Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

Two Barry stones...decisions, decisions!

jstarfireb

jstarfireb

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Mar 24, 2007
Messages
6,232
OK, guys...I need your help! I recently decided I wanted another Barry stone (I only have one very small pyrospessartite garnet from him, and it's lovely, but I think I want something more). First I went after a spinel, but he's all out of the really pretty blue/purple color shifters. I talked to him a bit and narrowed my choices down to a Tanga rhodolite garnet and a Nigerian green tourmaline. And now I'm stuck. I know some of you must have garnets and tourmalines from Barry. Help me decide which one to get!

Things to consider...
-The garnet is about $30 cheaper than the tourmaline.
-I have a TON of green in my collection, not so much pink. This is a double-edged sword...I LOVE green and am more likely to wear it over pink, but I also kind of want to get something I don't have a lot of.
-Both colors are great. Barry describes the rhodolite as "striking" and the tourmaline as "the best by far" of his round green tourmalines. The tourmaline is seafoam on one axis and pure green on the other, and they blend nicely (which is something I like, as opposed to seeing a clear dichroic effect). Both are medium to medium-dark in saturation.
-The garnet is a calibrated size at 7.5mm, whereas the tourmaline is 7.3mm.
-Both are flawless at 10x.

Here they are...tell me what you think!

barry-rhodolite.jpg

barry-green-tourm.jpg
 
i"d buy a rhodolite. The tourmaline has a hint of yellow in it or at least so it seems on my monitor. I am still looking for a nice rhodolite - if you don't buy it, I shall!
 
I will choose the rhodolite between the 2:)
 
Tough choice, but based on the fact that you already have so many green stones and Barry described the rhodolite as striking when comparing the two, I’d be more inclined to recommend the rhodolite over the tourmaline.
 
My only apprehension with the rhodolite is that I suspect it will be very extinct in person if he's calling it medium to medium dark. The tourmaline is not a very fine green, and has a lot of yellow in it, and is not very saturated, but it might be less extinct than the rhodolite which have a tendency to "black out." I have seen much nicer green tourmalines on Barry's site, so I find it rather odd he would say this is "best by far" of the green tourmalines he has had. Honestly, it looks kind of mediocre to me Maybe it's much better IRL. :confused:
 
Thanks for all your input! My decision has been made easier, as some lurker snatched the tourmaline out from under me before Barry could put up a "sale pending" sign. But he really likes the color of the tourmaline, and it's apparently much better IRL than the pic. The yellowish tint must be a camera trick, as he said it's a mix of seafoam (slightly bluish) and pure spectral green, no yellow whatsoever...and also the saturation is medium to med-dark, like the rhodolite. He did say that this particular rhodolite is very bright, so I'm not worried much about extinction. Anyway, the rhodolite will be mine, and I'm pretty happy with that.
 
rhodies tend to over saturation, especially as they get larger in size. yes, it may be bright as i believe it is well cut [w/o extinction], but i would expect there to be over saturation and darkness in the stone.

btw, i prefer the rhodie to the green tourmaline.

mz
 
Thanks, MZ...I'll keep that in mind. Worse comes to worst, I'll end up returning it and waiting until something else comes along from Barry.
 
Exaclty .. Barry has an excellent return policy so I wouldn't worry. I love every single stone I purchased from Barry (over 10) - can't go wrong. In fact, I purchased a blue Barry spinel from a fellow PSer .. I didn't like it much when I first saw it because it looked dark to me. I recently set it and wore it today and I am so in love. It turns a gorgeous gorgeous blue in daylight and office lighting.
 
Thanks, Charmy! I definitely trust Barry's eye, and he recommended this rhodolite as the best bang for my buck. Plus, it's on sale...can't resist a sale! Interesting to hear about the spinel...this was the one I bought and am sending back:
http://acstones.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=0&idproduct=3041

Looks nice on the website, but in all except bright direct lighting, it blacks out. Nice shade of blue, though.
 
Too bad about the tourmaline but that rhodolite is gorgeous. Each time I've visited his site the last month or so, I've thought "Wow, what a pretty garnet!" I think it was the best choice :appl:
 
I’m sorry about the choice of the tourmaline no longer being available but am looking forward to your opinion on the rhodolite once you receive it.
 
I can see why it's tough to make a choice. I like both too.
 
Sorry about the tourmaline, but I think the rhodolite is just stunning! What a vibrant color.
 
I think the rhodolite is gorgeous. I would have voted for it anyway.
 
Gosh I've been trying to post for days, but for some reason I always end up at my own profile, what's up with that? Anyway, I tried my other browser and can finally post.

I was eying that rhodolite for awhile and I am glad to see it going to a good home (as is my wallet, which has no more play money at the moment!)

Congrats,

Laura
 
jstarfireb said:
Thanks for all your input! My decision has been made easier, as some lurker snatched the tourmaline out from under me before Barry could put up a "sale pending" sign. But he really likes the color of the tourmaline, and it's apparently much better IRL than the pic. The yellowish tint must be a camera trick, as he said it's a mix of seafoam (slightly bluish) and pure spectral green, no yellow whatsoever...and also the saturation is medium to med-dark, like the rhodolite. He did say that this particular rhodolite is very bright, so I'm not worried much about extinction. Anyway, the rhodolite will be mine, and I'm pretty happy with that.
Click to expand...

Gosh, Jstar... It just hit me... I was one of the very few people online that night (sometimes I have to get up to call my father to Moscow, there is 11 hours difference). And I was the first to view your picture. Hopefully, you understand it was not me, don't you? So far I never bought anything from Barry, although I plan almost every day... but the best stones get snatched from under your nose just like that!
 
Thanks, all! Good to hear that the majority of you like the rhodolite. Crasru, the thought that it might have been you didn't even cross my mind. I'm certain that none of you who have posted in this thread are to blame! Lurkers are just like that. I was hesitant to post because I was worried something like that would happen, but I just couldn't come to a decision without some help. That's why I emailed Barry to ask him to hold both stones. I bet if I pushed the issue, he might have refunded the other buyer their money and sold me the tourmaline if I really wanted it (he didn't offer to do this, but I also didn't ask). Anyway, it's really not a big deal that the choice was taken out of my hands, although it would have been nice to see the tourmaline in person to find out what the deal is. I was getting pretty curious about its color, since it seems to be discrepant from the photo.
 
i cannot begin to tell you how i still regret my indecision re an amethyst that rwise had......by the time i decided, it was gone. sigh.

personally, the green did nothing for me.......i hope the rhodie works out.

and of course pictuers and/or a report upon receipt is mandatory!

mz
 
Good to hear you all like the rhodolite, at least from the picture! Also, now that I've moved out of Philly, I should be able to get some outdoor pics when the stone comes in. The lighting in my old apartment was just BLAH! And I couldn't really take pics outside on the streets of Philly.
 
Well, the rhodolite has arrived, and I like what I see. It's a very pretty deep raspberry color, and while it darkens in dim lighting, I wouldn't say it blacks out. It has nice dispersion and a slight color shift too. I think I'll be keeping it. Hopefully I'll be able to get some pics tomorrow (too dark right now).
 
jstarfireb said:
Well, the rhodolite has arrived, and I like what I see. It's a very pretty deep raspberry color, and while it darkens in dim lighting, I wouldn't say it blacks out. It has nice dispersion and a slight color shift too. I think I'll be keeping it. Hopefully I'll be able to get some pics tomorrow (too dark right now).
Click to expand...

Yeah. glad u like it! Looking forward to see some Photos ;)
 
Same here; I’d love to see your pictures and opinion on it even though I know Barry’s pictures and description are usually spot on.
 
The rhodolite seems to be a wonderful berry color -cant wait to see what you do with it!
 
jstarfireb said:
Well, the rhodolite has arrived, and I like what I see. It's a very pretty deep raspberry color, and while it darkens in dim lighting, I wouldn't say it blacks out. It has nice dispersion and a slight color shift too. I think I'll be keeping it. Hopefully I'll be able to get some pics tomorrow (too dark right now).
Click to expand...

that is encouraging! look foward to pictures.

mz
 
OK, here's the best I can do. Ignore the ugly background. It's my concrete balcony; I thought it would be a decent neutral, but it turned out super-ugly. The usual disclaimer applies: old camera, bad macro, not the greatest photography skills...

P1010792.JPG

P1010793.JPG

P1010794.JPG

P1010797.JPG
 
Took a few more indoors with my phone camera just for fun. The colors are off; my little old camera does a much better job of capturing the true color.

Resize of IMG_20100805_131951.jpg

Resize of IMG_20100805_132145.jpg

Resize of IMG_20100805_132230.jpg
 
Beautiful!!!!

Lori
 
Very pretty! I love the color. :))
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP

Featured Topics

Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top