Gem show haul

[InToTheMystic]

Hi all,

Thought I'd share some of my finds at a gem show that I went to today. Luckily (or unluckily, if you're my husband) the only real gem show we get in my town each year always falls in the same week as my birthday, so it is always that little bit easier to justify having a splurge

Last year I scored a beautiful pair of tsavorite garnets (nearly 2ctw) that I had made in to earrings, but this year I had some different targets in mind. I was specifically after some decent green sphenes for dangly earrings, a blue zircon for a pendant, and something in the quartz family of a sufficient size that I could get made in to an obnoxiously large cocktail ring.

So, in the end I ticked two of those boxes, but completely lucked out on sphenes. They just don't seem to be easy to find here, so I will no doubt end up trying to hunt those down online. I really do prefer to buy stones after playing with them in person, but my options for that are limited here.

Being Australia, I had to wade through large swathes of opals, albeit of a rather dubious mix in quality. Heaps of tanzanites around for some reason, a decent range of sapphires (not my thing sadly), but the nice garnets (specifically tsavs and spessartites) were all very small in size, not much bigger than melee really. I did see some nice spinels, particularly lavender and light pink, and there were some GORGEOUS reds that unfortunately were cut with windows you could drive a tractor through, presumably to conserve face up size. Heartbreaking to see, and I'm not even that much of a cut perfectionist.

So, my haul in the end:
A 5.2ct Pakistani peridot
A 20 ish ct pale amethyst for the cocktail ring
A nice little combo set of lavender chalcedonys and moonstones that I'm not quite sure what I'll do with
A Lightning Ridge opal (which I probably won't end up setting)
A 7.2ct (!) unheated (!!) blue zircon pear
aaaaaand...
A delicious pair of Madagascan cabochon rubies at 2.2ct and 2.3ct (heated but otherwise un-treated, and with faint asterism that proved a lovely surprise).

I certainly didn't go there hunting for rubies, but these were just too lovely to ignore. They've got a bit too much pink in them to be considered top colour, but they are surprisingly translucent for cabs, with only a couple of flecky inclusions that aren't really noticeable unless you're peering very closely. Our first bub is due in a couple of months and his/her birthstone will be ruby, so I'm justifying it to myself in that way

I'll put up some pics in the next post.

 

[InToTheMystic]

And pics:

Here is the amethyst, which actually has a tinge of being ametrine around the edges. It is a bit windowed, but as it is for a cocktail ring I'm not that fussed. It will be set simply in sterling silver, so I'm not going to cry in my pillow over the cut.



This is the peridot, which has a beautiful colour and sparkle to it. It does have a rather annoying little dark inclusion, but not so much that it is overly noticeable. Not quite sure what I'm going to do with this one yet - it might prove a nice silver ring once my fingers de-puff a bit.



Here is the lavender chalcedony + moonstones. Pretty, but again, not quite sure what I'll do with them. They may work nicely with my opal, but I'm not quite sure yet. The two smaller chalcedonies are actually a colour match, but the light caught them differently here. The moonstones have a tiny bit of blue shimmer, but not much.



More pics to come...

 

[InToTheMystic]

And here are the big ones.

First up is the opal. It's solid, not a doublet, and surprisingly translucent. It looks a lot better on the black backing of the little box, as they always do, but it still has charm in the hand. The colours are a lot more vivid in real life, with lots of purple and blue and green. My poor little camera just wasn't quite making the grade to capture it. This shot is blurry, but it shows the blue shimmer it gets under diverted light.



It has a couple of discoloured patches when you hold it up to a lighter background, but its a decent size. It actually looked quite nice against the chalcedony, but I have no idea how that would work together. I also think it could make a nice enhancer for some pearls, but I'm undecided. It was pretty cheap (Australia!), so even if it just becomes part of my rather meagre collection, that's ok too.



Here is the zircon. I know that the rubies are probably the more desirable stones out of the ones that I got, but I am mesmerized by this lovely thing. It is a lovely lagoon-like blue/green, and is incredibly hard to photograph. The size is amazing as well and it has a lab 'statement' (not a certificate) stating unheated. To be honest, it wouldn't have bothered me if it was heated, as I understand most blue zircons usually are. This pic shows the green flashes better, but its a bit blurry for the detail. It doesn't have any grey in it, despite how the pics appear.



This pic shows the cut better, but it's not quite this blue in real life (has a lot more green).



Rubies to follow...

 

[InToTheMystic]

You can see how lovely and clear they are! There are a couple of murky little patches lurking under the surface, but not noticeably so (particularly for cabs). They're a fairly decent match too - one is slightly darker and larger, but they're completely fine for earrings.



If you tilt them juuuust right, you can see the faint stars. The lines are a bit broken and the bottom one has a tendency to wink out, but I bought them for their colour and clarity rather than their stars, so it's certainly not a deal breaker for me.



In the hand. I'm delighted with their size - the vendor is a lovely old gentleman who always looks after us when we go to the show each year, and the spectacular price he gave us on them (and the opal as well) means that I'll be able to do something special when I set them. He had some unheated ones but they were a lot smaller and darker (and three times the price), so I'm comfortable with my decision to compromise on that aspect - particularly as I wasn't even LOOKING for rubies!



Here's the last three together so you can see their respective sizes.



I've decided to get the zircon set first, because I am completely in love with it. I'd appreciate any suggestions on what would look good in a pendant. I'd like something a little different to the typical halo, but I'm open to any ideas!

 

[InToTheMystic]

(And just as a final addendum: has anyone actually heard of 'unheated' blue zircon before? I had always understood that all blue zircon was as a result of heating honey or brown zircon. It doesn't actually bother me either way, as the price we paid would be good for 'normal' zircon and I had always assumed that it was going to be treated in that manner. I'm just curious as to how a lab would verify that heating hadn't taken place and if this is something anyone had seen before? Thanks!)

 

[Harpertoo]

I just want to say I love your rubies!
And I think cabs can go in a lot of great style directions - enjoy!

 

[RedSpinel]

As far as blue zircons and heating, from what I have read, zircon definitely comes in blue naturally. Most blue zircons are heated, but real blues do exist. Thats a big zircon. Zircons are about the most dense gemstone out there at approx 4.7, so you dont always get much stone for your money compared with lighter, less dense stones. But at 7+cts, you dont have to worry about it being too small! Most if not all blue zircons show the occasional flash of green.

I dont usually like cabochon rubies, but those look nice, and they are pretty clear for cabs! Were they specifically sold as star rubies, or just as rubies that happen to be cut en cabochon? I like star sapphires and rubies, but usually most of the star rubies I have seen for sale are more light red or pink as opposed to full-tone red rubies. Good choice there too.

Its tough to photograph opals, so they probably show different in person than in the pics.

 

[nottospec]

Lovely haul, lusting after your zircon!

Fellow Aussie, where did you go to a gem show??? Never heard of one here

 

[InToTheMystic]

Were they specifically sold as star rubies, or just as rubies that happen to be cut en cabochon?

They were sold as 'star rubies (faint)' but the price wasn't really more than the standard cabochons he had there. I couldn't get the stars to really show until I got them home and put them under direct light. I suspect the amount of pink in them kept the cost down as well - they might be more accurately termed dark pink sapphires than rubies, but true reds aren't really my thing. I wear a lot of grey and navy, and I think this colour will work well with my wardrobe.

Oh, and when I checked the sale doco to check the term used, I discovered that I had written the sizes incorrectly - they're actually 3.2 and 3.3 carats each, not 2.2 and 2.3! They're not too highly domed either, which is why they face up with a decent size.

Fellow Aussie, where did you go to a gem show???

This was in Canberra, at Exhibition Park, sponsored by the Canberra Lapidary Club. They have it at least once a year in early to mid April, and sometimes one in the second half of the year as well. It's not huge and is held outside (this year it poured rain, last year everything got covered in dust - not ideal for gemstones!). The majority of the vendors there are selling rough, mineral samples or fossils, but there are usually a couple of people selling ready-made gemstone jewellery, from whom I usually pick up a couple of pieces (got some nice amazonite earrings to complete a set this year, and stocked up on Baltic amber and rutilated quartz last year) and lots of loose beads etc. There are usually only 4 or 5 stalls selling cut stones of a decent standard, so I tend to hone in there. There are opals EVERYWHERE though - hazard of the location, I guess.

The gentlemen we got the zircon from is the same one we got the tsavs from last year - you can see them in my profile pic - and we keep in email contact with him during the year as he is QLD based and can put special requests in to him in between meetings. He's in the process of setting up his new website, which will make things a lot easier! He specialises in sapphires, but he had some other lovely things, including spinels. His name is Gary Wilkie, from Australian Sapphires Direct if you want to look him up. He's on Facebook - the parrot in his profile is his best friend and travels all over the country with him to the different gem shows. Very cute.

The man I got the rubies and the opal from is Sydney based (I think near Ingleburn?). I have his details somewhere but will have to dig them up. The best way to work out when gem shows are on is to basically stalk the websites of the different lapidary clubs in the various states. I agree they are few and far between though, and definitely not up to the standard of the ones held in the US!

 

[kgizo]

Awesome haul!! I bet you will have a lot of fun planning the settings.

 

[hippi_pixi]

Nice Haul!

Have you been to a gemboree or one of the other big shows?

The gemboree is being held in Gatton which is a 2.5 hour drive from me and I'd really like to go but not sure if its worth the drive. particularly since I'd be dragging my DH who has zero interest past the sasuage sizzle. I went to a local gem show (Mooloolaba) earlier in the year and found it to be underwhelming and overpriced

 

[InToTheMystic]

Nope, never been to a Gemboree. Is it worth doing?

In the past I've always given my jeweller(s) a brief and they've sourced the stones for me. I've bought a couple of things online with mixed success, but I find that I really like buying stones in person by choosing them from a selection. It's a bit hard over here though.

 

[hippi_pixi]

I haven't been to a Gemboree yet but its on in QLD in 2 weeks time. if i can convince my other half to go i'll let you know!

 

[chrono]

I really like your latest haul; not just the colour but the variety.

 

[InToTheMystic]

I really like your latest haul; not just the colour but the variety.

Thanks Chrono. I tend to jump all over the place in terms of what catches my eye, but I've learned to just go with it rather than fight it. A lot of what I buy probably doesn't meet the PS 'standard of quality', but if it makes me happy to look at, and I was happy with the price...well, I count it as a win. I only tend to set the higher quality stones though - the others are just for fun.

I might start a new thread in a little while to get some ideas on how to set the zircon. It's the biggest stone I've ever tried to turn in to jewellery, so I'm a bit concerned that if I go overboard, I'll end up looking like a Lord Mayor with it hanging around my neck!

 

[minousbijoux]

The zircon is lovely, but my heart was stolen by your rubies, with their twinkly stars

 

[chrono]

I tend to jump all over the place in terms of what catches my eye, but I've learned to just go with it rather than fight it. A lot of what I buy probably doesn't meet the PS 'standard of quality', but if it makes me happy to look at, and I was happy with the price...well, I count it as a win. I only tend to set the higher quality stones though - the others are just for fun.

I might start a new thread in a little while to get some ideas on how to set the zircon. It's the biggest stone I've ever tried to turn in to jewellery, so I'm a bit concerned that if I go overboard, I'll end up looking like a Lord Mayor with it hanging around my neck!

I have smaller less fine gems too; mainly for my eye and heart's pleasure and will never be set. Nothing wrong with that at all. We all like different things and it doesn't have to be expensive and top colour to be appreciated and loved.

Also, nothing wrong with looking like a Lord Mayor with a giant pear zircon hanging around your neck.