Yellow Spinel

[davi_el_mejor]

I’ve heard of yellow spinel but never seen it. I expect it to be quite unspectacular though, probably just a hint of yellow or mostly brown. Will you consider a yellowish spessartite since you don’t mind some orange? Some Loliondo spessartites are very yellow with a lot of dispersion, being a garnet.

YES! mhhmm let me regain some composure... I have had 4 very large cups of coffee this morning

Yes, a very yellow spess would work I hadn't thought of that

Mr. Dery-

Thank you! I'll check out what they have and peruse the grossular garnets of other cutters too thanks for the tip

 

[VapidLapid]

what do you think of this 5mm asscher chrysoberyl?
http://www.bespoke-gems.com/SacredGeometrics_Gemstones_Chrysoberyl.php

 

[T L]

With yellow stones, you do have to be careful that they do not shift to a more brown color in certain lighting, unless that's what you want. Grossular garnets have this tendency, so just be aware.

 

[T L]

what do you think of this 5mm asscher chrysoberyl?
http://www.bespoke-gems.com/SacredGeometrics_Gemstones_Chrysoberyl.php

It's a bit too brown for my taste. Brown is a modifier you really have to be careful you're not getting too much with for any yellow gem, chrysoberyl included.

 

[JewelFreak]

Davi, I found this pic in the 2009 auction section of the Columbia-Willamette Faceters Guild show site. No info at all, just the label "Yellow Spinel." It could easily be something else (chryso?) but odd from a lapidary. It is more yellow on the website than it comes out here at PS. http://www.facetersguild.com/gemstone-auctions/auction-2009/

--- Laurie

 

[LD]

Davi - rule out Chryso's from your search if you're looking for yellow with orange undertones. They will either have green or brown (typically). As others have said, it's incredibly difficult to get a yellow with orange. You might be lucky with a sapphire BUT nearly all I've seen with a gorgeous yellow have been BE diffused. Have a look at AJS gems. They disclose treatment and you'll see what I mean when you look at the colours.

Steve - blue garnets exist. It used to be thought that they didn't exist but there was a find several years ago. Most blue garnets have a colour change property and they command fairly high prices. One thing of note however is that some garnets are marketed as "blue" when in reality they are the green colour changing garnets with a hint of blueness!

 

[colorluvr]

I'm searching for a smallish 5-6mm yellow stone with above average cut (not necessarily precision but not opposed to it either) and something that has the life of a spinel if that makes sense.

I want something to complete a new rainbow of gems. The only one missing in the right size is yellow.

Colorluvr- OOOOH pretty! Thanks for the photos. In your opinion how does beryl compare to spinel?

Can't answer your question about comparing beryl to spinel because I've only seen pictures of a yellow spinel in "Gemstones of the World" (as was already mentioned on here) but in all honesty, I've never really paid attention to whether or not some of my other gemstone books have pictures of yellow spinels...some mention them in their lists of yellow stones, but usually no pictures. I would tend to agree with others that if you did find one, it wouldn't be that "real" yellow color you are looking for.

A nice yellow bery is about as true yellow as I have seen in an earth mined stone (except for some heated sapphires) but my experience is waaaay limited compared to many on here. Yellow beryls are sometimes called heliodors if you want to do a search, but be forewarned that different sites attribute different colors to the word "heliodor" so I would only rely on it as a starting search tool.

They are not expensive stones and I think pretty common. My round is a 4.2ct - 11mm round stone, so it quite a bit larger than you are looking for. A lot of the yellow beryls often have a golden color to them and may not be the color you are looking for to make a rainbow. I have a cushion yellow beryl from the same seller where I got the big rb yellow and it is a tad bit more golden. The fancy cut yellow beryl that I posted the picture goes to a golden orangish shade at the ends. I also have a little yellow Malawi tourmaline that's pretty yellow, but they aren't nearly as easy to come across - I'll attempt a picture later next to the beryl.

Because yellow beryl is not an expensive or rare stone, I'd check with your favorite cutters and see if they have any rough OR you may just find one online that fits the bill because as I said, they usually are quite inexpensive.

http://www.mindat.org/min-6727.html for some info about possible irradiation of some other beryls to make them turn yellow.

 

[T L]

. . nevermind, I stated something that someone already mentioned. I apologize.

 

[colorluvr]

"Aquamarine, morganite and yellow beryl need to be cut as stones of some size if the colour is to be strong enough for the stones to be attractive" page 166 - sixth edition of "Gems", edited by Michael O'Donoghue.

I respectly will now bow out of this conversation because I have never seen a small yellow beryl and defer to the experts.

I will however, still try to get a picture of my little yellow tourmaline because it is only 6.5mm.

To reiterate, I think your best best may be to check with your favorite cutters and see what yellow rough they may have that would fit your needs.

 

[john gem]

I as well have never seen a yellow spinel in all the gems I have seen and handled in my years. I have seen a yellow spinel crystal in a mineral specimen but it was completely opaque and of only specimen quality. I think I saw one at Christies one time but I don't remember for sure. I would also be skeptical of any yellow spinel from ebay. I got 79 hits on ebay when typed in. Most were "yellow gold spinels" but the few that I did see were either synthetic or yellowish-brown and opaque with facets put on them.

 

[Demon]

I'm searching for a smallish 5-6mm yellow stone with above average cut (not necessarily precision but not opposed to it either) and something that has the life of a spinel if that makes sense.

I want something to complete a new rainbow of gems. The only one missing in the right size is yellow.

Colorluvr- OOOOH pretty! Thanks for the photos. In your opinion how does beryl compare to spinel?

Can't answer your question about comparing beryl to spinel because I've only seen pictures of a yellow spinel in "Gemstones of the World" (as was already mentioned on here) but in all honesty, I've never really paid attention to whether or not some of my other gemstone books have pictures of yellow spinels...some mention them in their lists of yellow stones, but usually no pictures. I would tend to agree with others that if you did find one, it wouldn't be that "real" yellow color you are looking for.

A nice yellow bery is about as true yellow as I have seen in an earth mined stone (except for some heated sapphires) but my experience is waaaay limited compared to many on here. Yellow beryls are sometimes called heliodors if you want to do a search, but be forewarned that different sites attribute different colors to the word "heliodor" so I would only rely on it as a starting search tool.

They are not expensive stones and I think pretty common. My round is a 4.2ct - 11mm round stone, so it quite a bit larger than you are looking for. A lot of the yellow beryls often have a golden color to them and may not be the color you are looking for to make a rainbow. I have a cushion yellow beryl from the same seller where I got the big rb yellow and it is a tad bit more golden. The fancy cut yellow beryl that I posted the picture goes to a golden orangish shade at the ends. I also have a little yellow Malawi tourmaline that's pretty yellow, but they aren't nearly as easy to come across - I'll attempt a picture later next to the beryl.

Because yellow beryl is not an expensive or rare stone, I'd check with your favorite cutters and see if they have any rough OR you may just find one online that fits the bill because as I said, they usually are quite inexpensive.

http://www.mindat.org/min-6727.html for some info about possible irradiation of some other beryls to make them turn yellow.

Sorry for the thread hijack, but I have a yellow Malawi tourmaline too, (which I almost didn't buy because the vendor's pic looked really green) and I'm curious......mine has some dark needles which aren't really visible without a loupe. Does yours have them as well?

I would love to find a yellow spinel! I'd even consider synthetic, when I wouldn't consider that for any other stone, if they were yellow enough.

 

[colorluvr]

Sorry for the thread hijack, but I have a yellow Malawi tourmaline too, (which I almost didn't buy because the vendor's pic looked really green) and I'm curious......mine has some dark needles which aren't really visible without a loupe. Does yours have them as well?

I would love to find a yellow spinel! I'd even consider synthetic, when I wouldn't consider that for any other stone, if they were yellow enough.

No, mine does not have any dark inclusions - the stone was rated VVS and is a clean stone..... so clean, maybe I should have it looked at I could have requested a cert, but I didn't pay enough to warrant it. Here's a couple of photos, but it's a tad bit lighter and more yellow and less gold IRL.

Demon, can I asked you why you would consider a synthetic yellow spinel if you wouldn't any other stone?

 

[Demon]

Sorry for the thread hijack, but I have a yellow Malawi tourmaline too, (which I almost didn't buy because the vendor's pic looked really green) and I'm curious......mine has some dark needles which aren't really visible without a loupe. Does yours have them as well?

I would love to find a yellow spinel! I'd even consider synthetic, when I wouldn't consider that for any other stone, if they were yellow enough.

No, mine does not have any dark inclusions - the stone was rated VVS and is a clean stone..... so clean, maybe I should have it looked at I could have requested a cert, but I didn't pay enough to warrant it. Here's a couple of photos, but it's a tad bit lighter and more yellow and less gold IRL.

Demon, can I asked you why you would consider a synthetic yellow spinel if you wouldn't any other stone?

You know, I can't even believe that I would consider a synthetic, lol. I just love the brilliance of spinels and think that a yellow (provided it was the color that I want) would be gorgeous.

Your Malawi tourmaline is pretty! Mine is quite a different color - a lemon yellow, really, but with a very slight green overtone which really only comes out when it's photographed.

 

[marymm]

I've been admiring this stone for a while - Gemfix describes this 5mm (heated) Yellow Sapphire (0.52ct) as "Intense yellow color leaning toward goldenrod. Bright and clean and lovely."

It looks a very nice yellow on my monitor, and the size is right... but maybe you don't want to deal with sapphires and treatments and all that. My other suggestion would be a well-cut yellow zircon but of course they are softer on the Mohs scale, and it is hard to get a true yellow there too - most have brown or orange modifiers - but they are attractively priced. It's a thought.

http://www.gemfix.com/sapphire_yellow_orange.html

 

[Lovinggems]

I have a 5.5mm Mali garnet, only a tiny hint of green in some lights. Very bright in sunlight. I purchased it from Barry, as you can see the real thing is yellower than the stock photo.

 

[T L]

I've been admiring this stone for a while - Gemfix describes this 5mm (heated) Yellow Sapphire (0.52ct) as "Intense yellow color leaning toward goldenrod. Bright and clean and lovely."

It looks a very nice yellow on my monitor, and the size is right... but maybe you don't want to deal with sapphires and treatments and all that. My other suggestion would be a well-cut yellow zircon but of course they are softer on the Mohs scale, and it is hard to get a true yellow there too - most have brown or orange modifiers - but they are attractively priced. It's a thought.

http://www.gemfix.com/sapphire_yellow_orange.html

Probably diffused. It's a native cut, and he obviously did not cut it himself, so I'm not sure where he got the stone from.

 

[VapidLapid]

I know it's brownish but yellow tourmaline is a tough one to get pure and bright. This one the brownishness is almost like an orange undertone. and it's by Barry

 

[T L]

I saw a very yellow tourmaline on Tan's site not too long ago. I don't think it sold, but he didn't relist it. You may want to ask about it. It is known as "Malawi tourmaline."

 

[VapidLapid]

I have a yellow tourmaline and I am keeping it for myself

 

[davi_el_mejor]

Wow! You guys rock

Don't think I'm not reading this, because I am! I'm taking all your suggestions and am in contact with a few cutters to see what they can do. This is way different then the way I used to do things. (OOOH it's yellow, let's buy it!)

Keep the ideas coming!


For an idea of what it would be paired with (just ignore the back row)

 

[VapidLapid]

Interesting:
http://www.customgemstones.com/GARNET/ga1457.html

 

[davi_el_mejor]

Interesting:
http://www.customgemstones.com/GARNET/ga1457.html

That is interesting!

If only there was a scheming smiley Thanks VL

 

[davi_el_mejor]

Interesting:
http://www.customgemstones.com/GARNET/ga1457.html

That is interesting!

If only there was a scheming smiley Thanks VL

We'll see how it looks when it arrives

 

[colorluvr]

Interesting:
http://www.customgemstones.com/GARNET/ga1457.html

That is interesting!

If only there was a scheming smiley Thanks VL

We'll see how it looks when it arrives

You bought it???? EXCELLENT!

 

[AGBF]

I know that this may not be the color you are looking for, davi, but I saw it (and other yellow stones) on Barry Bridgestock's website. He seems to have a real love of stones and to find beautiful color everywhere, in inexpensive stones as well as in expensive ones. If you are looking for a special yellow, you might look at his site. I am grateful to the people of this forum for pointing his site out to me!!!

Deb/AGBF

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

 

[davi_el_mejor]

I know that this may not be the color you are looking for, davi, but I saw it (and other yellow stones) on Barry Bridgestock's website. He seems to have a real love of stones and to find beautiful color everywhere, in inexpensive stones as well as in expensive ones. If you are looking for a special yellow, you might look at his site. I am grateful to the people of this forum for pointing his site out to me!!!

Deb/AGBF

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

Thanks Deb. Barry was one of the first places I went looking. I asked him if he had anything I was looking for but alas it wasn't meant to be.

 

[davi_el_mejor]

If the silly mail man would get off his cell phone (he's been sitting outside my house in his truck for the last 45 minutes gabbing away) and deliver my mail I'd see if at least one of the three stones I've been waiting for arrived. The yellow ?garnet? is one of them.

To bide my time I took photos of its colleagues yesterday to size up the sizes. I may have to find a new purple also a close up of the spess and tsav next to which it will sit.

Should I keep the blue zircon or swap it out with a darker blue spinel? Or just add the dark blue spinel to the mix? If you couldn't tell I'm not going for subtle