This piece of Brazilian "salad" is heavily included but has a nice medium tone, melon orange color without brown. It does not flash very well due to the inclusions. It weighs 2.55 carats.
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 and see how they were cut. This very interesting orange reminds me of a melon. It is not bother by brown and definitely has a reddish touch. Unfortunately the oval is heavily effect by its inclusions and really doesn’t flash very well. It is a keeper for its color and the color spread of the collection. It weighs 2.55 carats.
Bruce
About Bruce Fry
I was born in Summit, NJ in 1947 and graduated from Summit High School in 1966. I graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in 1970 and after spending another year in graduate school, I left to see the world of Brazil. After spending some more time discovering myself, I ended up working for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for 32 years as an Air Quality Engineer in the Department of Environmental Protection. I retired in 2007 and took up faceting gemstones again after a long hiatus that reached back to my twenties. I had started cutting cabochons when I was 13 and bought my first faceting machine when I was 15, but ran out of money and time until I retired.
My great love in gemology is tourmaline and the collection presented here represents my effort to get as much beauty and variety in the colors of tourmaline as I can. I was particularly lucky in being able to get unheated cuprian tourmaline before copper was discovered in gem grade tourmaline from Mozambique.
This piece of Brazilian "salad" is heavily included but has a nice medium tone, melon orange color without brown. It does not flash very well due to the inclusions. It weighs 2.55 carats.
