I just had to de-lurk and say what a fantastic stone. I am always a sucker for cushions and the red saturation coupled with the sleepy texture is just outstanding... I sure wish I had seen it on multicolour
Thanks, sleepyspinel! I'm actually having second thoughts again, I don't know why. I don't know if it's because it looks particularly awesome in sunlight, and we're not seeing any of that here these days, or what...
NKOTB,
All I can say is that a fine mahenge should glow and show lots of saturation no matter the light source, even if its an overcast day. Whie mahenges do have fluorescence and should look madly glowy in sunlight, they should't lose a lot of saturation or "brown out" in other lighting or on overcast days. Not saying yours does that, but just imparting what I know from my own experience with these stones.
Is it still pretty and pleasing to your eyes, though? While my Mahenge doesn't have that extra "pow" of fluorecence in winter (less sunlight with cloudy days or indoors), it is still wonderfully saturated, so much so that I wear it happily at any time of the year. I thought you were satisfied with how it looks indoors?
Okay, so it turns out that carrying a gem of this colour around on white cotton in a white box, with the lid on, might not be the best way to view it. When I took it out and put in on my hand again and walked around (today is overcast - again), I was reminded of why I liked it to begin with. Definitely yellow gold will house it! It leans more towards orangey (especially when I put it beside a lab ruby I have) in some lighting, but still glows. It looks its crappiest in my kitchen fluorescent - but then again, so do I.
Mahege spinels look their worst in fluorescent light, but the nicest ones should still be a nice saturated orangy pink to pink color, and not brown out. Again, not saying yours does that, but just an FYI.
As with many colored gems, prices can be all over the place for various qualities. I've seen purplish ones go for $$$$$$, and I've seen really nice pinkish reds go for less. As with anything, I like to shop around. Haven't bought many mahenges lately though. The important thing is that YOU love it, regardless of what was paid.
wow, Wow, WOW. I just had to comment on how utterly, showstopping-ly gorgeous this stone is. When I read in the title that it was a red-orange, I was expecting something very different. It just looks like a really vibrant red to me. Stunning. Enjoy!
I absolutely adore your stone! I would have to agree that it would look AMAZING in high karat yellow gold - even 22 karat. If you are a fan of w/g, what about setting it in a yellow gold basket with a white gold shank? Yummy!