Please help me evaluate

[JLW05]

Hi, my search for a tsavorite continues. I am going to keep trying and am aware that purchasing the pendant prior to the stone was a lapse in judgment. I have to admit that I was very naive starting out on this quest but , thanks to all of you good people,I have learned a great deal and will continue to learn. BB has sent me photos of two new stones. Although I will pass on these because, as discussed, off-square stones will not look right in my pendant setting. I would greatly appreciate your feedback. One stone is a medium plus and the other is a medium-dark. BB has assured me that he will eventually find a stone for me and with your help, I have been learning how to evaluate a stone and how to effectively communicate what I want. My eye frustrates me but I am trying to develop it as best I can. I read your comments, cut the photos of the stones I was sent and paste them next to a photo of an "ideal" tsavorite in order to compare the two and better my understanding. etc.
For those of you who remember. I was also offered a stone that BB offered to cut down (if was a bit too long- if memory serves me it was approximately 6.5 by 6.9 and my pendant is 6.5 square so it would have fit the pendant perfectly after the re-cut.) He felt that it was a very beautiful stone but I have not seen photos of it. BB did mention that the re-cut would be free and but I am concerned that a re-cut could negatively impact the stone. There was mention that it could change the color of the stone, etc.
Thanks.

 

[JLW05]

Photos continued...

 

[pregcurious]

BB has sent me photos of two new stones. Although I will pass on these because, as discussed, off-square stones will not look right in my pendant setting. I would greatly appreciate your feedback. One stone is a medium plus and the other is a medium-dark. BB has assured me that he will eventually find a stone for me and with your help, I have been learning how to evaluate a stone and how to effectively communicate what I want.

I wrote a response, and it disappeared.

In general, I prefer to have 1 detailed shot for each stone in addition to a hand shot comparing stones. Since you already decided not to buy these, there's not reason to ask for a detailed shot, but I thought I'd bring it up. It's very difficult to make comments about the stones with such small pictures.

The stone on the right looks very dark. If he says they have a blue modifier, I would believe him. The stones don't look olive, like they have a yellow modifier. The stone in the left looks nice in the first shot (with the most light), and the cushion shape is more squared-off than the right.

 

[JLW05]

Thank you for your response Pregcurious. Much appreciated. I too thought the stone on the right was dark and preferred the shape of the stone on the left. Since these stones would not sit right in the pendant, I wouldn't ask for further pictures. However, any further comments anyone might have on the stones, especially hue/tone/saturation would be most helpful to me.

 

[chrono]

The pictures are so small I had to magnify them to the point where they were almost too blurry to make out any details. In the future, I would ask for close up shots. I don't need to see the entire hand, just the part where the stones are.

The medium dark is too dark for me while the medium plus is just right. The medium dark looks like it closes up in most of the pictures. I cannot tell much about the hue or saturation because both are very shadowed in the pictures and too far away.

 

[JLW05]

Thanks Chrono. In the future I will be more specific about the hand shots. From what my untrained eyes could tell, the medium plus would have been worth seeing more of if only the dimensions had been closer to the size of the pendant. Again, I deeply appreciate all the feedback I receive.

 

[chrono]

This is all you need in the picture. The focus should be on the tsavorite. The rest of the fingers are important to him, but not to us. Before I forget, I prefer the stones to be on the back of the hand, rather than on the palm side of the hand.

 

[JLW05]

Thank you, Chrono. I understand.

 

[minousbijoux]

Please don't smack me for saying this.

My reaction at this point before telling you my opinion, or, for that matter, having anyone here tell you their opinion, is to ask you what YOU think. You have been reading and you've even seen some in hand (right?), so at this point, you must have personal preferences. So what if we had all said we liked the one that you didn't like? I am not trying to be argumentative at all, but I'm wondering what you want us to be looking for that you yourself can't do yet. Because I think you can!

As others have said, too far away to say much about cut, though there are no pictures of his where the stones look they are evenly distributing the light back, if that helps. I myself like medium plus and not medium dark (if the stones are any indication). Although the medium plus looks green to me, with perhaps the slightest tilt towards blue, if he says they are bluish then I'd go with that.

I would love to hear your summary now of what you found appealing about these stones and what you did not. And May The Force Be With You!

 

[JLW05]

Hi Minousbijoux,

I immediately preferred the medium-plus stone. I thought the medium-dark was too dark - there seemed to be too much extinction in the center of the stone in several of the photos. I liked the shape of the medium-plus stone much better as it seemed more square. The other stone looked almost oval-like to me in the first two photos.
If other posters had liked the medium-dark stone I would have liked to know why they preferred it. When I was sent the photos of the tsav with the yellow/olive undertones, I just did not see it on my own and it was only with feedback and careful study of the photos pasted next to photos of tsavs that received really positive feedback on this forum (and have blue modifiers) that I was genuinely able to see what others immediatley saw.
I have seen a few tsavorites in person and have done quite a bit of reading but I still miss a lot, especially when it comes to evaluating hue/tone/saturation and so the feedback I get is very important to me.
I e-mailed BB because before I went any further, I could not imagine the medium-plus tsavorite sitting properly in my pendant. He advised that the pendant could be modified but I would not be comfortable with that option. He has not been pushy and has been very pleasant in all of his communications to me. He said it would take at least several months to locate a stone for me and that is fine with me.
In the meantime, while I wait, I plan on attending the Intergem show in Philly in April. This will be a great opportunity for me to learn more by actually being able to see stones in person.
I will be trying to avoid other PS forums because I get too tempted when I see all the posted goodies and now is not a good time for me to be planning any new projects. I may not be posting on this forum but be rest assured I will be lurking and trying to learn more.

 

[JLW05]

Minousbijoux,

If you or others would be willing to explain or post photos of a stone that reflects light evenly and one that does not, I would appreciate it. I can make an educated guess, of course, but a more detailed explanation would be most helpful.

 

[chrono]

No stone is going to reflect light evenly all the time. The key, if you have several pictures, is to make sure that most of the stone is bright or shows colour instead of showing darkness in most of the crown area.

 

[JLW05]

Thanks. I understand.

 

[pregcurious]

If you do a search for "extinction" in the PS search engine, you will see a lot of threads showing stones with better or worse reflection of light. One of the first threads is one that goes over "extinction" and "obstruction".

 

[pregcurious]

The rest of the fingers are important to him, but not to us.

I just have to say, this comment made me laugh.

 

[minousbijoux]

JLWO5: I'm sorry I haven't responded sooner - I got my hands badly bitten when I intervened in a dog fight between two of my dogs (teach me to be an idiot!) and I am not really able to type. So give me a few days and I'll be able to respond properly.

I hope you know that I was asking you those questions in a respectful manner, and apologize if it came across as snippy at all. I know you feel there is more to learn, but I was wanting to recognize you for all that you've learned, and hoping that you trust what you already know - I hope my intent was clear. In the meantime, Preg has given you some good advice about pulling up old threads on extinction.

 

[JLW05]

No problem. I hope that your hand feels better.

 

[JLW05]

Thanks Preg.

 

[pregcurious]

The other thing I've noticed, having tried to take my own pics, is that sometimes a stone will show black because the camera is black. It's difficult to judge a stone with pictures.

I think you asked about time in the other thread? I think it's not unusual to wait for a year or more for a stone to come up if you are looking for a specific color, size and cut. When I was looking for a specific color, and was open on size and cut (within a 1 ct range, and cushion/round/oval), it still took me over a year of contacting vendors (including going to Pala which has a large inventory). Price did not affect my choice in that case. I think if BB gave you an estimate of a few months, that is pretty good.

I can sympathize with you about your struggle with color. Until recently, I had that issue with blue. I could not see a green modifier in certain blue sapphires for the life of me, but LD and Minou helped me with that. You'll get there.

I hope your hand feels better.

 

[chrono]

You are already learning so quickly. I feel your indecision between wanting that right stone versus knowing good material is rarely found these days. Even so, I think you'll find the right stone if BB is assisting you. If he cannot, then others will have a lesser chance.

Minou,
Do take care. Don't try to be a superwoman while recovering.

 

[LD]

Out of the two, I think you've picked the right one BUT I see very little of a blue modifier. Having said that, BB says they have and he has them in person.

If you go for the recut, yes the colour could be affected. Since you are very precise about the colour you want, I don't think this is something you should consider UNLESS you are prepared that it may not work out how you want it.

 

[JLW05]

LD, I will not go for the re-cut. This is an expensive stone and I am not going to take any risks.