Still on a mission to find a hot pink / mehenge spinel

[RedSpinel]

I was up late the other night, and I turned on GSN really quick before I went to bed to see what was being offered, and they were selling loose Tanzanian spinels. They were advertising them as "Candy apple red Tanzanian spinels". They were between 1.47cts to 2.10cts in size, at least 8-10 of them that I saw. A few were slightly hazy and 2 were cut too shallow, but there were 3-4 of them that were cut well, didnt have any haziness, were very bright and clean with no noticeable inclusions, and no windows. They were between hot pink to red, depending on how they were turned, for instance, when looking at an oval, you'd see red flashing on both sides and mostly wonderfully saturated hot pink in the center. In other words, they showed some red and some pink. It wasnt color zoning or anything, it was just the way the color would change depending upon how they turned them. The color was great. Not too light and definitely not too dark, no extinction or black facet faces showing.


They were selling them for $600 per carat straight up regardless of size.

 

[T L]

I was up late the other night, and I turned on GSN really quick before I went to bed to see what was being offered, and they were selling loose Tanzanian spinels. They were advertising them as "Candy apple red Tanzanian spinels". They were between 1.47cts to 2.10cts in size, at least 8-10 of them that I saw. A few were slightly hazy and 2 were cut too shallow, but there were 3-4 of them that were cut well, didnt have any haziness, were very bright and clean with no noticeable inclusions, and no windows. They were between hot pink to red, depending on how they were turned, for instance, when looking at an oval, you'd see red flashing on both sides and mostly wonderfully saturated hot pink in the center. In other words, they showed some red and some pink. It wasnt color zoning or anything, it was just the way the color would change depending upon how they turned them. The color was great. Not too light and definitely not too dark, no extinction or black facet faces showing.


They were selling them for $600 per carat straight up regardless of size.

I've never ordered anything from GSN, but like you, I do watch. I find that they call all Mahenge spinels, "candy apple red" whether they're super saturated or not. I am a bit shocked they would sell those for $600/ct when in the past, they've sold them for a lot more per carat.

It makes me suspect that the color isn't as good in person, but I'm always a bit skeptical about jewelry/gems on television.

If anyone's had a good experience buying from them, I'd like to hear it. I did open some threads on GSN with photos of what I thought were nice pieces, and yes, they do have some drop dead gorgeous things, but I always get skeptical when they're selling something like that for a lower price. JMO.

 

[chrono]

Spinels never show zoning; the different flecks or "zones" are due to light play by the cut design. One thing I dislike about GSN is their non-disclosure. I would make sure the clean looking Mahenge spinels have not been clarity enhanced. I'm starting to see more oiled Mahenge spinels lately.

 

[T L]

Spinels never show zoning; the different flecks or "zones" are due to light play by the cut design. One thing I dislike about GSN is their non-disclosure. I would make sure the clean looking Mahenge spinels have not been clarity enhanced. I'm starting to see more oiled Mahenge spinels lately.

They do provide GIA reports with some gems, like FCD's and some other stones, but yes, for the most part, they don't. On top of it, if they do show a GIA report, they keep calling it a "certificate." There's this one Australian guy that regularly sells FCD's on there that keeps saying, "it comes with a GIA CERT," and it drives me nuts. I want to throw something at the TV when I see him.

Yes, spinels, garnets and tourmalines are showing more and more clarity enhancement lately. One needs to be aware of that.

 

[two_little_birds]

Just an update...

Wimongem
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111307814948?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
Asked for some additional photos, but what came back was disappointing. Clearly the eBay photos are enhanced.

As for the two spinels from Marty (Martin) I went back to him with additional questions (about fluorescence and coloring shifting) and haven't heard back yet.

There was another one I was checking out from AJS, but I don't think it has enough saturation for my liking. Still on the fence.

As for GSN, I'd never heard of them so had to google them. Upon taking a look I must admit I have no interest what-so-ever.

 

[RedSpinel]

I was up late the other night, and I turned on GSN really quick before I went to bed to see what was being offered, and they were selling loose Tanzanian spinels. They were advertising them as "Candy apple red Tanzanian spinels". They were between 1.47cts to 2.10cts in size, at least 8-10 of them that I saw. A few were slightly hazy and 2 were cut too shallow, but there were 3-4 of them that were cut well, didnt have any haziness, were very bright and clean with no noticeable inclusions, and no windows. They were between hot pink to red, depending on how they were turned, for instance, when looking at an oval, you'd see red flashing on both sides and mostly wonderfully saturated hot pink in the center. In other words, they showed some red and some pink. It wasnt color zoning or anything, it was just the way the color would change depending upon how they turned them. The color was great. Not too light and definitely not too dark, no extinction or black facet faces showing.


They were selling them for $600 per carat straight up regardless of size.

I've never ordered anything from GSN, but like you, I do watch. I find that they call all Mahenge spinels, "candy apple red" whether they're super saturated or not. I am a bit shocked they would sell those for $600/ct when in the past, they've sold them for a lot more per carat.

It makes me suspect that the color isn't as good in person, but I'm always a bit skeptical about jewelry/gems on television.

If anyone's had a good experience buying from them, I'd like to hear it. I did open some threads on GSN with photos of what I thought were nice pieces, and yes, they do have some drop dead gorgeous things, but I always get skeptical when they're selling something like that for a lower price. JMO.

I have learned to be skeptical of almost any colored gem being sold. I have bought my share of stones before I became as knowledgeable as I needed to be, and ended up with stones that were either too dark, not symmetrically cut or had windows. Or the color wouldnt be what it seemed to be in photos. I have bought quite a few gems from GSN, but not in a long time The last time I bought a stone from them was about 2003-2004. I have some nice ones and some that have an 'issue' like the cut being too shallow or off center, etc. But I didnt pay a lot for the ones that werent ideal either. back then, they generally offered better deals(by far), and the did MUCH more loose gems than now, where its mostly jewelry.

There were only 2 times I had an issue that required me sending a stones back for a refund. Once I bought what was supposed to be a 1.3ct cornflower blue sapphire from a parcel of several stones they were selling back to back. When I got the stone, it wasnt a cornflower blue sapphire. It was a different sapphire of a more gray blue that had color bands in it. They apologized and said that the original stone must have been misplaced or accidentally sold to someone else. I got a refund. The 2nd time involved a .9ct hot pink spinel from Ben Ko. I got it after asking for a spinel in a certain price range(a request), and he showed me this nice looking, hot pink spinel. So when I get in in the mail, it looked fine, but I happened to stop by a jewelers and had them check a few stones using a refractometer, because I hadnt bought one yet. The few stones he checked came out correct, but the spinel didnt! Neither I nor the jeweler could say for sure what it was, so I sent it back. But I only paid like $150 for the stone back in 2003.

After that I made sure to check everything with a refractometer, and from there forward I never received a bogus gem.... As far as GSN selling those spinels for $600 per ct, every once in a while they do have good deals on nice stones or jewelry. Especially Mike... But not Marvin, Steve or the "Opal Hunter".

 

[T L]

That guy Mark, the Opal Hunter, is the one who always calls a GIA report a "CERT" and it drives me crazy. I also can't stand his voice. Is it me, or do they all scream their brains out? We should open a separate thread on GSN one of these days, or you can add to my threads I opened about them.

My apologies to the OP for the threadjack. It does seem that they're doing their homework though.

If I were the OP, I would try to get to a gem show, like Intergem. You can find a lot of different stones there, and compare color, saturation.