New spews- plenty of pics!

[Kelli]

So I bought this spessartite when I was looking for a festive fall type stone- think pumpkin EVERYTHING, campfires, jack o'lanterns, oktoberfest, changing leaves, etc... I was originally going for a more brownish tone but this stone was being inquired about and I was really drawn to it so I scooped it up. There are a few tiny issues I have regarding the stone which I may or may not get to later. For now, PICS!!!

First, from the vendor:

 

[Kelli]

On the hand:

 

[Kelli]

Another.

 

[Kelli]

In the sunlight, where it looks the LEAST brownish IRL and the MOST brownish in pics.

 

[Kelli]

In the car, where it looks the least attractive IRL but somehow juicy in the picture:

 

[Kelli]

In front of pricescope. Not the most centered picture.

 

[Kelli]

With another of my recent gemfix purchases (a Mali). I think they look like citrus fruits together

 

[Kelli]

Because I was thinking a bezel would be sweet, I did the aluminum foil test. I like it! For some reason these (especially the most blurry one) are by far the most accurate depiction of the color I see in real life. I can't seem to quite capture it though.

 

[Kelli]

And this, in front of my water-damaged bathtub and needy doggies, is the color I see. At least on my phone it was. I took another after not being satisfied with how the others turned out.

 

[movie zombie]

its lovely!
welcome to the world of orange!
you were smart to move quickly.
what issues?

 

[Kelli]

That's all for now. I know it's got a little brown but I'm ok with that as it fits what I was originally looking for. I'm all about instant gratification so I went in to my jeweler with my heart set on a Stuller bezel setting. He told me that my stone is deeper than a diamond of the same diameter would be and that it wouldn't fit. On an impatient whim to get it on my finger I ordered this setting http://www.stuller.com/products/121990/3660707/?groupId=113534,, which I actually really like but probably not for this particular stone. After a while I'll probably go the Etsy route and get something custom made and throw an amethyst or something inexpensive into this one. We'll see. And now I wait..........

 

[Kelli]

Oh sorry, didn't see you had posted. Well... It was sold as VVS, but there's definitely an inclusion I can see. It almost looks like a hair sitting on the stone, but upon closer inspection you can see it's inside, though it does reach the surface. I can easily see it when it's sitting on a white surface (which the container is so I spotted it almost immediately), but on another background it's almost impossible to find. The inclusion itself doesn't bother me too much since it's hard to see and my jeweler said it's not a durability issue, plus I know gemstones are graded differently than diamonds so I'm not really sure VVS is a guarantee of eye-cleanliness from all angles.

The other thing is that there are two very tiny but definitely there chips on the sides- as if maybe someone had dropped the stone a few times. I know how easy that is to do because unfortunately I dropped my last one and am still kicking myself for it. But I hadn't even taken this one out of the box when I noticed them and my jeweler picked up on them too. If I eventually do the bezel one of them wouldn't be an issue at all because it's just below the girdle. The other is even smaller and I have to really search for but is on a crown facet. Just seems kind of off, that I'd take it out of the box and spot one large inclusion and two chips right away... I don't know.

 

[Kelli]

But THANK YOU! I've always admired your spess and I know very little about gemstones, so you saying I was smart to move quickly makes me feel pretty good about the purchase!! Sometimes I think I have a jewelers loupe for a set of eyes. They see every little thing.

 

[movie zombie]

perhaps your eyes are natural loupes!
if your jeweler says the "problems" are workable and don't affect the stone, well, color is king/queen and the whole noble court in my book.
i'm assuming you didn't pay an arm and a leg due to the "problems" ......and don't set it on a white surface!!!!!!!!
one really good thing about your stone is that you will always be able to identify it.

 

[sonyachancs]

that orange is beautiful, but I really love your mali garnet! I think the mali garnet is the most beautiful stone ever, but pity about it being too soft for an everyday ER

a purple stone or a green one of the same saturated brightness will look fantastic! maybe you could do stacking rings

 

[minousbijoux]

I love your citrus comparison - very nice. Every time I see a stone like yours, my heart says Yes! My holy grail is a vivid reddish orange spess but that said, every time I see one like yours, I fall in love a little. So yeah, I think you done really good, and thank you for helping me to interpret Gemfix's photos.

 

[periwinklegirl]

And this, in front of my water-damaged bathtub and needy doggies, is the color I see.

Love the stone! And the cute pups too.

 

[movie zombie]

ah, a red spess! I could go for one of those.....think we could get a group discount?!

apologies for the thread jack......

 

[FrekeChild]

CITRUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love it!

 

[Shay]

This is my dream stone - I pine for a vivid spess! Wow.
I like your setting but I also think that a bezel or even a halo will really bring this stone to life.

 

[JewelFreak]

What an eye-opening stone in the a.m.! Great find! I like the setting you chose a lot, neat design on the shank -- it will, as you say, work well with another stone later -- and that spess will be a knockout in a bezel setting.

--- Laurie

 

[pregcurious]

I like your stone. It has a nice color and a great size.

 

[chrono]

Kelli,

It might be too late now that the stone is off being set but here's my 2 cents:

1. Coloured stone clarity grading is a bit different in that eye cleanliness is only face up and never from the side view. That said, I typically put little stock in VS, VVS, etc and only ask if it is eye clean. If the inclusion does not break the surface, that is good. If it does, I would not keep the stone,

2. I would let the vendor know about the chips. You purchased a brand new undamaged stone and that is what you ought to receive. It is then between the two of you to decide how to resolve this (slight discount, send it back to be repolished at no cost, etc). Verify whether it is a natural or a true chip.

3. Almost all coloured gemstones will be deeper than a diamond so the setting might not necessarily fit as well since most are made for diamonds. You might need to go up a size or have the stone set slightly higher.

 

[Kelli]

Thanks everyone! It's great to hear I did well, especially from this community!

About the issues... My jeweler said the inclusion "reached" the surface, but he didn't say it "broke" the surface. When I tilt the stone to get glare off the table, I don't see any problem so I think it's safely under there. I'm hoping the bezel doesn't make it jump out at me like the white foam it currently sits on does, but the foil didn't so I think I'm pretty safe there. Plus, naturally occurring inclusions that don't distract from the beauty of the stone really don't bother me anyway. Kinda reminds me that I'm lookin' at a ROCK, you know? Imperfections in nature I can deal with.

Man-made imperfections on the other hand, that's where I need to remind myself to settle down. I love these precision cut stones for the meticulous artistry that goes into them. Knowing that a cutter spent time getting it perfect, and that before it found its way to me it got damaged and is no longer perfect really irks me for some reason. As Chrono said, I bought a new and undamaged stone. There wasn't any mention of it in the listing, so I don't think it was one of those "priced accordingly" things. I don't know what qualifies as an arm and a leg, but I don't mind sharing that the stone cost me $1295. Not a lot for some, but it's months of saving for me.

Regardless, I have to spin the stone carefully under the light to find the one on the crown facet, and the one under the girdle will be hidden by a prong or a bezel. I did worse damage to my Mali myself, and I still wear and enjoy the ring several days a week. I have no intentions of sending the stone back, but maybe I will shoot Laura an email today about it. Maybe they're both just indented naturals? That would somehow ease my mind with the whole nature vs. manmade imperfection thing. And then I'd feel really bad about going on a public forum talking about my stone being damaged. I should probably have emailed her first really, but I was too excited to share my pics.

 

[Kelli]

Oh, and I just realized that my computer changed "spess" to "spews."

 

[Kelli]

UPDATE! I spoke with Laura, who said that Andrew personally inspects each stone before sending them to customers and would never send a damaged one, as a matter of pride in workmanship. I also did some reading up on here about indented naturals and cavities, which I'd never seen before. Given how small they are it seems perfectly plausible that those are along the lines of what I'm seeing, in which case I should (and did) apologize to Andrew and Laura for not asking them first. To me it's second nature to come to you guys first because this is where I get all of my information, but it's not fair to them if what I'm saying isn't accurate. I've still got a lot to learn I guess.

Anyhow, I'm definitely keeping the stone and can't wait to look into a real setting.

 

[chrono]

I am glad that you are now mind clean about your new spessartite. Congrats on the new stone.

 

[Enerchi]

What a GORGEOUS spess (or spews, depends which you prefer! tee hee!) but it just GLOWS from within on your hand!! that's incredible - I've never been a huge orange fan, but this stone is something 'unearthly'. It has a life of its own!! AMAZING!!!

I'm glad you spoke w Laura and feel better about the stone now. I've bought a few tourmalines from them and a zircon and found them wonderful to deal with.

Can't wait to see the reveal of your new ring!! oh, and did I mention yet how AWESOME that stone is?? Its like it has a reflector in side of it... like a turn signal! INcrEDIble!!

 

[Kelli]

Haha thanks!!! I took it to this jewelry store today on a whim. It's in a mall but I think it's more of a family-run operation. They've been there a while and they do custom work so I asked how much a simple bezel would be in white gold. They're charging me less than the stock setting I originally wanted would have been, and it will be done in the same amount of time it would have taken for the Stuller one to come in anyway. SWEEEEEEEET. As of Wednesday or Thursday, I should have it on my finger!!

Only problem is, I'm still gonna have to pay for the one I already ordered... Guess I should look for another stone...

 

[carmen1]

Haha - DEFINITELY need to get another stone then, better get on that!