Suggestions for golden gem..

[Gailey]

Here''s a bigger picture of my avatar. I''ll post a couple more pictures in alternative lighting.

 

[Gailey]

Here''s a shot of my citrine and my tourmaline hanging out!

 

[innerkitten]

How about a yellow sapphire?

 

[Gailey]

Here''s one taken with LED lighting from the camera

 

[Gailey]

Someone mentioned Hessonite garnet. I''ve got one of those too! It was described to me as "sleepy". I prefer to think of it as "velvety". This shot is from the vendor: Brad Payne aka The Gem Trader. Mine is the cushion on the right. He may have more of this available.

 

[Gailey]

Nothing sleepy about it in this shot!

 

[innerkitten]

Gailey, what pretty stones I love the pic of the tourmline and the citrine together.

 

[Gailey]

Thanks Kitty!

Last shot for now because I am running out again. Here''s a group shot with my Malaya garnet

 

[chrono]

When you said you wanted a vibrant golden colour and someone mentioned Citrines, I immediately thought of these:
http://www.finewatergems.com/citrine.html
I don''t see any brown, the cutting is superb, colour is extraordinary and price quite reasonable.

 

[chrono]

Quote:
This was another entry for the 2009 American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) competition. A rich velvety orange citrine in a unique brilliant octagon cut. Very reasonably priced for a competition-level gemstone, and perfect for a huge cocktail ring or pendent!
22.37 ct, 17.9 x 17.9 x 13.1 mm, VVS clarity
$390

 

[chrono]

Quote
An intense orangey-yellow citrine, cut into a brilliant trillium design. Flawless, a great value, and cut corners make it easy to set.
5.26 carats, 12.5mm x 12.5mm, IF clarity
$150

 

[coatimundi_org]

Whatup gemnut?
FF's grossular is an amazing gem! I love grossular and chrysoberyl--as others have mentioned, and both are great for jewelry application. Depending on what size your looking for, heliodor can be a great option, as it is generally inexpensive, and can be found in larger sizes. I have a happy heliodor that is a 12mm round Portuguese cut--it's the one I was going to send to Sally.

And as Innerkitten suggested, yellow sapphire is a great idea too.

 

[coatimundi_org]

Date: 2/21/2009 2:10:01 PM
Author: Chrono
Quote:

This was another entry for the 2009 American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) competition. A rich velvety orange citrine in a unique brilliant octagon cut. Very reasonably priced for a competition-level gemstone, and perfect for a huge cocktail ring or pendent!

22.37 ct, 17.9 x 17.9 x 13.1 mm, VVS clarity

$390

Sweet! I love this cut.

 

[mochi]

I have a couple of chrysoberyl and I love them.

This asscher was cut by Gene. He did a wonderful job.

 

[mochi]

This is another chrysoberyl. This particular stone was cut by Barry. It''s more golden than the other one.

 

[Rockit]

I''d have to agree with coatimundi, if "golden" is the goal, then I''d look at grossular garnet and perhaps some other garnet varieties, chrysoberyl, heliodor, sapphire, and maybe add topaz to the list. Gosh, the citrine pics are to die for!

 

[arjunajane]

Wow, what alot of great answers, thankyou all!
I will try to answer everyone:


Hi flygirl , thankyou for poosting, I love your description of the gem! Heliadore is one of the options I will look at.

Hi LD, thankyou for posting pictures of your rings, they really do look quite lovely! I do like sphene, however I think it tends to be just a lil green for what I''m after,no? Again thankyou

Cinnamon, that one actually looks very nice, I''ve seen that before. Does anyone know what the per carat pricing on chrysoberyl should be?
I will keep that one in mind if I decide not to have one specially cut - thankyou!


TL, thanks for your response and the info - so which ones would you suggest then? What about a yellow tourmaline, can you tell me about those?


Thankyou marcyc for your thoughts.
Yep shinyrocks that asscher was from White and is a stunner!


Hello Gailey, wow thankyou for posting all those photos, that is very helpful for me to see them all together like that! Those hessonite garnets sure are pretty

So I see you still haven''t set your asscher - do you have any plans for it?
Again, thankyou for the pics, I appreciate it, and I love all your gems!

Thankyou i.kitten for your suggestion - I think sapphire would be beyond the budget for this one.

Hiya Chrono, they really are very pretty, thankyou for the suggestions. I would definately consider those if I were collecting, but I prefer to set my ones so they are a lil big me thinks. But very fun to look at and reasonable prices, thanks for posting

Hey fellow gemnut

May I see a pic of your heliodore? That is one that is one the shortlist..Thankyou for your thoughts

Hey Mochi, wow all of your stones are gorgeous! That asscher is great - do you have any plans to set them? Thanks for posting hon!


Thankyou Rockit for your thoughts!

 

[arjunajane]

So, the options at the moment are to get a grossular garnet, but in a slightly smaller size than I was after..
or a bigger yellow zircon or heliodore. (in no particular order).
I haven''t asked the vendors yet about chrys.

Does anyone have thoughts on the zircon vs the heliodore? As in dispersion, wearability etc?

 

[Harriet]

I have a happy heliodor from Richard M. It makes me smile.

 

[T L]

Date: 2/21/2009 8:21:18 PM
Author: arjunajane
Wow, what alot of great answers, thankyou all!
I will try to answer everyone:


TL, thanks for your response and the info - so which ones would you suggest then? What about a yellow tourmaline, can you tell me about those?

Yellow tourmaline without a secondary brown modifier is extremely difficult to come by. However, if you like the brown secondary, you should go for it. I was just describing what I didn't like about "golden" colored stones. Typically, unless the stone has a very high RI that gives it great sparkle factor (ie diamond or garnet), a secondary brown modifier can sometimes make a stone look murky or dull. That's one of the reasons I'm probably not a big fan of yellow gemstones. However, I do love Mochi's asscher chrysoberyl because it does have a strong green secondary, and that makes it more attractive in my eyes. Some people would prefer the stronger brown. It's a matter of taste, but I just brought it up because when you do go for a stone with a yellow primary color, you often get secondaries of either brown and/or green. You just need to figure out what you find more appealing.

 

[T L]

Date: 2/21/2009 8:28:21 PM
Author: arjunajane
So, the options at the moment are to get a grossular garnet, but in a slightly smaller size than I was after..
or a bigger yellow zircon or heliodore. (in no particular order).
I haven''t asked the vendors yet about chrys.

Does anyone have thoughts on the zircon vs the heliodore? As in dispersion, wearability etc?

Heliodore is yellow beryl and has a very low RI, but it''s around a 7 on the Mohs so it''s durable enough for a ring, but not for everyday wear.

Zircon is a bit softer, but has much higher disperson than a Heliodore and it''s also doubly refractive. I think most, if not all yellow zircon is heated. Gene at precision gem has several for sale on his website right now.

Chrysoberyl is the best for everyday wear and has more dispersion than heliodore, but less than zircon.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 2/21/2009 9:10:50 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 2/21/2009 8:21:18 PM
Author: arjunajane
Wow, what alot of great answers, thankyou all!
I will try to answer everyone:


TL, thanks for your response and the info - so which ones would you suggest then? What about a yellow tourmaline, can you tell me about those?

Yellow tourmaline without a secondary brown modifier is extremely difficult to come by. However, if you like the brown secondary, you should go for it. I was just describing what I didn''t like about ''golden'' colored stones. Typically, unless the stone has a very high RI that gives it great sparkle factor (ie diamond or garnet), a secondary brown modifier can sometimes make a stone look murky or dull. That''s one of the reasons I''m probably not a big fan of yellow gemstones. However, I do love Mochi''s asscher chrysoberyl because it does have a strong green secondary, and that makes it more attractive in my eyes. Some people would prefer the stronger brown. It''s a matter of taste, but I just brought it up because when you do go for a stone with a yellow primary color, you often get secondaries of either brown and/or green. You just need to figure out what you find more appealing.

Thankyou TL for the info - that does help me better understand. I''m not sure yet if I prefer the brown or green - I guess no modifier at all, lol! I notice you said this is hard to come by - would you say that FF''s asscher has a modifier?

I am going to see how that yellow tourm on Dan''s site turns out

Harriett, would you happen to have any photos of your happy heli around?

 

[Harriet]

TL,
I''m with you on this one. A good yellow tourmaline is a sight to behold.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 2/21/2009 9:19:57 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 2/21/2009 8:28:21 PM
Author: arjunajane
So, the options at the moment are to get a grossular garnet, but in a slightly smaller size than I was after..
or a bigger yellow zircon or heliodore. (in no particular order).
I haven''t asked the vendors yet about chrys.

Does anyone have thoughts on the zircon vs the heliodore? As in dispersion, wearability etc?

Heliodore is yellow beryl and has a very low RI, but it''s around a 7 on the Mohs so it''s durable enough for a ring, but not for everyday wear.

Zircon is a bit softer, but has much higher disperson than a Heliodore and it''s also doubly refractive. I think most, if not all yellow zircon is heated. Gene at precision gem has several for sale on his website right now.

Chrysoberyl is the best for everyday wear and has more dispersion than heliodore, but less than zircon.

Great info, thanks TL!
So does yellow beryl have similar optical properties to aquamarine? Or are they very different, if you know what I mean? As in, Coati''s aqua asscher looks quite sparkly and bright to me - could I expect something similiar from yellow beryl?

 

[arjunajane]

This is really good and I am quickly learning alot, I want to thank all who are contributing, especially TL for putting up with my "simple person" questions, lol..

 

[Harriet]

Date: 2/21/2009 9:22:50 PM
Author: arjunajane

Great info, thanks TL!
So does yellow beryl have similar optical properties to aquamarine? Or are they very different, if you know what I mean? As in, Coati's aqua asscher looks quite sparkly and bright to me - could I expect something similiar from yellow beryl?

I think so, given that they have the same R.I., dispersion and lustre.

 

[T L]

Date: 2/21/2009 9:20:01 PM
Author: arjunajane

Date: 2/21/2009 9:10:50 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 2/21/2009 8:21:18 PM
Author: arjunajane
Wow, what alot of great answers, thankyou all!
I will try to answer everyone:


TL, thanks for your response and the info - so which ones would you suggest then? What about a yellow tourmaline, can you tell me about those?

Yellow tourmaline without a secondary brown modifier is extremely difficult to come by. However, if you like the brown secondary, you should go for it. I was just describing what I didn''t like about ''golden'' colored stones. Typically, unless the stone has a very high RI that gives it great sparkle factor (ie diamond or garnet), a secondary brown modifier can sometimes make a stone look murky or dull. That''s one of the reasons I''m probably not a big fan of yellow gemstones. However, I do love Mochi''s asscher chrysoberyl because it does have a strong green secondary, and that makes it more attractive in my eyes. Some people would prefer the stronger brown. It''s a matter of taste, but I just brought it up because when you do go for a stone with a yellow primary color, you often get secondaries of either brown and/or green. You just need to figure out what you find more appealing.

Thankyou TL for the info - that does help me better understand. I''m not sure yet if I prefer the brown or green - I guess no modifier at all, lol! I notice you said this is hard to come by - would you say that FF''s asscher has a modifier?

I am going to see how that yellow tourm on Dan''s site turns out

Harriett, would you happen to have any photos of your happy heli around?

I think some gem afficianados would say there is no such thing as a colored gem without some sort of secondary modifier. However, I will say that finding a gemstone that is a as close to pure yellow as possible is probably a very rare thing. The stones I think that come closest are probably fancy vivid carary yellow diamonds.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 2/21/2009 9:26:43 PM
Author: Harriet

Date: 2/21/2009 9:22:50 PM
Author: arjunajane

Great info, thanks TL!
So does yellow beryl have similar optical properties to aquamarine? Or are they very different, if you know what I mean? As in, Coati''s aqua asscher looks quite sparkly and bright to me - could I expect something similiar from yellow beryl?

I think so, given that they are both members of the beryl family.

Thanks Harriett - yes I realize that - I was just wondering as TL said they have a very low RI, however some aquas don''t seem like that to me - maybe I''m mixing up RI with dispersion? (very possible)

ThankyouTL - yep, canary diamonds def. outta budget range, and strangely I''m not that fond of them anyways

But good to know about the modifiers.

 

[T L]

Date: 2/21/2009 9:22:50 PM
Author: arjunajane

Great info, thanks TL!
So does yellow beryl have similar optical properties to aquamarine? Or are they very different, if you know what I mean? As in, Coati's aqua asscher looks quite sparkly and bright to me - could I expect something similiar from yellow beryl?

Beryls (aquamarines, heliodores, morganites, goshenite, emerald, bixbite, and I'm probably missing a group here) do not sparkle in the sense like a diamond or a garnet with a high RI. They don't throw off rainbows. If well cut and clean, they will sparkle due to that, but beryls are typically sought after for their colors than the "sparkle factor." I know some people would disagree with me on that, but I own a heliodore, morganite, aquas and emeralds, and they are not the sparkliest of stones. A really well cut one will sparkle nicely, but the fire and dispersion will be lacking. Coati's aqua assher is beautiful because it has a good saturation of color (which is rare in aqua) and it's cut well, and it has an excellent polish to it.

ETA: When you tilt a beryl, you can often see through the stone, even if it's well cut. This is what it means to have a low RI. Even if there is no window face down, you can easily see through a beryl at various vantage points. This is very difficult to do with a diamond, even a poorly cut one. The light travels differently through a diamond than a beryl, and that's why diamonds are so brilliant. It has to do with how the light bends and travels through the stone. Tourmalines also have low RI's and the same is true of those stones as well as beryls. That's why tourmalines are highly sought after for their color and not their brilliance. Again, some people would disagree with me on that, and that's fine.

 

[Harriet]

Hey,
My answer was too simplistic (sorry) and I've modified it (see above). There are pictures of my heliodor on here, which I'll try to find. I also have a pure yellow Danburite.