bi-colour "paraiba-like" tourmaline from nigerian edoukou mine

[nader]

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/9166/tourmalignant9qj.jpg

Most of the tourmalines I''ve seen coming from the mine in Oyo (that has copper-containing tourmalines like the ones in paraiba) are pretty faintly coloured, and I don''t think I''ve really seen many, let alone a really nice bi-colour tourmaline from that mine but this one instantly caught my eye! It''s only 2.08 carats but it''s stunning in my opinion, and i''m usually indifferent when it comes to bi-colours, as most aren''t this colour nor do most have roughly the same amount of both colours on the gem Even more, it''s VVS1

What do you guys think of it, and what do you think it''s worth?

 

[MJO]

Firstly has it been certified as copper bearing? Not all Oyo stones are copper bearing. If so I would say $2,000/ct if beautiful.

Regards,
Maurice

 

[valeria101]

Date: 12/6/2005 3:28:45 PM
Author:nader

What do you guys think of it,


Judging from the pictures... Muah!

and what do you think it''s worth?


Well, some sellers rely allot on any excuse to call something any name with the ''Paraiba'' word in it, either because of color of chemistry resemblance even if the glowing turquoise color is not there. Most, as far as I know, do not and price it as exceptionally attractive tourmaline - which it obviously is. ''Guess everyone is entitled to ask as much as they think could be had

For ref, try ''awsomegems.com'' for an example of the first strategy and these guys have a couple of nice color Oyo tourmalines you may take for reference of the second type. (btw. I know... Ebay.. but a few shops must be worth tracking. This is one of my pics)

Speaking of Paraiba-like etc. the absolute dirt cheap version of the blue-green color (light too) I''ve ever encountered comes from Pakistan. I do not know if there is copper involved or what not and this does not look like the stones that made Paraiba famous (well, neither do many that are sold for orders of magnitude more

).

Hope some of this helps

 

[nader]

I''m not sure if it was certified to contain copper or not... how would I go about getting that done? What do you imagine the price per carat range would be if it doesn''t have copper? I honestly still wouldnt mind paying a pretty penny for it

 

[valeria101]

Could it be from the Nigerian sources described by GG here ?

I do not know if there is a simple method for testing coper content in tourmaline. Even if there isn''t, the major gem labs and some of the hi tech appraisers'' establishments should be able to help.

 

[nader]

i wouldn''t be surprised... i wish i knew

i am thinking it would look nice in a ring. assuming there was no copper would it still be worth a couple hundred a carat or more/less?

 

[MJO]

There is 2 ways to test for copper without distroying a piece of the stone. The one used by the AGL is X-ray diffraction and they charge about $800 for this. The other is a lab with a very sophisticated spectrometer that can if the copper abosrbtion lines are there. There is a guy in New England (I forget his name right now) that invented this machine that charges $200/hr. You can send several stones to check. He charges a minimum of 1 Hour but can do about 20 stones in an hour. I have sent him stones to check for me in the past and am going to look him up again as I just had a batch of stones cut from some rough I have kept for awhile. It is a mix of Oyo and Brazilian material. So other people that bought some of this Brazilian material had it tested and it contained copper.

The picture you posted is from a Thai seller if I remember correctly. I say that picture about 8 months ago on ebay. I knew that seller flooded their pictures with light and that they were ussually darker in person so I didn''t bid on it. If it did look as good as the picture I would be willing to pay $150-$200/Ct.

Regards,
Maurice

 

[valeria101]

Date: 12/6/2005 9:01:39 PM
Author: MJO

There is a guy in New England (I forget his name right now) that invented this machine that charges $200/hr. You can send several stones to check. He charges a minimum of 1 Hour but can do about 20 stones in an hour. I have sent him stones to check for me in the past and am going to look him up again

Martin Haske at Adamas Gem Lab ... perhaps.

If this is so, the web link is [url=http://www.adamasgem.com]www.adamasgem.com[/url] and Pricescope account THIS

Small world ?

 

[MJO]

Date: 12/6/2005 9:58:55 PM
Author: valeria101

Date: 12/6/2005 9:01:39 PM
Author: MJO

There is a guy in New England (I forget his name right now) that invented this machine that charges $200/hr. You can send several stones to check. He charges a minimum of 1 Hour but can do about 20 stones in an hour. I have sent him stones to check for me in the past and am going to look him up again

Martin Haske at Adamas Gem Lab ... perhaps.

If this is so, the web link is [URL='http://www.adamasgem.com/']www.adamasgem.com[/URL] and Pricescope account THIS

Small world ?

Ana,

That''s him!!! You really are on top of things. I can''t remember who I just talked to and you remember that. That''s a heck of a memory you have.

Maurice