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Somebody's Gotta Buy This Stone!

leukolenos said:
Seems we are kindred spirits. I could probably have a collection of just antique ruby pieces and be fine with life!
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Haha, we sure have both great taste. Now we only need a Liz Taylor budget and we are all set :P2
 
I think the price is good when taking into account the GRS report and Burma/Mogok origin. You probably have noticed the naturals in the back, but many stars have them and I think it should not affect value too much.
 
I showed my local jewellers that listing. They commented that the colour is lovely, star is decent, but it's on the opaque side. However, good star rubies that percolate to the local market here come mostly with a purplish tinge now rather than that listed shade, so I guess it's a trade off.

The naturals on the back is ok. Most of the star corundums here come with pitted backs and inclusions which are sometimes cut out from the back. I don't see that lowering the prices, unless the inclusions show face up.
 
I love that star ruby. The color is gorgeous, nice size and though not completely transparent, it seems as though it would be luminous. I’ve been loving that one quite a bit!!
 
I LOVE that ring! I'd buy it if was closer to what she paid, but then we'd all fight over it!:lol:
 
If I didn't already have a lovely Mexican Opal waiting to be set, I'd be all over this BB cushion!

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Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting Gary of Finewater Gems. He's a very nice, knowledgeable man, and showed me some incredibly beautiful stones, my favorite being this spinel. The photos don't do it justice. It looked like a shimmery, sparkly piece of candy. Just wow! I can't afford it, but if anyone is looking, here is a beauty:
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https://www.finewatergems.com/store/p405/2.40_ct_Burmese_Pink_Spinel.html
 
JD just put up a blue aquamarine! No treatments! With all the wedding hype I wonder how long until it sells! It is an oval though!
 
Its color reminds of really nice quality Brazilian alex... Although I can't understand the price (I guess it's because this type is almost never found from that locality).
 
For $120,000 I can't deal with the culet at the bottom! Looks like an eye to me! Unless it's just a photography issue...
 
Frost said:
Its color reminds of really nice quality Brazilian alex... Although I can't understand the price (I guess it's because this type is almost never found from that locality).
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@Frost - What do you think of the saturation of the stone - it is graded 5/2, slightly greyish. From the pics it looks beautiful but I am very interested in your thoughts. I haven't seen a top tier Alexandrite.
 
MrsKMB said:
Which is exactly why I'm not buying it! Well, that, and I'd like to keep my house.
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hehe to be honest I'm not sure if I'd even drop $800 on it. Like I would if it's a bargain that I can resell for $120K or more money but if it's like "Well you can buy it for $800 and NEVER resell it I don't think I'd actually want to wear it."

Gems are such a personal thing!
 
It is overpriced....

Think it is the wonderful daylight color - the color change is not worth 120K imo. And in alex first CC, than CC and than CC...and than the rest.

But a stone I would love to have in my collection...
 
@LisaRN Well, in my opinion its saturation is amazing for alex in daylight if what's on the screen in that video equals reality (although the lights used in it seem to be either very strong or very close or both). The "slightly greyish" part refers to the purple and that it is.

I don't know the seller but I have noticed that many of their depictions of stones do them no favours - blue sapphires, for example, sometimes look worse than they actually are due to how they are photographed or filmed. This one, for example, I'm willing to bet it's a better/purer/less blackish blue than it looks:

I've never seen one of their stones in reality but you can deduce these things from looking at the photos - when someone has a stone and they say it was called royal blue by lab x, and then the photo looks a bit washed out and lavender-ish, and other gem species look the same when they're supposed to be the top of their kind, then it's probably more a matter of photos than wrong lab opinions. I've also noticed that a lot of their stones tend to be backlit in the images, as in that there's a light shining from the back or above the stone in addition to the lights in the front (or that there's something very reflective in the background). This has its uses and can make things look more '3D' but in their case results in many, many 'washed out' looking stones which I'm willing to bet aren't like that in real life. Like this one: http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?-1351640679 I mean, that's not even a sapphire color. The stone is probably nicer than it looks but it's burnt out/washed out because of backlight. Lighter tones in any species don't usually take too kindly to that.

Anyway, photo yammering and all that.. No alexandrite with a strong change will ever be as saturated as absolute top tier tsavorites, tourmalines, sapphires, rubies etc. so it's not a fair comparison in absolute terms. But in relative terms, for alexandrite, on my screen (a MacBook currently with default screen calibration) this is amazingly good in daylight. It looks as saturated as a typical good quality blue-green tourmaline would be, which is difficult to find in alexandrite with any amount of appreciable change.
Incandescent light, well... That's about what you'd expect from an alex with a nice daylight color. Alexandrites are really tough; if you have a good daylight hue, then usually the incandescent one is bad. If the incandescent one is good, then usually the daylight one isn't. Vivid green to stoplight red is more often an ideal in laboratory conditions than a reality in real life. Real life is more about finding a balance between the two and managing expectations. But I'm not suggesting anyone settle for a brown-to-red or a green-to-yellowish-green though, haha. :D

Regarding cutting, since others have mentioned it... They probably paid so much for it they don't even want to breathe on it, much less recut something. The window could be removed keeping 3 carats but when you get to stuff that's both rare and expensive you sometimes have to take it as it is. Just look at auction catalogues. You'll have to count what most PSers would consider well cut stuff on the fingers of one hand, if even that, but the stones sell for a lot anyway. And besides, photos blow things out of proportion - the window is probably so small in real life it wouldn't even show much when set.

EDIT: Tried... and failed... to remove the embedded video. Meant to post just links.
 
We bought many gems from MCG and never disappointed. They looked always better than on the pics.

I don’t agree with some „alexandrites“ which are color changing chrysoberyl imo ( and this is not the same!). But I don’t agree with GIA too btw.

You are right - it is a challenge for a cutter ( and often rough gives you no other chance) to decide...

good daylight and very good incandescent light color

or

exc. daylight and o.k. CC - like esp. many stones from India..

But his prices are fair - some are expensive and some quite low...
I recommend MCG.
 
Not a gem, but a ring. I saw this on IG. Someone *clearly* needs to get this ring!

P.S. - Totally a joke. :lol-2: Are jokes allowed? :whistle: Ummm.... I’d probably wear it. :lol-2:

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