Sphene: Can it be concave cut?

[Selkie]

Trying to think of a new way to satisfy my two latest colored stone cravings at one shot. Is sphene too soft or unsuitable for concave cutting in some way? I''ve done a cursory search to see if there are any in the usual places, and haven''t seen any. Would concave cutting it affect the amazing dispersion of sphene, either positively or negatively?

 

[Pandora II]

I bought 3 sphene earlier this year which Richard Homer found for me at Tucson.

2 rounds just over a carat each and a 4ct fat oval.

He recut the oval to maximise dispersion and I lost 30 pts in the recut - well worth it!

He never suggested concave cutting to me.

Sphene is only around a 5 on the Mohs so very soft.

Revolution might be better equipped to comment as he has been cutting sphene recently.

 

[Selkie]

Yes, the dispersion is so high to start with, I suppose it could be gilding the lily. Have you posted photos of yours?

 

[beaujolais]

Tell me does dispersion on a sphene do all the colors (red, blue, green, purple, etc.) or moreso, just sphene colors (yellow, brown, greenish)?

Thanks.

 

[Pandora II]

Selkie, I haven''t seen them IRL yet - they are in Wink''s safe while I finish procrastinating about the setting - so no photos as you can take screen shots of sphene (I saw them on Wink TV).

If you go for sphene, don''t even think of doing more than a pendant or earrings - bezelling or too much work going on near the stone would make me nervous. I''m just going for super-simple yg pronged settings - but I''m umming and ahhhing about the prongs...

Sonoma - for a good idea of their dispersion take a look at Revolution''s sphene here:

 

[beaujolais]

Sonoma - for a good idea of their dispersion take a look at Revolution's sphene here:>

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Oh, yes, breathtaking.

Question, still unsure - will it's dispersion be in the yellow/gold/brown tones or will it also do blue, green, red?

I believe, you answered the question with "yellow/gold/brown tones".

Correct?

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Now, I think I read that the sphenes that show more dispersion (quality of cut dependent, of course) are the lighter colored ones, but I think the brownish ones are much more pretty.

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Oh, and I finally found a round light violet /blue sapphire to put in that setting I was trying to fill.

 

[Pandora II]

The last one I looked at in the flesh had a honey brown body tone and had fire like a diamond x2 - red, green, blue - every shade of the rainbow.

The greenish ones I''ve seen had less visible dispersion - but it may have been that the cut wasn''t top notch.

When I asked Richard to find my stones, I was originally after a greenish stone, but my main priority was killer dispersion. So I asked him to buy the best he could find - the result was honey-brown. The green/yellow stones available didn''t match up.

 

[beaujolais]

Thanks Pandora.

Oh my goodness, how wonderful is that.

I think the honey brown ones are the prettiest, actually.

 

[Pandora II]

It was stunning - and a snip at £90 GBP...

But, I haven''t seen mine IRL yet and I want to see what they look like first before buying anymore!

 

[Selkie]

I've only seen three sphene in person, but their flashes of red, green, yellow, etc. were amazing. I've actually just bought a couple of cheapish ones off eBay, on a whim. For fun, like. I'm looking forward to the end results of yours, Pandora so c'mon now, make up your mind!

 

[RevolutionGems]

Greetings troops!

Well, here is my take on both questions that have been posed here.

1: Concave cutting: I would not concave cut a sphene for the reasons mentioned above. Too soft. The resulting ridges on the back would be too suceptible to chipping and would ultimately be the death of the stone. I believe the "guilding the lily" comment is perfect. The dispersion is so high you wouldn''t gain much with the concave cut anyway.

2: Dispersion: The material that I have been cutting lately comes from Pakistan. It has a beautiful golden body color and VERY stron red, green, yellow and golden flashes. You don''t often see blue flash in this material though there is a little. THere is a green-bodied material that comes out of madagascar. It also has brilliant red green and gold flashes and even some blue though it doesn''t really compare to the Pakistan material. Think of it like comparing the brilliance of a diamond and the brilliance of zircon. BOth have good dispersion but the zircon really pales in comparison to the diamond. Same with sphene. Pakistan=diamond, Madagascar=Zircon. Both beautiful but the Pakistan material is superior in virtually every way.

So, thats my $.02 worth. I hope it helps

 

[Selkie]

Excellent info, Jeff. Thanks. That one of yours Pandora posted is beautiful.

 

[RevolutionGems]

Selkie,
Thanks for the compliment. I am quite proud of that particular stone. I have more of the material but that is by far the best one I have cut so far. Emphasis on SO FAR. There are many more to come.

I have also promised to do a step-by=step on cutting a Pala tourmaline that I got last year. I am hoping to start that project this week.

Anyway, thanks again. I love the ego strokes!

 

[Selkie]

Date: 4/15/2008 12:27:48 AM
Author: Revolution

I have also promised to do a step-by=step on cutting a Pala tourmaline that I got last year. I am hoping to start that project this week.

Anyway, thanks again. I love the ego strokes!

You''re welcome! I''m really interested to learn more about the cutting process start to finish, and look forward to your demo.

 

[Selkie]

The first of two new sphenes has arrived. This one is a trillion, 1.7ct from Pakistan.

 

[Selkie]

It''s eyeclean, just dirty!

 

[Selkie]

I think this will make a nice pendant. It''s 7.8mm.

 

[Selkie]

I thought about trying to combine the zircon and sphene...any ideas?

 

[Skippy123]

I don''t have any ideas but both those stones are beautiful, congrats Selkie!!!

 

[Love in Bloom]

Congrats on your sphene. I'm so curious as to what one looks like in person; they look so cool from the pictures. And I'm totally diggin' that zircon / sphene combo

. Would love to see them dangling in halos!

ETA: Skippy, your avatar is oober pretty!

 

[Dreamer_D]

I think the colors of the zircon and the sphene looks great together (at least on my monitor)!

DD

 

[Selkie]

I actually ended up taking the trillion sphene and the zircon to a local jeweler. I''m getting the zircon set in a simple Stuller east/west WG bezel ring, and the sphene will be in a yellow gold bezel pendant. I don''t have the funds right now for a custom setting to incorporate them both in a single pendant, unfortunately.

 

[FrekeChild]

Date: 4/28/2008 1:37:21 PM
Author: Selkie
I actually ended up taking the trillion sphene and the zircon to a local jeweler. I''m getting the zircon set in a simple Stuller east/west WG bezel ring, and the sphene will be in a yellow gold bezel pendant. I don''t have the funds right now for a custom setting to incorporate them both in a single pendant, unfortunately.

Dang I was really digging the color combo on those together. Sphene is pretty amazing to look at, but I don''t think I''ve ever seen any IRL. I''ll have to get on that.

What are the specs on the zircon? (I heart zircon-so pretty!!)