Paraiba not so much!

Well the so called Paraiba in the last post was sent to one of the best testing facilities in the U.S.A and came back with such a small percentage of copper that it could not reasonably be called copper bearing material.
Oh well,the rough material was a reasonable price and the tourmaline is a gorgeous blue so no harm no foul.

I just finished this very fine set of Nigerian pink tourmalines today,they are cut in a very bright cushion design that really pops.Specs;2.13ct,6mm,clarity (IF).They will be posted on the website soon so if you are on the look out for some super earring stones email me ahead of time and they could be yours.
Custom Cut Gems

Wow time flies by so fast,I can't believe it's been so long since I posted to the blog.I have been busy cutting orders and not had much time to write anything on the blog at all.I recently had a bit of time away from orders to cut some Nigerian Paraiba type copper bearing tourmaline which came out absolutely stunning.
This beautiful stone looks far better than the picture shows but it was extremely difficult to photograph,the stone is very bright,with excellent light return and the color is a much more intense blue and more saturated than the image shows,it has a few small inclusions which are invisible to the naked eye except for a small veil hidden under the girdle which is just visible when turned sideways.It has been sent to be tested for copper just as a formality to reassure potential buyers and will be up for sale as soon as the results are in.

Stone specs;2.2carat,7mm barion cut,clarity(I)

A high quality aqua I finished for a client recently,dimensions 10.5x7.5 3 carats.

Lastly an engagement ring with stones cut and set for another client,the three stones are two 5mm Nigerian aqua's and the middle gem is a 6.2mm mint green/yellow tourmaline.The pictures definitely do the ring and stones no justice,especially the center piece which is a much more vibrant green in person.
Custom Cut Gems

Projects

It's been a while since the last post on this blog but I promise to do a better job of keeping it current.
My excuse is that my busy schedule and custom orders have taken the majority of my time..okay I know not a good enough one.

One of my more recent ones is the stones for an overseas client,these four pink tourmalines are cut in a barion cushion and one of my favorite designs.Barion's are deep to enhance color but very bright because of the extra kite shaped facets at radically different angles on the pavilion of the gem.Specs are one pendant stone at 9mm,one ring stone at 7mm and two earring gems at 5mm each.These are already set and I will post a pic if and when I get an image.Look out for another project pic soon.

Current rough stones available

Here is some of the rough inventory available to be cut to your specs.
First up is a nice chunky light pink tourmaline from Nigeria which would cut a beautiful 8 -9mm round or square,the picture really does this material no justice.

Next is two very special juicy bubblegum pink med/light Nigerian tourmalines which would cut a set of rectangles or squares in the 6 - 7mm range.Top material!

This is a beautiful blocky mint green similar in color to the mint green round fancy cut on the website,it will cut around 8mm square or round,the color was hard to reproduce in this photo but it is top quality clean material.

Some very nice mint green Nigerian tourmaline,again the color is much more light mint except for the more neon darker green piece in the foreground,these will cut elongated sets to smaller rectangles and squares.

 Some nice fairly clean light/medium blue Aquamarine from Nigeria which will cut elongated rectangles,squares and regular rectangles,some of these will cut vvs and some flawless while others will be slightly included.

A rare stone!

A mint garnet from the Merelani hills region of Tanzania cut in a very bright barion oval design,dimensions are 7.5x5.5mm,weight is 1.52ct.
This is just an exceptional stone in every way,extremely bright and very clean for this material(vvs),a few barely visible tiny veils under 10x magnification.I haven't listed this one on the site yet,so if you're interested email me direct.
Custom Cut Gems

A beautiful ring!

I was honored a while back to cut the engagement ring for a good client of mine overseas.She was kind enough to send me some nice high resolution pictures of the finished ring,the jeweler did a great job on the setting which framed the pink tourmaline perfectly.The pictures show from the rough stone stage to the end  product.