Carnelian disappointment. Continue or give up?

[lirienn]

Hey, I'm not the only one, I know. I've ordered online vintage carnelian earrings. Explained I like red, pop of color but more youthful looking and not dark but not orange. Stressed darkness. They showed me red earrings. I accepted. Vibrant. I have a delicate pale face and blond hair. Malachite and MOP work well. Onyx makes me look tired.
I knew I wouldn't get truly red but.. sorry for my fingers but I had a small accident so manicure is a no. My earrings are brown. Like strange onyx.
In those pics they look different and better. It annoyed me. Trust me. So here they are, perfect hour with lots of light. Anyway, please take into account they look way darker in real life, no life.
Is it time to give up? I think I understood that maybe it's time to stop the hunt. Oh the VCA website..

 

[allanrvj]

I think it's the nature of carnelian. It is dark when there's no direct light hitting it, especially the ones that are less opaque. I think the one you got is something like this:



And so of course with store lighting they can honestly say they chose the bright red ones, because there are carnelian stones that are dark even with bright lights. Like this one I tried at Samaritaine.

 

[lirienn]

I think it's the nature of carnelian. It is dark when there's no direct light hitting it, especially the ones that are less opaque. I think the one you got is something like this:

View attachment 6055957View attachment 6055958

And so of course with store lighting they can honestly say they chose the bright red ones, because there are carnelian stones that are dark even with bright lights. Like this one I tried at Samaritaine.

View attachment 6055961

You're the best! Yes, so I was a dreamer. Your necklace look exactly like my stones when I tried them. If I had a blurry vision I'd wonder if it's onyx. Doesn't go well with my face. How much lighter could I get? (I understood about the nature, I'm asking out of curiosity). I hoped for left pics with lots of light. Thank you so much!

 

[allanrvj]

You're the best! Yes, so I was a dreamer. Your necklace look exactly like my stones when I tried them. If I had a blurry vision I'd wonder if it's onyx. Doesn't go well with my face. How much lighter could I get? (I understood about the nature, I'm asking out of curiosity). I hoped for left pics with lots of light. Thank you so much!

So I have a gemstones book and according to it, this is the color range of carnelian (2 & 3, the ones inside the red rectangle), which means the brighter it is, the more orange it gets:



Which is kind of true since if you look at what Peso Pluma is wearing here, it's very orange (then again the lighting is also very bright):

 

[waterlily112]

I personally find carnelian difficult to shop for. I got really lucky with my sweet carnelian pendant from ordering directly from the website, came out to be the perfect shade of red. For my carnelian/guilloche 5 motif though, I've gone through 8 pieces to find one that's close to my ideal and match with my sweet pendant. It is possible to find one that looks vibrant even in natural or room lighting, but the key is to finding one with the right undertone and opacity (has to be semi translucent), and most challenging part, having enough quantity to choose from. But ordering online is definitely not ideal for carnelian, on top of having to go through multiple pieces and transactions (order + return) which is a big hassle. If you're picky about the shade of red and the color bothers you, I'd suggest you to shop directly from the boutique, keep looking until you see one that you really like.

This is what my carnelian/guilloche look like in natural lighting, on a cloudy day.

 

[zyd19]

I agree with above - the bigger the size, the harder it is to get the "right shade" that you love for carnelian. Carnelian stones are a bit translucent, so the bigger the size, the color differences tend to be more noticeable. Like waterlily, I also had to go through 5-6 necklaces in person before finding the one that I wanted for the Hong Kong flagship pendant (which is bigger than vintage but smaller than magic). Due to its translucency, the type of lighting as well as the color of your skin or your top will make the stone hue look "different".

If there is a boutique nearby, definitely try them out in person. Perhaps you can contact them beforehand and ask them to hold different carnelian items in vintage size (ie. earrings, pendant, bracelet) to look at the different options in person, select the color that's ideal for you, and then ask the SA to keep an eye out for earrings as close to that shade as possible. This also gives the SA a better idea of what you're looking for because everyone's definition of "pop of red" can differ. And who knows! They might just have that perfect carnelian earrings on your first visit and you don't have to keep going back.

Don't give up! Carnelian is a beautiful stone once you find one that's right for you

 

[A bottle of Red]

I had no idea when I was buying how finicky carnelian can be and really lucked out with both my pieces having a beautiful shade. It definitely changes based on sunlight, indoor light, clothes, etc.
if you can't find a shade you love, would you consider blue agate? I feel like it might look nice on you, but of course it's not a match for your current carnelian piece

 

[A bottle of Red]

And yes mine goes from bright orangey red to lipstick red to burgundy to almost black depending on the light source

 

[WinterGreen]

Don't give up, the hunt for the right shade of red is where the fun is. I brought the bracelet from the website and had to return to boutique because the bracelet didn't match the shade of the pendant I already own. Every time I travel, I would stop by the boutique in a different city to check out their carnelian pieces. I eventually found the bracelet that matches the shade I wanted.

 

[sunshinebae]

Hi everyone long time lurker here. I’m buying my second carnelian piece in the form of the guilloche carnelian ring. From the outer whitish shadow on the stone it looks like it’s oxidized but I’m not sure, can someone give me their input? This photo was After the SA had wiped the ring.

 

[Swellgal]

Hi everyone long time lurker here. I’m buying my second carnelian piece in the form of the guilloche carnelian ring. From the outer whitish shadow on the stone it looks like it’s oxidized but I’m not sure, can someone give me their input? This photo was After the SA had wiped the ring.

Just looks a little dirty to me. Carnelian shows smudges very easily. Every now and then I wash mine with soap and water and dry is gently and it takes care of that.

 

[sunshinebae]

Just looks a little dirty to me. Carnelian shows smudges very easily. Every now and then I wash mine with soap and water and dry is gently and it takes care of that.

Thank you!! ☺️ I’ll ask the sa to clean it better

 

[Blux88]

I’ve been texting different sales associates from Beverly Hills down to San Diego, California. I’m looking for a medium to dark shade in the sweet Alhambra carnelian earrings.

One SA told me all the sweet Alhambra carnelian earrings have the same shade because of the backing. Another SA sent me a recorded video of the earring in a dark corner of the store with no store light; she said that’s the real color. I’m now hesitant and don’t know who to believe.

Anyone have any experience or advice when picking shades? Is this true for earrings? The stores supposedly have only one pair each so it’s not like I’ll have 2-3 pairs to compare.

 

[880]

IMO , carnelian is one of those stones that you have to pick in person. I don’t think it’s as hard to find a truer red (in the old bouton d’or line by VCA, I saw plenty. But, the Alhambra cut is flat and that, in addition to light and opacity, IMO, can also distort color.

UO, bc Alhambra is so popular, I’m not convinced VCA uses its best stones for it, but I don’t know enough about stones snd jewels to be sure.

 

[Blux88]

I bought the Sweet Alhambra carnelian earrings today and I must say, the SA that took the video in the dark corner of the store knew exactly what she was doing. It really is the true color! When I saw it in person, I realized it was way darker than the photos and video that she had sent me. I was a bit unsure whether to purchase or not, but I saw how the carnelian stone changes colors depending on the light source and I remembered someone mentioning that the color is always changing.