Where to find good sphene & spess??

[ColoredStonesLady]

So, sapphires are not the only thing in my jewelry box!! So many other gems to drool over!!

I have some lovely little sphenes and I would like to get some bigger ones, but I'm having a hard time finding any. The only place I have seen any good big sphene lately is all the glitters (halfway down the page) http://www.atggems.com/Photos_Misc1.htm



And, most of the spess I have seen look so brown (online anyway!). Has anyone bought any great spess from gemfix? I saw a pair there that I really like. What's the best place to find bright oragnge, almost neon, spess?? Is it still out there?

 

[chrono]

Good spessartites are becoming more difficult to find. I still scout Litnon once a while to see what they offer.
I used to remember an eBay shop that sells sphenes at reasonable prices but cannot recall it at all now.

 

[T L]

Good spessartites are becoming more difficult to find. I still scout Litnon once a while to see what they offer.
I used to remember an eBay shop that sells sphenes at reasonable prices but cannot recall it at all now.

exportgems

wouldn't buy sapphires or rubies from them though.

 

[NKOTB]

Rough to Refined has had a large sphene up for a while: http://rough2refinedgemstones.com/?page_id=213

I've seen some nicer pictures of it, and if you read the description, I think that it will look even nicer in person.

I'm with you on the spess - some big, bright ones have come out in the past several months, but they haven't been cheap, either. Mostly Litnon, as Chrono suggested, though Gene and Jeff White both got some nice looking rough at Tucson this year.

 

[T L]

So, sapphires are not the only thing in my jewelry box!! So many other gems to drool over!!

I have some lovely little sphenes and I would like to get some bigger ones, but I'm having a hard time finding any. The only place I have seen any good big sphene lately is all the glitters (halfway down the page) http://www.atggems.com/Photos_Misc1.htm



And, most of the spess I have seen look so brown (online anyway!). Has anyone bought any great spess from gemfix? I saw a pair there that I really like. What's the best place to find bright oragnge, almost neon, spess?? Is it still out there?

The true fanta bright orange material is no longer being mined. Everything is more yellowish orange or reddish orange with brown often dabbed in either color variation. I prefer the yellowish orange stones to the reddish orange ones as they seem to be less plagued with brown. The only person I know of that has the true fanta orange material is Andrew Sarosi, and he has some pieces in jewelry listed on his son's website Africagems.com. I've seen his material in person, and it's very nice, but very expensive. Unless you've seen a true fanta specimen, it's hard to discern what true quality looks like. If you ever saw the fanta soda bottled in the United States (not in other countries), it looks exactly like that neon orange color, or like those orange traffic cones you sometimes see.

In my experience, orange spessartite is one of the most photoshopped gems there is. It's often way more brown or yellow than in vendor photos. Be careful.

 

[cellentani]

I don't know if you live near any of the Intergem shows, but Frank at fgs gems had a sizeable tray of titanite, and Prima Gems had a decent selection of Loliondo spessartites and smaller selection of titanite. The Loliondos had the typical inclusions for that material so the stones were more 'glowy' but the color was decent, and not overly brown - good enough that I picked up a 7mm round anyway. Either of those vendors can be contacted outside of Intergem though, so it might be worth an email or phone call if you can't get to a show.

 

[ColoredStonesLady]

@ Chrono Thanks!! I will check out Litnon! So far, I really like this one http://litnon.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=8979 Too bad its already been sold! And what a great price!! Too bad they're all gone.

@TL Thank you! I saw them on ebay, but wasn't sure who I could trust there. Trying to buy a sapphire there was a nightmare, so I have weary of the whole ebay thing.

Ahhh!!! You know, the fanta bright is exactly what I was looking for. Maybe some who bought it years ago are willing to let go of it, for the right price?? I was really looking for a pair to make into earrings.. I saw some at africa gems, but the price was a little scary , LOL! I will be careful, its scary out there!! Great tips, as usual!!

@ NKOTB I lovvve that sphene! It would make an amazing pendant. Great price too. I just may get it. As a stupid aside (forgive me!) is every green sphene a chrome one, or can another trace element make sphene green?

Gene and Jeff have gems flying off the shelves faster than hot cakes! The last time Jeff sent out his newsletter announcing new gems/ cuts they were gone in a few days!! But I will check them out too.

@ cellentani thanks for the tip! I'm all over the place right now, so won't be able to make it to Intergem. BUT I will contact them anyway!

I'll post some photos of my finds after digging deeper into all of your suggestions! Thanks!! I can't wait!

 

[T L]

I forgot to mention that the ebay store, exportgems, has good sphene. I wouldn't buy spess or sapphires from them. Sorry, got eye lazy again when I read Chrono's original post above.

I've been to Intergem, and saw primagems store, and while I love his stuff, I didn't care for his spess at all. Very included and very unsaturated, but maybe he got some better material since I've seen him last. The only place in the whole show that I liked was Andrew Sarosi's spessartite, it was clean and neon, but I don't know if he has it anymore.

I would just get a nice Tanzanian or Nigerian stone, they'll either be a little yellow or a little red, but they're still pretty.

 

[PursuitOfBling]

I forgot to mention that the ebay store, exportgems, has good sphene. I wouldn't buy spess or sapphires from them. Sorry, got eye lazy again when I read Chrono's original post above.

I've been to Intergem, and saw primagems store, and while I love his stuff, I didn't care for his spess at all. Very included and very unsaturated, but maybe he got some better material since I've seen him last. The only place in the whole show that I liked was Andrew Sarosi's spessartite, it was clean and neon, but I don't know if he has it anymore.

I would just get a nice Tanzanian or Nigerian stone, they'll either be a little yellow or a little red, but they're still pretty.

Out of curiosity, why would you not buy sapphires or spess from them?

 

[chrono]

My guess is because sphene is usually not treated and has no simulant or synthetic that I know of. Even if there is a simulant, there are characteristics that are typical to sphene that can be verified easily. With corundum, there is a whole host of treatments (usually undisclosed). Not sure about why the caution on spessartites, unless TL is concerned about clarity enhancement of garnets.