What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a Tanz

[babydoll_mini]

purchase a Tanzanite?

It is a 1.57 ct Emerald cut stone, measures 8.03 x 5.23 x 4.05 mm
Description outlines "Cut predominately on the blue axis. Extremely intense color. Very unusual for a 1 carat Tanzanite indeed."

I asked their gemologist about grey mask / tone / color shifting, and he replies as below:
>>>
Grey mask – None at all.
Too dark – Possibly if the lighting is low. However in normal grading lighting conditions it has optimal saturation.
Color shift – Only as a result of the change of light source as to be expected with a trichroic gemstone like Tanzanite. It is very blue in north daylight and has very strong red and pink flashes in incandescent light.
<<<

I'm a first time Tanzanite buyer. Do you think there is anything I should be concerned?
Is there any other question I should ask?
And for what price will it be good buy?
Thank you very much!

 

[babydoll_mini]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

Guess I should post a picture of the stone

 

[LD]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

I know where that's from and so I can tell you that it's a little on the expensive side. However, it's also a nice stone. It is perhaps a bit too dark and that's clear from the video. Once set it will look darker again. However, from the picture it appears to be the optimal colour for Tanzanite but in all honesty colour is so personal and you should buy what you like. I would think that if you bought this stone it would appear exactly as it does in the photo. I've bought from the vendor on 4 or 5 occasions and have always been happy with every purchase and their customer service is great.

One thing I would never ask about tanzanite is whether it has a colour shift. Tanzanite doesn't have a colour shift. It's trichroic / dichroic - depends on whether it's been heated - and that's what gives it the pink/red flashes in some lighting conditions. All Tanzanites of good quality will display this.

 

[babydoll_mini]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

I know where that's from and so I can tell you that it's a little on the expensive side. However, it's also a nice stone. It is perhaps a bit too dark and that's clear from the video. Once set it will look darker again. However, from the picture it appears to be the optimal colour for Tanzanite but in all honesty colour is so personal and you should buy what you like. I would think that if you bought this stone it would appear exactly as it does in the photo. I've bought from the vendor on 4 or 5 occasions and have always been happy with every purchase and their customer service is great.

One thing I would never ask about tanzanite is whether it has a colour shift. Tanzanite doesn't have a colour shift. It's trichroic / dichroic - depends on whether it's been heated - and that's what gives it the pink/red flashes in some lighting conditions. All Tanzanites of good quality will display this.

Hi LD, thank you so much for your insightful opinion!
I like its blue primary hue very much, but like you said I do have a little concern about it being too dark.
Will it be an issue if I were to wear it mainly in the office light (super strong fluour light)?

ps, I'm planning to set it with a pair of 1ctw emerald cut pinkist spinels into a 3-stone ring

As for the price, the rep said it is already rock bottom.
So how much is it higher than a good deal? $200? $300?

 

[LD]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

Sorry - only just seen your post.

If I were to be picky I would say it was about $150-200 over priced - so not much. However, they have a good returns policy and are very honest. They also have very cool packaging which you'll smile when you see (I won't put anything more otherwise it may identify the vendor and you don't want it snatched from under you)!!!

If you set it and it's fairly open then I'm sure it'll look good. In very strong incandescent lighting you'll probably see some quite vivid blue flashes but then some very dark areas. To be honest I like the stone and the cut so it's most definitely worth getting.

If you want a comparator for colour look at my thread on big gems and you'll see my 18ct Tanzanite. I suspect it'll be very similar in colour/saturation etc.

Good luck - please post up if you buy it won't you?

 

[minousbijoux]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

I defer to LD's wisdom when it comes to stones, but it looks like it could be dark from the photo and the video confirms it for me. I know that each seller's photos/videos range in accuracy as I'm still learning - who knew that Gary's gems tend to be darker IRL? - but unless you speak with them and they say otherwise, I would assume that you will end up with an intense but dark color, with occasional flashes, not something that in general reads as that electric deep blue.

ETA: just reread your initial post and saw that the gemologist says that it is optimum color in normal light - go for it!

 

[diamondringlover]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

Wow I know nothing about tanzanite but I really love that color...everyone says its kinda of dark, but I think its very rich and beautiful and I love the emerald cut

 

[LD]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

Here you go ........... there's a few pictures of the tanzanite I was talking about in here:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/big-beauties.158935/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/big-beauties.158935/[/URL]

 

[minousbijoux]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

I love that color!

 

[Ihatemosquitoes]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

hi colour diamond...some things you said make me affraid of forum...
thats why i (most of the time) look and laugh alone in my room...
YOU KNOW where it come from: then if you are speaking about the mine everybody know...i wont put the name here maybe someone doesn't know on this forum so i don't want to share the secret.
second thing is that you told that if you set it will be darker.
are you jeweller?goldsmith?
sure not atherwise you cant answer this!
four prongs cant affect as much light that the stone would become like a black spinel.


and my last point: where does this last tanzanite (18 cts) come from ?the first mine of the east african country (soory ) or the second mine...?(i-e ebay)18 ct one of that color and that purity is awesome i know one jeweller on the fifth avenue who could be interest to have a look...!

love you all : gemmologists

 

[Harriet]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

Ihatemosquitoes,

I don't think LovingDiamonds was referring to the mine, but to the dealer.

Question: I've been told that the red flashes are due to a good balance of blue and purple, rather than heat (since most tanzanite is heated anyway). Is that accurate?

Welcome to the forum, btw!

 

[Ihatemosquitoes]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

one question:
purple=blue+red right?
so if you have purple it mean you have red and blue...?no?

but i dont think that if you have red it mean you have purple and blue in good proportion...!
just asking!

 

[Harriet]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

one question:
purple=blue+red right?
so if you have purple it mean you have red and blue...?no?

but i dont think that if you have red it mean you have purple and blue in good proportion...!
just asking!

I have that same question.

 

[LD]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

hi colour diamond...some things you said make me affraid of forum...
thats why i (most of the time) look and laugh alone in my room...
YOU KNOW where it come from: then if you are speaking about the mine everybody know...i wont put the name here maybe someone doesn't know on this forum so i don't want to share the secret.
second thing is that you told that if you set it will be darker.
are you jeweller?goldsmith?
sure not atherwise you cant answer this!
four prongs cant affect as much light that the stone would become like a black spinel.


and my last point: where does this last tanzanite (18 cts) come from ?the first mine of the east african country (soory ) or the second mine...?(i-e ebay)18 ct one of that color and that purity is awesome i know one jeweller on the fifth avenue who could be interest to have a look...!

love you all : gemmologists

Are you for real? You honestly thought I was referring to the mine????? I was referring to the company selling that particular Tanzanite.

If you think that this particular Tanzanite won't darken a small amount when set then clearly you're not as used to setting stones as the majority of people on this forum. Four prongs, 8 prongs, etc make NO difference. The underneath of the basket, the amount of metalwork etc WILL affect the gemstone.

In terms of where I got mine? Ebay? You're having a laugh.

If you want to be so rude then I suggest you go back to having a laugh in your room.



Harriet - Tanzanite is thought to be trichroic when unheated and then becomes more pleochroic once heated. I believe you belong to the other forum and there has been a fair amount of debate on this question there. It may be worth doing a search. Anyway, the blue/purple/red or pink whichever you prefer, is a direct result of trichroism. Hope that helps.

 

[Harriet]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

LD,
I am aware of the debate on the other forum (please note that there are even differing opinions as to the visibility of the red).

 

[Harriet]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

[Cont'd.]

Thanks for reminding me of it, though. It led me to read its associated database. According to the latter, unheated tanzanite is trichoic. It displays blue, purple to violetish-red, and green or, sometimes, yellow. Heat turns the material dichroic. It then displays blue and violet. But why and when do certain pieces exhibit the red contained in the violet? I'm off to dig for an answer. Thanks again for the lead!

 

[AGBF]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

I'm not a tanzanite expert, but I saw many pieces of it before I selected the one I wanted for my ring a few years ago. I will tell you that when I see unattractive tanzanite, the problem is almost always that it is pale and bleached out, not that it is extremely saturated and resembles a sapphire!

In my opinion, when one picks a colored stone, one should pick the color that one likes!

This thread is very helpful about tanzanite color:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/tanzanite.10310/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/tanzanite.10310/[/URL]

Deb/AGBF

 

[T L]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

I will tell you that when I see unattractive tanzanite, the problem is almost always that it is pale and bleached out, not that it is extremely saturated and resembles a sapphire!

Actually, when tanzanite first became popular, it was touted as the Kashmir sapphire substitue, because it supposedly resembed the color of fine sapphire. I have seen fine sapphires that look like fine tanzanite, and I have also seen spinels that resemble tanzanite as well. However, I do agree that lower quality tanzanite is washed out and greyish.

lapigems.com has a buying guide on tanzanite that are also very helpful

http://www.lapigems.com/tanzanite_buying_guide.asp

 

[babydoll_mini]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

Hi dear experts, thank you all so much for all your valuable opinions.

I think I will hold purchasing this one at the moment.
I realized that it is indeed a bit on the darker side after I viewed more videos of other Tanzanite from the same site.
I think I will just wait until the perfect one to emerge

Thank you all very much again!

 

[AGBF]

Re: What questions would you ask if your were to purchase a

I think I will hold purchasing this one at the moment.
(snip)
I think I will just wait until the perfect one to emerge

Very wise. As is always said here, the stone you choose should, "sing" to you! Good luck with your search and keep us posted!

Hugs,
Deb/AGBF