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Monthly Archives: October 2013
A medium pastel green with a nice bluish smile. round#149
This stone #149 needs a picture. This really is a pleasant gemstone. It color which is mostly green will make you pause to appreciate its bluish flavor, if you look closely. It appears to be eye clean and have fine … Continue reading
Light blue, eye clean, droplet of color.#150
How nice it is, an apparently eye clean, lighter blue, completely open, droplet of color. It has fine crystal and is ready to flash and dance at a moments notice. It certainly could be an aquamarine, but tourmaline has a … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Indicolite
Tagged blue, droplet-of-color, indicolite, pale
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Another round of IceT with everyone included. Blue#147
Getting the “true” color of very pastel tourmaline can be a challenge. I have had gemstones that picked up the color of my shirt at arms length and refused to let go. It’s as if they were born to be … Continue reading
Dichroic forest green round#146
Face up this standard round brilliant appears to have a nice even medium dark forest green (green with a blue touch), but it is hiding the truth. When I turned it over to check for inclusions/flaws etc. and rotated it, … Continue reading
One of the crop of Namibian rounds that sings the blues.#145
need picture #145 The current of Namibian blue that flows threw the collection is not always very large, but it is precious. This smaller standard round brilliant does take to the greenish blue side in my yellowish light, but is … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Indicolite
Tagged blue, droplet-of-color, green-blue, indicolite, Namibia
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A fine medium light toned pastel blue round.#144
Under my yellowish light this pastel blue, which stays blue, really drinks in the color and becomes a solid medium tone. I have to realize that this gemstone will not be as intense under daylight. (I also checked the back … Continue reading
Namibian blue with an order of white inclusions on the side, round#143
This standard round brilliant is compromised by a significant white inclusion about half way between the girdle and the table. It doesn’t flash, but it is quite visible. Still the stone has such a beautiful blue and it still sparkles. … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Indicolite
Tagged blue, droplet-of-color, indicolite, Namibia
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Blue to blue green medium dark round.#142
This is a beautiful gemstone. I never realized until I started posting my collection that I had so many blue to blue green medium dark gemstones. This one has to be one of the best. It is eye clean and … Continue reading
Posted in Etc., Indicolite
Tagged blue, green-blue, indicolite, medium blue, outstanding
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Included watery blue cuprian round.#141
need picture 141 The rough for this standard round brilliant was bought before copper was discovered to be in gem grade tourmaline in Mozambique. It has a good number of inclusions and not very good crystal. Still I was in … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Indicolite
Tagged blue, cuprian, indicolite, Mozambique
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Green to blue green, medium dark, droplet of color.#140
This is a very pretty droplet of color with a very nice, rich, shifting color between green and blue green. It likes light as most medium dark tone gems appreciate, but it seems more open than most to more moderate … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, color-shift, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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Strongly dichroic forest green round.#139
Most of the smaller rounds and many of the larger ones are cut with their table perpendicular to the c axis (principle axis). This is to get the best level of tone and an even color, face up, in the … Continue reading
Cuprian, medium toned, shift blue green round.#138
The top grade cuprian tourmaline that came out of Mozambique can be much larger and cleaner than the vast majority of Paraiba material from Brazil. But in both deposit, included material represented the vast majority of the production. I lowered … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, color-shift, cuprian, green, Mozambique, verdelite
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Medium pastel blue green beauty, round.#137
This pastel is outstanding for its open medium tone and a bit of a different blue green hue. It does slide around blue to green, but is a true blue green. It appears to be eye clean and as flashy … Continue reading
One of a continuous grade of blue to blue green rounds.#136
This blue tourmaline just stops short of blue green in my yellowish light, but is a great blue under both daylight and incandescent, so it is an Indicolite. It is proud to wear the name and be true blue under … Continue reading
Pleasant, average green with blue overtone, droplet of color.#135
This droplet of color has a green color that is modified by a blue cast. It is a bright flashy gemstone that appears to be eye clean. It is a standard round brilliant and weighs .84 carats. Bruce
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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A galaxy of inclusions in a blue green IceT special, round, Afganistan#134
Afghanistan certainly produces a lot of lightly toned tourmaline and the IceT company is considering opening up a district office there. This very pale blue green standard round brilliant originally hailed from there. I think that the galaxy of white … Continue reading
I am a round of constant blue hue (color).#133
One of the joys of the collection is to be able to compare subtle differences between tourmalines that might appear identical under casual observations. I finished a post on a beautiful tourmaline that I have called blue since I cut … Continue reading
High quality medium dark blue round#132
My principle supplier from Africa has pretty much given up on supplying a provenance for his tourmaline rough. He generally deals indirectly with the mines threw a “miner” who really is a whole sale intermediary. The natural inclination of these … Continue reading
Posted in Etc., Indicolite
Tagged blue, blue-green, indicolite, medium blue, outstanding
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A memorable blue round, included.#131
When I remember trying to polish a gemstone years later, It was a bugger. I usually do not have problems polishing indicolite, trade name for blue tourmaline, but this gem drove me crazy. It does have a rather evenly spread … Continue reading
Posted in Indicolite, Polishing Tourmaline
Tagged blue, indicolite, polishing tourmaline
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Include sleep time purple with an attraction to me, oval#130
My principal dealer out of Africa still manages to pick up a few cuprian tourmaline pieces of rough (2013) and I keep spending too much for too little because of my purple addition. I bought the rough for this gemstone … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Cutting Tourmaline, Etc., Laurellite
Tagged cuprian, cutting tourmaline, laurellite, oval, purple
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Just your average nice little green droplet of color.#129
Man can not live on eye candy alone. This little standard round brilliant is an honest green droplet of color that never pretends to be more than it is. It appears to be eye clean with an average green color. … Continue reading
A brilliant beautiful middle of the road pink round.#128
Need picture #128 When I looked at the posted gemstone, I began thinking of all the pinks I have seen over the years. I admit that I am a bit jaded about pink except for a relatively few truly exciting … Continue reading
Bright flashy medium dark blue green droplet of color#126
This round just doesn’t want to be quiet. It has a deeper tone level, but still seems to have a better flash then many of its brethren of the same tone level. Its blue green color is attractive and it … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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A fine medium toned blue green round#127
This gemstone is pretty close to the sea foam from Afghanistan. It has a little bit darker tone level and is not as neon in brightness. Still this is a very nice open pastel blue/green that is bright and flashy. … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, medium green, seafoam
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medium dark, blue to green droplet of color#125
This blue to blue green droplet of color appears to be eye clean. It has a medium dark tone that limits flash and its blue color, in natural light, definitely slide toward the green side more than most blue tourmaline. … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Indicolite
Tagged blue, blue-green, droplet-of-color, indicolite
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Included medium dark blue to blue green round.#124
This standard round brilliant is a personal gemstone that really only shows it flashing blue to blue green under decent light. It is moderately included, but its darker tone makes them difficult to see face up. It weighs 1.90 carats. … Continue reading
A nice richer than usual, blue color, in a small round from Namibia.#123
This blue dot of color from Namibia has a medium dark tone. If was even moderately bigger than its .35 carat size it would be completely dark. So I guess sometimes it is best to be small. It does have … Continue reading
Another blue green round with transparency problems.#122
This standard round brilliant is a medium dark toned disappointment. The lack of transparency is again evident with a stone cut perpendicular to the c axis. It does have some muted flash and a decent bluish color, but it is … Continue reading
Deeply flows the river of pink threw this round’s veins.#120
Cut with a deep, split horizontal main, pavilion to reach for all the gusto this pink tourmaline has to offer was rewarded. The stone is pure medium pink and has all the flash and brightness that goes with it. … Continue reading
A darker average green round#119
This standard round brilliant is pretty much what people, who have not taken the adventure of color in tourmaline, expect from tourmaline. A darker rather unpretentious, nondescript green. Having it in a round rather than an emerald cut is a … Continue reading
Little, dark tone level with green flash, chrome tourmaline#118
This round chrome tourmaline has the classic green color, but is so dense that the color is only seen in the flash of this small round. It appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. There are many things … Continue reading
A perfect beautifully green chrome tourmaline.#117
Saying a chrome tourmaline is green is redundant, but I don’t want anyone, even for a moment to think that this standard round brilliant is anything other than the ideal green tourmaline in a medium tone level. It is not … Continue reading
A green color dot with apparent c axis transparency problems.#115
I have been finding more tourmaline with c axis transparency problems than I realized in the collection. They have all been blues and greens. This medium dark, small standard round brilliant seems to have joined the group of known examples. … Continue reading
Included. mostly green with blue overtone droplet of color.#114
This standard round brilliant has a good tone level for such a small stone. The medium plus tone level also helps to mask the dot of color’s inclusions. So this green with a blue overtone is a decently little gemstone … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, medium green, verdelite
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Average blue dot of Namibian origin.#113
This small blue, standard round brilliant, really could use a little bulk to get up there to the top of Namibia’s bounty. As it stands, it a nice average dot of color with a medium tone and eye clean body. … Continue reading
Medium toned, modest, blue green droplet of color.#112
need picture If wishes all came true, this .46 carat round would be a lot bigger, but it wouldn’t have to really change in any other way. It is a fine middle of the road blue green standard round brilliant … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Indicolite
Tagged blue, blue-green, droplet-of-color, indicolite
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Dark toned powerful blue green round.#111
Do you need a stone that can stand up to that bright afternoon sun at the local barbecue, then this fine example of a dark toned blue green round from Namibia, should fill the bill. It has concentrate color power … Continue reading
Light toned included pastel blue droplet of color.#111
This is one of the darker blue round from a lot I bought years ago from Afghanistan and it is still just light in tone. It is also moderately included which does not stop the standard round brilliant from being … Continue reading
A galaxy of flashing stars in aqua blue heaven, oval
To me blue is a hue/color in tourmaline that is a complex issue. It is really not solved by limiting Indicolite or Indigolite (I hope I spelled that right because it is a name I never use) to pure blue … Continue reading
A different peach to bless a shield cut.#199
This larger peach shield cut, with a different overtone, has a couple of spots in one corner, but the view from the table is nothing, but bright and flashing. Still something keeps this peach cool and not really ripe to … Continue reading
Bronze to olive green shield cut.#198
Sometimes you never know which part of the collection will spark the appreciation for tourmaline that I hope to instill in my fellow man. When I spent a day with a curator of gems and minerals at a large eastern … Continue reading
Lavender Tourmaline, Lavender Tourmaline, Shield Cut, Cuprian#196
It is probably unnecessary and maybe even childish to type the same color before tourmaline twice in the title of this post. It is just a way to express how important this color is in my world of color in … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Indicolite
Tagged cuprian, lavender, Mozambique, shield
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Between yellow and green this is toward the darker green side, round.#195
I have posted on yellow greens and most of them are on the yellower end. This count really does not include many classic green colors of tourmaline that are just this side of pure green and not a blue green. … Continue reading
Nice sized, larger, medium toned yellow green round.#194
This medium toned yellow green is on the yellow side again. I just can not lay off the yellows. It has fine crystal and appears to be eye clean. As usual it is very bright and flashy, which may be … Continue reading
Bronze star for this round since the color doesn’t sell it.#193
Bronze is a nice way of saying that the yellow green has enough brown in it to be darker and not as flash. And that is what we have with this standard round brilliant. It is a rather common color … Continue reading
Excellent yellow green with the green dominating, round#192
This is an excellent, wide open, fully transparent, deep round. The depth of the stone is enhanced by the used of horizontally split mains. Its color is a flashy medium tone that appears to be eye clean. I use the … Continue reading
Attractive pure green round. #191
This standard round brilliant is cut with it table perpendicular to the c axis. This gets the highest tone value out of a pale crystal. It is used much more often with pink/red because of the strong dichroic nature of … Continue reading
Now we have an outstanding, Tang orange colored shield cut.#189
I don’t know how many people remember Tang or whether they still make it anymore, but it was one of the memorable items on my mother’s diet along with peanut and bananas, on dark Hollywood bread, sandwiches. Well this shield … Continue reading
Lightly included green with brown overtone shield cut. cuprian#188
The wispy feathers in this larger medium plus toned shield cut are hard to see (best from the pavilion) and do not effect the flash. The green is taken down a peg with a brown overtone in daylight, that is … Continue reading
Ultimate eye candy in the name of a medium toned pink, shield cut#186
On one of the group of pages that my principle rough dealer puts out on the internet, he had a special group of tourmaline that seemed to be particularly colorful. I have lost track of the other pieces of rough … Continue reading
A normal medium toned green droplet of color.#185
This standard round brilliant has a nice even medium toned green. It has no noticeable dichroism and appears to be eye clean. This is a fine combination for a 1.36 carat stone that earns it a pathway to droplet heaven. … Continue reading
Bright cool refreshing mint blue green, cuprian round#184
Another unexpected copper discovery with my spectrometer that is in a much more desirable (expensive) color, minty blue/green. The eye clean stone has a very bright, medium light pastel color, but really does not have the neon look to me. … Continue reading
Distinct slices of pie shaped alternating color, green, golden green round.#183
This standard round brilliant was cut with its table parallel to the c axis. This produces a wheel of pie slices that alternate from green to golden green and back again when you look at the stone. It is interesting … Continue reading
A yellow with a wash of green, cuprian round.#182
This is another gemstone that I did not buy as a cuprian tourmaline. I discovered it with my spectrometer. It has just the faintest inclusions that don’t effect the beauty of the stone at all. But then again, I don’t … Continue reading
A cool touch of blue in a green round.#181
This is not a happy spring kind of green standard round brilliant. This medium toned green does try to get up in the yellowish light, but a touch of blue keeps it more sophisticated. It appears to be eye clean … Continue reading
Non dichroic, rich pastel blue green shield cut.#180
This smaller shield cut is a bit hazy from a lower grade of crystal. Still its rich blue green pastel color is nice and the naturally flashy nature of the shield cut helps to make this a nice gemstone. It … Continue reading
Golden orange, included trilliant cut.#179
The impact of flaws/inclusions on a tourmaline gemstone is a complex issue. This trilliant cut has some significant non flashing inclusions in it pavilion. They effect the flash of the gemstone, but really have a minor impact on the stone … Continue reading
Nice and spicy green trilliant cut.#178
This trilliant cut is not particularly flashy. I don’t think it is the few minor inclusion I see, but a generally low quality of crystal. I cleaned it, to double check, and it still shows its spicy green color in … Continue reading
This is a pink that is almost too rich and powerful for a simple shield cut.#177
Their are wonderfully flighty and flirtatious pinks in the world and then there are powerful pinks that let you know who is boss. This eye clean, rich and powerful shield cut is quite a warrior. Her sultry, darkly toned recesses … Continue reading
Medium rich green with slight inclusions, cuprian droplet of color.#175
Of all the colors I explored with my spectrometer for copper, the most discoveries of copper were made in greens. I also had quite few indications of copper in pink/red, but there are technical issues with that color of tourmaline … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged cuprian, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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Slightly included, nicely saturated, yellow green, cuprian, droplet of color.#174
I was most fortunate to be in the hunt for different colors in tourmaline, when Mozambique began to produce cuprian tourmaline. Then it was years before the copper bearing nature of the deposit was revealed in a reverse Alexandrite color … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged cuprian, droplet-of-color, green, Mozambique, verdelite, yellow-green
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Dichroic golden green and green round.#173
This combination of a golden green c axis and a nice medium well saturated a/b axis seems to be reasonably common with tourmaline. This is another smaller round that has been cut with the table parallel to the c axis. … Continue reading
Richer yellow green droplet of color.#172
When I venture out into the world of tourmaline rough for sale, I do not really think about what I want, rather what I have an opportunity to buy. If I am able to make a tentative list of possible … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, verdelite, yellow-green
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Fine medium dark forest green droplet of color.#171
Honesty is the best policy, but I don’t claim to be unbiased. I think that tourmaline has the most exciting greens in the gemstone world. It might not have the ultimate green of an emerald buried in a museum or … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, forest green, green, medium green, verdelite
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The best yellow in saturation and size, shield cut.#169
This is a shield cut to get excited about. It was the premier stone cut from two water worn pebbles I got over the internet from Tanzania years before “canary” tourmaline was discovered (canary tourmaline is a recently discovered yellow … Continue reading
Another green lifted up by a fine shield cut.#170
I like this bright medium toned well saturated green shield cut. It is always refreshing to find a nice piece of green rough suitable for something different than an emerald cut. This piece of tourmaline does not appear to be … Continue reading
A yellow green with an uplifting shield cut.#168
When you have a piece of rough that is being preformed and it looks like it will make a shield cut, things are going well. This eye clean, medium toned yellow green is nice, but the cut makes it a … Continue reading
Beatutiful shield cut that rides the thin line between pink and red.#167
This is about as good as pink/red in tourmaline gets. It has a beautiful cut and there is no darkness in the heart of this beauty. It doesn’t even have an inclusions which can be a problem with such a … Continue reading
The only triangular cut in the collection pink.#166
This triangular stone with the tips cut off is the only time I have made this style of cut. It is a fine little stone that would need a custom setting because of its shape. It is eye clean and … Continue reading
Bright flashy medium toned pink shield cut.#176
This is a delightful gemstone for anyone, but if you love pink, this stone is for you. The shield cut produces a fine flashy gem as long as the tone is not too dark. The well saturated pink in this … Continue reading
The droplets of color demand this green with golden wash, cuprian round.#165
This standard round brilliant is a nice, eye clean, gemstone with a flashy, medium dark tone green, that is a bit on the yellow side. I found out that this round was cuprian because I tested it with my spectrometer. … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Droplets of Color, Etc., Verdelite
Tagged cuprian, droplet-of-color, golden green, green, Mozambique
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Dichroic golden green and green round.#163
This dichroic gemstone has the classic pie slice shaped areas with alternating yellow green and green, when you look face up at this standard round brilliant. It appears to be eye clean and has a medium dark tone color. It … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Verdelite
Tagged cutting tourmaline, dichroic, golden green, green, verdelite
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Delicate sea foam oval from Afghanistan.#162
A fine little oval that came with the sea foam lot from Afghanistan. I has a light tone level that doesn’t support the sea foam color very well, but it is very bright and eye clean. It weighs .83 carats. … Continue reading
Medium dark forest green droplet of color.#161
This standard round brilliant appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. I don’t see any dichroism in its medium dark, forest green color. It is nice to have another green droplet of color. It weighs 1.52 carats. Bruce
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, forest green, green, medium green, verdelite
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A steely blue green shield cut.#160
A great effort is sometimes made not to put gray into the color name of a gemstone, but the fact is that many blues and other colors have a gray over tone in tourmaline. Calling a gemstone steely is a … Continue reading
A cool yellow trilliant that is reserved.#159
I usually think of yellow as a bright sunny open color, but this pastel yellow is not inclined to levity. It is not bother by a greenish cast like many of its brethren, but seems to have a darker cast … Continue reading
Fine medium toned green shield cut.#158
Sometimes I think that movie critics should not review new movies because they have seen too much. Who really cares if the plot was ripped off a 1947 thriller and the lead actor is trying to act like Laurence Olivie … Continue reading
Medium toned bright pink trilliant#157
This trilliant is eye clean and has a very nice medium toned pink color. The color has good saturation and fine crystal. It weighs 1.14 carats. The trilliant is a more modern cut and I would use it more often, … Continue reading
Sea foam droplet of color, Afghanistan#155
This smaller droplet of color came with the bigger boys from Afghanistan. It is just a little shaver and lacks the tone value to really show what top grade sea foam can do, but it is still very attractive. It … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged afghan, blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, seafoam, verdelite
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Very bright pale yellow washed in green, droplet of color.#154
This pale yellow droplet of color just couldn’t stay away from being washed with green. It is a common fate of many yellow tourmaline. But that didn’t prevent the round from being very bright and eye clean. This flashy gemstone … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Yellow
Tagged droplet-of-color, green-yellow, pale, yellow
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Included dichroic golden green/green round#153
This standard round brilliant has the classic pie shape alternating areas of golden green and green. The two colors blend together pretty well and give it a pleasant mixed color appear. Its inclusions are significant and they do effect the … Continue reading
This medium light, pastel yellow green, droplet of color is included.#152
This gemstone has a galaxy of tiny flashing inclusions. It certainly effects the droplets of color’s flash. But in a way it makes it look more like candy, that is also enhanced by the stone light tone values. It weighs … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, pastel, verdelite, yellow-green
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Nice medium dark green droplet of color.#151
This standard round brilliant has some minor inclusions that have no effect on the stones flash. The droplet of color has a nice medium green color that flashes in a medium dark body. It is simply a nice medium dark … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, medium green, verdelite
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light, bright, toned down peach trilliant.#156
This pastel peach trilliant is rather toned down. It has some minor inclusion, but they are not a factor. Neither is the quality of crystal, so I think that color has a darker cast to it. The stones weighs 2.04 … Continue reading
Smallest round in the collection and a green dot of color.#109
This is as low as I have ever cut a small gemstone. This standard round brilliant only weighs .11 carats, but it is a chrome tourmaline and probably has as good a green as there is in the collection. If … Continue reading
Medium toned forest green droplet of color. #109
This standard round brilliant does not have the darkness of the deep forest, but it does have a hint of evergreen in its pretty middle of the road green. It appears to be eye clean and with a moderate flash … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, forest green, green, verdelite
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Ideal tone level in a crisp blue green droplet of color.#107
It is tempting to call this a sea foam and perhaps it would be by some people. It came from Afghanistan or Pakistan and it has a great bright blue green color, but I would not rate its brightness above … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged afghan, blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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Included pale blue, that I can see, IceT member.#106
At times I have cut rough from a lot, I got years ago from Afghanistan, that has some pieces of tourmaline rough with a touch of blue in it, but when I am finished cutting, I can not see the … Continue reading
Bright, neon, sea foam droplet of color Afghanistan/Pakistan.#105
This standard round brilliant has the bright neon sea foam look, but is getting a little small for the best tone level. It is eye clean and of fine crystal. It weighs .71 carats and joins a select group of … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged afghan, droplet-of-color, green, neon, seafoam, verdelite
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Small oval of watery blue disposition.#104
This oval with a watery, medium toned blue, is one of the smallest ovals I have cut. The little, eye clean, gem is a pretty piece of blue with value. It is from Afghanistan/Pakistan. It weighs .43 carats. Bruce
A sea foam droplet of color from Afghanistan.#102
There are only a few varieties of tourmaline that I think can approach cuprian tourmaline in brightness. One of them is top quality sea foam from Afghanistan/Pakistan. And how “neon” the material certainly effects it price. This standard round brilliant … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged afghan, droplet-of-color, green, neon, seafoam, verdelite
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Included Aqua Blue Oval#101
This medium light toned, aqua blue oval is full of tiny inclusions and a few fine feathers. They do effect the stone’s flash, but its pretty color shines threw. The stone’s fine color, medium light tone level and brightness still … Continue reading
A medium light tone, dichroic, golden brown emerald cut.#100
This smaller emerald cut has an exceptionally nice medium light toned golden brown color. A color that is not common in tourmaline that has lighter tones. It is dichroic and the c axis, which is in the ends of the … Continue reading
A brown red to red depending on the light, round #99
This standard round brilliant is a beautiful gemstone. It has a great, well saturated red in yellowish light, but to its eternal regret, it does brown out in the bluer, natural light of days. I forgive it though and gave … Continue reading
Pink culet and the rest green makes great mixing for a round. Nigeria #98
This is both an interesting and beautiful gemstone. The standard round brilliant is a great cut to mix up colors and this gemstone has great ones to mix. Both the pink culet and green crown rather disappear when the stone … Continue reading
Larger Nigeria pink green mixed to orangy, round #97
This standard round brilliant is big enough to really see the mixing of green and pink into yellow and oranges that happens in this interesting stone. The mixing certainly depends on the light and you can still see the pink/ … Continue reading
What you see face up is not what you have green/pink round.#96
I have gotten more than a few pieces of this interesting rough from Nigeria over the years. It is really a pink crystal that has some faces that look they had a chomophore (trace element that effects color) diffused into … Continue reading
Longer ratio oval with a step crown, that is a honey of a golden brown color #95.
NO picture for 95. In the “old” days, when tourmaline for the intrepid amateur cutter, was more available, one of my primary dealers out of Africa would send out emails on new finds of tourmaline. (and other gemstones). This posted … Continue reading
A pure and simple golden droplet of color with a thinner crown.#94
I cut most of my standard round brilliants with 40 degree mains, but this bright flashing gem has a much flatter crown. I am seeing low angle crowns in commercially cut stones, because the geometry of many tourmaline crystals doesn’t … Continue reading
Medium Toned, Yellow Green Bronze Round #93
This medium toned standard round brilliant is both not a dense stone or one that is excessively brown. Its color is not completely driven by flash and under a gray sky I can see some bronze flash mixed into a … Continue reading
Darker oil green with lighter green flash, round #87
This standard round brilliant suffers from the same lack of transparency down the c axis that I have seen in some other richer tourmaline. This effect manifests itself by the stone having muted flash under the table, while brightly flashing … Continue reading
Lots of competition to be eye candy in yellow green, meet a winning round #92
This standard round brilliant has a great combination of decent size, bright yellow with a wash of green color, eye clean purity and fine crystal to be eye candy and she has accepted the honor. She weighed in at 2.05 … Continue reading
Medium toned yellow with wash of green is laid back, round#91
This standard round brilliant is eye clean with great crystal. She might aspire to be eye candy, but is just too laid back and sophisticated to make the grade. Her reserved nature would lend itself to a white metal treatment, … Continue reading
A long, long ratio, IceT flavored pastel punch of a bicolor emerald cut. #90
For me the cutting of a long ratio (length to width) ratio is an effort to keep the long narrow rectangular facets square. Actually it is in the polishing, rather than the cutting, that causes my problems, Generally I only … Continue reading
A bit of a roasted red, that doesn’t mind being browned all around, round. #89
I once read sometime ago that in Thailand they will not show you a ruby before 10 AM in the morning. Now why would such a dynamic and sales oriented people limit their hours? Because the morning light tends to … Continue reading
A bit of mint covered in chocolate, dichroic round. #88
When I came to this small round that was cut years ago, it made me pause. I have written golden green on the back of its storage box ,but I am seeing a more complex picture than that. This standard … Continue reading
Golden Green Dichroic Round. #86
This standard round brilliant has a great well saturated golden yellow principle, c axis and a paler a/b axis that is yellowish green. The mixture produces a medium dark tone gemstone with slices of pie shaped area of both dichroic … Continue reading
A fine orange round under yellow light, that goes browner in daylight. #85
This bright flashy orange is at home under my yellowish light, but turns browner under the bluer light of day. I can not see a significant difference in hue between this orange that browns out and some of the great … Continue reading
Rich pink with orange tones oval. #76
I posted this stone along with two others in a earlier post called “Red is not enough”. I was looking at all three stones under both a yellowish florescent light or an incandescent at the times. I waited to do … Continue reading
Included bright yellow droplet of color. #82
This round is barely within the upper bounds of weigh in being a droplet. But its color would demand some flexibility, even if it had crossed the line. Yellow without green in a medium tone level or higher is one … Continue reading
Included larger yellow washed in green, round. #81
Did you ever go to a planetarium as a child and wonder at all the tiny specks of light that flashed on the rounded ceiling. Well this larger standard round brilliant has the same kind of multitude of tiny lights … Continue reading
Beautiful tricolor, pastel blue green, colorless, pink emerald cut. Afghan #80
This is a beautiful gemstone and the largest of the three examples I got threw a dealer that had direct connections with Afghanistan. He was also a cutter, but had found them too fragile for his heavy hand. I was … Continue reading
Posted in Bi-Color
Tagged afghan, bicolor, blue, colorless, emerald cut, green, pastel, tri-color
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Medium dark toned orange brown flash, round #79
This is one of the “modern” dravites that has come out of East Africa. It is not too dark to have decent flash and the orange tones make it spicy enough to demand a new name rather than dravite in … Continue reading
A pink to orange, but mostly brown, sliding round.#78
Not all browns are created equality and many dealers probably don’t care because once a stone is dominated by brown it becomes a vile creature. It is called dravite, a name that sounds vaguely like an ancient language and left … Continue reading
A Blue/Pink/Gray colored mess of a standard round brilliant. #77
My father use to tell me one of his few stories about his college days, that centered on making tuity fruity ice cream, over again many times. He always smiled and it was good that he had at least one … Continue reading
Be cool orange droplet of color. #75
Now when I see a bright orange piece of eye candy, I get excited, but the posted droplet of color leaves me with a different feeling. It is just a toned down cool cat, that doesn’t like to run with … Continue reading
A most unusual pastel yellow orange round.#73
It is hard to tell exactly what is going on in this unique gemstone. It is a standard round brilliant that from the back appears not to be zoned. Therefor the flashes of pastel orange and pastel yellow must be … Continue reading
Droplets of color unite, a yellow green gift is upon us. #72
This standard round brilliant is nothing more than a excellent example of an eye clean, very bright and flashy, yellow green colored beauty. So if you like acid yellow green, you will love this round. It weighs 1.18 carats and … Continue reading
Yellow washed in green, cuprian oval. #71
This apparently eye clean and very bright oval is mostly yellow with a wash of green. I discovered, with my spectrometer, that it contains copper as a chromophore and that is interesting. But I don’t know how much difference it … Continue reading
A beautiful tricolor, blue green, colorless, pink, emerald cut. Afghanistan. #70
This is a beautiful gemstone. I was given the opportunity to buy this tricolor rough because it is fragile like many bi and tri color tourmaline. I was successful in cutting this long ratio emerald cut, but it needed to … Continue reading
Posted in Bi-Color, Etc.
Tagged afghan, bicolor, blue, colorless, emerald cut, green, tri-color
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Unique faceted watermelon pink center, green rind, emerald cut. #69
Everyone seems to love watermelon tourmaline,(a crystal with a pink core that runs down the long axis of Elbaite tourmaline that is coated with a green rind.), but it is rare that this distribution of color is useful to the … Continue reading
Posted in Bi-Color, Etc.
Tagged bicolor, emerald cut, outstanding, unique, watermelon
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This droplet of color is a dark brown with flashes of violet. #68
Every brown is a desaturated (not a pure tone) color and this dark toned droplet of color, spectral color is violet. In good light you can see the violet flash, but when the clouds move in, the flash turns to … Continue reading
Slightly included, medium dark, well saturated droplet of color. #67
This rich orange drink is tempered with brown and looks like you should find its color at the bottom of a shot glass. It is an intoxication little standard round brilliant for those addicted to orange in tourmaline. It is … Continue reading
A honey of a golden orange droplet of color. #66
This round has a lower crown than usual, which gives the stone a very open appearance. It really is a sweet gem with a bright, eye candy, look of golden orange honey. it appears to be eye clean and the … Continue reading
Dichroic rich golden color in a droplet of color. #65
You can see both dichroic colors face up in the rich golden colored droplet of color. But the paler a/b axis color is completely dominated by the rich medium toned golden c axis color. The round appears to eye clean … Continue reading
Nice slightly included bright baby pink round from Afghanistan. #64
Another standard round brilliant that came in a lot from Afghanistan. It is always slightly included, but still has a really nice, bright flashy look. Its pink has very good saturation and would work well in a delicate piece of … Continue reading
Delicate pale yellow to golden droplet of color. #63
Tourmaline can have dynamic color in many areas of the spectrum. This small standard round brilliant drifts between a nice light pastel yellow in natural light and a distinctly richer pastel gold in my yellowish light. Now I would expect … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Yellow
Tagged droplet-of-color, golden-yellow, pale, yellow
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A great, clean, yellow green piece of eye candy, copper bearing round. #62
This is a beautiful gemstone. Its acid yellow green color seems to burn a hold threw the little plastic box I store it in. Its medium toned splendor is augmented by having copper as a chromophore in its chemistry. I … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Verdelite
Tagged cuprian, green, neon, outstanding, yellow-green
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Greenish yellow and a tale of discovered copper, round #61
This yellow tourmaline with a green wash does not have particularly good crystal, because it has a wide assortment of faint wispy feathers. It is flashy and about average in brightness, despite the fact, that yellow greens usually have higher … Continue reading
Pastel green pink bicolor from Brazilian “salad”. #59
I read somewhere that Brazil, the homeland of tourmaline for many years was not producing much quality material anymore. But it was producing what they cal “salad” which are native cut gemstones in mostly included tourmaline. Sometimes it is just … Continue reading
Posted in Bi-Color, Cutting Tourmaline
Tagged bicolor, Brazil, cutting tourmaline, emerald cut, green, pastel, pink
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A full rich medium tone level, for a yellow droplet of color. #56
I know that my yellowish light is helping this yellow droplet of color to get to the medium tone level, but I can not stop from praising it. Yellows without green in the collection need all the encouragement they can … Continue reading
Darker orange some would call burnt droplet of color #55
I have never really liked the term burnt for orange and this droplet of color really has a pretty good saturation level in a medium dark tone level. It really does not have an excessive level of brown. It appears … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Orange
Tagged burnt orange, dark orange, droplet-of-color, orange
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Slightly included bright baby pink Afghan droplet of color. #54
The droplets are pretty full of pink, but this slightly included standard round brilliant is too nice an example to pass up. It came from Afghanistan with many siblings and I cut darn near all of them. They are never … Continue reading
Cute little golden oval. #40
I think this is the smallest oval in the collection. I cut it when I was working to see how small I could cut stones. It is a cute .40 carats golden moment. Bruce
Nice to come home to a solid pastel yellow droplet of color. #52
A rather gentle yellow pastel, that is a little headlight in brightness. It appears to be eye clean and the type of yellow material, without green, that I am always looking for. The standard round brilliant was carefully weighed and … Continue reading
Bright yellow green oval with a two step crown. #51
Yellow green is a wide venue that is full of excitement with tourmaline. This bright yellow green oval is toward the medium toned, yellow end. It appears to be eye clean and have excellent crystal. It maybe me, but I … Continue reading
longer ratio, blue green emerald cut with steep ends. #400
This longer ratio emerald cut has blue green color and is very dichroic. It has steep ends that help minimize the darkness in the ends of the gemstone. It appears to be eye clean and have great crystal. A fine … Continue reading
Classic bright saturated green with dark ends emerald cut.#399
This is a quintessential example of a classic green tourmaline taken to perfection. Its central color is a bright grass green, but it is so dichroic that the ends are completely dense. To generate flash in the ends and minimize … Continue reading
A blue sliding into greener blue hue in a great emerald cut. Namibia#398
This medium toned blue emerald cut takes on a quite distinct greenish cast in yellowish light, but still stays on the bluer side of green. It is completely with dichroism and its low ratio between its length and its width … Continue reading
Mom’s Stone, A GEM of blue force from Namibia, emerald cut.#397
I have been looking forward to sharing this GEM, exceptional gemstone, with you. It came as a lot of one, separate from all the well saturated medium dark toned material I had been getting from Namibia. Its bright blue hue … Continue reading
Posted in Etc., Indicolite
Tagged blue, emerald cut, indicolite, medium blue, Namibia, outstanding
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Slight bicolor with a few marks blue to green emerald cut.#396
This medium light toned emerald cut slides around between green and bluer green depending on the light. It has excellent transparency except for a few marks scattered in the stone. The most important is on a corner of the table … Continue reading
Posted in Bi-Color, Indicolite
Tagged bicolor, blue, emerald cut, green, non-dichroic
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Completely open, medium toned blue green, emerald cut.#395
This is a beautiful gemstone. It has a great,completely open, medium toned body. In fact it is not even dichroic, at least by eye. The color shines from the tray without needing to be flashed and when it is moved, … Continue reading
Darker blue green emerald cut with some flaws.#394
This nice emerald cut has a variety of small flaws that are not easily seen in it s medium dark toned body. I don’t think that this stone is unstable, but it is not of the highest quality from Namibia. … Continue reading
Included saturated blue green emerald cut.#393
This was the largest piece I cut from the lot I got from my regular African dealer, before the blues from Namibia became much harder and more expensive to get. It suffers from the moving flaw problem I saw in … Continue reading
Excellent completely open dichroic green emerald cut.#392
This dichroic emerald cut has a great well saturated green c axis on the ends and lighter blue sides. The overall impression of the stone is of a bright flashy medium toned green with a touch of blue. The stone … Continue reading
Medium dark toned, saturated, blue green emerald cut, included#391
This emerald cut suffers from a flaw that propagated itself as I cut the stone. The rest of the saturated medium dark toned body is eye clean and of good crystal, but I don’t know if the moving flaw would … Continue reading
A fine eye clean blue to green emerald cut. #389
This well saturated blue to green emerald cut, shifts with the light. It has open, but slightly darker ends that still flash quite nicely for an emerald cut. It appears to be eye clean and has the typically high quality … Continue reading
Darkly toned blue with touch of gray emerald cut.#387
This darkly toned blue emerald cut has steep ends as a result of having closed ends. The blue is toned down with a little gray and it takes a bit of close inspection to appreciate this gemstone. Under closed inspection … Continue reading
Lightly toned, not dichroic, deeply cut, watery blue green, emerald cut.#386
This lightly toned, non dichroic, emerald cut does not look like a classical tourmaline. If you did not do an index of refraction test on it and find that it has a much higher index than beryl, I would guess … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged aquamarine, blue-green, green, non-dichroic, pale, unique
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A Namibian revelation, completely open blue green emerald cut.#385
The posted revelation. It weighs 2.75 carats. Mom’s stone, it weighs 5.27 carats. In a separate, private transaction, I receive a lot that contained one piece of rough. I came to call my “Mother’s Stone” because I used part of … Continue reading
Posted in Indicolite
Tagged blue, emerald cut, green-blue, indicolite, Namibia, open-c
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Closed ends with steep angles blue green emerald cut.#384
This emerald cut has closed ends. The medium dark tone and steep ends reveal a well saturated blue green body. It appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. It weighs 1.90 carats. Bruce
Very long ratio, dark, blue emerald cut with inclusions.#383
This is a blast from the past. It is one of the few tourmalines in the collection that I cut as a teenager. It has a dark tone level and closed ends that were cut with normal angles. The flash … Continue reading
Normally cut, blue green emerald cut, with slight flaw#382
This smaller emerald cut has semi closed ends that are cut with normal angles. It has a rich well saturated green to blue color depending on the light. It appears to be eye clean except for a slight flaw in … Continue reading
Crown jewel, a Blue Emerald Cut, in Lot from Namibia#381
This is a beautiful gemstone. It came in a lot of over a dozen pieces of rough that I bought privately from my principle African deal. At the time it seemed to be a continuance of steady production from Namibia, … Continue reading
Posted in Etc., Indicolite
Tagged blue, closed-c, emerald cut, indicolite, Namibia, outstanding
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Really snappy blue green, not dichroic, emerald cut
Now I like medium dark fully saturated emerald cuts as much as the next man, and maybe more, but when I see a medium tone, well saturated non dichroic barn burn of a blue green, I rejoice. This eye candy … Continue reading
Completely open, medium light tone, green emerald cut.#379
The emerald cut has a wonderful tone level and a green that strikes me as watery, without any blue in it. It dichroic colors appear to be the same color except that c axis is darker. The stones ends flash … Continue reading
Dark ends, dark tone, but great saturated blue emerald cut.#278
This personal stone has limited flash in bars across the stone beclause the ends are very closed. But the flash is a great blue that is rare in tourmaline. It has one faint narrow fracture that is not deep and … Continue reading
beautiful medium toned blue green emerald cut.#377
This is a beautiful gemstone. Its medium blue green color sparkles everywhere in the stone since its ends are completely open and just a bit bluer than the sides. It appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. This … Continue reading
Deep, completely cut, open medium pastel blue green emerald cut.#376
This is a great gemstone. I cut it with the full complement of 3 steps of facets on the crown and 4 steps of facets on the pavilion. This, along with a medium toned blue green color, that flashes from … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, emerald cut, green, open-c, pastel, verdelite
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Closed and steeply cut ends on a slightly greenish blue enerald cut.#375
Steeply cut ends help mitigate the closed ends on this blue with a touch of green emerald cut. The medium toned blue does not seem as saturated as the best material from Namibia. It appears to be eye clean and … Continue reading
Medium dark tone, hexagonal emerald cut shaped, green.#374
This is the only example of this different back on an emerald cut shape, in the collection. It worked and gave a different radiating flash than an emerald cut’s flash, but I still prefer the old fashion emerald cut. It … Continue reading
Outstanding, medium toned, well saturated, blue green emerald cut.#373
This emerald cut is completely open and flashing. It is slightly dichroic, but from face up, I can not see any darkness or difference in color in the ends from the saturated blue green color on the sides. It is … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, dichroic, emerald cut, green, medium green, verdelite
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Bright, medium tone,saturated, grass green emerald cut.#372
This emerald cut is a beauty. It has well saturated, green flash, sides and ends that flash with a slightly darker green. It appears to be eye clean and with find crystal. It weighs1.09 carats. Bruce
moderately dichroic blue green, moderately toned, emerald cut.#370
This emerald cut easily shows its greener ends and blue green sides when the sun shines on it. It has a moderate tone that is augmented by not having the ends too dark. It appears to be eye clean and … Continue reading
A moderately dichroic blue green emerald cut.#369
This medium toned emerald cut definitely has richer green ends and rather pale bluer green sides. The green ends dominate the stone, so I would call it a green with an overtone of blue. The ends though darker than the … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, dichroic, emerald cut, green, open-c, verdelite
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Moderate dichroism and tone in a blue green emerald cut.#368
When the sun shines on this moderately toned blue green emerald cut you can easily see the dichroism. The more greenish ends are distinctly different from the blue green sides. It has a somewhat muted color, that may be result … Continue reading
Slightly dichroic, but not closed, medium dark blue/green emerald cut.#367
This is a very nice medium dark toned blue with an overtone of green. The color is flash driven and saturated. It appears to be eye clean and have a fine crystal body. The dichroism causes some darkening of the … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, dichroic, emerald cut, green, medium green, open-c
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Medium pastel green with a flaw threw the heart, emerald cut.#366
I should probably replace this smaller emerald cut with another stone. It medium tone green with touches of blue is OK, but it obviously cracked while cutting and I can see areas of white from too far away. It weighs … Continue reading
Namibian blues a moving flaw in a pure hearted emerald cut.#371
It is always sad to see a beautiful stone destroyed and when it is happening as you work on it, that is even worse. Now I have certainly had tourmalines “blow up” on me and left me shatter along with … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Indicolite
Tagged blue, cutting tourmaline, indicolite, Namibia
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Medium lightly toned grayed green emerald cut.#365
This medium lightly toned grayed green goes toward the bluish side when permitted by the light. It has a bright flashy look with completely open ends. It appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. It weighs 1.91 carats. … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, emerald cut, gray-green, green, open-c, verdelite
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A grayish blue rather watery looking, emerald cut.#364
This medium toned emerald cut has a bit different blue that is desaturated into a grayed blue under my lighting. This gives the stone a feeling of being diluted when it is compared with the saturated Namibian gems. It … Continue reading
Afghanistan produces a nice pastel green droplet of color.#363
Bright and light are the passwords for this medium light tone, green droplet of color. It has a very slight flaw at the girdle, that makes no difference in the beauty of the gemstone. It weighs .90 carats, which is … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged afghan, droplet-of-color, green, pastel, verdelite
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Smaller, bright green with a touch of blue, open ended emerald cut.#362
This smaller emerald cut has a color many real emeralds would be jealous of. It is medium dark green with a touch of blue. It appears to be eye clean and has completely open ends. Such sparkle in a darker … Continue reading
A silent moment for an exception blue emerald cut from Namibia#361
Sometime before the availability of Namibian blue tourmaline decreased greatly for me, I bought a lot from my principle dealer out of Africa. The lot had over a dozen pieces of rough in it and I am sure some of … Continue reading
Fine, eye clean, blue green emerald cut.#360
It is nice to have to look at some of these smaller gemstones for the first time in a while. This smaller emerald cut has open ends and such a great medium toned, flash driven blue green color, that it … Continue reading
On the edge of tiny, medium light pastel emerald cut.#359
This has to be one of the smallest emerald cuts I have made. Its medium light blue color is a fine pastel and its open ends give life to the stone. It weighs .37 carats and will probably will not … Continue reading
Posted in Etc., Indicolite
Tagged blue, emerald cut, indicolite, medium blue, open-c, pastel
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Fine, rich grass green, with darker ends, but not closed, emerald cut.#358
This emerald is a medium plus toned, flash driven gemstone. It ends are darker, but still open enough to give life to a really fine grass green color. It weighs 1.05 carats. Bruce
Fine, open, blue emerald cut.#357
This small emerald cut is a beauty. It is a legitimate blue that just picks up a little green in the yellowish light. The emerald cut is open ended, bright and flashy. This medium toned joy weighs .65 carats. Bruce
One lost baguette in the collection, small blue.#355
I decided to cut a baguette to see how I would like it. I decided that I much preferred emerald cuts so this medium blue one was the only baguette I have cut. It has a nice medium tone and … Continue reading
Small, bright, open ended, included, blue green emerald cut.#356
This small emerald cut is a very nice gemstone. Its flaws are not major and the emerald cut is still bright and flashy. It has a medium toned blue green look that grabs the eye. It weighs.68 carats. Bruc
Dark blue with touch of gray, included, emerald cut.#354
This emerald cut has closed ends, but normal angles on the ends. It is pretty dark and has some face up visible flashy flaws. Still it is mainly a grayed blue with just a wash of green. It weighs .91 … Continue reading
Great blue green in a medium toned emerald cut.#353
No need for steep ends on this bright opened blue green emerald cut. It is a very outgoing gem with a medium tone level that is not inhibited by poor crystal of inclusions. It weighs 1.23 delightful carats. Bruce
Bright, crisp, blue green, steep ended emerald cut.#352
This steep ended emerald cut has a medium dark tone, but the flash driven color is a snappy blue green. It is a personal stone that appreciates good light. It weighs 1.17 carats. Bruce
Medium blue with steep ends, emerald cut#351
Steep ends minimizes the darkness from the closed c axis of this medium blue gemstone. The stone appears to be eye clean and of fine crystal. It weighs 1.23 carats and stays blue even in the yellowish light. Bruce
Pale blue sky with a galacy of faint inclusions, droplet of color.#649
This sky blue round is a bit restricted by many faint inclusions that add up to a low quality crystal. Still if you keep it moving, it will flash you a nice smile. It has a medium light pastel look … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Indicolite
Tagged blue, droplet-of-color, indicolite, pale, sky blue
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Light pastel non-copper purple, droplet of color.#648
A standard round brilliant, non copper, less tone level than the following cuprian purple, but very similar hue (color). It weighs 1.01 carats. A standard round brilliant, cuprian, a bit darker than the non copper above, but with a … Continue reading
Bright, dyamite ,hot pink eye candy, droplet of color.#646
It is amazing to me, how many faults in a stone, can be overlooked when it is eye candy. This hot pink, which is one step up from most, has a number of inclusions around the pavilion. They really have … Continue reading
Rich, lush, mysterious jungle green droplet of color.#647
This round has a dark flash driven green color that brightens up the rim of the crown, but leaves the center mysterious. The body appears to be both eye clean and with fine crystal, so the lack of flash in … Continue reading
Orange droplet of color, a bit pale for the contest.#645
This gemstone protested the results of the contest between three of its orange brothers. The judge, me, had ruled that the posted droplet of color was just bit too low in tone to compete. Now that I have taken a … Continue reading
Cuprian, light yellow, round#644
I did not buy the rough for this gemstone as cuprian and I did not know it was cuprian until I check it out with my spectrometer. I have no idea whether the copper content effects the color of this … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Etc., Yellow
Tagged cuprian, Mozambique, unique, yellow
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Pastel yellow to green slider, round#643
This medium light toned pastel flirts with both yellow and green. The cut between these colors is always difficult in tourmaline and depends in part on the individuals eyes. Yellow is the much rare color as you will definitely see … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite, Yellow
Tagged color-shift, green, verdelite, yellow, yellow-green
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Bright eye clean peridot yellow green, round#642
It is rather sad to use peridot’s green to reference tourmaline’s, but I think that more people know it than tourmaline’s colors. Hopefully not for long. I like yellow greens in tourmaline, they polish wonderfully and I think they have … Continue reading
Copper plus manganese equals a well saturated purple, round#641
No one should get too blase about well saturated purples in tourmaline. It is rare and always will be rare because the saturation, if not the actual color, is dependent on both copper and manganese chromophores. Manganese is pretty common … Continue reading
A gray sweeps in to save the day, droplet of color.#640
Now the droplets take pride in having every hue (color) and I try to help them all I can. But a true gray in tourmaline is not common. Having colors that are grayish is a piece of cake. But this … Continue reading
One vertical feather and the green flashes on, droplet of color#639
I can see I was successful with this standard round brilliant in getting the principle feather to intersect the table at about ninety degrees. Face up the feather is just a narrow whitish line. The bright, rich, exceptional, slightly yellowish … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, verdelite, yellow-green
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A shifty blue that has a green streek depending on the light, droplet of light.
This medium toned blue shifts to more green than expected under the yellowish light. But boy does it love incandescent light. So we will call it a blue green pastel, droplet of color, with visions of greatness, because it drinks … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Indicolite
Tagged blue, color-shift, droplet-of-color, green-blue, indicolite, pastel
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Not quite a midnight rose, droplet of color.#637
This pink has been toned down by a wash of purple to make a medium dark rose that blooms a dark smile. It is interesting how a touch of purple increase the tone level significantly in pinks that would probably … Continue reading
The votes have been counted and this is a hot pink droplet of color.#636
I have enough pinks in the tray of fifty I am working on to begin to compare what I have written on the back of the droplets storage boxes. I am really not that consistent. It probably has to do … Continue reading
A mildly dichroic yellower orange, droplet of color.#635
This is a bright and flashy, yellowish orange, droplet of color. Where the three oranges that competed in the contest, to see who was the best orange in the droplet of color group., were purer orange, this one is too … Continue reading
Nice medium toned baby blue droplet of color.#634
You have seen this baby blue many times in life and now this tourmaline has a really pretty setting for it. The standard round brilliant is eye clean and with a fine crystal. The droplet of color even stands out … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Indicolite
Tagged baby blue, blue, droplet-of-color, indicolite, medium blue
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Beautiful average pink rolls on in the collection, droplet of color.#633
This standard round brilliant is not your average pink tourmaline in the trade, but it seems to be what I am inclined to buy when I have the chance. The posted droplet of color has a great medium tone and … Continue reading
I should make a mint, on this eye clean, mint colored droplet of color.#632
This standard round brilliant is eye clean and with a great medium tone level. Its blue green color loves the yellowish lights, but it is still a delight in the gray overcast light of autumn’s waning days. I was comparing … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, mint
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Included pinker shade of cuprian tourmaline, Mozambique#631
This pink definitely has the glow of copper’s purple and it has been confirmed with my spectrometer. It is included, but the medium light, well saturated, standard round brilliant is still bright and flashy because most of the area corrupted … Continue reading
Cuprian, Purple droplet of color from Mozambique (included)#630
A very nice rare color in tourmaline, I call purple, needs copper to being it to the level of saturation that I see in this standard round brilliant. The inclusions, which frankly are expected, can not draw me away from … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Droplets of Color, Etc.
Tagged cuprian, droplet-of-color, Mozambique, purple
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An included, bright yellow, piece of eye candy, droplet of color.#629
Thank goodness there is one example of the yellow, that I have been raving about for years in this tray of fifty smaller standard round brilliants. It is included, but frankly that is besides the point when I look at … Continue reading
Powerful blue green wave from the abysis, droplet of color#628
This standard round brilliant is a personal stone, that draws you into its bottomless reaches of darker blue green, flash driven, color. It appears to be eye clean, but with its darker tone level minor flaws are not really a … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, dark green, droplet-of-color, green, sea green, verdelite
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And the third orange contest is this droplet of color.#627
Posted stone, bit light, brilliant orange weighs .87 carats Winner of the contest of three oranges, weighs .77 carats. Bit darker brilliant orange weighs .62 carats. This standard round brilliant is the third droplet of color in the contest to … Continue reading
Medium toned sea foam from Afghanistan, droplet of color#626
This standard round brilliant was cut from the lot of high quality sea foam I obtained from Afghanistan. It is eye clean and medium toned, but really too small to show the dynamic interplay of the blue green and yellow … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Etc., Verdelite
Tagged afghan, blue-green, dichroic, droplet-of-color, green, seafoam, verdelite, yellow-green
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Included minty green droplet of color.#625
This droplet of color, in the yellowish light that I have now, is so bright and rich in color that it is hard to call it minty, but I know that in sunlight is will not be as saturated. Its … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, mint
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Included rose colored droplet of color.#624
This rose, a pink with a touch of purple, has inclusions that are light and in line with the hot pinks. It is still bright and flashy for a medium toned standard round brilliant. It weighs 1.41 carats and … Continue reading
A rose, freshly bloomed, in a droplet of color.#623
This standard round brilliant has just a touch of purple in the pink, that I call rose. It is not as bright as the hot pinks. But it is a fine gemstone, that is eye clean and with good crystal, … Continue reading
A single inclusion in a great green droplet of color.#622
I am guilty of pushing the rough to get the best yield I can while protecting the color potential of the piece of rough. What has to give, at times, is the retention of flaws that could have been removed. … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, forest green, green, verdelite
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Include medium toned hot pink round#621
The inclusions in this round are both easily seen and impact the flash of the gemstone. Still the gem is such a piece of hot, eye candy that sparkles and flashes brightly, that the flaws seem minor. This is just … Continue reading
Please pass the extra virgin olive oil, droplet of color.#620
Olive oil has grown in popularity over the years and I vote for this color to get more respect in tourmaline too. It doesn’t have to be rare to be good for your color appreciation. It sets off its color … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, olive, verdelite, yellow-green
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Clean, Bright, Cuprian, Purple Punch, droplet of color.#619
I think that I have posted about how forgiving I am with purple tourmaline that are cuprian. Well this standard round brilliant just shrugs the concern off with a great eye clean body and a sparkling bright purple personality. A … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Droplets of Color
Tagged cuprian, droplet-of-color, Mozambique, purple
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The green green grass of home, droplet of color#618
I was not born to grow great grass at home or anywhere else. Still I was fortunate to cut a piece of rough that produced this exceptional, green as grass, green. I think that this standard round brilliant can stand … Continue reading
Pale, completely uniform yellow green pastel, droplet of color#617
This tourmaline was born to not look like tourmaline. The standard round brilliant that was cut from it is bright and flashy, but with only enough tone level to just keep out of the IceT space. It could easily be … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, pale, pastel, yellow-green
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Hot pink rounds to keep tourmaline color on fire, droplet of color#616
Nothing like a standard round brilliant that is eye clean and on fire with hot pink to keep the tray of fifty rounds lighted up. This eye candy is not as rambunctious as some, but then it is more high … Continue reading
Olive yellow green droplet of color.#615
Now there are all sorts of olive greens in tourmaline and it is not a particularly prized color. This medium dark, standard round brilliant, has decent flash for it tone level. It also appears to be eye clean with good … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, olive, verdelite, yellow-green
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Red as Rubellite should be, droplet of color#614
I was reading that Rubellite should be dropped from being a trade name for red tourmaline because it is deceptive. This despite the fact that Rubellite is an old established name under which millions of tourmaline have been sold. The … Continue reading
This is a great round of top grade Afghan sea foam.#612
Nothing come close to being wrong with this wonderful medium sized standard round brilliant. It is big enough to show off its top grade sea foam color with an ideal tone level. It is eye clean and Afghan tourmaline is … Continue reading
Grayed Purple Droplet of Color without Copper#611
The vast majority of purplish tourmalines do not have copper as a chromophore, but I remember the cuprians the most because they are saturated. (and expensive) This droplet of color has a nice medium toned lavender color, but the grays … Continue reading
A richer red pink more mature droplet of color.#610
Now this standard round brilliant is not against playing with the eye candy, hot pinks, it is just that it take itself more seriously. It has fine flash and appears to have an eye clean body, but its darker toned, … Continue reading
Achroite under any reasonable light, round.#609
I have a number of standard round brilliants that were cut from a lot of Afghanistan material I purchased years ago. I could see a touch of blue in part of the lot, that use to be half of a … Continue reading
Pure Punch of Pink, hot to the eye, droplet of color#608
This hot pink standard round brilliant is blessed with an eye clean body. It is not ashamed to be forward with its bright medium toned flash. I can really never get enough of this color, but I dream more about … Continue reading
A mature, toned down purplish pink droplet of color.#607
This standard round brilliant is riding on the edge of red, while being dragged down in tone by a wash of purple. I guess being dragged down seems a little negative and this rose colored stone is very attractive, but … Continue reading
Included a bit toned down hot pink droplet of color#606
When you have enough tourmaline pinks (or other colors) to compare you can begin to see some subtle color differences in tourmaline. At least that is one of the goals I hoped to achieve with my collection. This hotter pink … Continue reading
Included hot pink droplet of color.#605
With the notable exception of Nigeria, if you want to be included in the hot pink world, you just have to be included. This standard round brilliant toed the line and still is a beauty. It light inclusions have a … Continue reading
A great open blue green droplet of color.#604
How can I, a cutter that has scaled such tourmaline pinnacles, call a smaller standard round brilliant with a reasonably common color and tone level great, because it is. Size does matter with tourmaline, though certainly not as much as … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, dichroic, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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Included pink with a speck of purple, dot of color.#603
It is amazing to me how much being “in” can matter when it comes to price. I truly love cuprian tourmaline, but only stones with higher quality colors should warrant a big differential in price. (in my opinion) When I … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Droplets of Color
Tagged color dot, cuprian, pink, purple
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Orange, Orange, Orange droplet of color.#602
Posted stone, weight .62 carats. Winner of the contest .77 carats. Third contestant in the contest .87 carats. There are three candidates for the title of the best all around orange in a smaller stone, from the droplets of color’s … Continue reading
Highly transparent pastel blue droplet of color.#601
This standard round brilliant has a medium light tone level and a very open non-dichroic face. It could be considered a baby blue and is eye clean, bright and flashy. It weighs .76 carats and is certainly a droplet of … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Indicolite
Tagged blue, droplet-of-color, indicolite, pastel
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A blue Namibian droplet of color.
This standard round brilliant is blue. It seems so inadequate to say that these droplets of color from Namibia are just blue because the are great stones. I have not been able to get much larger blue tourmaline from Namibia … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Indicolite
Tagged blue, droplet-of-color, indicolite, Namibia
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A solid sparkling pink droplet of color#800
This standard round brilliant is really a fine little stone. It is eye clean with fine crystal. It pink is crisp and without overtone. It weighs 1.03 carats and would make a delicate piece of jewelry beautiful. Bruce
Tiny dot of color in the blue green world#799
This standard round brilliant is almost the smallest gemstone in the collection. I cut it while I was experimenting with standard round brilliants to see how small I could cut a stone. It is a nice rich green with a … Continue reading
Maybe a touch of blue in an Achroite, round#798
I just rediscovered the key to finding the blue in these nearly colorless standard round brilliants from Afghanistan, direct sunlight, how new and novel. This gemstone still almost failed the blue test. It is very bright and flashy and weighs … Continue reading
Small round with a creamy heart of peach, dot of color
This standard round brilliant has a really nice tone level of peach for such a small stone. It is not brownish or dichroic at all. It weighs .37 carats and is a dot of color. Bruce
blue green dot of color#796
This small standard round brilliant has a nice bright medium toned blue green color. It weighs .21 carats and I haven’t gotten smaller than that many times. Bruce
Pink dot of color#795
This small standard round brilliant of pink was cut while I was experimenting with cutting small stones. It is a nice medium toned pink that weighs .25 carats. Bruce
A Dichroic, Gold Droplet of Color#794
This standard round brilliant was cut from a lot I purchase years ago, that only contained 1 gram pieces and smaller. The rough is dichroic with a darker gold c axis and a pastel a/b golden yellow. This gemstone is … Continue reading
Afghanistan Achroite with an eye clean heart.#793
This Achroite from Afghanistan may have a touch of blue, but with my old yellow eyes, I can’t see it. The round standard brilliant is eye clean and can not anything by bright. It weighs .48 carats. Bruce
Bright very pale bicolor for the IceT group, an emerald cut.#792
Of all the pieces in the lot of bicolors from Afghanistan, this is only the second piece that stayed together and could be cut. I can easily see the faint pink colored, side and I know there is a little … Continue reading
Magnificent bicolor with yellow crown and rust culet, orange round. Del Delgato#791
I have put together a general post about Del Gado and other sources of rough that peaked at different times in my time of collection building. Still it should be said here that Del Gado, which is the most northern … Continue reading
An included hot pink dot of color with a flater crown.#790
This standard round brilliant is included like you would expect of this hot pink color in a great medium tone level. It also has a flatter crown than other dots of color. Still it is an exciting stone even though … Continue reading
It is pretty small, but still a blue from Namibia, round#789
Small or not doesn’t matter when it comes to having a blue from Namibia. This standard round blue is a blue blood and shows its pedigree even though it is only .27 carats big. Its tone level is on the … Continue reading
Small medium toned green dot of color#788
This standard round brilliant was cut while I experimented with cutting small rounds. It has a nice medium tone that stands up to being in such a small stone. Its color is a nice green without dichroism and is a … Continue reading
Medium toned green dot of color.#787
This standard round brilliant has a nice medium toned green color. It appears to be eye clean and without dichroism. It weighs .35 carats and is a nice do of color for the eye. kBruce
Faintest hint of blue and the IceT group is helpfull, round#786
Afghanistan tourmaline is amazingly pure at times. This standard round brilliant is another example of such purity. It has just the faintest touch of blue, in a sparkling clean body. It weighs .33 carats. Bruce
This small round looks orange enough to make juice.#613
Early on in my quest for all the colors of tourmaline I could get, orange was close to the top of my list of wants. I hadn’t come up with a steady date with any dealers and I was new … Continue reading
This is small enough to be a dot and it is, a beautiful blue Namibian one.#785
There is something about a Namibian blue that stands out even when it is as small as this blue dot of color. It is not just its color, but the great medium tone that goes with it in these smaller … Continue reading
From light blue rough comes a Achroite, Afghanistan#784
A small standard round brilliant that is very brilliant. It is pure water white and came from rough that you could see just a hint of blue in. Well I can not see it now, so I am changing the … Continue reading
Small baby blue oval#782
This small oval has a medium light pastel blue color. It appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. The color is even and completely open because the stone does not display any dichroism. This flashy gemstone weighs … Continue reading
Shallow yellow oval with two tier crown.#781
This larger yellow oval is eye clean. It has a very nice medium tone level and the yellow is without a greenish overtone. The rough came from Del Gado Mozambique, which is the most northern state in Mozambique. The material … Continue reading
Smallest round I ever made, blue color dot.#779
It looks like a little sapphire and deserves a note as the smallest stand round brilliant I ever cut. (and any other style of cut). It has a nice medium toned blue and weighs a spectacular .11 carats. (That is … Continue reading
A beautiful medium toned blue droplet of color from Namibia.#778
This standard round brilliant is a blue that stands up to yellow light without greening. Sparkles even in muted light and is able to climb tall cutters in a single bound. I keep buying Namibian blue when I can, it … Continue reading
Slightly included bright hot pink dot.#777
This standard round brilliant is still hot pint in this dot of color. Even this small a hot pink is slightly included. It has a medium tone value and weighs .27 carats. I cutting it when I was experimenting with … Continue reading
Nice blue green color dot.#776
This green standard round brilliant has enough tone value to still be darker in this color dot. It weighs .36 carats and has the typical amount of flash for a darker stone. Bruce
Small even for a color dot, golden gem.#775
This is about as small as I ever cut a standard round brilliant. This dot of color is still rich in golden color and reaches to flash, threw the cotton. It weighs .15 carats and sadly will never grow up. … Continue reading
Bright water clear round.#774
Keeping in line with past decisions, this extremely bright and flashy Achroite standard round brilliant will accept no invitations to join any groups. It might of had a history of being very lightly blue, but that is in the past. … Continue reading
A smaller plain green droplet of color.#773
This standard round brilliant has a good tone level for a smaller droplet of color. The rather sedate green is just that green. It seems with tourmaline you are always reaching for adjectives to describe the multitudes of greens. Well … Continue reading
A richer golden yellow I will call butterscotch, droplet of color.#772
Another sweet color in a standard round brilliant package. The stones richness comes from maybe a bit of brown, but that goes with chocolate and butterscotch just fine in this case. That is because there is nothing dense about this … Continue reading
Medium toned green dot of color#770
This smaller standard round brilliant is eye clean and has a nice medium tone. I cut it when I was experimenting with cutting small round brilliants. It weighs .36 carats. Bruce
Slightly include, pale, pastel green IceT, groupie#769
This pale green round just missed being a droplet of color. It is slightly included and really wished that it was larger so that its tone level would be more appropriate for such a small standard round brilliant. It weighs … Continue reading
Eye clean baby pink round from Afghanistan#768
This smaller standard round brilliant was cut from a lot of included very light blue and pink pieces of tourmaline that use to be bicolors. They broke apart and now go their separate ways. This pink weighs .54 carats and … Continue reading
This bright droplet of color looks like a bit of sea foam from Afghanistan#767
When the standard round brilliant gets this small the force of sea foam is much diminished. The Afghanistan material just does not have the tone level to descend this low. Still the eye clean round is attractive and has found … Continue reading
Medium dark pink dot of color#766
This standard round brilliant, medium dark, pink has the force to standout in the cotton. It was cut while I was experimenting with cutting small rounds. It weighs .28 carats and is a dot of color. Bruce
Another round of Achroite for the boys.#765
I think that I saw a touch of blue in this standard round brilliant, in the past, because I could see it in the rough. Now I only see one of the brightest, purest water white Achroites I have cut. … Continue reading
A pale, baby pink round from Afghanistan#764
This standard round brilliant has just enough pink to not be an IceT, but is pale for such a small round. Still its delicate beauty smiles threw its lightly included surface and rewards me for my effort. I weighs .41 … Continue reading
A touch of blue leads to an IceT round.#763
You could easily miss the touch of blue in this otherwise completely colorless round. But with the help of my IceT consultants I see it this time. The bright and flashy stone appears to have a sprinkling of tiny inclusions … Continue reading
Moderate inclusions and a hot red/pink, round#762
This standard round brilliant’s inclusion would be a disappointment except for the rounds bright hot red pink look that makes them a normal occurrence. I don’t think that red/pinks in tourmaline are as burdened as emeralds with imperfections, but they … Continue reading
Tower of Green Power Emerald Cut with Dark Ends.#761
To cut a nice gemstone from tourmaline that has closed ends (very little if any light is transmitted down the principle, c, axis.) restricts your options as a cutter. The choice of the emerald cut is essential for minimizing the … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Verdelite
Tagged closed-c, cutting tourmaline, emerald cut, green, verdelite
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Dark flash driven blue droplet of color#760
This standard round brilliant couldn’t be much larger to keep any transparency with such a dark toned blue. The blue flash is without green and is quite a good solid blue, that deserves to call an Indicolite (pure blue tourmaline). … Continue reading
A golden ray of color for a color dot#759
This smaller round brilliant is a bright golden dot of color. It is bright and sparkling and weighs .31 carats. Bruce
A steely blue color dot.#757
This smaller standard round brilliant was cut while I was experimenting in cutting small stones. It blue color is a bit gray, but it is still a nice open stone that is bright and flashy. It weighs .27 carats. It … Continue reading
Pink peach punch in a dot.#756
This small standard round brilliant was cut while I was experimenting in cutting small rounds. I put it in the collection to keep it safe. It is a nice peach pink of light tone and bright disposition. It weighs .24 … Continue reading
A hot dot of pink power.#755
When I first started cutting after a long hiatus, I only worked on small stones. It got to the point that I wanted to see how small I could make them. This small standard round brilliant was part of that … Continue reading
Slightly included peach droplet of color.#754
This smaller standard round brilliant has a nice medium tone and a clean peach look. It slightly included, but still very bright with no signs of brown. It weighs .55 carats and joins the droplet of color. Bruce
Great light minty green droplet of color.#753
This standard round brilliant is a really crisp pastel green with a touch of blue. It would make a fine after dinner mint if it wasn’t so hard. It is eye clean and very bright. It weighs 1.23 carats and … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, mint, verdelite
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This oval is in the pink and ready to flash.#752
It is nice to see a pink oval that is eye clean and very bright and flashy, be an average stone in my collection. It is nothing new in color, but for those who love pink, this stone would be … Continue reading
Medium light pastel peach round#751
This standard round brilliant has all the good properties that a peach should have. It has a nice medium light pastel tone level. It is not bother by browns or any other overtone. It is easily eye clean and weighs … Continue reading
Quite included candy orange oval, Brazil#550
This oval was cut from a piece of “salad” that I purchased from Brazil. “Salad” are low grade tourmalines that are faceted by native cutters. I got some just to see if I could get some different shades of color … Continue reading
Snappy, sassy, cuprian, pinkish purple, but still lightly included oval#549
When it comes to cuprian tourmaline with a great pinkish purple color, I am very forgiving with cleanliness, but in this case I don’t really have to be. It has a moderate tone level, which is beautifully complemented by just … Continue reading
A sea of color in a lower transparent round. Droplets can’t pass it by.#548
This standard round brilliant just doesn’t have the crystal to shine. None of its flaws flash or are distracting. But they help keep this gemstone’s beautiful, blue green color, from lifting it into being a pinnacle of power. It weighs … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color
Tagged blue-green, dichroic, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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A bicolor of rust and cream emerald cut#547
This is really nice gemstone. It is about fifty percent rust color and fifty percent cream. Since the rust color travels down the long axis and colors the cream end, the stone is dominated by rust, but you can still … Continue reading
Purple brown in a dark package, oval#546
This gemstone is an example of how you have to buy in the world of tourmaline rough to quest for color. I consider tourmaline to be a world of color possibilities. Opportunities appear which demand action because if you miss … Continue reading
Someone has to be in the middle of the bell curve, pink oval.#545
I would judge this pink oval to be an example of the most typical pink that is coming out of Africa at the moment (2013). It maybe a little larger at 4.36 carats and cleaner, eye clean, than most, but … Continue reading
Bright medium dark beautiful pink oval#544
Back in the middle of the road, pink oval. But it is really a beautiful middle of the road. No potholes here, just an eye clean gem of fine crystal that sets off a rich, brightly flashy, pink. The stone … Continue reading
A brown descent into orange wood, mahogany,round.#543
When I looked at the back of this standard round brilliant to look for flaws I was somewhat frustrated by my past cutting behavior. There was a white inclusion about one third of the way up from the pavilion and … Continue reading
A Red/Orange-Peach, deep oval.#542
Since I posted that I was using peach only in the pastel world this deeply cut oval is probably a medium toned reddish orange, but it still is really a deeper peach. Its pavilion is a “super nova” which takes … Continue reading
An emerald cut with open ends and green touched with blue.
No 540 picture for now. This emerald cut has a nice complex color that get touches of blue in a mainly a green world. The gemstones tone level is delightfully breezy and without any darkness in the ends. Such a … Continue reading
A medium pastel blue with a touch of gray oval cuprian#539
I did not buy the rough for this oval as cuprian. It was too early in the game. Later, I did not expect this somewhat different blue, with a touch of gray, to be cuprian because it does not have … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Etc., Indicolite
Tagged blue, cuprian, Mozambique, oval, pastel, sapphire
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Blue to blue green droplet of color#538
This blue to blue green round has a great medium dark tone level. It is bright in a reasonable light and looks rich and delicious. The droplets of color will have a feast with this new member. The standard round … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Indicolite
Tagged blue, droplet-of-color, green-blue, indicolite
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Just rolling in peaches, emerald cut.#537
This emerald cut has a nice medium tone level without dichroism. It is completely eye clean and with excellent crystal. It is a peach pastel like a peach pastel should be. It weighs 4.10 carats. Bruce
Very pale peach emerald easy choice for IceT development#536
This is one of those tourmaline that you would think is anything, but a tourmaline. Its tone level is very low and the stones crystal is flawless. It is not dichroic and actually looks like some inexpensive topaz I had … Continue reading
Stately blue emerald cut with authority.#535
The emerald cut is a combination of an absolutely transparent body without any hint of dichroism and wonderful crystal. It is quite impressive without even mentioning a color. Now its eye clean stature and stable blue color (it slips a … Continue reading
Slightly included smaller hot red/pink oval.#534
This longer ratio oval is a great piece of red/pink eye candy. It is slightly included, as you expect of a piece of tourmaline with this intensity of color and being a red pink. I think that this is a … Continue reading
A purple without copper, oval#533
This purple without copper does not have a good saturation level, but it is a purple and therefor rare in the collection. The stone is included, but its medium dark tone level tends to obscure the inclusions. (I just spotted … Continue reading
A watery orange that failed a bit, round#532
Well this is the first inclusion failure I have found in the collection and I probably should consider recutting it. Still the small area of the pavilion that failed (chipped out probably during epoxy removal)is hard to see from the … Continue reading
A great brown with a different twist, emerald cut.#531
If you look closely at many tourmaline browns, what do you see. An orange that is just not saturated (purity of color) enough to present its orange face cleanly and brightly to the world. But the posted gemstone, which is … Continue reading
Very Pale Yellow to Green, victim of wishful thinking round. (IceT for sure)#530
Now the IceT party is ready to party hard with this standard round brilliant no mater what official color I come up with. In the morning light I see a very pale green, but there is yellow on the box. … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite, Yellow
Tagged color-shift, green, IceT, pale, verdelite, yellow
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Get your red hot pink round, everything included.#529
There are times when you truly wish that you could get an eye clean specimen of a certain shade of color for the collection. Well the posted standard round brilliant is an object of that wishful thinking. It is a … Continue reading
Smaller round with rind of blue and a heart of pink.#528
I purchased the rough for this standard round tourmaline as a bit of cuprian color, but my spectrometer said no copper. It is still interesting, even if it has moderate inclusion that inhibit the flash. They are at least spread … Continue reading
Dichroic pink with growth tubes emerald cut.#527
Imperfections in a gemstone do not always make it less beautiful or interesting. Cats eye in tourmaline that are produce by dense formations of growth tubes is a prime example of that beauty and interest in tourmaline. The posted highly … Continue reading
An Achroite, simply pure, colorless and open round.#526
My father use to tell me over and over again that nature abhors a vacuum to his profound enjoyment. Well I think that nature abhors a tourmaline without color. So I always question if an Achroite has been heated or … Continue reading
Cyan blue and cuprian rich emerald cut.#525
This smaller emerald cut is a GEM (outstanding gemstone) and was one of the first gemstone from Mozambique that I got, that proved to have copper in it. It has such a bright neon look that I knew it was … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Etc., Indicolite
Tagged blue, cuprian, cyan, emerald cut, Mozambique, neon, paraiba
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Baby pink round from Afghanistan#524
This standard round brilliant is one of the better ones from the lot I bought years ago from Afghanistan. It is eye clean and has a good size. I never tried to keep track of have many rounds I cut … Continue reading
So many varieties of peaches, round.#522
I can see that the person who put this collection together is drawn toward peach to orange tourmaline. The posted round is faintly included and with its medium pastel peach color you would notice any inclusions. It is a bright … Continue reading
A great medium toned green droplet of color.#520
This standard round brilliant is slightly included, but still bright and flashy. It has a great medium tone level that reminds me of sea foam. I would call it sea foam, except that I like to leave sea foam for … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, pastel, verdelite
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Classic hot hot included pink droplet of color#519
This is what hot pink tourmaline looked like for most of the old days. It was and is a great color in this standard round brilliant, but it always was included. Included to such a significant degree that it impacts … Continue reading
Slightly sleepy, included, dichroic, blue oval.#518
I usually think of sapphire and garnet when I hear sleepy, but that is what this oval is. I can see both dichroic blues in the gem’s flashes and they are not exceptional dark. But the pizazz is not there. … Continue reading
Slightly graded color in a slightly included, dichroic, peach emerald cut.#517
The title of this post says a lot. With all of it, the bottom line is, it is a pity that I don’t have more peaches like this one. The darker c axis ends are redder than the middle. The … Continue reading
Posted in Orange
Tagged dichroic, emerald cut, graduated tone, orange, pastel, peach
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An extremely faint trace of green in the IceT emerald cut.#516
This emerald cut goes back awhile, to a time when I thought that the straight sharp fagot of tubes in the pavilion of this emerald cut were rutile crystals not growth tubes. (Now I have never heard of rutile in … Continue reading
Midnight/sapphire blue flash, trilliant cut.#515
It would be nice if I never purchased a “problem” piece of rough. But then I guess I would never get to show off, to myself, what I can stretch to do. (I have almost never discussed cutting a stone … Continue reading
A step up from the average pink round, to be droplet.#514
This standard round brilliant has a great medium tone level and is just a step up from the the average baby pink round, that has been presented. It is eye clean and is a really reflective little gemstone. This is … Continue reading
If it wasn’t included it wouldn’t be a saturated yellow oval#512
This oval is lightly included and the inclusions are not a distraction from the beauty of the stone. This saturated yellow is not only excellent for tourmaline, I don’t think that many other types of gemstone can really measure up … Continue reading
Dravite, just not enough satuation to keep this Orange without Brown, Oval#511
This oval has a good size, fine crystal and is probably eye clean, but gets very little respect because its saturation (purity of color) is not high enough to scare away the brown. This problem is shared with many other … Continue reading
A heavily included experiment in the round.#510
The standard round brilliant that is heavily included was just an experiment. I had purchased some Brazilian “salad”(low grade faceted gemstones) to try and see if I could get something different.(I did get a couple of grayed purples that are … Continue reading
A blue green round of middle proportions, droplet of color.#509
There has to be something in the middle of the road to have a middle of the road, and this pastel blue green round fills the bill. I have nothing bad to say about this standard round brilliant that rolls … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, forest green, green, verdelite
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Another round of bluish blush for this green round (droplet).#508
There are many views of nature’s rich pallet of greens in Pennsylvania’s springtime awakening. The bright and flashy hillside drenched in sunlight and the gathering darkness of the canopy in the deep forest, along with all the grass people continue … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, forest green, green, verdelite
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Slightly dichroic peach emerald cut#507
This cute smaller emerald cut looks a lot like a topaz I cut years ago. It has darker peach ends and a moderately lightly toned center of pastel peach. It is eye clean with excellent crystal for a peachy deal. … Continue reading
When does colorless become white, round#506
When you’re dealing with transparent gems, I guess colorless is a better term than white to describe the stone. Now if the transparent gemstone becomes less transparent because of a lower grade crystal and a network of internal flaws should … Continue reading
Non dichroic, lightly toned shield cut.#505
If you want to spend the time and effort on a shield cut, this is a stone like you would want to cut. It has all the right gemological properties in a mild bright pastel blue. It refuses to gray … Continue reading
Make way for a little red round that shouts Rubellite.#504
It is my opinion that Rubellite (varietal name for red tourmaline) should be used with the reddest most intense color that tourmaline is capable of producing. Not pinks or reds that desaturate to brownish off color gemstones. Smaller gemstone usually … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Etc., Rubellite
Tagged droplet-of-color, red, rubellite, unique
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Living with a complex color round.#503
We have a live one in this darker toned standard round brilliant. First I see a pink purple that is very close to maroon and I begin to wonder. Then I look at the back of the storage box and … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Orange, Pink
Tagged color-shift, orange-pink, pink, purple-pink
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Scattered, light inclusions in a pale lemon droplet of color.#502
This smaller standard round brilliant looks like the medicine I use to take to help with a sore throat. The light lemony with just a touch of green color has scattered inclusions that aren’t too dense. Its flash is impacted … Continue reading
Something different a maroon emerald cut.#501
With all the rough I have bought to enlarge the spread of color you would have thought I would have more maroon. Now maroon has a part of me since it was part of my high school colors. Maroon and … Continue reading
Very slight included baby pink round from Afghanistan#750
This standard round brilliant has a very nice baby pink color. It appears to be very slightly included, but it is still a very sharp little round. It weighs 1.17 carats. Bruce
Closed ended blue green emerald cut.#749
This emerald cut has normal angles on its ends despite being closed ended. I prefer the flash better on normally cut emerald cuts even though the darkness edges in a little. It appears to be eye clean and has a … Continue reading
A blue cup of IceT round from Afghanistan#748
This very pale blue stone, and I can clearly see the blue in this one, still made it into the IceT group. It is a very bright ,lightly included, standard round brilliant. It weighs .63 carats. Bruce
Eye clean sharp baby pink round from Afghanistan#747
This standard round brilliant is slightly included and has a nice baby pink color. It came in a lot from Afghanistan years ago. It weighs .64 carats. Bruce
Eye clean, baby pink round from Afghanistan#745
This standard round brilliant is a nice eye clean baby pink. It came in a lot years ago from Afghanistan. It is a shape little stone that is bright and flashy just like all pastels are from Afghanistan. It weighs … Continue reading
Very lightly included baby pink from Afghanistan, round#744
This pale pink standard round brilliant is very slightly included. It came in a lot from Afghanistan years ago. It weighs .79 carats. Bruce
A ghost round for a tourmaline from Afghanistan#724
It is difficult to see really pale colors in tourmaline because it has a habit of picking up ambient colors and showing off your shirt, the walls etc. This Achroite has barely enough color to make the IceT group. Under … Continue reading
Included round with pleasant baby blue color.#731
This baby blue standard round brilliant is moderately included. the inclusions definitely affect the flash and transparency of the gemstone. It is from Afghanistan and weighs .47 carats. Bruce
A light pastel blue green droplet of color.#730
Another shade of the complete continuum in tourmaline color from green to blue. It is a light pastel with the brightness and flash that you would expect in an eye clean stone. It weighs .76 carats and joins the raising … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, pastel, verdelite
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Strawberry, just a bit hotter pink, round#729
The use of strawberry for the color of this included standard round brilliant is not my creation. It is used in Afghanistan to label this, always included, extremely hot pink tourmaline. I also was told that it generally comes in … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Pink
Tagged afghan, droplet-of-color, hot pink, pink, strawberry
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Slightly included medium forest green, oval#728
I think that this medium toned forest green oval has just a touch of blue. It has a slight flaw close to the girdle, but it should not weaken the stone. The rest of the gem is eye clean with … Continue reading
Golden Brown Honey for the Droplet of Color#727
This standard round brilliant is a sweet treat for the droplets of color. A brown overtone maybe a liability for some gemstones, but not for the pretty piece. It is only a touch of honey brown and that makes the … Continue reading
Posted in Dravite, Droplets of Color
Tagged brown, droplet-of-color, golden-brown, honey
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Namibian Indicolite with single inclusion, droplet of color.#726
This standard round brilliant is blue and will have nothing to do with green. It purity is compromised by an easily seen white non-reflective inclusion that is close to the girdle. I don’t believe that it endangers the physical integrity … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Indicolite
Tagged blue, droplet-of-color, indicolite, Namibia
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Small, but potent sea foam droplet of color.#725
This bit of a standard round brilliant was sliced off one of the high quality sea foam pieces I got from Afghanistan. It appears to be on the bluer side of sea foam and has enough tone value to be … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, seafoam, verdelite
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Open Bright Green Droplet of color.#224
Another rare find in a bright medium toned green that is open enough to be a standard round brilliant. It appears to be eye clean and has fine crystal. There are never enough of these for the droplets of color. … Continue reading
Dichroic golden orange with yellow mate, droplet of color.#723
This is a very nice standard round brilliant that is dominated by its c axis color of golden orange, that still must share some of the spot light with the a/b axis yellow color. This color distribution is caused by … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Orange
Tagged dichroic, droplet-of-color, orange, yellow-orange
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Modest, mid range, pink oval#722
This modest oval has a rather toned down flash and does not appear to be significantly dichroic. The stone appears to be eye clean and with good crystal. Its color is a mid range pink with a darker tone level. … Continue reading
Smaller Beautiful Blue Emerald Cut#721
This blue without green emerald cut deserved to be called an Indicolite. I have been reading about reports that the old trade varietal names like Indicolite are going out of favor. In the future just plain Jane names like red, … Continue reading
cherry red and ripe with beauty, round#720
Some stones you remember cutting for a long time, even if the details fade. This standard round brilliant came forth from a flaw piece of rough. I had to fight for every fraction of a carat and I just made … Continue reading
Here is the yellow green Peridot color you have been looking for round.#719
These standard round brilliants are so bright when they are cut from a medium pastel piece of rough, with a great color, like this one. This stone acts like a headlight in my secret place besides a twisted florescent light … Continue reading
Lightly include oval with a heart of gold.#718
Except for the inclusion that are minor, this golden ray of beauty has it all. Its moderate tone level and open golden color, without any green or darker tones makes an eye grabber to me. It weighs 2.16 carats. Bruce
Tea that can turn to yellow round#717
Under my yellowish light this standard round brilliant is a very nice yellow, but in bluer light its steeped in tea. It has a medium tone level and is nice and bright, even with a slightly brownish overtone. The only … Continue reading
A nice sized sea foam colored round#716
The phrase “eye candy” connotes a certain element of superficiality that this superior, sea foam, standard round brilliant doesn’t have. But it will grab your eye as soon as you spot it and it is eye candy to me. Most … Continue reading
Decent lavender without copper emerald cut.#715
This emerald cut will not win any prizes for cleanliness or excessive brightness since its crystal is below average, but its color assure it a place in the collection. This is one of my better non-cuprian purples and it is … Continue reading
Posted in Etc.
Tagged dichroic, emerald cut, lavender, Madagascar, non-cuprian, purple
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A four slice pie of a pink, dichoric, round.#714
I would have cut this standard round brilliant with its table perpendicular to the principal (c) axis if it was reasonable. It wasn’t, so I cut the emerald cut with the table parallel to the c axis. With that orientation … Continue reading
An emerald cut with a greened bronze color.#713
Now a collection of tourmalines that wants to be inclusive can not only go for the eye candy in the world. Besides I wouldn’t have a lot to cut if every stone had to have great commercial potential. This dichroic … Continue reading
A large fantastic graded pink emerald cut.#712
Some gemstones are so easy to write about. I can not say enough about this absolutely beautiful pastel pink emerald cut. Its tone level grades from a pale pink to a very nice medium pastel pink with a saturation (purity … Continue reading
Strongly dichroic pink with pinch of purple or orange, emerald cut#711
I have seen this combination of a richly colored c axis with some shade of pink and a pale a/b axis with an off color pink. Looking hard I think that the a/b pink has got a little brown in … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Pink
Tagged color-shift, dichroic, emerald cut, orange-pink, pink, purple-pink
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Eye clean bright pink round from Afghanistan#710
This standard round brilliant has a pretty medium light pink color with an eye clean advantage. Most of the rounds I cut from a lot of tourmaline I got years ago from Afghanistan are included. This bright flashy round weighs … Continue reading
A slightly dichroic minty green, droplet of color#709
Green standard round brilliants are not as common as you might think because of problems with dichroism. Either the c axis is too dark to cut a round or one of the axis does not have a desirable color. So … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged dichroic, droplet-of-color, green, mint, verdelite
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A round that inherited a yellow rust color from the rough, but is peach.#708
This standard round brilliant has mixed up the colors of rust and yellow that could be seen in the rough into peach. It is a great property of rounds to flash away zoning, at least from face up. If you … Continue reading
Darker pink with a punch of purple, round
I have this standard round brilliant marked as a pink, but something is both making it darker and toning down the flash. I think that it is a punch of purple that I have seen often in pink tourmaline. This … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Pink
Tagged dark pink, droplet-of-color, pink, purple-pink
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Visibly included bright medium pink, round.#706
This standard round brilliant is visibly included. The round looks rather like how I remember the pinks coming from Brazil years ago. Still a decent stone, but with so many inclusion that there was no hope of cutting a clean … Continue reading
There is nothing fishy about this red salmon colored, round#705
This slightly reddish pink seemed to have just the right touch of orange to get my creative juices going and give it a color name (red salmon) that I have not used before. But as you have probably read before, … Continue reading
Medium light pastel pink, round, Afghanistan#704
This is a nice bright flashy standard round brilliant. Its medium light toned, pink color is so clean. It appears to be eye clean and is one of the better rounds that I have cut from a lot I got … Continue reading
This colorless (achroite) tourmaline is eye clean and bright, round#703
This .58 carat standard round brilliant is eye clean and from the same lot as #702 and I refer you to the preceding post for a better description of this stone. Bruce
A very bright eye clean achroic (colorless) round Afghanistan#702
Afghanistan produces some of the most outstanding tourmaline in the world. It is amazing to me how the pastel colors it produces can be so pure and bright. This small standard round brilliant has a purity of being,without color, to … Continue reading
Included medium light pastel pink, round, Afghanistan#701
This is a bright flashy standard round brilliant that is a nice medium light pastel pink color from Afghanistan. I have cut a number of them from a lot I purchase years ago. All of them are included, but they … Continue reading
Fascinating green to golden brown color changing oval.#300
This tourmaline is unique in the collection. It is a color changer from golden brown in incandescent light and green in daylight. Neither color really grabs you, but the color change is hard to miss. I looked at the stone … Continue reading
Dark toned and flash driven golden/orange brown oval
This bigger oval is reaching the limit, set by its darker tone, in size that an effective oval can be cut. It is dark, but from its depths still come bright flashes of golden orange. Dichroism does not appear to … Continue reading
Dichroic orange brown oval
This oval was cut with the darker dichroic color on the side of the oval and the paler orange brown in the ends. If it works with the piece of rough, it is a good way to get a reasonable … Continue reading
Orange Brown to Golden Brown like Buckwheat Honey, oval
This sweet gemstone is dichroic with the darker golden to orange brown in the ends of the longer ratio oval. The stones tone level is medium dark and it color is mainly flash driven. It is eye clean with excellent … Continue reading
Shades of orange and pink in a deep oval.
This larger medium light toned oval is cut with a “super nova” pavilion and a regular crown. This arrangement makes a really bright fully involved oval. What is bright in this stone is a nice average pink to peach slider, … Continue reading
A Very Bright Rich Pink, that really wants to be a Red, oval.
This pink that wants to be red, is very bright for its rich tone level and knows that it is a great stone. The ovals cut is the standard one I use most of the time, but this gemstone seems … Continue reading
A moderately included rich pink oval
This rich pink oval has a quadrant of the stone that has moderate inclusion. They are visible from face up, but they do not stop the gemstone from being bright for a darker, middle of the road, pink and flashy. … Continue reading
A big red star for the collection, oval#292
My principle dealer in Africa has gotten to know my weaknesses. And really red tourmaline is one of them. I was rather frustrated that I had not been able to be in on the scene when the big find of … Continue reading
Large Exquisite Purple Round, One of the Best Tourmalines in Collection#291
When I started faceting again after a long hiatus, one of the colors I wanted very much was bluish purples. I could get purples as shades of pink and red, but to go to the blue side was unattainable. Then … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Etc., Laurellite
Tagged blue-purple, cuprian, laurellite, outstanding, purple, unique
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A golden oval that rests in brown.#290
This modest gemstone has a nice golden flash, but is darken by brown when the flash passes. It is moderately dichroic with darker tones of gold in the ends of the oval. It appears to be eye clean and with … Continue reading
An incredibly dichroic mahogany oval#289
I have been waiting to post about this longer ratio, deeply cut oval. Face up the dravite, a trade name for brown tourmaline, looks like many of the brown gems I have posted about, with the possible exception that its … Continue reading
A brown has come around, again, oval.#288
I smile when I wrote again in the title, because I like this stone and I wish that more browns would roll my way. But I haven’t seen any for years (2013). I am sure the rough came from East … Continue reading
A peachy pink slightly included oval#287
This modest gemstone has a medium light tone level that does not hide the stones slightly included nature. It color is a nice pastel that floats around in a pink to peach to golden cloud. It weighs 2.01 carats. Bruce
The vote is in and a Rubellite (red) declared, oval.#285
I love Rubellites and I am demanding in declaring was is a good enough red to be called a Rubellite. Nothing with a brown problem or a significant degree of purple under normal daylight conditions should be called a Rubellite … Continue reading
A very nice pretty average darker pink oval#284
This gemstone doesn’t have any gemological problems, but its medium dark pink color is not exceptional. Still it is a solid performer and would make a fine center stone in a distinctive ring. It has enough richness of color to … Continue reading
A more stately oval on the darker side of pink.#283
Now, I love a flashing piece of eye candy as much as anyone, but that is not in every piece of rough, no mater how good the lapidary effort has been. The posted gemstone has a solid amount of flash … Continue reading
Deep cut oval with bright pink flash#286
This oval was cut with both a larger ratio of its length to width and a “super nova” style pavilion. This extra effort was well rewarded by producing a very bright flashy gemstone. Its tone level and pink color are … Continue reading
Liddicoatite rose sliding to orange rose, oval.#282
This is one of the few tourmalines in the collection that I have had adequately tested, enough, to determine that is not Elbaite, but Liddicoatite. Liddicoatite and Elbaite are very closely related species in the group of minerals we call … Continue reading
Copper and Purple hand in hand, round#281
I usually put included before everything else when it is a definite factor in the gemstone, but with cuprian purple it is a different ball game. Purple ,like this stone has, requires copper if it comes from Mozambique, I think. … Continue reading
Dichroic, medium toned, pink orange oval#280
This medium toned oval has a nice complex nature. The pastel pink orange blends nicely with the pastel pink orange to make a medium toned, dichroic gemstone. It appears to be eye clean and of a fine crystal. It weighs … Continue reading
A darker more robust brown oval#279
Little orange is left in this good sized brown oval. I would really reach for a name with this one and call it brown. It is dark, but still has a fine flash driven color, in a stone that is … Continue reading
You may call it mahongany or I might call it root beer, oval#278
I haven’t seen this material in a long time. It is a desaturated orange that makes a fine rich browned orange. I think that this stone is cut with the table perpendicular to the c axis and that produces a … Continue reading
Smaller, Dichroic, Pink Oval#277
This smaller oval is strongly dichroic and the middle of the stone is much paler than the ends which are a nice medium pink tone. This definitely gives a different look to the stone. It is eye clean and with … Continue reading
Pink oval darkened with a bit of purple.#276
Purple pinks are not rare and I find that the purple cast tends to make them less vibrant. This is the case with this oval. It has a good tone level of medium dark and is eye clean with good … Continue reading
A smaller medium dark pink oval.#275
I am working on a tray that my son organized years ago after the last Carnegie Museum Show. It is about 1/3 brown to orange gemstones, 1/10 purples and the rest pinks to reds. I have not really looked at … Continue reading
A definitely dichroic pink oval.#274
This nice sized, dichroic, pink oval was cut with the table parallel to the a/b axis. This causes a band of lighter pink to dominate the center of the oval. The ends of the oval are a much richer, bright … Continue reading
A fine medium light pink oval#273
I you have been reading many post about the gemstones I have cut, you have probably come to the conclusion that pink/reds are predominately in ovals and rounds, while greens are predominantly in emerald cuts. This is true and it … Continue reading
Pendant sized oval pink with great properties#272
This larger medium pink oval has a flatter than normal crown that gives a wide open appearance to the gemstone. The table opens into an eye clean medium toned world of pink flash and general brightness. It weighs 6.72 carats. … Continue reading
Slightly included, gorgeous, lavender round, that is cuprian.#271
I don’t believe that this saturated (purity of color) a purple exists in tourmaline without a copper component in its chemistry. (I think it maybe possible with iron and manganese and I haven’t seen it all, so who knows for … Continue reading
An orange good enough to get juice from it in the morning, oval#270
This is how an orange tourmaline should be. It doesn’t want to be a red or darken into a brown. It follows it purity in color by being eye clean and uninhibited. I have gotten larger oranges, but I haven’t … Continue reading
Smaller richer golden oval.#269
This oval maybe on the small side for me to cut, but it has a rich golden color that flashes to a moderate degree. It is cut with the c axis perpendicular to the table and has a nice even … Continue reading
Great Rich Golden Brown, just like Mom’s Gravy, oval#268
This is an exceptional piece of dravite (brownish tourmaline). It is cut with a “super nova” pavilion and a standard top, to conserve weight and get the most out of a brown, that is not dark or dense in any … Continue reading
Another round of golden eye candy please, oval#267
This bright bouncy golden yellow oval is slightly dichroic, but you have to look hard to see it. It appears to be eye clean and is just a down right nice little stone. There is not a hint of brown … Continue reading
Just another great medium dark pink oval#266
I wish that I could get the rough for this medium dark toned, pink oval at a reasonable price today. It is just a beautiful ring sized stone that has all the right gemological properties. It is even eye clean, … Continue reading
Slightly included, medium toned, bright pink oval#265
This oval has a slight inclusion toward one end of the oval. It is close to the girdle and does not effect the beauty of the gemstone. I think that the tourmaline is slightly dichroic, with a slightly darker pink … Continue reading
A fine uniform rich pink oval#264
I would not call this nice sized pink oval a hot pink. But it is a solid medium dark, middle of the road, pink. One that can say that you’ve reach a stable and mature position as a lover of … Continue reading
A well ripened wheat shield cut.#263
This beautiful shield cut could be considered a pale peach in some light sources, but I think I see enough brown to call it wheat. The wash of brown does not darken the stone very much and you can see … Continue reading
Nice all around medium pink round.#262
This standard round brilliant, is an all around nice stone. It has fine gemological properties and a pleasant medium pinkand medium toned soul. Eye clean and with fine crystal makes a gemstone that can’t help, but to please any pink … Continue reading
This is a Rubellite, top quality red color, round#261
Some tourmalines are memorable even when they are not large. This standard round brilliant is a Rubellite and I really only like to use that old trade name for high quality red tourmaline. The red tourmaline should not desaturate into … Continue reading
A tale of two golden ovals.#260
This is #259 and is piece of bright golden eye candy This is #260 and is a dravite with golden flash. I am going to post one comment for both of the next two stones in the tray. My … Continue reading
Orange flash in a brown body, oval#258
The verdict is in, this is a traditional dravite, even if the flash has quite a good orange color. The oval has a nice medium tone level and appears to be eye clean with good crystal. But it can not … Continue reading
Small pale peach oval#257
Peach that is some level of pastel seems to be the twin of pink in tourmaline. It generally has the same problems and strengths as its more appreciated sibling. This pale peach oval could be easily mistaken for a pink … Continue reading
A pink oval for the common man#256
This pink tourmaline oval is bright and eye clean and flashy and moderate light in tone and has good saturation and is probably the only natural gemstone that you can buy, at a reasonable price, with those gemological properties. I … Continue reading
A pink with a touch of purple, medium dark round.#255
This standard round brilliant is a little frisky, but it stays a medium dark pink with some purple in my white lights. It appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. It weighs 1.68 carats and was corralled by … Continue reading
Nice sized pink oval with stepped crown#254
I have found that a stepped crown makes a wide open gemstone that does not hide inclusion. This 4.85 carat oval has a stepped crown, but does not have to worry about inclusion because it is eye clean. Its fine … Continue reading
Nice smaller medium dark pink oval.#253
This medium dark pink oval appears to be eye clean. It has good crystal and bright flash. The pink seems to be a bit on the purple side of pink. It weighs 1.10 carats Bruce
Medium sized with a medium toned pink to peach slider, round#252
Research has shown that two areas of the visible spectrum produce shifts of color with tone level that are non-linear. A darker line will not necessary have the same color as a lighter line even if you use the same … Continue reading
Average tone level pink peach droplet of color#251
This standard round brilliant is a pretty average pink peach trooper ready to work with the droplets of color. It has a medium tone level. It appears to be eye clean with good crystal and weighs 1.50 carats. Bruce
Darker bicolor emerald cut of pink and brown.
Before I was able to buy cuprian material from Mozambique, my opportunities to buy purple tourmaline had been severally limited. My hope to buy blue purple had been fruitless. I wished that I had been active when Paraiba was affordable … Continue reading
A slight bicolor with a peach end and a colorless end emerald cut.
You could call this emerald cut a graded color gems, but I prefer to call it a bicolor with an orange end and a colorless end. The darker, but still moderate pastel, reflects down the long axis of the emerald … Continue reading
Included pale peaches and cream oval
This slightly included oval appears eye clean face up. The gemstone appears to be dichroic with light peach in the middle of the stone and a cream in the ends. I am sure that you can come with other names … Continue reading
A yellow glazed in orange for a tasty emerald cut.
A full set of steps present this medium toned beauty. The amount of orange varies with the light, but every view of the stone in different white lights is still beautiful. It is eye clean and has great crystal. I … Continue reading
A mahogany GEM flashes in the collection, emerald cut.
The composite color brown (a color not found in the rainbow that comes from mixing colors) does not get very much respect in the color stone world. I realize that might be changing with the development of a market for … Continue reading
Posted in Dravite, Orange
Tagged brown-orange, dravite, emerald cut, mahogany, non-dichroic, orange
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Included bright medium toned apple green emerald cut, copper bearing
I did not buy the rough for this included emerald cut as copper bearing. I liked its medium toned blue green to apple green color despite its included grade. I usually try not to cut emerald cuts with inclusions under … Continue reading
Old #44 is a large peach oval with a heart of green.
This oval is one of the first larger tourmalines I cut and I even remember the listed sale number it had (44). The rough was advertised to have peach and green, which can make an undesirable mixture. I think that … Continue reading
A Orange Pink has finally hit the bell, Its a GEM emerald cut.
This larger emerald cut is a gem, (top quality gemstone). It has a complete set of facet steps, four on the pavilion and three on the crown. It has a color that has more or less orange in the pink … Continue reading
A medium toned pink with a squeeze of orange, emerald cut
This is another fine emerald cut with a full compliment of steps. It has a fine, medium toned, pink color which is on the orange side, to be shown by the increased number of facets.. It has an even color … Continue reading
A wild side yellow with a long body, oval
I kept this yellow piece of rough for a long time because I wanted to cut this rare color in tourmaline with as little loss in weight as possible. But that meant I would have to cut a very long … Continue reading
Burnt orange in a great rich tone level, emerald cut
This gemstone has the full complement of facet steps, four on the pavilion and three on the crown, that I cut on emerald cuts. This makes a deeper more scintillating gemstone that can draw you into its rich colorful world, … Continue reading
A complex peach with a side order of pink, emerald cut.
Gemstones with a zestful mixture of pink and peach are relatively rare and quite desirable in such gems as corundum (sapphire) and topaz (precious topaz). Well I think that this posted gemstone has all it has to have, to … Continue reading
Dichroic greenish yellow eye candy, emerald cut
One of the features I love about color in tourmaline is how different a color such as yellow green can look/feel in different gemstones. I think there are at least three different sets of conditions that can produce a yellow … Continue reading