Show me your garnets!

[blithesome71]

Date: 7/27/2009 9:06:30 AM
Author: Chrono
Blithe,
Do you mind sharing who you purchased it from? Any idea of the origin?

Hi Chrono

Same with my other loose gems, I purchased it from a local (muslim) dealer here. As for the origin, I''m not sure ''cos when I asked her she told me it''s actually one of their old stocks way back in mid to late 90''s from thailand & burma and she termed it "orange garnet". Perhaps, merely because of the color. So there.

 

[T L]

My 3.5 carat spessartite asscher. Not quite as brown IRL as depected here. This was the best picture I could get of the incredible fire and life this stone has when light hits it.

 

[T L]

Date: 7/26/2009 2:02:57 AM
Author: blithesome71
I recently got a new spess which I bought a couple of weeks ago & I must say that I love it more than my previously posted spess. It''s smaller though, 1.5 Ct.
I''m not sure about the cut but I think it''s kinda round/semi-oval shape. It''s got some inclusions visible in some viewing angle (I''m not sure if it''s what others call high-relief)

Anyway, here it is.... (BTW, thanks to my colleague for letting me take photos here in the office using her digicam.

)

Blithsome, nice orange color on that stone.

 

[Linda W]

Date: 7/28/2009 11:51:55 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

My 3.5 carat spessartite asscher. Not quite as brown IRL as depected here. This was the best picture I could get of the incredible fire and life this stone has when light hits it.

GORGEOUS TL. LOVE IT!!!!!!

 

[T L]

Thanks Linda,
My, now that I look at it again, that picture I took is so "in your face" huge!

 

[blithesome71]

Thanks TL.

Yours is way bigger and prettier

but I really love your pear cut spess (set in YG if im not mistaken) in your previous post. It''s actually one of my favorite pieces here in PS aside from Chrono''s majestic spess ring

 

[T L]

Date: 7/29/2009 12:30:29 AM
Author: blithesome71
Thanks TL.

Yours is way bigger and prettier

but I really love your pear cut spess (set in YG if im not mistaken) in your previous post. It''s actually one of my favorite pieces here in PS aside from Chrono''s majestic spess ring

Thank you Blithesome,
You flatter me too much.

As for Chrono''s spessartite ring, it should have it''s own cult following

I''m getting a new setting for my pear, so stay tuned, although next to Chrono''s spess, it will look like dog mush.

 

[blithesome71]

I can hardly wait for that new setting. & I hope it brings out more the glorious sparkle of your pear cut spess

 

[glitterata]

I can't believe the variety of color! What a lot of beauties in this thread.

I'm the thrilled new owner of Beulah, MakingTheGrade's garnet ring from c. the 1890s. (It has the name Beulah engraved in it.) Beulah was too big for MTG and couldn't be safely resized, but fits me perfectly. Anyone know what species of garnet she might be? This is a pretty accurate picture of her color, a bright slightly orangy red, though it's brighter/more saturated in real life.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I''m glad you like Beulah!
I think she''s a pyro-spess mix.

 

[glitterata]

Thank you again, MTG!

She''s a real beauty.

 

[chrono]

Date: 7/29/2009 1:38:04 PM
Author: glitterata
I can''t believe the variety of color! What a lot of beauties in this thread.

I''m the thrilled new owner of Beulah, MakingTheGrade''s garnet ring from c. the 1890s. (It has the name Beulah engraved in it.) Beulah was too big for MTG and couldn''t be safely resized, but fits me perfectly. Anyone know what species of garnet she might be? This is a pretty accurate picture of her color, a bright slightly orangy red, though it''s brighter/more saturated in real life.

I am so jealous. I would love to own that ring.

 

[T L]

Date: 7/29/2009 1:38:04 PM
Author: glitterata
I can''t believe the variety of color! What a lot of beauties in this thread.

I''m the thrilled new owner of Beulah, MakingTheGrade''s garnet ring from c. the 1890s. (It has the name Beulah engraved in it.) Beulah was too big for MTG and couldn''t be safely resized, but fits me perfectly. Anyone know what species of garnet she might be? This is a pretty accurate picture of her color, a bright slightly orangy red, though it''s brighter/more saturated in real life.

Glitterata,
Lovely ring. It looks like a pyrope garnet, which were very popular during the Victorian age.

 

[zeolite]

TL, fabulous spessartite asscher ring you have!

With my last exciting saga, 61 garnets, you would think that there are no more different garnets to show. But no!

Yellow tourmaline? No! I was looking through a parcel of rough orange tourmaline, when I spotted this bright, intense yellow crystal. It looked like the expensive, rare, and intense canary tourmalines coming from the Lundazi, Zambia region.

So after it was cut, I finally owned an example of one of the rarest colors of tourmaline, intense yellow. Except as I was looking at it, I thought that it was too brilliant, and especially the dispersion was too high for a tourmaline. So I checked it with the microscope, and it was singly refractive. On the refractometer, it measured 1.781. So it was a grossular-andradite garnet. This shows that gems should never be classified by only looking at them, and not measuring them.

I may have the most complete collection of yellow grossular garnets from Tanzania. While grossular garnets from Sri Lanka are often heavily included and brownish yellow, Tanzanian yellow garnets tend to be brilliant, flawless, and showing no brown. The color from both locations is pastel yellow. This garnet, reported to be from Tanzania, is the most intense, saturated yellow garnet I have ever seen! 0.97 cts, oval cut:

 

[zeolite]

I bought a large Mali yellow grossular-andradite garnet crystal, and wanted to see the intense dispersion (white light into rainbow colors, prism effect) that andradite garnets can show. Demantoid garnets, especially the Russian intense green sub-variety of andradite, have too deep a tone to show the dispersion well. In order to show this effect well, the andradite garnet must be a pastel lighter tone, such as yellow, and must be cut to the correct, precise angles. In 25 years of gem collecting, I never see a well cut, pastel andradite garnet offered for sale.

This 3.36 ct oval garnet (same cut as the 0.97 gem above) shows incredible dispersion! The 0.97 ct gem above has more intense yellow color. I tried to photograph the bright flashes of color coming off of this gem, but no luck. The range of brightness from the body color to the dispersive flashes is beyond what a camera can record.

 

[zeolite]

Spessartite garnet used to be quite rare, and the best specimens came from Virgina and the Little Three Mine, Ramona, California. But is the last 15 years or so, we have been blessed with fine examples from Namibia, Nigeria, and Tanzania. The Namibian and Tanzanian material have tended to be quite heavily included.

I purchased this crystal, with a perfect dodecagon shape and surface striations. It was from Afghanistan, not a source known for producing much spessartite. The finished gem is 2.06 cts, cut in an oval, with rose crown, with intense, almost pure orange color. It puts my two Ramona spessartites to shame with its intense color. Even by diamond standards, it would be graded vvsi.

 

[zeolite]

I was examining the orange tourmaline rough crystal parcel, where I selected the small yellow garnet mentioned above. I also noticed a quite large flat shaped orange crystal. I thought it might cut to a darker orange tourmaline with brown, so I didn’t buy it.

After I discovered the yellow crystal was a garnet, I had the remaining 11 crystal parcel mailed back to me. I sorted though them and discovered only one crystal that I suspected was a garnet. It was the large flatish crystal I had previously rejected. I though oh well, let’s gamble and bought it. It had many inclusions, but all were very tiny. I decided that a checkerboard cut might mask the inclusions.

The resulting gem is the not only the most intense reddish-orange garnet I’ve ever seen, but also the most intense orange gemstone of any species, including sapphire, I ever seen. I have a superb intense Nigerian spessartite, and this gem even beats that magnificent gem for color.

After much gemological study, including polariscope, microscope, density, refractive index, and spectroscopic measurements, it appears to be an orange grossular garnet. I have never heard of an orange grossular that could beat out a top spessartite for color! This crystal was also said to be from Tanzania. The refractive index of 1.738 and no manganese absorption line at 432nm exclude it from being spessartite. 6.11 cts, checkerboard rectangle cut:

 

[T L]

Date: 7/29/2009 6:49:21 PM
Author: zeolite

TL, fabulous spessartite asscher ring you have!

Thanks Zeolite. That means a lot to me coming from a garnet expert like you, and thank YOU for sharing more fabulous pictures of your collection and for all the information.

 

[Allison D.]

This is my contribution to the cause - 3.14 umbalite garnet.

 

[litebrite]

Catmom, I just saw your EC tsav - love the setting - it''s so flowery and a great contrast to the clean lines of the step cut.

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 7/29/2009 6:52:22 PM
Author: zeolite

I was examining the orange tourmaline rough crystal parcel, where I selected the small yellow garnet mentioned above. I also noticed a quite large flat shaped orange crystal. I thought it might cut to a darker orange tourmaline with brown, so I didn’t buy it.

After I discovered the yellow crystal was a garnet, I had the remaining 11 crystal parcel mailed back to me. I sorted though them and discovered only one crystal that I suspected was a garnet. It was the large flatish crystal I had previously rejected. I though oh well, let’s gamble and bought it. It had many inclusions, but all were very tiny. I decided that a checkerboard cut might mask the inclusions.

The resulting gem is the not only the most intense reddish-orange garnet I’ve ever seen, but also the most intense orange gemstone of any species, including sapphire, I ever seen. I have a superb intense Nigerian spessartite, and this gem even beats that magnificent gem for color.

After much gemological study, including polariscope, microscope, density, refractive index, and spectroscopic measurements, it appears to be an orange grossular garnet. I have never heard of an orange grossular that could beat out a top spessartite for color! This crystal was also said to be from Tanzania. The refractive index of 1.738 and no manganese absorption line at 432nm exclude it from being spessartite. 6.11 cts, checkerboard rectangle cut:

Amazing story and even more amazing stones, zeolite. Absolutely gorgeous colors.

I''m in awe. Thanks for sharing.

 

[chrono]

Zeolite,
Woah! Look at the colour on that spessartite. It is amazing and intense indeed. We’ve missed your presence on PS and feel glad you came back. Not only that, but with great pictures too!

 

[zeolite]

Umbalite is a delightful garnet, with its combination of brilliance and color.

Thank you TL, Fly Girl, Chrono.

 

[Gailey]

Mr Zeolite, you have awesome stones. It''s good to see you and them.

 

[sleepyspinel]

Here are a few that have been posted in their respective threads

 

[sleepyspinel]

 

[mochi]

My garnets..except of the malaya from Finewaters. It''s getting set into a ring.

 

[mochi]

-Rhondolite (Rick)
-Spess (Dan)
-Umbalite (Barry)
-Grossular (Gene)
-Malaya (Barry)
-Spess (Gene)
-Spess (Ebay)

 

[mochi]

 

[mochi]