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

The newest stone is this 1.68 ct. Color Change Purple Sapphire. A very special stone. First this is an all natural stone with no treatments, not even heat. This alone is very rare in a sapphire as about 95% of all sapphires have been heat treated. The stone also possesses a color change. It's hard to photograph the color change with my lighting set up, but the images below from Gem-e-Wizzard show the color of the stone in various lighting. This one would make a very interesting and unique engagement ring stone.



The stone measures 7.5 x 5.6 mm, has excellent saturation and crystal. The origin on this gem is the Umba region of Tanzania Africa. This area is known for an abundance of fine gems including Sapphires, Garnets and Spinels.

This first image is the color of the stone in daylight and florescent lighting

This image is the color change with incandescent lighting.

The actual photo of the stone is shot with a mix of both lights with the majority of the lighting incandescent.

Tags: Sapphire

Two new stones for today, the first is a sapphire from Madagascar that is all natural with no heat or other treatments. The next stone is a light green tourmaline from Mozambique Africa cut with a checker crown cushion shape.

Tags: Sapphire

Three new stones this week: A blue sapphire from Songea Tanzania with NO HEAT or other treatements, a Rubellite Tourmaline from Nigeria, and a Chrome Pyrope garnet from Tanzania.

Songea Sapphire

Rubellite Tourmaline

Chrome Pyrope Garnet

I'm thinking about cutting something green next... maybe a tsavorite or a chrome green tourmaline. Enough red stones for awhile.

Tags: Sapphire

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