Waiting for my Mahenge spinel

[GregS]

If the color was right I may be able to over look the cut issue(s). But you don't sound wild about the color and I don't blame you.

 

[chrono]

I've been viewing PS on my Tablet and iPhone the last 2 days and did not see much orange in the white incandescent pictures but I see it easily on my laptop. I also see it as orangy pink in your daylight picture. Sorry.

 

[FrekeChild]

Oh dear, that window looks much larger in your pictures than it did in the vendor photos. I'm afraid I'd return it as well.

 

[minousbijoux]

I'd agree - I actually thought the vendor's photos showed less than great saturation. I would be inclined to send it back as well.

 

[king_ma75]

Thanks minousbijoux and Freke for your opinions. Yes I am inclined to do so but have been travelling a lot and got it delayed.

Interestingly that one friend showed me another spinel last weekend, a 5 carat cusion cut spinel. I compare the two and took some pictures. The 5 carat spinel has a small table to save the weight, actually looks similar size as the 3ct pear. Depends on the light, the color seems to be very nice and sparkling under direct light, but could look a bit dark under darker light. When I saw the stone it was a overcast day so no sunshine. Not sure about the origin of the 5 carat one, but definitely not Mahenge.

How would compare the two if you to pick one? The 5 ct's price is double of the 3ct one......

 

[king_ma75]

I've been viewing PS on my Tablet and iPhone the last 2 days and did not see much orange in the white incandescent pictures but I see it easily on my laptop. I also see it as orangy pink in your daylight picture. Sorry.

Hoho, your laptop has an orange hue then ^^

 

[chrono]

I would select the cushion for the evenness of colour and stronger saturation. I think the pear looks bigger due to the elongated shape. If you have the LxWxD, I'll be able to sort of guess the crown surface area to see which one is bigger. Elongated shapes can fool our eyes into thinking it is larger than a square.

 

[T L]

I like the cushion.

Here's a page with various spinels and their location of origin.

http://www.ruby-sapphire.com/spinel-resurrection-of-classic.htm

Mahenge spinel prices are going through the roof, and its hard to find that "first strike" material. Much of the newer material is more orange and less saturated.

 

[OTL]

Although the 5ct cushion seem to have a tilted window, but I would choose the cushion for the higher saturation. I think it's worth twice the price tag. (I don't know how much exactly your pear costs, just evaluating between the two)

 

[minousbijoux]

I would pass on both of them and continue to look. I say that because I don't see too much of a greater saturation level in the cushion; just a stone that appears darker in tone. I too would be worried that in many situations, the cushion would not perform well, unfortunately...

 

[Niel]

I would pass on both of them and continue to look. I say that because I don't see too much of a greater saturation level in the cushion; just a stone that appears darker in tone. I too would be worried that in many situations, the cushion would not perform well, unfortunately...

I was thinking the same thing. I'm not a fan of either. If you're looking for a hot pink these don't scream that to me.

 

[pregcurious]

For your budget, you should love the stone. After collecting for several years, I will only keep the stones that I really love. The other ones languish, unset and unloved.

 

[Indylady]

I'd wait for something you really love--but, if this is what you love, or, if its close enough, then I'd keep it. That color you're looking for is hard to find--its just up to you to decide if you're ok with a compromise or not.

 

[king_ma75]

I would select the cushion for the evenness of colour and stronger saturation. I think the pear looks bigger due to the elongated shape. If you have the LxWxD, I'll be able to sort of guess the crown surface area to see which one is bigger. Elongated shapes can fool our eyes into thinking it is larger than a square.

Hi Chrono, thanks for your help! I really appreciate your opinions.

I only have the pear's dimension which is 12.08 x 7.27 x 4.95mm. The cusion one doesn't have a certificate and it has not been measured yet...

 

[king_ma75]

For the cusion stone, how would you describe the color? It is not pure red I think. But it doesn't seem to have orange hue also. Is this the cherry red type?

Bigger picture to better show the color comparison...yes it does show a tilted window on photo and I will check the stone when I go back from travel...

 

[chrono]

The cushion doesn't look red nor orangish on either of my screens; it looks pinkish purple. I cannot tell enough about the cut because the smudges makes it difficult to see the details of the crown facets. Just based on relative size, it looks a bit small for a 5 carat stone; I wonder if it is on the deep side too. My guess is that a 5 carat square rectangular spinel should be in the 10 x 10 mm range.

 

[T L]

For the cusion stone, how would you describe the color? It is not pure red I think. But it doesn't seem to have orange hue also. Is this the cherry red type?

Bigger picture to better show the color comparison...yes it does show a tilted window on photo and I will check the stone when I go back from travel...

It looks purplish pink to me. Do you have a photo of the stone sitting face down on it's table, so that we can see a side view?

Is the stone included, or somewhat sleepy, or are those smudges on it?

The first strike of Mahenges were more of a pinkish red color, and some of the later strikes were either more purplish or orangy pink/red.

They're all pretty, but it just depends on what color you really want in a stone. Pinkish red demands the highest prices.

 

[king_ma75]

Yes i am back home now, and my order of the jewelry tools also came - now i am more equipped ^^

can't wait to compare the performance under UV light: surprisingly the cushion also performed well, particularly i thought it could come from berme instead of tanzania. The pear is a confirmed mahenge. As a comaprison, i put my pigeon red ruby at the side as well, as i thought it.could have some flourence, but it showed nothing compared with the two spinels...

 

[king_ma75]

Under sunshine the cushion does show a mix of purple and pink, and under yellow light it shows a nice sparking red. Actually i quite like the color. However, if the light direction is not right, the stone becomes quite dumb.

Also picture of the side view, you can see the cushion is really...thick...in order to keep the weight over 5 ct.

 

[chrono]

The profile view tells us quite a bit about the original rough. The pear looks to be on the shallow side and thus cut to preserve weight whilst the cushion is on the deep side and also cut to preserve weight. Very interesting comparison of the two spinels. I would think that these spinels look their best under sunlight due to their fluorescence. The reason they look their reddest under yellow light is because the yellow cancels any purple component, much the same way yellow gold helps purplish rubies appear redder.

 

[king_ma75]

For the cusion stone, how would you describe the color? It is not pure red I think. But it doesn't seem to have orange hue also. Is this the cherry red type?

Bigger picture to better show the color comparison...yes it does show a tilted window on photo and I will check the stone when I go back from travel...

It looks purplish pink to me. Do you have a photo of the stone sitting face down on it's table, so that we can see a side view?

Is the stone included, or somewhat sleepy, or are those smudges on it?

The first strike of Mahenges were more of a pinkish red color, and some of the later strikes were either more purplish or orangy pink/red.

They're all pretty, but it just depends on what color you really want in a stone. Pinkish red demands the highest prices.

Hi TL, i used my loupe (hoho just came today) to check the clarity. The cushion has some inclusion but not very visible to eyes. Yes i think that is smudge in the previous pictures. But the clarity is definitely not good as the pear.

Ai I am more inclined to the 5ct cushion now but the price is also quite high. A friend just told me this price can buy a reasonable emerald of 2 to 3 ct. Is spinel price too crazy now...

 

[king_ma75]

i think i made duplicated post so revise here......

ok post one picture of the three stones, with my pigeon blood ruby of 2 ct...

 

[king_ma75]

The profile view tells us quite a bit about the original rough. The pear looks to be on the shallow side and thus cut to preserve weight whilst the cushion is on the deep side and also cut to preserve weight. Very interesting comparison of the two spinels.

yep yep, right on the spot!!!

 

[JewelFreak]

In that case, I would pass on both of them. Neither is inspiring, imho. The cushion appears to have an off-center culet & you're paying for the weight on a very deep stone, while the pear is extremely shallow. I'm sure you can find better -- sometimes the hunt takes longer than we expect, but ending with a stone that thrills you makes it worthwhile. I'm not getting the feeling from your posts that these do that for you.

--- Laurie

 

[chrono]

Next to your ruby, I can see that the saturation of the 2 spinels are not even close; they look quite pink. Considering the price, clarity and that the colour isn't what you want, I would return both and keep looking. I don't know about the price compared to a 2 or 3 carat emerald though; a 1 ct untreated emerald of top colour is at least $5K and upwards. It goes up exponentially for a 2 and 3 carat emerald.

 

[T L]

For the cusion stone, how would you describe the color? It is not pure red I think. But it doesn't seem to have orange hue also. Is this the cherry red type?

Bigger picture to better show the color comparison...yes it does show a tilted window on photo and I will check the stone when I go back from travel...

It looks purplish pink to me. Do you have a photo of the stone sitting face down on it's table, so that we can see a side view?

Is the stone included, or somewhat sleepy, or are those smudges on it?

The first strike of Mahenges were more of a pinkish red color, and some of the later strikes were either more purplish or orangy pink/red.

They're all pretty, but it just depends on what color you really want in a stone. Pinkish red demands the highest prices.

Hi TL, i used my loupe (hoho just came today) to check the clarity. The cushion has some inclusion but not very visible to eyes. Yes i think that is smudge in the previous pictures. But the clarity is definitely not good as the pear.

Ai I am more inclined to the 5ct cushion now but the price is also quite high. A friend just told me this price can buy a reasonable emerald of 2 to 3 ct. Is spinel price too crazy now...

I know how much you paid for the pear, so I know how much the cushion probably costs, since you said it was twice the price. For that price, I would ask Jaimeen if he has anything more pinkish red. You should really be 100% happy with a stone for that price, and not just buy because of rarity, and/or inability to get one. JMO.

I also don't like the fact that so much face up value is lost in the stone, and it also can make the stone look deader in some lighting due to how deep it is cut. I like Jaimeen a lot, but I think you really need to be very clear on what you want from him. Show him examples/photos of Mahenges that you do like for example.

 

[minousbijoux]

In that case, I would pass on both of them. Neither is inspiring, imho. The cushion appears to have an off-center culet & you're paying for the weight on a very deep stone, while the pear is extremely shallow. I'm sure you can find better -- sometimes the hunt takes longer than we expect, but ending with a stone that thrills you makes it worthwhile. I'm not getting the feeling from your posts that these do that for you.

--- Laurie

I agree completely - as I said before, I would return them. The new pictures still do not thrill me, especially hearing you likely paid hefty prices for both stones.

 

[pregcurious]

Color can differ based on the screen used for viewing. On a mac, my avatar looks red with a purple/pink secondary. On my huaband's Toshiba it looks slighty orange. In real life, this was not orange when I took the pic. In real life It is not orange.

It is very difficult to judge color through computer screens.

 

[king_ma75]

Thank you all for the comments and suggestions, and can't agree more that one need to feel thrilled and has the impulse to get one stone, instead of feeling struggling. So I will return both stones and wait for the one for me. Jaimeen has been very helpful so far and didn't even complain any single words, and hopefully he will get me the better ones soon ^^