Vendor pictures and owner pictures of PS stones

[tourma-guy]

That is a beautiful, beautiful stone Mochiko!

I had my eye on the same Beau-wy sale too. I picked up a small black opal. Per the listing:

"This is a very fine quality, natural solid black opal cabochon, mined in Lightning Ridge, Australia. Classic nobby material, gem has very bright, small patch pattern (near harlequin pattern) nondirectional fire. There are no weak or dead spots, and there is orange fire not seen in the pics. It measures 7.1x5x1,7 in a low dome oval and weighs 0.41 carat. Brightness is 5/5 on a scale of 1-5, base color N3."





My photos:



Making friends with some small Ceylon sapphires (from JD) and Colombian emeralds.



This one shows the brightness better, but is blurry- sorry no photography skills here.

I feel the stone was accurately represented. There is a lot of orange in the stone, much more than the vendor photos show, but this was mentioned in the description. I am still undecided on it. Not sure why? It was an excellent price, and returning from Canada is a PITA, so I am hoping it grows on me in the next couple of days.

I've been eyeing their opals for weeks now. Just haven't pulled the trigger on any. Yours has a nice black potch. It brings out the colors nicely.

 

[mochiko42]

That is a beautiful, beautiful stone Mochiko!

I had my eye on the same Beau-wy sale too. I picked up a small black opal. Per the listing:

"This is a very fine quality, natural solid black opal cabochon, mined in Lightning Ridge, Australia. Classic nobby material, gem has very bright, small patch pattern (near harlequin pattern) nondirectional fire. There are no weak or dead spots, and there is orange fire not seen in the pics. It measures 7.1x5x1,7 in a low dome oval and weighs 0.41 carat. Brightness is 5/5 on a scale of 1-5, base color N3."





My photos:



Making friends with some small Ceylon sapphires (from JD) and Colombian emeralds.



This one shows the brightness better, but is blurry- sorry no photography skills here.

I feel the stone was accurately represented. There is a lot of orange in the stone, much more than the vendor photos show, but this was mentioned in the description. I am still undecided on it. Not sure why? It was an excellent price, and returning from Canada is a PITA, so I am hoping it grows on me in the next couple of days.

I've been eyeing their opals for weeks now. Just haven't pulled the trigger on any. Yours has a nice black potch. It brings out the colors nicely.

Evangeline, Beau's opals look very nice and the prices are reasonable. I feel your pain about returning items to/from the US! Thanks for sharing your experience and let us know what you end up deciding.

 

[mochiko42]

Thanks, TL and minous. I was learning towards rose gold, but I think 18k yellow would be nice too.. No idea how to set it yet. It's the smallest loose stone that I've purchased as a center stone..

Here's a photo of it on this overcast morning here.. it does shift a little greener but I would call it still greenish blue rather than bluish green. Would it be considered indicolite?

 

[T L]

Thanks, TL and minous. I was learning towards rose gold, but I think 18k yellow would be nice too.. No idea how to set it yet. It's the smallest loose stone that I've purchased as a center stone..

Here's a photo of it on this overcast morning here.. it does shift a little greener but I would call it still greenish blue rather than bluish green. Would it be considered indicolite?

Yes, it's an indicolite, and I have one exactly that color, also from Afghanistan. I should play with it to see if it looks better in rose or yellow. Haven't set it yet. It would look nice with a Tahitian pearl too, as the top to a pendant. I love that color with peacock pearls. Very pretty.

 

[VapidLapid]

Mahenge 1.01 carat, Gemfix
The vendor pic is closer to real experience than mine, perhaps a little redder, but not by much.
My photos were taken outdoors, mid-day of a bright day, near, but not under an umprella

 

[VapidLapid]

My photos are much pinker and less saturated than the stone is in real life.
They were shot with an iphone 4s

 

[tourma-guy]

I was wondering who bought that stone! Gorgeous!

 

[PieAreSquared]

Wow, VapidLapid, I wish those kind of flowers grew in my backyard!

 

[VapidLapid]

indicolite afghan tourmaline by Finewater
THis stone is even more difficult to photograph than the gemfix spinel. Again outdoors on a sunny day this time, but in the shade.
even so the highlights are blown out. Even when I moved my head to be between the stone and the sky.

 

[VapidLapid]

Even with my hat placed directly over the stone leaving only enough room for the phone and my hand the stone is untameable.

 

[Acinom]

Great stones VapidLapid! You are on a roll. I love the flower photography. Amazing colours.

Evangeline: beautiful black opal. They are really hard to capture in photography isn't it? Thank you for sharing your experience. It's really helpful.

Mochiko: another great purchase!! Whst a fabulous colour. Looking forward to see how you will set it.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Great stones VapidLapid! You are on a roll. I love the flower photography. Amazing colours.

Evangeline: beautiful black opal. They are really hard to capture in photography isn't it? Thank you for sharing your experience. It's really helpful.

Mochiko: another great purchase!! Whst a fabulous colour. Looking forward to see how you will set it.

I agree with Acinom. Beautiful stones.

 

[sani987cece]

Richard Homer Namibian Spess... 2.35 carats Concave cut

IRL and Mounted

 

[Elyxia]

1.25ct blueish-lavender Sapphire from Brad at thegemtrader.

Vendor photo:


The pictures by Brad were accurate to what I see irl outdoors and it's exactly as he described: "mix of lavender with a blueish modifier". It tends to shift to more glowy periwinkle blue in direct sunlight. This gem is so beautiful I'm so happy to have managed to buy it and will look forward to setting it for my e-ring upgrade

My photos:

(this one didn't picture well colour wise but the sparkle!)

 

[kgizo]

Haven't been in this thread for awhile so thrilled to log in today and see all these beauties!!!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Siameseroo]

7.5mm Brazillian electric blue topaz from Barry Bridgestock. Medium to medium-dark. The colour is very electric and a pure blue - no green or grey to my eye. It's much nicer than Barry's photo would suggest!

 

[gingercurls]

Here is my photo and the earth's treasury's photo of a 1.46 mint Garnet. The stone is internally flawless and has a slight blue modifier that does not come out in my picture. Jeff's photo is spot on for color.

 

[minousbijoux]

1.25ct blueish-lavender Sapphire from Brad at thegemtrader.

Vendor photo:


The pictures by Brad were accurate to what I see irl outdoors and it's exactly as he described: "mix of lavender with a blueish modifier". It tends to shift to more glowy periwinkle blue in direct sunlight. This gem is so beautiful I'm so happy to have managed to buy it and will look forward to setting it for my e-ring upgrade

My photos:

(this one didn't picture well colour wise but the sparkle!)

I surely missed this stone before. Elyxia, do you realize just how many PSers have this color in a spinel or a sapphire as their Holy Grail color?!! This is absolutely lovely.

 

[minousbijoux]

7.5mm Brazillian electric blue topaz from Barry Bridgestock. Medium to medium-dark. The colour is very electric and a pure blue - no green or grey to my eye. It's much nicer than Barry's photo would suggest!

Wow! Barry's cutting is so beautiful that I would almost take it any blah color but that blue is mesmerizing. Another great stone Ricezo.

Here is my photo and the earth's treasury's photo of a 1.46 mint Garnet. The stone is internally flawless and has a slight blue modifier that does not come out in my picture. Jeff's photo is spot on for color.

Beautiful stone, gingercurls. I really like the cuts that Jeff does - he almost seems to specialize in rectangular shapes of various types.

 

[Elyxia]

I surely missed this stone before. Elyxia, do you realize just how many PSers have this color in a spinel or a sapphire as their Holy Grail color?!! This is absolutely lovely.

Thank you! Yes I'm so grateful I got lucky and managed to get this beauty, just need to save up now to set it as a 5 stone ering

 

[urseberry]

Chrysoprase, Carey Robbins via Etsy.




Hand picture is late evening shaded daylight. Box picture is office fluorescent lighting. Vendor picture is pretty accurate, perhaps a tiny bit darker and greener than what I saw in person. Ended up returning the stone because I decided I want something greener. Great communication and customer service from Carey throughout.

 

[mochiko42]

7.5mm Brazillian electric blue topaz from Barry Bridgestock. Medium to medium-dark. The colour is very electric and a pure blue - no green or grey to my eye. It's much nicer than Barry's photo would suggest!

That is gorgeous. Reminds me of the neon blue in the Tron movies..

 

[tourma-guy]

The latest acquisition; my first Jeff Davies stone. A 1.2ct peach Burmese spinel. His photos were very accurate.

Vendor picture:


My picture:


Shot with my other Burmese spinel:

 

[minousbijoux]

The latest acquisition; my first Jeff Davies stone. A 1.2ct peach Burmese spinel. His photos were very accurate.

Vendor picture:


My picture:


Shot with my other Burmese spinel:

You know, I don't believe I have ever seen a spinel of that color before. Your pictures make it look almost a copper color - is that what you see? If so, I don't think that's all that common for spinel.

 

[tourma-guy]

The latest acquisition; my first Jeff Davies stone. A 1.2ct peach Burmese spinel. His photos were very accurate.

Vendor picture:


My picture:


Shot with my other Burmese spinel:

You know, I don't believe I have ever seen a spinel of that color before. Your pictures make it look almost a copper color - is that what you see? If so, I don't think that's all that common for spinel.

Yes I would say it is similar in color to copper. I had never seen one that color before either, which is why I thought it was worth having.

 

[T L]

The latest acquisition; my first Jeff Davies stone. A 1.2ct peach Burmese spinel. His photos were very accurate.

Vendor picture:


My picture:


Shot with my other Burmese spinel:

You know, I don't believe I have ever seen a spinel of that color before. Your pictures make it look almost a copper color - is that what you see? If so, I don't think that's all that common for spinel.

Copper colored spinels exist, they're pretty much a brownish orange with a touch of pink.

 

[qubitasaurus]

I thought I would share my excitement over a tinny cuprian tourmaline (~0.6 ct) which I got from weblorn today. The vendor pictures were really quite accurate, although it is slightly greener in real life. The first picture comes from the vendor the rest are my inept photography. I am extremely happy with the outcome.

 

[Acinom]

I thought I would share my excitement over a tinny cuprian tourmaline (~0.6 ct) which I got from weblorn today. The vendor pictures were really quite accurate, although it is slightly greener in real life. The first picture comes from the vendor the rest are my inept photography. I am extremely happy with the outcome.

Yay! Great find. Congrats with your beautiful stone. Any ideas on how you will set it?

 

[Acinom]

Comparison pics with my Paraiba tourmaline from Paraiba International.
The stone is much more beautiful in real life, especially compared to the vendor pic. As the vendor pic was so different from the video, I asked Adam about it. He described the colour to be in between the two and send me some additional photo's that were more accurate. The pics from the jeweller were quite similar to the handpics of the stone vendor. Yet, in real life the stone truly amazed me. Once I was on the street, I noticed an incredible glow.

 

[Acinom]

There is much more glow in real life!
The iPhone camera does not catch the green I see in some lighting confitions though.

In this case I would say that the stay is much more beautiful in real life compared to the vendor pic.
Adam was able to describe the stone well though. I have now noticed several times how important it is to let the vendor describe what he/she sees.