JXR: some observations

[Barrett]

I got permission to post this cool topic by a cutter who just cut some JXR rough..it''s really neat and informative

A few weeks ago, I was commissioned to cut a large piece of JXR amethyst by our very own Lyric. I had yet to get my hands on some of the fabled JXR material, so I was doubly eager to get to work.

Lyric sent me a large crystal point. The great majority of it was your typical heavily included quartz. But the point of the crystal was clean enough to produce a nice stone. Fortunately, it was richly colored enough to hide some of the feathers that would necessarily remain. I’ve used graph paper here for a visual reference. The outlined box is 1.5 in. or about 4cm

 

[Barrett]

While trying to figure out what shape to use for the stone, I was struck by the color zoning of this amethyst. I’m used to seeing amethyst color zoned with darker and lighter tones of purple, or maybe purple and colorless zones. But this crystal had distinct purple and violet color zones. Given a violet zone of sufficient strength and the correct orientation, I can understand how a finished stone could demonstrate a “blue flash”.
After trimming out the heavily included areas, I found that the rough favored a square cushion. Fortunately, this matched well with Lyric’s request. I had just finished cutting a large Brazilian amethyst of about the same tone in omni square cushion design. It’s a very bright design and easy to tweak on the fly. Since it worked well with the Brazilian rough, I decided to use it for this stone

 

[Gailey]

That thumb and that graph paper look strangely familiar!

 

[Barrett]

This happy coincidence allowed me to directly compare the JXR amethyst with classic Brazilian material. Now, these are not advertising images, so I’ve taken some liberty to tweak the colors in Photoshop to make the color distinctions more obvious. The color difference is fairly apparent when the stones are side-by-side, though only someone who has looked at a lot of amethyst would notice if viewing either stone solo. JXR on right.

 

[Barrett]

Here are my more formal images of both stones, along with details. It''s worth noting that my lighting setup was a little different on the Brazilian amethyst, thus it appears much brighter here JXR Amethyst 11.64ct., 14.6x14.6x10mm

 

[Barrett]

Brazilian Amethyst 13.63ct., 16x16x10mm.

 

[Barrett]

All of these pictures and text were done by Peter Torraca
…and just since I’m sharing pictures, Lyric send me a second rough of much lighter tone. It became this radiant-style emerald

JXR Amethyst 8.73ct, 10.7x14.2x9.7mm.

 

[Gailey]

Jason, is the smaller JXR cushion yours? I thought it was fabulous when I saw it.

 

[Barrett]

Nope those are another person''s stones..none are mine..this was all done by a non-biased cutter you all know..with me since i live so close to the mine and it''s where i got started at finding stones i am biased so i will always say they are better and so on and so forth but this was done by someone who cuts lots and lots of stones(Peter Torraca) and had no motive to say anything good..i actually find it very cool the way he set it all up like that

 

[gsellis]

Trying to photograph JXR is difficult. Digital cameras have issues with the colors. I just finished this one (and did the picture too quickly - I to hand it over at noon - note the paper particles stuck to the bottom.) 1000 watts of tungsten light helps a lot.

One of my observations with JXR is where the color zones have the strongest transitions, there is usually a crack. This stuff was under stress being born. Usually those transitions are to clear, so orienting to eliminate the lesser color zones is a necessity, not a desire.

 

[Arcadian]

gsellis, what type of camera do you have (or rather, I should ask about brand) Some are better than others, I have a sony point and shoot that can do pretty well with anything except green stones, though it does green grass just fine (go figure right??), but my lumix G1 pretty much rocks though most colors until I have to start using more sensitive ISO''s.

I have a JXR I purchased from amguy that I certainly plan on doing a reshoot with. its so exceptionally lovely (the colors came through fine, the pics where blurry though

)

-A

 

[ma re]

Thanks for the informative eye-candy thread!

 

[gsellis]

I usually use (and did) my Canon A470. I got it because the macro is better than my Panasonic FZ30. My Sony HC7 video camera works too but is limited. And the FZ30 is a super zoom, so macro in small scale is not its best suite.

 

[cellentani]

LOVED the side-by-side comparison amguy - thanks for posting that! You''ve really championed the JXR amethyst onto the CS radar - I''d never even heard of it before you started showing us pics last year.

 

[chrono]

Awesome comparison pictures and you are making me itch for a JXR amethyst of my own.

 

[Barrett]

LOL..well like i said i am biased since i live near the mine, i dug there my first time, and it''s what got me started in gems and minerals..so i wanted to show a post done by someone many of you know and have done biz with before that had an unbiased opinion and who knows enough about stones to have a credible opinion. Of course i will always champion my beloved JXR ammy''s..LOL..