Recommended Vendor?

[chrono]

I am interested in getting a few small (less than 1 ct) colour changing garnets to make a set (ring, earrings & pendant). What should I look for? I love the green to purple red stones but these seem very uncommon. There seem to be more blue to purples. Alexandrites are too expensive so these seem to be the best alternative.

My next question is where can I buy safely online? Does anyone have any recommended online vendors who are trustworthy and sell well cut and high quality coloured gems? Or is this something I have to order from my local jeweler?

TIA!

 

[katbadness]

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On 5/20/2004 11:31:04 AM chrono wrote:


I am interested in getting a few small (less than 1 ct) colour changing garnets to make a set (ring, earrings & pendant).

What should I look for?

I love the green to purple red stones but these seem very uncommon. There seem to be more blue to purples. Alexandrites are too expensive so these seem to be the best alternative.
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BTW (and experts, please correct me if I'm wrong!), color change garnets (the ones I have seen, anyway!) exhibit a raspberry red to a bluish grey color, even a raspberry red to a teal blue color, whereas Alexandrite is the one that displays the green to purple red color change.

In any case...

As with any colored gemstones, a stone that exhibits vivid color is more valued.

As a general rule, the value of a color change gemstone is determined by how much the color change is displayed. The more dramatic the color change, the more desirable the material.

So, ideally, the best material will show a 100% color change with two pleasing colors. In reality, however, one will more often see a stone with a lower percentage color change.

Regardless of how dramatic the color change shown, choose a stone whose colors don't "bleed" with each other (i.e. you can see the the two colors at the same time). The bottom pic on this stone shows the color "bleed":

I hope that helps!

 

[katbadness]

Hmm... maybe not. A quick search on the Internet shows me that I may be mistaken after all.

Here's an example of a color change garnet that displays raspbery pink to teal blue:

This is the one that shows me that I'm mistaken, after all!

You can find more of this type of gems here.

 

[CaptAubrey]

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On 5/20/2004 5:36:04 PM katbadness wrote:





BTW (and experts, please correct me if I'm wrong!), color change garnets (the ones I have seen, anyway!) exhibit a raspberry red to a bluish grey color, even a raspberry red to a teal blue color, whereas Alexandrite is the one that displays the green to purple red color change.

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mrs. aubrey has a ring set with color-change garnets that go from greenish-blue to bluish-greyish-purple. of course, at a few bucks a piece, i wasn't expecting a major color change.

 

[chrono]

So if I understand this correctly, the cc garnets are more of red to blue but it is possible to find red to blue green as well. I quite like the red to blue green. Where can I get such stones with strong colour changes? I looked at multicolour.com and found the stones looking so-so. How do I know which ones to choose? How can I tell if the colour is strong and the change is dramatic without bleeding? They all look the same online. Are there any other reputable online vendors?

Sorry for so many questions but I am very new in the coloured gem world. This is pretty fun but it seems there are more variables compared to diamond shopping.

Chrono

 

[Hest88]

I know Wink Jones specializes in colored stones, though I've never purchased from him.

 

[WinkHPD]

I can help you fix that Hest!

Wink

 

[Hest88]

Heh, heh, Wink. Someday I'll save up enough pennies for my emerald green demantoid with the textbook-quality horsetail and *then* we'll talk!