Two new stones today. This first one is a Rubellite Tourmaline cut in a cushion just over 2 cts. Very nice color, better saturation than you see in the picture.




This next stone is a Spinel from the Morogoro region of Tanzania, cut in a SRB design.

Tags: Spinel, Rubellite Tourmaline

I have been busy with some commissioned stones, but I do like to fit something in for the website every few days. This is one that I haven't cut in a few years. It's one of the new Apatite stones I bought in Tucson a few weeks ago. This one is just over 10 mm, and 4.03 cts. The color looks like a very fine Pariaba Tourmaline, but at a fraction of the price.

Tags: Apatite

Two new sapphires tonight, both 5 mm stones. The first one is a blue Montana Sapphire cut in a step cut round design.



This next stone is a Winza Sapphire/Ruby in a 5 mm cushion. The color is a more intense red, similar to the Mahenge spinels, than the photo shows. HERE is an intersting article about the Winza location and the stones by Vincent Pardieu and Jean Baptiste Senoble. These are interesting stones, as many of them have both distinct red and blue areas on the same stone. Almost all the blue on this one cut out, you can see in the photo at 9:00 just a tiny spot of blue sapphire.

Tags: Winza Ruby, Montana Sapphire

A few new stones tonight.

8 mm Spinel from Tanzania



A Rhodolite garnet from Tanga




and an Aquamarine from Pakistan with interesting tourmaline wisps inside it that I just cleaned up the natural crystal a bit. I thought this would make an nice pendant stone with a mounting attached to the top.

Tags: Spinel, Rhodolite, Aqua

It's snowing like crazy here in eastern PA, so not much to do but cut stones. Several new stones, and one blue stone that just never got posted before.

First up is an all American stone. This one is a Montana Sapphire, found in the Missouri River over 20 years ago. This one was there when Louis and Clark passed by. Made in America - cut in America!



Next up is a blue zircon that I cut a few years ago, and was never added to the site. Just an oversight as it's a very pretty stone.



Another zircon, this time a large red zircon from Tanzania.



This stone needs to be seen in person to be appreciated. It's a sphene from Madagascar, and the dispersion just cannot be captured on the camera. The stone in the right light looks like Christmas going on. Sphene has more dispersion then a diamond, and this one has a very nice base color of yellow.



A couple other new stones... A spinel, and Aquamarine.

Tags: Sapphire, Sphene, Zircon, Spinel, Aquamarine

First new stones for February

A couple new stones to start out the month, the first one is one of the new Afghan tourmalines I found in Tucson. This stone is just over 3 cts, and a very pretty minty green color.



Next up is a Tsavorite Garnet from Tanzania. This one is from my summer trip to Africa.



This last one is a Spinel from Tajikistan

Tags: Afghan Tourmaline, Tsavorite, Spinel

The latest cut stones for offer...

First up are 2 Rhodolite garnets from Tanzania, each from a different mine with a different look.



This next stone is a Spinel from Tajikistan cut in my Star 80 Design. A very pretty pink.



The last stone is one of my favorite stones to cut, a Lake Baringo Ruby. These stones have to be seen in person, they almost glow, and the wonderful thing about them is they are all natural, no heat or other treatments. They seldom come large, and this is a smaller stone, but the color is a neon hot red.

Tags: Rhodolite, Spinel, Lake Baringo Ruby

I have two, well maybe two new stones today. The first one is a Chrome Green Tourmaline from Tanzania. This one is a bit lighter tone than most I buy, making for a very bright stone, but still with an intense green color. Weighs 1.42 cts.



This next one is one of the Mahenge Spinels. Now I have a list of people who have written in asking for one of these, so this stone has been offered to those on the list first. If there are no takers, then it will go up on the website for sale. Check back in a day or two. The stone weighs 1.52 cts and measures 8.39 x 5.61 mm.

Tags: Mahenge Spinel, Chrome Green Tourmaline

Here's the first posting for the New Year. Three stones from Tanzania, and one from the Congo.

First up is a natural blue Tanzanite that has not been heated.


Next is a steel blue Sapphire from Songea.


This next stone is a Tourmaline from the Congo, cut in an opposed bar design.


This last one is a large Grossular Garnet.

Tags: Tourmaline, Sapphire, Garnet, Tanzanite

One new stone tonight. This one is a Malaya Garnet from Tanzania. The color range of Malaya Garnets is pretty broad, and this one is one on the more orange side. Just under 2 cts.

Tags: Malaya Garnet

Two new stones tonight, both from my trip to Tanzania this past summer. The first one is a Zircon. This was one of the very very dark red stones, these are always heated. The temperature ranges from about 500 F to 850 F. The heating lightens the stone and alters the color somewhat.



This next stone is a Chrome Green Tourmaline. The intense chrome color doesn't photograph well at all.... this one is a very intense green with a touch of blue.

Tags: Chrome Tourmaline, Zircon

A new spinel from the Morogoro area of Tanzania, cut in a round brilliant design. This one is a mauve color with a slight purple cast. Has more life than the picture shows. I bought this rough in Tanzania, and got a good price on it, so it's priced to sell.

Tags: Spinel

3 new stones for today. The first is a large blue/green tourmaline from the Congo. I bought this stone about 3 years ago, and have been waiting to cut it. The stone measures almost 15 mm and weighs over 15 cts. Very nice color, with a lot of life that doesn't show in the photo - much nicer in person.



Next is a Tanzanite from my trip to Tanzania this past summer.



The last stone is an Aquamarine from East Africa, that has not been heated.

A few new stones today, and one old one that has never been on the site.

This first one is a mint green tourmaline from Nigeria. This one is not offered for sale yet, as there are a few people who have asked for one, so if it isn't taken, then it will be posted on the site for sale in the next few days. The stone weighs 1.82 ct.



Next up is a Sunset Tourmaline from Kenya. This one is actually a proof cut for a new design I have been working out for a large blue/green tourmaline. So I cut it first in the stone to see how it performed in real life.



This next one I cut a few years ago, and kind of misplaced it. It's a Songea Sapphire that has been Be-heat treated, and concave cut.



Lastly, this Color Change Garnet is available.

Tags: Tourmaline, Sapphire, Color change Garnet

Two new stones tonight, and a new surface to photograph the stones on. I was in the Dollar Store the other day, and picked up this small mirror. Let me know if you like this surface better for the pictures than what I was using before. This will let you see the girdle thickness, and a bit of the pavilion all in the same photo.

First up is a new Tsavorite Garnet. A very intense chrome green colored stone from Lemshuko Tsavorite Mine in Tanzania.



Next is a "Change Color Garnet". The stone is 3.14 cts. This color is about the half way point of the color change, with the stone going more red in incandescent light, and more purple/blue in daylight.

Tags: Tsavorite Garnet, Change Color Garnet

4 New Stones Tonight

A mixed bag of stones for today. The first one is a Zircon from Tanzania. When these stones are found, they are a rootbeer brown color. They are often heated right at the mining area as all that is needed is a candle. I heat mine after cutting, and do it in an oven so I can control the temperature better. The color on this one is a very nice yellow, and in person has a lot of dispersion... looks like a yellow diamond. (No you are not crosseyed! Zircon is double refractive, so each facet shows up 2 times. This effect is more pronounced in photo's than in real life however)



This next stone is a Lake Baringo Ruby from Kenya. These are fantastic stones, but are always very small. Any thing over 1 ct is very very rare. I had made friends over the internet with a fellow in Kenya, and had told him I was going to visit Arusha Tanzania. I get a knock on my door one night, and there he is with 3 friends. They had a small bag of these rubies and one very large tsavorite. The tsavorite was too dark, and included, and the rubies were too small for me to work with. I felt bad since they had traveled so far, so I picked out the 3 largest stones, and then gave them money for a room and a bus ride back home the next day. So here is the first of the 3 stones.
Call it a ruby or call it sapphire, the color is unique and you will never see this in a jewerly store around your house.



Next are 2 garnets, both from Tanzania, one Spessartite, and one Rhodolite. No boring story with these...

Tags: Zircon, Garnet, Lake Baringo

I went on a short green binge, cutting my favorite stone; Tsavorite Garnet.

Both these stones are from Tanzania, and are from rought I bought while in Arusha this summer. The first one is a smaller stone thats very affordable, cut in a square step design.



This next one is from the Swala Gem Traders mine in Tanania. Excellenct color and crystal and size. It's rare to obtain fine tsavorite over 1 ct, well this one is 2.33 cts.

Tags: Tsavorite Garnet

There seems to be some confusion with my new grading system. Since the early spring of 2009 I have moved to this new system based on Color, Clarity and Brilliance. Not all three are a 1-10 scale. This is all explained on the information page, but I think a lot of people never "read the fine print", so I'm expaining the grading system here again.

Color is the most important and complex to grade. Color is made up of three components, hue, saturation and tone. Color will be graded on a scale of 1 to 10 taking these three factors into consideration.
Clarity is graded on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being loop clean under a 10X loop.
10 = Loop Clean
8 = Eye Clean
6 = Slightly Included
4 = Moderately Included
2 = Heavily Included
Values between are used when the stone is either a bit cleaner or less clean. It's very rare to find any stone score a 10 for clarity. 7 and higher makes for a very nice stone.
Brilliance - will be a combination of Cut, Sparkle, light return, Proportion and Crystal.
Graded on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best.
Total Quality Rating - Is the combined score of these 3 with a possible best score of 10
1-5: Low end commercial
6-7: Better quality commercial
8-8.5: Fine quality
8.5-9.5: Very fine quality
9.5-10: What the trade calls "gem"

One new stone tonight, this is a mint green tourmaline for a new find in Nigeria. Nigeria is pretty famous for producing a variety of colors of tourmaline, but this is first I have seen this color. Hopefully this is just the start of these stones.

Tags: Mint Tourmaline

Here's a new garnet, form a small parcel I bought in Tanzania. These were very different from any other garnet I have had. The color is a lighter pink with lavender, and has a softness to it. The shapes of the stones were add, and there were not many, nor very large, but I couldn't pass on the color.
I'm not sure how to classify the stone, the Refractive index is 1.738, which would indicate pyrope, but the color is too light and pink. The spectra is similar to Almandine, but then the RI is too low. Tanzania is know for many type of garnets, and mixes of them, and this is another odd one.

Tags: Garnet

That last Peridot motivated me to cut another one. For some reason I don't cut much peridot, as it never seemed to sell well, but lately I've had a few people ask about it. This one is another stone from Pakistan that produces really nice peridot in a clean Apple Green Color.



This next one is a Pink Tourmaline from Africa, cut in a classic cushion cut. This one is over 5 cts.

Tags: Peridot, Tourmaline

I got 2 stones cut before the Buffalo Bills football game today. These are both per request, so they are not up for sale, unless the the customers decline them.

The first is a Peridot from Pakistan, 3.46 ct.



This second one is another of the yellow Grossular garnets I bought in Tanzania this summer. This one is just shy of 2 cts.

Tags: Peridot, Grossular Garnet

3 New stones all from Tanzania. The first is one of the Spessartite garnets, with a very bright fanta orange color. Nice sized stone.



Next is a Rhodolite Garnet, cut in a simple step type emerald cut.



This last one is an Umba Sapphire - all natural, no heat, cut in my Star 80 design.

Tags: Garnets and Sapphire

It's been awhile since I posted any new stones. These four are all from my July trip to Tanzania. The first is a large Red Zircon. You don't see many of these, nor many nice large ones. This stone is 13.62 cts with a lot more life than shows in the picture.



Next is another of the Mahenge Spinels. If you are on my list, you will be getting an email with this stone on offer.



Another Tanzanian Spessartite Garnet. These look much cleaner in person than the pictures. A very bright stone.



This last one is a 2.56 ct Chrome Green Tourmaline.

Tags: Zircon, Chrome Tourmaline, Spinel

Four new stones today, all from my recent trip to Tanzania. I have been working out a new round design that has a larger spread on the pavilion facets than the traditional SRB (standard round brilliant). What this does is create a bit larger main facet, that reduces extinction, and increases the color perception. These new rounds are both cut with this style.

This first Merelani Mint Garnet is not to be missed, this stone has everything going for it. The picture doesn't do it justice, in person it shows quite a bit of dispersion.



Spinel from Mahenge



Tanzanite



Chrome Green Tourmaline. The color on this in person is much more intense. The digital camera can not reproduce chrome green well.

Tags: Spinel, Mint Garnet, Chrome Tourmaline, Tanzanite

Two more garnets from my recent trip to Tanzania. This first one is a large spessartite. These stones from Tanzania are never totally clean, they all have some small "sugar" type inclusions that really show up much more in photos that in person. This one has a few larger inclusions too that are eye visible, and it's priced accordingly. I think you will be shocked when you see how low the price is for a stone that is over 6 cts.



This next garnet was kind of an odd find. One of the miners brought in a very small parcel of these, none of them very large, but the color was quite odd. They are a much lighter pink, with a color shift going to a light purple color. This is the first of them that I have cut. It's 1.82 cts.

Tags: Spessartite Garnet, Umbalite Garnet

A spinel from the famous Mahenge mine in Morogoro Tanzania. The color on these stones is just fantastic, they actually glow. This is cut in a fancy oval shape that measures 5.37 x 6.99. There was a bubble type inclusion that opened up on one of the crown facets. You can see this with the small black spot in the bottom of the photo. The black stuff is actually polish gunk, that should wash out in an ultrasonic cleaner. I think if put into a prong setting, the prong would cover this spot, but I have priced the stone accordingly. A great opportunity to own one of these spinels at a low price. Very nice crystal.



This one of the Spessartite garnets from the now depleted Loliondo discovery in Tanzania. I was able to buy a nice parcel of some of the cleanest of these stones I have seen in my recent trip to Tanzania. I cut this one in a classic square cushion shape, measuring 7.5 mm. Faces up very clean to the naked eye.

Tags: New Tanzanian Stones

Three new stones this weekend.
This first one is something you don't see too often. These are called Umba Garnets, since they are found in the Umba region of Tanzania. Kind of an odd garnet, when they are rough they look quite different than cut. Cut they are very red with a slight orange tint. The refractive index on this one is 1.745 which would suggest a pyrope almandine mix or a pyrope spessartine mix since the spectra looks quit similar to a spessartine garnet. This one is a large stone weighing over 8 cts.


Next up is a purple spinel from Tanzania



and a concave cut light pink tourmaline from Nigeria.

Tags: Garnet, Spinel, Tourmaline

Two new stones this time, a Sapphire from Umba Tanzania, and a Nigerian Cuprian Tourmaline.

This sapphire has a color change from blue to purple, with it more blue in daylight, and purple in incandescent light. Much nicer stone in person, the picture just doesn't do this on justice.





I'm shutting down the Members Only page. Too many people are forgetting their login names or passwords, and I'm spending too much time resending this information out, and not cutting stones. From now on, all new stones will be posted here, and also on the proper pages.

Tags: Sapphire, Tourmaline

Just finished this one up tonight. It's a honey orange Zircon from Tanzania. What's really nice about this one is that it's all natural and not heated. About 90% of the honey zircons from Tanzania need to be heated but not this one. The stone weighs 5.24 cts and is cut in my "Pineapple cut".

Tags: Zircon

Two new oval stones to be posted today and a diamond checker board crown stone. The first one is a blue sapphire from Lodwar Kenya Africa. This is an all natural, unheated stone. These Lodwar sapphires are a dark blue, but not that inky almost black you see in most mall jewelry stores. A nice size stone, weighing just under 2 cts.


Next is a spessartite garnet from Nigeria. This stone has terrific color which doesn't photograph well. Looks good in any light. The image greatly exagerates the small veils and inclusions, the stone faces up to the eye clean. 2.37 cts,



This last one is a minty green with a touch of blue tourmaline from Mozambique Africa. It's cut in unique pointed round with a diamond checker crown. This cut can be mounted in a standard 4 prong round mounting. The stone is 1.38 cts.

Tags: Spessartite Garnet, Sapphire

May Stimulus Sale

For the rest of the month of May, I am putting together a rather unorthodox sale. All stones with a Gem No between 1 and 600 are starting off at a minimum of 10% off. But it doesn't end here, this is just a starting point. The sale is a "make an offer sale". Sort of like Priceline when buying a travel ticket. Make an offer and I'll either accept it or reject it. If I accept it, I'll email you a Paypal invoice. You still have complete return privileges just like any other stone.

Latest Cut Stones

Two new tourmalines for today. This first one is a Nigerian Paraiba type tourmaline, often called "Pariaba-Africana". The stone has been heated to produce the neon blue color. A nice ring size at 6.62 mm.



The next stone, also from Nigeria is a pink tourmaline, unheated. This stone has a nicer color and look than the photo, especially in natural light. A larger stone (9+ mm) at a great price.



A new Malaya Garnet from Tanzania.

Tags: Pariaba Tourmaline

Two new stones for today.

This one is a pink tourmaline from Nigeria, cut in an octagon shape.


A Malaya garnet from Tanzania.

Tags: Tourmaline

Three new stones today. 2 Malaya garnets with excellent color, and a large round pink spinel from Tajikistan.

Tags: Malaya Garnet and Spinel

I have a few new stones this week, in some pretty spring colors.

First up is a hot neon Rubellite Tourmaline that is 2.23 cts.


This next stone is a Tsavorite Garnet, just over 2 cts.


A smaller green tourmaline


Blue zircon


Rhodolite Garnet cut in an antique cushion


And this last stone.... A very unique stone. This one is a tourmaline that is almost completely colorless except for some blue color right in the culet. Buy cutting it this way the color will reflect and fill the stone.

Tags: Tourmaline, Garnet, Zircon

I’ve been trying to squeeze in a few stones for the website lately, as I have not had time to post many new stones.
This first one is a sunset tourmaline from Tanzania, with a strong dichroism that shows up as a two tone effect. 8 mm.


Next is another of the Mahenge Spinels. These are just beautiful stones, with a neon hot pink. If only they were larger. This on is 0.59 ct.s


This next stone is an unheated sapphire from Songea Tanzania. It’s sized to fit in a 7 mm standard setting. Kind of a denim blue color.


This last one, a Tanzanite, was a real risk. While cutting it, I could see a veil that ran around in the stone, it wouldn’t be noticeable at all to the naked eye, but did pose a risk when heating the stone. It’s a bout a 50/50 chance heating this kind of stone, but it needed to be heated since in it’s natural state it was brown. So of course the inclusions grew and became quite noticeable, but the color came out a very nice blue. So here it is at $65 way below what I paid for the rough. It would make a great deal for someone who is looking for color, or a gem collector not concerned with the inclusions. I’m thinking a pendant would work well since these are usually viewed from a distance.



APRIL SALE
For the month of April, I’m marking all the Oregon Sunstones down by 30%. If you are interested in one, either buy it with the shopping cart and I will refund you the 30% or email me, and I’ll send you an invoice with the sale price.

Tags: Spinel, sapphire, tourmaline, tanzanite

One new stone for the day... something I don’t cut too often. This one is a Mint Green Grossularite Garnet 2.69 ct. These stones come from Tanzania, and are found in the same area as the Tanzanite.

Tags: Mint Garnet

I’ve been busy doing some garnets, but slipped in this spinel over the weekend. This one is from the Mahenge area in Morogoro Tanzania. A very hot pink color, that gets a bit more red in incandescent light, and more pink in florescent.
1.04 cts.




New Grading System

For all stones posted after March 16, 2009 this grading system will be used. Stones previously posted will still have the 1-5 grade system.

Color is the most important and complex to grade. Color is made up of three components, hue, saturation and tone. Color will be graded on a scale of 1 to 10 taking these three factors into consideration.

Clarity is graded on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being loop clean under a 10X loop.
10 = Loop Clean
8 = Eye Clean
6 = Slightly Included
4 = Moderately Included
2 = Heavily Included
Values between are used when the stone is either a bit cleaner or less clean. It's very rare to find any stone score a 10 for clarity. 7 and higher makes for a very nice stone.

Brilliance - will be a combination of Cut, Sparkle, light return, Proportion and Crystal.
Graded on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best.

Total Quality Rating - Is the combined score of these 3 with a possible best score of 10

1-5: Low end commercial
6-7: Better quality commercial
8-8.5: Fine quality
8.5-9.5: Very fine quality
9.5-10: What the trade calls "gem"

Tags: Spinel

It seems like it has been a long time since I posted anything new here. I have been cutting several stones for special requests, but did manage to cut some stones for the site.

I don’t cut too many Tanzanite, since they are very expensive to buy in the rough, and you never know how they will turn out after heating, but I did buy a few piece this year, and here’s the first one. It’s a 1.52 ct stone.



This next stone is one of the Spinels from the famed Mahenge area in Morogoro Tanzania. The color is just fantastic on this stone. The picture can’t capture it. 0.8 ct.s



A new Zircon for Tanzania. These are very very dark red stones that are gently heated to lighten them up. In incandescent light, the stone gets a bit more pink. 4.46 ct.s



This last one is an Umbalite garnet, cut in my Star 80 design. It measures 8.24 mm and weights 2.59 cts

Tags: Garnet, Zircon, Tanzanite, Spinel

This will be the last Garnet for the month of January. It’s one of the new Malaya garnets I picked up 2 weeks ago from Tanzania. This one is cut in my “Precision Gem 80 Star” round shape. Perfect color and cut. (That little orange spot on the top is just a reflection.)



This next one is one of the Nigerian Paraiba type Tourmalines. Right now it’s in the oven being heated. All of these Paraiba type stones will be shipped to R.W. Wise Goldsmiths, so if you are interested in one you can contact Richard. This way you will get Richard’s expert evaluation and grading on the stone. The stone is over 4 cts. and is cut in an opposed bar design. Look for it on Richard’s site in the next few weeks.

Tags: Garnet

I felt like cutting something fun, and wanted to keep with the garnets for a few more days. This is a new frosted star design I worked out, and this Umbalite Garnet was the perfect shaped stone for it. This one weighs 3.39 cts. and measures 8.82 mm. It’s a real bugger to photograph, it looks much nicer in person, and does have a lot of flash. All the white specs are dust, the stone is loop clean.



A small parcel of Mali Garnets arrived yesterday, and I just had to cut one. If you have never seen one of these in person, they look like yellow/green diamonds. The Mali Garnet has a tremendous amount of dispersion. This first one is 1.59 ct. and measures 7.09 mm.

Tags: Garnet

What better way to end out January than with a few Garnets, the birthstone for the month. Garnets are one of my favorite stones to cut too. The first on is an Umbalite Garnet from Tanzania, the first stone to be cut from the parcel I just got last week.



This next stone is a new Malaya Garnet from Tanzania with excellent color, cut in a SRB. Photographed straight on, and then with a slight tilt.

Tags: Garnet

Just a couple of new stones, as I was away for the weekend on a buying trip. I met with my main supplier from East Africa, and picked up some very nice stones, this red zircon being one. I was able to buy 4 very top color Tsavorite garnets, just perfect color, zircon, some excellent color Malaya garnets from Tanzania, a few Tanzanites, Umba garnet, beautiful color Umbalite Garnet and some Blue Sapphire from Songea and Kenya.

Here’s the new Red zircon



And a Asscher cut Purple Scapolite from Tanzania.



This is one of the Copper bearing Cuprian tourmalines from Nigeria. These are sometimes called Pariaba-Africana. This one is in the oven right now being heated, but I wanted to show the color right after cutting and before heating. We’ll keep our fingers crossed on how it will come out.



Below is a photo of the stone after heating. The color came out fantastic! Most of the stones don’t heat this well, and it’s always a big gamble... to heat or not to heat!

Tags: Zircon and Scapolite

Two new stones this week, the first is a Chrysoberyl from Tanzania. The color and flash are nicer in person, and the picture can’t show the dispersion. This one is cut in the classic Royal Asscher cut. 2.44 ct.



This next stone is cut on request, so it’s not posted for sale, unless the customer decides not to take it. It’s an Umbalite Garnet cut in a cushion shape. The weight on this one is 3.10 ct.



I have some new rough coming in from Nigeria. It should be here on Wednesday this week, including some of the Nigerian Paraiba type tourmaline. I have no idea of the quality as this is a new source for me, but we shall see....

Tags: Umbalite and Chrysoberyl

Two new stone for the day. The first is a Malaya Garnet from Madagascar, with very nice color. 6.9 mm so it will fit well into a standard 7 mm finding.



The next stone is an all natural unheated Sapphire from the Umba Valley in Tanzania.



This on is 6.77 mm and 1.63 cts.

Tags: Sapphire, Malaya garnet

I wanted to try something different, and since Asscher cuts are so popular with the people on Pricescope, I tried doing a 7 sided Asscher cut. Now this is a bit different from a traditional Asscher as each tier has the same angle all around. The stone is a zircon from Tanzania Africa. These stones are a honey brown color, but can be heated with very low temperature over a candle flame to change them to yellow. Below are the before and after heating colors.



I’m not posting this one for sale yet, as sometimes the color drifts back a bit after a day, and I need to heat it again.


This is a new Spessartite Garnet from East Africa. 6.6 mm, 1.36 ct., and a Tsavorite from Kenya that is .64 cts. Green is the hardest stone to photograph, especially the intense ones like tsavorite and chrome tourmaline. In person this stone is just outstanding.

Tags: Ziron, Tsavorite, Spessartite

I was feeling a bit “Asschered out” and needed to cut something different. So I set up the concave machine and did a concave round cut on this rhodolite. This is one of the stones from a small find in Tanzania a few years ago that produced excellent color, but not really large stones. I bought about 20 of these, and they are just about gone now.
This one is 2.09 cts. and measures 7.82 mm. Should fit nicely in a 8mm stock mounting.

Tags: Garnet

Another one of the pink tourmalines, again cut on request, so someone has first dibs on it. If they don’t take it, then it will be posted for sale on the tourmaline page.

This stone is 8.07 mm and weighs 2.88 ct. Again, loop clean.

Tags: Tourmaline

Just finished this one up today. It’s a 7.421 ct. Pink Tourmaline from Africa, loop clean. The stone measures 10.75 mm, and is cut in a Royal Asscher.
Available for sale.

Tags: Asscher cut

This weekends cutting...

A blue sapphire (3.11 ct.), Green tourmaline (.98 ct.), and Purple Scapolite (1.22 ct,), Peridot (2.39 ct.)
Some of these may be going to customers if not then they will be posted on the individual pages for sale in a day or two.

Tags: Tourmaline, Sapphire, Peridot, Scapolite

I cut a few new stones this week. Some of them are not for sales, since they were cut on request for some customers, and one I cut as an anniversary gift for my wife. Let’s start with that one. This stone is an African “Ruby” from the Umba area of Tanzania. While the African dealers would call it a ruby, it’s more accurately called a red sapphire, since there a purple tone in it. Anything you call it, it’s a very pretty stone. It finished up at 2.96 ct, and is of course not heated or other treatments. This one is destined to be in a ring.



This next stone is an Aquamarine from Kenya, that again has not been heated and is cut in a Royal Asscher cut.


The last stone here is a Rhodolite Garnet from Tanzania. I bought about 10 of these stones a few years ago, and is is the third to last one I have left. The color was very nice on these, a bit more grape like than most rhodolite. These stones didn’t come too large, and the find was worked out very quickly.

Tags: Sapphire - Aquamarine - Rhodolite

It’s been a while since I posted any new stones. I have just been very busy with other things, but now I’m getting back to the cutting wheel full steam ahead! Here’s a few of the latest stones. The first one is an Oregon Sunstone. This one is really nice color, with a very glassy clean crystal.


This next one is a Grossularite garnet from Tanzania, in a nice deeper yellow orange color. This is kind of a modified Asscher cut.


This last stone is cut for a client, it’s one of the new pink spinels from the rough parcel shown a few entries back on the blog. I’m cutting a matching yellow sapphire to go with this stone as a set for a special ring.

Tags: Oregon Sunstone

Here’s a new design I made the other day. I had this shape in mind, but wanted something a bit different. The stone is tipped a bit in the picture, and that’s why the culet looks off center, but it’s not. The stone is a spinel from Morogoro Tanzania, and weighs 1.72 cts.

Tags: Spinel

A few new stones; and Umba Sapphire, a small pink sapphire from Madagascar, both all natural no heat, a Spessartite garnet from Tanzania and some tourmalines. These tourmalines have been up on the site for a long time as dark red stones, maybe too dark. So I put them in the oven, and heated them to around 1000 degrees, and turned them this nice pink. Maybe they will catch someone's eye now.

A few people have asked, so here’s the answer. The cut sapphire here, is not one that was pictured in the rough on my last blog posting. It’s from the same parcel, but not in the picture.

Two new stones today. The first is a Sapphire from Umba Tanzania. This one I cut in a emerald type shape, but not a traditional emerald cut. What's nice about these Umba sapphires is that they are all natural, no heat or other treatments. They also show a color shift depending on the lighting. This one goes from a violet to purple depending on the light.



The next stone is a Spinel from Morogoro area in Tanzania. This one has a real nice color and a nice size. It's 3.32 cts. and measures 8.5 mm.

Tags: Sapphire

Two new stones this week. The first is a blue Sapphire from Madagascar.


This second stone is a white topaz from Nigeria cut in a snowflake design with frosted facets. The frosting shows up better in person, especially with a darker background. Makes for a fun interesting stone.

Tags: Sapphire

I finished up two new garnets this weekend. Both are at the top of their class for color, and both are from Tanzania.
The first is an Umbalite, followed by a very nice yellow Grossularite. These are the same type of garnet as mint and tsavorite, but yellow.

Tags: Umbalite & Yellow Grossularite Garnets

Here's one I missed photographing the other night. It's a Zircon from Tanzania. These stones are kind of a root-beer brown color, but with just some gentile heating over the flame from an alcohol lamp they turn yellow. The more you heat them, the lighter the get. This one I just heated a bit. If you heat them too long, the will go colorless.

Tags: Zircon

Just finished up a new spinel. This is another stone from Tajikistan that is 5.07 cts. Rather large for these spinels. Here's an article by Richard Hughes and Vincent Pardieu dealing with ruby and these spinels from Tajikistan.




I haven't been slacking the past week, I was actually working on some stones for one of them members of the GemBusters forum. Here they are..
Try to guess what they are!

Tags: Spinel

This is a picture of a recut sapphire. I didn't get around to taking a before picture, but it was the typical native step cut. Lopsided, poor meets and a deep belly along with a window.
For the recut I did a concave cut to bring out some more color from a light stone.



The finished stone is 3.12 ct.

Tags: Sapphire