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Tag Archives: cutting tourmaline
An Oval by the Numbers
It has been a bit, but I finished a tourmaline gemstone today that is worth commenting about. The rough was a pretty average piece of dichroic brownish gold that had be reduced significantly to eliminate a major flaw. And I … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Dravite, Polishing Tourmaline
Tagged cutting tourmaline, dichroic, dravite, gold, golden-brown, oval, polishing tourmaline
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A round of watermelon with a lesson.
They say that the third try is a charm and so I am ready to tell a charming story. It is about a most peculiar type of tourmaline that has a watermelon distribution of color. It has a central core … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Orange, Polishing Tourmaline
Tagged cutting tourmaline, orange, polishing tourmaline
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Dissecting a Dravite Hot Off the Lap.
I am continually amazed by the variety of dynamic colors in tourmaline. And shifts in color than can make a less desirable color in gemstone still blaze with a unique statement. And a unique tourmaline certainly gets my attention. The … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Dravite, Orange
Tagged brown, brown-orange, cutting tourmaline, dichroic, dravite, mahogany, orange
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Golden eye in an Orange Circle of Flash
It is always nice to get a delightful surprise and when it turns out to be a great new tourmaline, than that merits a post of progress with the collection. The piece of rough I gotten from a friend did … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Dravite, Orange
Tagged cutting tourmaline, dravite, orange
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My little emeralds (tourmaline), no, not chrome this time.
I just finished two beautiful green tourmaline, one shield cut and the other a standard round brilliant. (12/11/2013) that are different enough to build a post. Each gem was cut from a different alluvial pebble that had significant inclusions. The … Continue reading
Included, medium light toned, blue green oval.#1200
This is the last of the four ovals that I cut from a large included piece of rough. I have written about cutting this stone on another post about cutting included rough, if you would like to read more about … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, cutting tourmaline, green, medium green, oval
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Pure tourmaline magic, Blue capped pink bodied round.#1134
Blue cap round from face up. Blue cap round, more from the side. I set out to cut a different stone from a different piece of rough this time. Blue capped tourmaline crystals are some of the most beautiful and … Continue reading
Posted in Bi-Color, Cutting Tourmaline
Tagged bicolor, blue, cutting tourmaline, horizontal split mains, pink, unique
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Deeply cut medium pastel green round.#1111
This delightful gemstone owes much of its interest to the increased depth and bright flash created by a different cut, than the standard round brilliant. This cut consists of eight horizontally split mains for a pavilion and a modified two … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Verdelite
Tagged cutting tourmaline, green, horizontal split mains, pastel
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What can I say, I like even gray, in the color world of this round.#1105
I was once looking threw a list of gemstones and their colors presented by the Gem Institute of America GIA. I always like to see which colors are not included in the list of colors for tourmaline. The most notable, … Continue reading
There is no cure for the Namibian blues, beautiful, small, emerald cut.#1103
Do I like to cut, large length to width ratio emerald cuts? Not really. Do I like to cut skinny emerald cuts? Not really. But when it comes to desiring top quality blues from Namibia I gladly go the extra … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Indicolite
Tagged blue, cutting tourmaline, emerald cut, indicolite, Namibia
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Cutting a flawed but not an impossible dream.
In the world of my dreams, the tourmaline runs large, colorful and clean. This is certainly not the world I live in and I am not sure that I would want to cut in it either. I remember a documentary … Continue reading
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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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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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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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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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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Included, flashy, medium blue round that is cuprian.
Some stones will always make me smile and stay with me until I can not remember them anymore. This memorable deeply cut round started out in my possession as a water worn pebble that was sold to me as low … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Cutting Tourmaline
Tagged blue, cuprian, cutting tourmaline
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Dark Ends and Passionate Green Emerald Cut
In tourmaline it isn’t always easy being green. You may have closed ends and have a problem finding a cut, outside of an emerald cut. Even when properly cut, your window of transparency and flash is limited and rejection can … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Verdelite
Tagged closed-c, cutting tourmaline, emerald cut, green, verdelite
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Great Orange Round with a Flaw#1096
In the world of cutting quality tourmaline rough, dealing with flaws is very important. Of course any adjustments for flaws is tightly dependent on retaining material for a decent yield and optimizing the color potential of the rough. I … Continue reading
Really Nice Green Round#1015
I know that I shouldn’t bias my love of a color on cut, but with green I truly long for nice ones that are not emerald cuts. There are several reasons for cutting green tourmaline rough into emerald cuts. … Continue reading
Included golden yellow colored round
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 … Continue reading