Show your Spessartite

[bright ice]

bright ice,

Have you received the Spess from Precision Gem yet? I'm eager for photos.

It will be delivered tomorrow! I will post photos and see what you all think.

 

[anythingorange]

Exciting!

 

[bright ice]

I just got the Spessartite from Precision Gem. It is a 4.36ct oval from Loliondo Tanzania. It sparkles like made, no extinction at all, is a good size, sugar inclusions are not obvious. It is a very pretty yellowish orange color, although I will say it is not quite the deep orange I would love to have. I will check it out in different lighting situations over the weekend. It is cloudy and rainy here today. I can only justify having one gemstone of this type so it will be a tough decision.

Tell me what you think of it please!

 

[anythingorange]

bright ice,

I love it! I think it's really beautiful, but then again I'm a sucker for anything orange, be it pure orange, yellowish-orange or even reddish-orange.

If you want a deeper orange with less yellow, perhaps you should consider a Spessartite from Nigeria? I know that some are quite red (or brown, for that matter), but maybe the deeper, darker color might be more to your liking?

 

[minousbijoux]

Wow, its a sizable presence with Gene's impeccable cutting! It is a very pretty stone. I love that there is no extinction. And sizewise, it looks great on your hand.

On the other hand, if it will be your only one, then maybe you don't want to compromise on the color and continue your search, though it might be hard to find the color and size you want. It sounds like you and I both like the more intensely orange stones (in fact, I like the Namibians, which have a slight red secondary color) and they are increasingly hard to find. If you can find Nigerian material with no brown, you might be able to get the size you want.

Good luck!

 

[minousbijoux]

Hah! I just read AO's reply and that is too funny that we both suggested Nigerian material!

 

[anythingorange]

minousbijoux,

I'm learning from all the great teachers here.

 

[minousbijoux]

You know, Bright Ice, I just had another look and please don't shoot me for saying this, but it looks slightly undersaturated, and therefore slightly brownish. I can't tell if that is my monitor or uploading to PS - can you see any brown?

 

[bright ice]

You know, Bright Ice, I just had another look and please don't shoot me for saying this, but it looks slightly undersaturated, and therefore slightly brownish. I can't tell if that is my monitor or uploading to PS - can you see any brown?

On my monitor the color looks very true. I really don't think it has brown but this is my first time seeing a Spessartite IRL. So what do I know?

 

[colorluvr]

This is the spessartite (just got the photo from Jerry) that I posted a while back. It was 4.48ct before I sent it off, so I'm not sure how much weight I lost, but I don't think too much. He closed up the window and did a bit of work on the crown because it had some scratches from where it was set (in a setting I didn't like it in anyway - that's what I get for trying to reuse a setting ) anyway... It is pretty Fanta, not as orange as TL's and it looked pretty darn close in color to Cellantani's that she has in her ring, when I compared them in person.

I'm excited to see it IRL next week. I didn't see any brown before and I'm sure it sparkles even more now.

It is supposed to be from Namibia and it is pretty clean for a spess.

 

[athenaworth]

You know, it's funny, it reminds me a lot of mine, but I like them more on the yellow side than on the red side. But that may not be what you're looking for. To me, it reminds me of a stoplight (but a bit more orange) which makes me happy. Again it's all in the eye of the beholder.

 

[bright ice]

You know, it's funny, it reminds me a lot of mine, but I like them more on the yellow side than on the red side. But that may not be what you're looking for. To me, it reminds me of a stoplight (but a bit more orange) which makes me happy. Again it's all in the eye of the beholder.

Of all that have posted, I have to agree that it looks a LOT like yours Athenaworth!

 

[athenaworth]

You know, it's funny, it reminds me a lot of mine, but I like them more on the yellow side than on the red side. But that may not be what you're looking for. To me, it reminds me of a stoplight (but a bit more orange) which makes me happy. Again it's all in the eye of the beholder.

Of all that have posted, I have to agree that it looks a LOT like yours Athenaworth!

We're Gene sisters

 

[colorluvr]

You know, it's funny, it reminds me a lot of mine, but I like them more on the yellow side than on the red side. But that may not be what you're looking for. To me, it reminds me of a stoplight (but a bit more orange) which makes me happy. Again it's all in the eye of the beholder.

Of all that have posted, I have to agree that it looks a LOT like yours Athenaworth!

We're Gene sisters

I agree, they do seem similar. I think the color of mine is somewhere in-between the color of TLs and the color of yours..... ALL pretty... just a bit different!

 

[minousbijoux]

Wow, I think I need a monitor checkup! I just had a photo session with some of the spess I have here at the house. There is a range and I think has some of each flavor (although the ones I know for sure are Namibians right now are at the bank). Let me try and post them. Be back in a minute.

By the way, BI, you always end up with very pretty stones, so I don't think this time will be any different. That said, you might want to think about what orange you like. What I am seeing from the reactions to this thread (thanks very much) is that every one has a different preference for color. Also decide whether scintillation or glow is more important to you, cause it'll be hard to find both...

 

[minousbijoux]

Okay, here goes. Trying one photo first for size.

 

[minousbijoux]

Colorluvr: Why are your photos so clear and mine so fuzzy? Hmm.

 

[colorluvr]

Colorluvr: Why are your photos so clear and mine so fuzzy? Hmm.

If you are talking about the last one, that's because it's Jerry's photo - lol... but in my defense, those other photos were with my old p & shoot (except for the big pear) and now I have a new point and shoot for shots other than uber macro, so I'm hopeful they'll improve.

 

[anythingorange]

Okay, here goes. Trying one photo first for size.

Oh my!

 

[minousbijoux]

Here is the Spess Family and a not very saturated step child that I forgot to add to the portrait, poor fellow. Sorry that he looks so big in comparison to the others, in reality, he is only 1.27 carats.

The biggest one is a little over 4 cts (I think).

 

[minousbijoux]

I'm noticing that when you enlarge photos, they come across looking glassy like they've been photoshopped. I don't know why that is, but I promise I haven't! BI, the oval on the left is Nigerian, the lighter, yellowisher one in the middle is a recent acquisition and it is Loliondo. Several of the rounds are BB cuts and if he told me where from, I didn't keep track, but I would bet there's a mix of locations just based on the color.

 

[bright ice]

Okay, here goes. Trying one photo first for size.

This one that I just got looks a lot like the very middle one in your photo!

 

[athenaworth]

Okay, here goes. Trying one photo first for size.

This one that I just got looks a lot like the very middle one in your photo!

Ha! I was thinking the same thing about mine! I wonder if it's from the same rough. Here's the Gene pic of mine. They look pretty similar even in the vendor pics. I also finally looked up the specs on it It's a 2.46 Nigerian Mandarine Spess, measures 7mm x 8.1mm. I don't know that it matters, but I thought you'd think it was fun.

 

[minousbijoux]

This one that I just got looks a lot like the very middle one in your photo!

Oh that's good to know! I realized when I went back and looked at your pics again, that other things (like your hand and the bricks behind you) look a little brownish on my monitor, so that makes sense.

 

[T L]

Here's my three carat pear (another pear), in my Daniel M. tsavorite/spess bypass ring. One thing to note about these stones is that they're pretty dense. This stone is three carats, but faces up almost identically to a 2.5 carat tsavorite in the ring. I chose to put these stones together because the proportions and cutting were so identical.



up close shot



It's a pretty clean stone for being Tanzanian (what I was told). I hardly see any inclusions in there, even with a loupe.

Daniel M's photo

 

[anythingorange]

TL,

Your Spess and Tsavorite look great together! I was just admiring this ring on Leon's site last night:



I never would have thought to pair those two colors, but they do make for a nice and eye-catching combination.

 

[T L]

TL,

Your Spess and Tsavorite look great together! I was just admiring this ring on Leon's site last night:



I never would have thought to pair those two colors, but they do make for a nice and eye-catching combination.

Thanks Anythingorange!
Yes, that Leon ring I've seen before. It's lovely, the green and orange make for a nice combination.

There's a video of that Leon ring on youtube as well.

 

[NKOTB]

Okay, here goes. Trying one photo first for size.

Bright Ice, I think that stone is lovely and bright. It is on the yellow side, which wouldn't necessarily be for me, unless I wanted a "specimen" from each region (as it seems more typically "Loliondo"). Some like 'em yellow, some like 'em redder, so really, and especially if you're only going to get one spess, you need to pick the colour that YOU love, as that's the only thing in debate here. The cutting and size are great!

 

[T L]

Here's another spess, a two carat Loliondo round. The inclusions are not eye visible at all. It sparkles like mad. It's also a little yellowish, like typical loliondos, but it really glows like a mini fireball. This is a fun thread, and I love everyone's stones. I don't like orange in gems at all, unless the primary color is orange, and there's no brown. I don't mind a little yellow.

BrightIce,
Do you like a yellowish orange spessartite? I think it's up to you. I wish I could see a video of that stone, it probably sparkles like mad.

 

[bright ice]

Here's another spess, a two carat Loliondo round. The inclusions are not eye visible at all. It sparkles like mad. It's also a little yellowish, like typical loliondos, but it really glows like a mini fireball. This is a fun thread, and I love everyone's stones. I don't like orange in gems at all, unless the primary color is orange, and there's no brown. I don't mind a little yellow.

BrightIce,
Do you like a yellowish orange spessartite? I think it's up to you. I wish I could see a video of that stone, it probably sparkles like mad.

Yes, it does sparkle like MAD and the inclusions are not eye visible unless you look with a loop or magnify it. I really wish I had a darker Nigerian in hand to compare. I don't want too much red. I LOVE Anythingorange's stone color.