrom=newarrivals

 

[BWise]

Thanks TL and Ltlfirecracker! TL, I know what you meant by the color difference and yes the reddish pink is closer to what I am searching. But I am not sure how true to IRL those pictures are. I am going to ask Eric to describe the color for me.

I was getting concerned by innerkitten''s spinel - how her picture looks different than the vendor picture. But I agree that Mahenge are very hard to picture. I will definitely wait for more pictures from Eric.

The stone I am considering is 8 x 7.9 x 4.9 mm. How is that depth? I know it is not precision cut, but Eric rated the cut "Excellent".

 

[chrono]

Your question is best addressed to Eric if you are looking for a reddish pink stone. Most Mahenge spinels shift from pink to red, so I’m worried that this stone may end up looking very similar to the Gene Mahenge you already own. Excellent is the best cut rating that Eric gives and from the look of it, it is very well cut. Perhaps his German trained precision cutter cut that stone as I know he has at least one precision cutter at his location.

 

[oddoneout]

I like the cut and colour.

 

[T L]

Date: 5/25/2010 8:13:47 AM
Author: Chrono
Your question is best addressed to Eric if you are looking for a reddish pink stone. Most Mahenge spinels shift from pink to red, so I’m worried that this stone may end up looking very similar to the Gene Mahenge you already own. Excellent is the best cut rating that Eric gives and from the look of it, it is very well cut. Perhaps his German trained precision cutter cut that stone as I know he has at least one precision cutter at his location.

They can also go more orange in certain lighting too, so if you don''t want that, make sure you ask about it.

 

[innerkitten]

Yes my stone was different than I had expected. It''s a beautiful shade of pink and it is warm and doesn''t get dark in certain lighting conditions or anything like that. But it did look different in the Swala photos than it did when I received it. I think the thing about the Swala website is that the spinels on the web site tend to look very similar to one another. But when you see the photos that pricescopers have taken of the same gems you can see that they actually vary quite a bit. Perhaps they use a certain type of camera or lighting or something, I don''t really know. Mine is super flawless and clear. So clear that someone thought it was fake.

I do think they are a good resource for mahenge spinel and tsavorite. It''s a bummer about the return policy but I totally get the fact that it''s a country where mail sometimes goes missing. So it is something to do at your own risk. I once sent a really nice care package to a friend who was working in Madagascar and it was stolen

before she got it.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Date: 5/25/2010 3:07:34 PM
Author: innerkitten
Yes my stone was different than I had expected. It''s a beautiful shade of pink and it is warm and doesn''t get dark in certain lighting conditions or anything like that. But it did look different in the Swala photos than it did when I received it. I think the thing about the Swala website is that the spinels on the web site tend to look very similar to one another. But when you see the photos that pricescopers have taken of the same gems you can see that they actually vary quite a bit. Perhaps they use a certain type of camera or lighting or something, I don''t really know. Mine is super flawless and clear. So clear that someone thought it was fake.


I do think they are a good resource for mahenge spinel and tsavorite. It''s a bummer about the return policy but I totally get the fact that it''s a country where mail sometimes goes missing. So it is something to do at your own risk. I once sent a really nice care package to a friend who was working in Madagascar and it was stolen

before she got it.

I didn''t realize how bad it was until I was in a "convo" with Sally from HOW. I told her my stones that I was sending her got opened by customs, she asked me where it came from and I told her. She wrote back "wow, I am surprised anything gets out of Tanzania!" This is coming from the woman who sent me a one page e-mail instructing me how to make my gems to they would not get nabbed when going through her mail system in Thailand.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 5/24/2010 2:04:46 PM
Author: amethystguy
I am sure much of the problem is shipping any stone back to him..got to remember you are shipping to a country ripe with corrupt customs and mail. Some of you know how he ships his stones out..now try shipping them back..heck any package from the US must be a gold mine in the customs guys eyes. I am sure he/they would love to have a return policy but chance of package never getting there, package being stolen, contents in package being stolen, and customs fees probably make it to risky to attempt. I sent an $18 item to sweden a few weeks ago..guy had to pay over $30 in customs fees..all it was was a chunk of pink topaz..like 14ct chunk. Of course I am just assuming these are the reason and do not know for sure.

we have a similar issue here in China - there are a few reliable ways to send stuff OUT but only one to send it here and even here in a major city we have to drive an hour to pick it up - if you live in a small area it''s really difficult.

 

[Cehrabehra]

another on the bad mail service - we have an international forwarding service and we have been sent 3 packages thus far. We told them they must uses DHL. First was sent USPS and still has never arrived. I have not gotten any of my christmas cards and I don''t even want to talk about what else went missing

Second arrived via DHL just fine (though we had the drive) and the third they screwed up again and sent it usps and my neighbor across the street told me that a friend of hers 30 miles away got it and they knew that they should find the owners on their own rather than turn it back over to china (they recognized it was an american name) so we did end up receiving it... what a mess!!! I am sending my stone back to the us with my father in law and I will pick it up there in the summer... no way am I sending anything to here or from here...

 

[chrono]

Sara,
I find that for shipping important items to Asia, DHL seems to be the safest and more reliable method. I don’t know how expensive it is though or if they provide shipping/damage in transit insurance.

 

[BWise]

It is dreadful after all the shopping decision was made, one has to worry about never receiving it. Even with insurance but the stones are not easily replacable.

I have reached out to Eric asking him to describe the color for me. I also told him what I am looking for - pretty much a pinkish red like Chrono''s pear cut. Not sure if he can find that color in my size range of 2.5ct. We will see.

I am still waiting for more pictures of this particular spinel, but I start to think it might turns out too pink. Will post pictures once I get them.

Thanks everyone!