PS this one is your fault - hot pink spinel

[distracts]

So Intergem was today. I went planning on buying some picture jasper, little matching cabs for earrings, and silver jump rings if I could find any. I was going to look (LOOK!) at Vance Gems and Prima Gems to see examples of types of gems I'd never before seen in person. But... the hot pink spinels were prettier than I'd imagined. I was able to hold off on the tsavorites because I already have three (all little ones), and on everything else I adored because it was way out of my price range, but I had to ask if there was a spinel in my price range at Vance Gems. I told them what price I could go up to and pointed to the two colors I liked best... and one of them was actually well within my price range! So you know what happened next.

Morogoro, TZ spinel
1.06 cts
7.5x4.5mm

Now the part you care about:





Simulated sunlight (goes darker and a little purpler in most direct lighting):






Direct incandescent light:


My fiance, who came along to the gem show to humor me, LOVED all the spessartite garnets. Every time he passed a tray of them, he went "OMG!!! SPESSES!" which is hilarious because this is the first time he has ever seen/heard of spessartite. He was also a big fan of some of the extremely rare gems... but absolutely bowled over by the prices. I may go back tomorrow for a spessartite cabochon. In the end, I had enough money to get one and stay within budget, but I didn't know that at the time I passed them.

 

[cm366]

Oooohh..... pretty! Love the colour and how stable it stays in different lights. The cut looks great and lets a pool of colour sit... Good find!

 

[Enerchi]

Very nice, distracts! Love that particular hue of hot pink!!!

Look at your b/f go - "oh, a spess!" He's learning and enjoying it!!! You have a win win on your hands in that relationship

 

[JewelFreak]

Smart girl, you're training him early! Nice find -- love that slightly cinnamon-y undertone (at least on my monitor), like the cut too.

--- Laurie

 

[Lady_Disdain]

What a gorgeous little splash of colour! It looks very nice in an emerald cut as well.

 

[Fly Girl]

Aren't the jewels at Vance gems great? Yesterday, I was wearing a pair of blue oval zircons as earrings that I picked up from them a couple of years ago. And, that's where I saw a huge red bixbite that Bill just pulled out of his pocket. It would require emptying my retirement fund but sooooo pretty.

Nice spinel!

 

[stargurl78]

Oooo its gorgeous!!! And I love Vance Gems, I can't wait until Intergem comes to MI in June

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

As awesome as floofy feets! Love the shape....

cheers--Sharon

 

[Harriet]

Very nice!

 

[chrono]

Lovely spinel. It is not often one sees an emerald cut spinel.

 

[Arkteia]

Beautiful color

 

[Pandora II]

Beautiful - I love the colour!

(Please be really careful with those stone holders - I won't use them as they are so easy to chip stones with).

 

[kgizo]

That is breathtaking!!! I looked at the pink spinels and that is the best of the best of what I saw at the show. What will you do with it?

I'm not a spess fan either, but there were some there that almost seem to glow. Up until the show I had only seen a handful and they looked "warmed over", not as crisp as the ones at the show so I understand his interest.

 

[Starzin]

Lovely pick up! Seems to look beautiful in any light. I do think you should humour your fiance - if you get a spess he'll be telling everyone he encouraged you and who knows where it will go from there?

 

[distracts]

Thanks! I'm incredibly happy with it. It was actually the second stone I pointed to after we entered the building (the first was a giant portuguese cut tsavorite garnet of incredible color and sparkliness). I don't normally like emerald cut stones... but this one just kept catching my eye. A lot of the other pink spinels were either significantly lighter or more purple/lavender. There were a few that looked really saturated red/pink under the lights in the case, but when I had them out and on my hand suddenly turned violet, which wasn't what I want. Mine turns more purple under direct sunlight - the pictures I posted don't show it well but I took some more that I'll post later that show it better - but in the sorts of indoor lighting situations that I'm in most of the time it stays really pink.

Oh, one thing I LOVED about the people at both Vance and Prima was that they all took it upon themselves to try to get my fiance excited about gems. At Prima Gems, they showed him color-changing garnets and explained sleepiness and why some people like it, and at Vance, they showed him bixbite (or "red emerald," as it said on the sign), sphene, a true glowy windex blue paraiba tourmaline (his favorite), and a bunch of rough along with finished gems that had come from similar rough. He still spent two of the four hours we were there sitting at the food court with his book, but at least he learned some new stuff and seemingly enjoyed the time he spent wandering around the booths with me.

JewelFreak - I don't really see a cinnamony undertone? Do you mean in the pictures with more direct lighting? I could see how it could look brownish in those. By cinnamon do you mean reddish brown?

FlyGirl - The first faceted gem I saw that made me really excited about gems was actually a blue zircon. It was on my list of ones to potentially buy at this show but I could only find them in hugenormous sizes. And hugenormous sizes mean bigger prices, and before I can afford that I have to get a job and a new car.

Pandora - I've heard that about the stone holders, so I am always really careful with them and only use them on stones I judge hard to chip. I got a fire opal at the show and you will definitely not see that one in a stone holder, haha.

Kgizo - It's definitely going into a ring, but I don't know what kind. I don't usually go for step-cuts so I'm a little at a loss.

I do like these settings by Heart of Water:
http://www.etsy.com/transaction/50790412
http://www.etsy.com/transaction/49948481
http://www.etsy.com/transaction/35851559
http://www.etsy.com/transaction/15720564

I like the idea of a metal halo, basically, for the emerald cut. I think an actual halo would draw attention away from it, and while I love three-stone rings, I just got one made and should probably branch out. I really like the way that first one really makes the color pop. I'm worried a bezel might darken it too much though. Of course my REAL problem is finding someone whose work I like who will work in nickel-free white gold or maybe palladium. I don't want to do silver for this, and platinum is too expensive... but I'm allergic to nickel. Wah!

 

[Enerchi]

Nice selections, distracts, for your new spinel! My reaction to the first one was "perfect" (not saying I didn't oooh and aaaah over the others!! they are ALL gorgeous!) but why I liked the first, is that it lets your stunning stone 'do the talking' and that is the focus. It is simple but elegant and to me, that's what the EC style cuts require.

What a tough choice - have fun!

And.... still so jealous of being able to attend the Intergem shows - that would be awesome to go to! How do you find out what cities they are in? I never see anything like that posted where I live.

 

[distracts]

The website is Intergem.net.

And yes, I like that first setting because it's so clean and simple and puts the focus on the stone. I wish Sally worked in nickel-free white gold! I don't want to do sterling silver because of the tarnishing, and afaik she doesn't work in palladium or platinum. If I can't find someone else whose work I like as much, I was thinking I could have the top part that doesn't touch my skin in white gold (I really think the top by the stone needs to be white gold to make it really pop) and the shank/bottom of the basket either rose or green gold. I actually think green gold would be less obtrusive, for some reason. Last night I liked the idea of rose gold though.

 

[colorluvr]

Congratulations on a pretty stone - looks like a great find and you were lucky (or maybe you knew going in because of PS) to have met up with two of the nicest colored stone vendors I've met at Intergem, Vance and Prima.

 

[wordie89]

[URL='/user#']/user#[/URL] So pretty! It feels good to find a treasure. Look forward to seeing it set.

 

[marcy]

Your hot pink spinel is lovely. I really like the color and of course an emerald cut is always going to be one of my favorites.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

I like your spinel very much!!! I can relate to how a spinel can change under differnt lighting conditions and your preference to avoid violet. Everyone has their preferences and for me if I see any hint of grey or brown then it is a deal breaker. I love the Emerald cut of your stone as well.