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Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mounting?

Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

jbkhere|1334947047|3176381 said:
What is Umba sapphire please? Lisa said she may have a piece of Umba rough.....
Click to expand...

Umba sapphire is a sapphire that was sourced in the Umba valley of Tanzania. I heard it is no longer being mined, but I could be wrong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umba_sapphire
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

It's as TL said but like sapphires from elsewhere, they come in various colours. Have you told Lisa about the colour blindness? I think it's important to do so and ask her to run her own sapphire page through the simulator so that she has an appreciation of what it does to any red or pink in a stone. Any vendor you're in convo with actually. I think you need to emphasize that it needs to be in the blue/violet range for you to see a pretty blue.

Good luck on this one! :)) I did hunt for a while last night and was rapidly coming to the conclusion that you are going to have to be lucky enough for a vendor to have a piece of rough they're willing to cut because blue/purple pears simply aren't out there - let alone one in the size and price you want.

Do let us know what she says!
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

Hi all, sorry for the delayed post, I've been out of town. But I've gotten responses from a couple of cutters!! Lisa said:

For an 11x7, I can do an aqua, which will be a medium aqua blue and may not be as dark as you like, but will be bright and pretty.
The Tanzanite will a medium Tanz colour, not too dark
I have a Nigerian sapphire that should cut a rich blue, possibly with some green flash. (picture of rough with the dime)

Another cutter has a spinel. (pic also below)
"I'm presently thinking about a brilliant type pavilion to take advantage of spinel's sparkle. Classic style crown." Says the color is more purple than blue.

OK, thoughts please? No tanzanite and I assume WF also won't set an aqua. Lisa also mentioned an Umba sapphire in our earlier conversations but didn't mention it in her last email. I've followed up with her but I'm assuming that means the rough she has isn't large enough....

Nigerian sapphire.png

spinel.jpg
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

Hi there - hope you enjoyed your trip then.
Great news from those two means you have a choice which is just wonderful! :appl:

I don't think you're going to see much of an aquamarine colour unfortunately...check the Gemfix aqua page http://www.gemfix.com/aquamarine.html for an idea.

So you have a choice of tanzanite, sapphire (with green) and a blue/purple spinel. I'm assuming you're discarding the tanzanite for wearability and also WF not setting it. That leaves us with the sapphire and the spinel. My personal feeling is to go with the spinel since purple and blue are both good for you and green (in the sapphire) isn't - you'll end up with khaki again. Have you checked with them as to what costs you may be up for if you can't see a pretty colour in the cut stone? Not having had a custom cut stone, I don't know what the usual scenario is here - whether the cutter just puts it in their inventory or what. Perhaps someone else will chime in.

I'd definitely check further with Peter Torraca and tell him about the colour blindness if you haven't already. I ran this page through the colour filter and the sapphire pic didn't show at all (don't know why) and the spinel didn't change much at all, so that's probably a good indication.
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

Thanks Starzin! Can I ask - how do you see the spinel? Is it all purple or blue/purple?
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

Okay, I just ran this page (PS) through the colour filter again and the sapphire did come up - I can't have waited long enough before.

The sapphire is definitely showing more green/khaki and the spinel is very difficult to judge - my feeling is that it's a little more purple to me on this page and a little more blue in the colour filter, but because it's flat at the moment there's no angles to bounce the colour/light from. If anything, I think it will end up more blue because purple naturally has red in it. It also looks as though it will be a good depth of colour but you can ask Peter how what sort of depth of colour does he think it might end up i.e. medium, medium-light or medium-dark. Just as a ballpark.
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

Lisa just sent me a pic of a cut from the nigerian sapphire. Here it is. I rather like it. I do think I can see a bit of green but definitely still more blue. About the lighting:
"This was in primarily daylight equivalent bulbs. I then proof the shot in my hand next to the monitor to make sure it's a good match. My desk space has halogen and natural light."
Opinions please? =)

LE sapphire.png
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

The sapphire looks to be slightly greenish blue in some areas while the spinel looks grayish purple on my monitor. That said, what do YOU see due to your colour blindness? Does one appeal more to you than the other? Both stones appear dark in tone, so some fancy type design might be needed to brighten it up.
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

I am concerned with the "darkness" of both stones. The spinel does look more purple to me and seems sort of 'flat' to me but is that just because its just rough and will look brighter after cutting? Is that what you mean by fancy design? The cutting?
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

The spinel looks "flat" because it is essentially still a piece of rough, other than having be shaped a little so you know it will be cut with a pear outline. To make a fair comparison, look at the sapphire rough (with the dime) and the spinel picture. Both are in rough form so they look "flat". Both will appear more lively and brilliant once faceted, preferably with some fancy cutting to give it a lot of flash in order to compensate for the darker tone.
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

I have to say that for a novice like me to me to try to judge what the gem will look like from rough seems an exercise in futility - I'm happy to admit I basically have NO idea! :bigsmile:

Given that, I can only tell you what I see and run them through the colour filter in an effort to approximate what you see. I know even that is falling short because your vision is specific to you. However I sincerely want to see you end up with a gem you are happy with every time you look at it and is the prettiest, blue-est/purpliest stone we can find for you.

One other thing, don't get hung up on "sapphire" as being more precious than "spinel" - it can in fact be the other way around. A well cut spinel is likely to give more sparkle and flash no matter what colour someone chooses, it's simply the refractive nature of the stone.

Okay... so I tried to find something that was akin to the cut colour of Lisa's sapphire and the closest I could get was the first picture on this page http://www.gemfix.com/spinel.html (which actually happens to be a spinel). I had thought of Montana sapphires before - they have a more teal (green-blue) colour but I didn't think they held much promise. On Gemfix's Montana sapphire page, I think the closest to Lisa's sapphire might be the third row middle picture on this page http://www.gemfix.com/sapphire_montana.html. Lisa's stone appears very dark to me.

In an effort to compare apples with apples, can you please ask Peter to pick something from this Google images page that he thinks the spinel will approximate when cut since the rough picture he gave you appears "plummy" to me if anything and as stated, I really have NO idea what colour it will be when cut. http://www.google.com.au/search?q=b....,cf.osb&fp=f4ce5ca785a8bfe2&biw=1390&bih=755
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

You know, when I first started this search I found the Montana's on Gemfix's site and LOVED them but of course - no pear :(( I asked Lisa and she agrees that this Nigerian may very well end up looking Montana. That was a great idea Starzin!
I definitely am not hung up on precious-ness. But at the moment I've got lots of info on the sapphire rough and not much info on the spinel rough.
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

That's okay then - that you understand it may look something like the Montanas I mean. I was just hoping to get you a little closer to the colours on the tanzanite or amethyst pages ;)) Hopefully Peter will come back with some more information. I've got to run out again for a few hours so I shall leave you to ponder. Did you clarify what costs you would be up for? Do ask both cutters as they may differ.
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

OK, I have decided on Lisa's sapphire. The wait is going to kill me!! I should hopefully have it early June.
One more question - would you experts have Whiteflash do the mounting? I hate the idea of sending the stone and ring off and STILL not having my new ring to wear so I'm wondering if its worth the wait to have WF mount it or if I should find someone local to do it....
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

Congratulations then on finding something that you like :)) As to which jeweller you should use, I'm afraid I can't advise on that, perhaps someone else will pop in with an opinion.

Yes, the wait is always sticky but just think of all the anticipation!! Please keep us updated as things progress.
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

You can either shop around locally or have WF mount it. It shouldn't be a difficult or expensive job. Depending on where you are WF can be less expensive (if you live in the Boonies like me) or more expensive (if you live in a big city with more options). Based on past experience, WF does a very good job.
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

the sapphire sounds great. cant wait to see it....
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

I will DEFINITELY post pictures as soon as I have any. Hopefully end of May or beginning of June. Thanks all!!
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

The wait is almost over - and its killing me!!!!! I just got this email from Lisa today....

"Just took it off the dop. It's very nice; a rich blue that does sparkle in light. It's deeper in colour than I anticipated but also a better blue.

I'll have Tom photograph it tonight and get it out tomorrow. "

In the 11 seconds its taken me to type this post - I've checked my email 14 times to see if the pictures are here yet. :eek: :eek: !!!
 
Re: Will I be able to find a stone for my Whiteflash mountin

It's not tomorrow here yet either, not to mention Lisa lives in the very last time zone for the US. :cheeky:
 
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