New Rough gems
New Rough from Tucson
14/02/10 21:02
Todays posting has some of the new rough I bought
while in Tucson, and also a tool that you may be
interested in.
Once I got to Tucson, I realized I had left my dichroscope at home. It's a very handy tool for gem identification and also for buying rough. This tool is very easy to use. Most gems are double refracting and will show two colors through the dichroscope. When you look at the gem through the scope you will see two squares, with both different colors shown. These are dichroic stones. Some stones will show 3 colors, and these are trichroic. I paid $69 from Kassoy for this, and am selling it for $34. It's listed on the Other Gems page. CLICK HERE
Next are a few pictures of some of the new rough I picked up and will be cutting. First are some green tourmalines from Afghanistan.
Some large Apatite from Madagascar. These are a neon blue color.
A few more Afghan Tourmalines.
These stones were so pretty in the rough I had to buy them. They are Opal from Ethiopia. Some of these are very clear crystal and I will facet them, others maybe cabs, or maybe just pretty the way they are. The photo doesn't show the play of color well, these are very pretty stones.
A parcel of Tanga garnets.
Blue Zircon from Cambodia.
Some Montana Sapphire from the Missouri River
A large blue Topaz, just under 100 cts. I bought this from Lisa at the Gemology Online dinner get together. I'm thinking of sawing this one in half and cutting two Asschers from it.
A few more Malaya garnets from Tanzania. I really like malaya garnet, and every year pick out a few of the best colors.
There are lots more, I'll post more pictures soon.
Once I got to Tucson, I realized I had left my dichroscope at home. It's a very handy tool for gem identification and also for buying rough. This tool is very easy to use. Most gems are double refracting and will show two colors through the dichroscope. When you look at the gem through the scope you will see two squares, with both different colors shown. These are dichroic stones. Some stones will show 3 colors, and these are trichroic. I paid $69 from Kassoy for this, and am selling it for $34. It's listed on the Other Gems page. CLICK HERE
Next are a few pictures of some of the new rough I picked up and will be cutting. First are some green tourmalines from Afghanistan.
Some large Apatite from Madagascar. These are a neon blue color.
A few more Afghan Tourmalines.
These stones were so pretty in the rough I had to buy them. They are Opal from Ethiopia. Some of these are very clear crystal and I will facet them, others maybe cabs, or maybe just pretty the way they are. The photo doesn't show the play of color well, these are very pretty stones.
A parcel of Tanga garnets.
Blue Zircon from Cambodia.
Some Montana Sapphire from the Missouri River
A large blue Topaz, just under 100 cts. I bought this from Lisa at the Gemology Online dinner get together. I'm thinking of sawing this one in half and cutting two Asschers from it.
A few more Malaya garnets from Tanzania. I really like malaya garnet, and every year pick out a few of the best colors.
There are lots more, I'll post more pictures soon.
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TUCSON 2010
03/02/10 21:52
I'm back from Tucson, and ready to get cutting
again. The trip was short just a few days, but long
enough to fit in what I needed. The shows with the
rough start early, before the major GJX and AGTA.
The crowds this year were less than the last few
years, so it was quicker moving around, and less
trouble finding a parking spot.
I'll post some pictures of the new rough I purchased in a few days. The highlights are certainly some very nice aquamarine from Mozambique. This was the first time in years I have seen some better blue stones. I bought quite a few pieces and a few larger stones with excellent color. I was able to find some very nice tourmaline from Afghanistan, and some blue sapphire from the Missouri River in Montana that was mined over 20 years ago. I'll have a complete listing up soon.
I'll post some pictures of the new rough I purchased in a few days. The highlights are certainly some very nice aquamarine from Mozambique. This was the first time in years I have seen some better blue stones. I bought quite a few pieces and a few larger stones with excellent color. I was able to find some very nice tourmaline from Afghanistan, and some blue sapphire from the Missouri River in Montana that was mined over 20 years ago. I'll have a complete listing up soon.
Nigerian Rough
30/05/09 13:58
I just got a new parcel of stones in from Nigeria.
Most of the parcel is some of the Nigerian Paraiba
type tourmaline. Here's a picture of a portion of
the parcel. Most of these stones I'll heat to bring
out a more neon color.
A few new Nigerian Spessartite garnets. Very clean stones with a slight burn orange with a touch of red.
This is a Nigerian stone from a different parcel, cut and before heating. I wanted to post this before picture, since today I'll put it into the oven and we shall see what we get. The stone should burn off the grey mask and produce a brighter light blue color.
And here is the after heating picture. It doesn't show that well in the photo's, but the before heating had a grey mask that is burned off, and the stone is much brighter now, with a slight neon glow.
This cut spessartite is the middle stone from the above rough picture.
This stone is from the new Nigerian Paraiba parcel, but not one of the stones in the above picture. About half the parcel was made up of stones with a very deep blue, but closed C axis. Here's one of them. The heating caused some stress inclusions, but the color a a very deep intense windex blue. The inclusions are less noticeable in person, the pictures always bring them out more.
A few new Nigerian Spessartite garnets. Very clean stones with a slight burn orange with a touch of red.
This is a Nigerian stone from a different parcel, cut and before heating. I wanted to post this before picture, since today I'll put it into the oven and we shall see what we get. The stone should burn off the grey mask and produce a brighter light blue color.
And here is the after heating picture. It doesn't show that well in the photo's, but the before heating had a grey mask that is burned off, and the stone is much brighter now, with a slight neon glow.
This cut spessartite is the middle stone from the above rough picture.
This stone is from the new Nigerian Paraiba parcel, but not one of the stones in the above picture. About half the parcel was made up of stones with a very deep blue, but closed C axis. Here's one of them. The heating caused some stress inclusions, but the color a a very deep intense windex blue. The inclusions are less noticeable in person, the pictures always bring them out more.
Malaya Garnet Rough
22/02/09 15:08
A lot of people have been asking about Malaya
garnet lately, and the colors of these stones.
Malaya is one of the most misunderstood and
misidentified stones. In Nigeria they sell a cheap
read garnet with a brown color to it, and call it
Malaya. These stones are not Malaya, and are no
where near the price of true Malaya garnets. A
Malaya garnet is a mix of Pryrope and Spessartine
garnet. As such, the refractive index will fall
between 1.74 and 1.77. The higher the amount of
Spessartine, the higher the refractive index will
be. The finest stones come from the Kenyan
Tanzanian boarder area.
The picture below shows some of my collection of these stones in the rough, and the various colors. Depending on your taste, you may prefer the more orange stones, or the more pink ones. They cut very brilliant gems, and are a rare stone almost never found in a commercial jewelry store, unless the jeweler really specializes in colored stones.
I buy only the finest Malaya available, nothing too dark or off color, these stones will all cut exquisite collector gems.
The picture below shows some of my collection of these stones in the rough, and the various colors. Depending on your taste, you may prefer the more orange stones, or the more pink ones. They cut very brilliant gems, and are a rare stone almost never found in a commercial jewelry store, unless the jeweler really specializes in colored stones.
I buy only the finest Malaya available, nothing too dark or off color, these stones will all cut exquisite collector gems.
New Rough and Cut Stones
20/08/08 22:02
I thought you may be interested in a few of the new
stones I bought this month. These are all from
Tanzania Africa.
The first are some natural unheated Umba Sapphires in blues and violet colors. These should all cut stones from 1 to 1.5 or so.
This next parcel I couldn't pass on, even though the price was more than I liked. These are Spinels from the Morogoro area of Tanzania.
These bright orange stones are the new Spessartite Garnets that were just found this past year in Tanzania. The color on these is a bright fanta orange. This parcel are all pretty good size stones that will cut 2 to maybe 4 ct stones.
This last one is just a killer color pink sapphire. In Africa they call this ruby, but it's really a very intense magenta pink sapphire.
And last of all, the latest cut stone. Another one of the Tanzanian Spessartite. This one is 1.95 cts, very good crystal and color
The first are some natural unheated Umba Sapphires in blues and violet colors. These should all cut stones from 1 to 1.5 or so.
This next parcel I couldn't pass on, even though the price was more than I liked. These are Spinels from the Morogoro area of Tanzania.
These bright orange stones are the new Spessartite Garnets that were just found this past year in Tanzania. The color on these is a bright fanta orange. This parcel are all pretty good size stones that will cut 2 to maybe 4 ct stones.
This last one is just a killer color pink sapphire. In Africa they call this ruby, but it's really a very intense magenta pink sapphire.
And last of all, the latest cut stone. Another one of the Tanzanian Spessartite. This one is 1.95 cts, very good crystal and color
Shopping this past weekend...
31/07/08 22:43
I spent the weekend with my main rough dealer from
Kenya, and picked up some nice stones to work with.
Rough was in pretty short supply, he had about 1/4
the amount he normally does, and of course the
prices were up too. I'll try in the next few days
to post some pictures of some of the more
interesting pieces I was able to buy. Here's a
partial list: Natural untreated Ruby from
Tanzanian, Aquamarine in a medium blue, Umba
Sapphires, some new sapphire from Lodwar in Kenya,
a color change garnet, Iolite and a few others.
Here's one of the new Lodwar sapphires cut. These are all natural, unheated stones.
Here's one of the new Lodwar sapphires cut. These are all natural, unheated stones.
Oregon Sunstone Rough
05/05/08 21:06
Here's a few photos of some Oregon Sunstone. This
is how the stones look in the rough after a little
cleaning up. A few of these I have saw cut some of
the extra clear material away, just to save on some
grinding time.
These first two pieces are from the Dust Devil Mine in Oregon. The stone on the left should have a really nice color once cut. The right could be interesting, or a mess. Sometimes when a stone show 2 distinct colors they mix and turn to a muddy color, or they can remain isolated and the stone could be a real winner. That half the fun of cutting.
These two stones have excellent color and very good crystal. They should cut will no schiller, and a deep saturated color. I'll grind all the outer clear material away first.
These are pretty typical for how the stone look in the rough, with all the color in the center. The top left looks to be the best of these 3.
These two stones are examples of the sunstone from Tanzania. Much different than the Oregon material. The specs are larger hematite flakes. The left stone could be faceted, the right one has so much hematite it will need to be cabbed.
These first two pieces are from the Dust Devil Mine in Oregon. The stone on the left should have a really nice color once cut. The right could be interesting, or a mess. Sometimes when a stone show 2 distinct colors they mix and turn to a muddy color, or they can remain isolated and the stone could be a real winner. That half the fun of cutting.
These two stones have excellent color and very good crystal. They should cut will no schiller, and a deep saturated color. I'll grind all the outer clear material away first.
These are pretty typical for how the stone look in the rough, with all the color in the center. The top left looks to be the best of these 3.
These two stones are examples of the sunstone from Tanzania. Much different than the Oregon material. The specs are larger hematite flakes. The left stone could be faceted, the right one has so much hematite it will need to be cabbed.