shape
carat
color
clarity

Somebody's Gotta Buy This Stone!

I am asking for a video for the 4.49 ct spinel posted above. Does anyone have an opinion on it? I love the size and shape but it's hard to assess color from photos and the idea of having to mail it back to India if I don't like it in person is daunting. I've never done that before. And now I'm worrying about color stability because of this thread.


budmanbudman10 - Are you affiliated with the comapny or do you know anything about them? Anyone else?

Link: https://www.gemrockauctions.com/auctions/spinel-449ct-mined-in-tanzania-certified-by-grs-1024877

It says "closed" but it's being held for me.

Ask for several videos under different lighting to make sure the red is not too dark.

Sometimes what our opinion of dark and what a vendor's opinion of dark is might be very different to make sure to check out this aspect thoroughly. I find this especially true for reds.

Also there is no harm in asking for a discount as the stone is pretty pricey.

***

I don't know about mailing to India but I have been told China's customs is a disaster and they will take all your goods whenever they feel like it. Just note that in some countries it is impossible to return things so keep that in mind.

I found this out when I was researching about mailing stones into China. My jeweller could mail me goods safely and easily but it was near impossible getting anything in to him.
 
I would ask for photos of it on someone's hand. Given the background of the photos they provided, it is really hard to know whether the photos are accurate as to color...pics on a hand make it much easier to tell whether there has been manipulation - accidental or otherwise - as we tend to know hand color pretty well.
 
oooh one more thing I found useful is to ask them to compare it against another stone of either very dark or very light colour.

Just pick something from their stock. I find that also very useful for colour comparisons to give you an actual gauge of what the stone you're interested in looks like.
 
I am asking for a video for the 4.49 ct spinel posted above. Does anyone have an opinion on it? I love the size and shape but it's hard to assess color from photos and the idea of having to mail it back to India if I don't like it in person is daunting. I've never done that before. And now I'm worrying about color stability because of this thread.


budmanbudman10 - Are you affiliated with the comapny or do you know anything about them? Anyone else?

Link: https://www.gemrockauctions.com/auctions/spinel-449ct-mined-in-tanzania-certified-by-grs-1024877

It says "closed" but it's being held for me.

I don't think our opinions will be worth much here. As you are going to have such a wide scope of experiences with different sellers accross this platform. For instance see
and other threads on this forum, for other people's experiences. They are very mixed. (So unless one of us has explicitly dealt with this seller in the past we are unlikely to have something insightful to say)

Yes to photos in different lighting (try to specify a selection) on the back of someone's hands. Understanding the return process, as well as the shipping process and how payment is recieved is also important. From memory if you have a problem, do not expect gemrockauctions to help you -- so you would need to make sure you could entirely manage the situation on your end if it went wrong (without intervention or mediation).
 
I am asking for a video for the 4.49 ct spinel posted above. Does anyone have an opinion on it? I love the size and shape but it's hard to assess color from photos and the idea of having to mail it back to India if I don't like it in person is daunting. I've never done that before. And now I'm worrying about color stability because of this thread.


budmanbudman10 - Are you affiliated with the comapny or do you know anything about them? Anyone else?

Link: https://www.gemrockauctions.com/auctions/spinel-449ct-mined-in-tanzania-certified-by-grs-1024877

It says "closed" but it's being held for me.

Sorry I've never bought from them (or are affiliated with them) - have just seen them around
 
Aha! I thought I've seen this vendor on eBay before and they are:


They have a 30-day return policy here (and you know they'll accept at least $5.4k for the 4.49ct stone)

:)
Thank you! I’ll be interested to see how kindred’s plans play out!
 
It's a pretty sapphire and pretty ring in general. I have noticed purple and pink sapphires seem to take longer to sell than blues and the ring is IMHO dainty which is also a factor. The right buyer will come along eventually. :)
 
I haven't seen anyone drop this one on this thread. Pretty cool stone, never seen anything like it frankly.

Color descriptionmedium reddish purple
dark violetish blue
Color propertyColor Change
Light sourceCool Daylight/Incandescent
ClaritySlightly included
ShapeOval
CuttingCabochon
Length11.50 mm
Width8.10 mm
Depth6.5 mm
Weight6.360 CTS
Enhancement (N) None
OriginBekily, Madagascar

j2mBcg11144aa_G.jpg
j2mCcg11144aa_R.jpg
 
I haven't seen anyone drop this one on this thread. Pretty cool stone, never seen anything like it frankly.

Color descriptionmedium reddish purple
dark violetish blue
Color propertyColor Change
Light sourceCool Daylight/Incandescent
ClaritySlightly included
ShapeOval
CuttingCabochon
Length11.50 mm
Width8.10 mm
Depth6.5 mm
Weight6.360 CTS
Enhancement(N) None
OriginBekily, Madagascar

j2mBcg11144aa_G.jpg
j2mCcg11144aa_R.jpg


ooohh! those inclusions are neat!

Also... everything on the Mastercut Gems Rocktober sale... I bought like five stones and I was trying to buy more but some sold while I was still shopping!
 
ooohh! those inclusions are neat!

Also... everything on the Mastercut Gems Rocktober sale... I bought like five stones and I was trying to buy more but some sold while I was still shopping!
Oh darn people like you! I was watching figure skating in Las Vegas and I don't even know what I missed on the gemstone side of things! I hope you show us...
 
I was looking at the MCG sale around 12:15 last night. I saw the count go down from 411 to 401 within five minutes! Two of the nicest stones disappeared fast. There was a really deep orange spessartite and a red-orange spinel that just went poof! I'm on a self imposed buying ban, so I wasn't upset. But I'd love to know that someone here scored. Fess up, PSers--anyone?
 
I was looking at the MCG sale around 12:15 last night. I saw the count go down from 411 to 401 within five minutes! Two of the nicest stones disappeared fast. There was a really deep orange spessartite and a red-orange spinel that just went poof! I'm on a self imposed buying ban, so I wasn't upset. But I'd love to know that someone here scored. Fess up, PSers--anyone?

I was watching too... still hoping people buy the two I’ve been watching, because I shouldn’t purchase anything!
 
Oh darn people like you! I was watching figure skating in Las Vegas and I don't even know what I missed on the gemstone side of things! I hope you show us...

@natasha-cupcake I got the red-orange spinel (hoping it's a decent color match for the one I have in a ring so I can have a matching pendant), two grayish spinels (one lighter and one more medium), a blue zircon pair for earrings, and a blue sapphire... and I missed out on a really killer spessartite that I had in my cart but was gone when I went to check out (and when I checked the other spess it was gone as well so maybe somebody got both), and since I didn't go to the computer until the sale had been going for over half an hour, I'm sure there was a lot more that went quick.
 
Some light blue sapphires I think people ought to buy... I don't know why these sit around - I have a ring with a pastel blue oval sapphire from Dana and two chrysoberyls and it is super beautiful.

Here is mine - it's a bit saturated in this pic but Dana's pics looked almost exactly like the ones linked:

il_fullxfull-332759244-20copy-jpg.532240



39548.jpg


39521.jpg


39485.jpg

eta: are the pictures not showing up for anyone else??? they look fine when I try to edit but when I post only the top one is there?
 
sunandsky - I ended up deciding not to buy the spinel. In case you are interested, the seller was willing to take $5,000.




Extra pictures and videos they sent:

Rotating Video of the 4.49ct Spinel (R14682) in Studio Lighting:

Rotating Video of the 4.49ct Spinel (R14682) in Natural Daylight:

Video of the 4.49ct Spinel (R14682) in Natural Daylight on Hand:

Rotating Video showing the 4.49ct Spinel (R14682) & 3.41ct Blue Sapphire (R13348W) side-by-side:

Picture showing 4.49ct Spinel (R14682), 3.41ct Blue Sapphire (R13348W) and 6.07ct Star Ruby (R10963) side-by-side:
 
This is a spinel for those who like unusual or silky stones. I don’t think I have seen a light purple sleepy spinel before. It looks dreamy to me.
21670FAC-3037-40F4-981A-D3BC651F5C4B.jpeg
 
Last edited:
sunandsky - I ended up deciding not to buy the spinel. In case you are interested, the seller was willing to take $5,000.




Extra pictures and videos they sent:

Rotating Video of the 4.49ct Spinel (R14682) in Studio Lighting:

Rotating Video of the 4.49ct Spinel (R14682) in Natural Daylight:

Video of the 4.49ct Spinel (R14682) in Natural Daylight on Hand:

Rotating Video showing the 4.49ct Spinel (R14682) & 3.41ct Blue Sapphire (R13348W) side-by-side:

Picture showing 4.49ct Spinel (R14682), 3.41ct Blue Sapphire (R13348W) and 6.07ct Star Ruby (R10963) side-by-side:

thank you! The whole returns process seemed a little too complicated / risky for me so I’m going to have to admire it from afar. How did you decide against it?
 
thank you! The whole returns process seemed a little too complicated / risky for me so I’m going to have to admire it from afar. How did you decide against it?

For the same reason. If there had been some easy way to see it in person and still return it if I didn't like it, I would have bought it. It's just so much money to spend considering the potential difficulty of returning it.
 
As seen in The Gem Trader's latest mail drop (sorry, can't post the link), a nice pair of mis-match Tourmaline if anyone is planning for a by-pass ring.
I would, however, I already have a pair (Aqua and Tourmaline) waiting to be set.
Screenshot_20191218-081338_Samsung Internet.jpg

DK :))
 
As seen in The Gem Trader's latest mail drop (sorry, can't post the link), a nice pair of mis-match Tourmaline if anyone is planning for a by-pass ring.
I would, however, I already have a pair (Aqua and Tourmaline) waiting to be set.
Screenshot_20191218-081338_Samsung Internet.jpg

DK :))
I was about to post this! What do you think of the pinky colored one? I have been looking for something in that shade for ages but don't know anything about tourmaline.

Which setter executes the best bypasses, in your opinion of course?
 
BenitoiteII.jpg


Also, from the Gem Trader, this benitoite is just too much perfection. I realize they are not for everyone but wow. My tiny 2.5mm sparkle like the best light performing diamond, I can only imagine what this puppy would do. Sadly, I do not have $5k+ available nor am I to be trusted with such a soft stone. I guess in a necklace it would be safer. Wish they had a video, I could watch these stones sparkle all day.

To die for huge benitoite
 
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