This stone is an example of a developing trend in my tourmaline collection. The rough was purchased within the last few years, as of 2013, as semi-facet grade. That grade means that I will probably not be able to get a clean stone out the rough, of any size. The rough was a good size (large) and water worn. The cutting of more included gemstones is driven by a number of personal inclinations and market realities with tourmaline.
1, My personal quest for as large a selection of color in tourmaline as I can afford.
2, The personal challenge of getting a colorful gemstone from included rough that have “acceptable” clarity to me.
This yellow, standard round brilliant, has a great sunny disposition. The inclusions are evenly distributed and it has good crystal. It weighs 7.51 carats.
3. A lack of availability of high quality interesting tourmaline rough from not only Africa, but the world in general and the even smaller amounts available to the custom cutter.
4, And, of course the limited amount of funds to pursue my passion.
Given these realities I actively look for larger pieces to give me room to maneuver and still get a reasonably sized stone along with good color and transparency. I realize that I will get poor yields, but even 12 to 15 per cent of a good sized piece of rough can still produce a winner.
Digital cameras do not help present included gemstones. The naked eye is less sensitive to the inclusions “sees more flash with less magnification” and this stone does look better in person. Still I went for color and got it, even if the flash is seen threw a veil of “naturals” (I love the term) like the jardan ” french for garden I think” in all your precious emeralds.
A final note on cutting included tourmaline. It is not only more challenging to preform the gemstones, but I use all the flexibility of my platform machine to create the best gemstone I can.
Bruce
