Surprise Super Stones

[lavenderlill]

Was there ever a stone that seemed well priced but mediocre in photos that blew you away one you saw it in person or set it in jewelry? Would love to hear your success stories.

For the faceters, ever a piece of rough that didn''t speak to you at first that ended up producing something too amazing to be true?

 

[T L]

Date: 12/15/2008 9:15:13 PM
Author:lavenderlill
Was there ever a stone that seemed well priced but mediocre in photos that blew you away one you saw it in person or set it in jewelry? Would love to hear your success stories.

For the faceters, ever a piece of rough that didn't speak to you at first that ended up producing something too amazing to be true?

I bought this fractured included little cuprian tourmaline on ebay for very little. It's around 2 carats, and it has a brown inclusion. I took a chance by the picture on the left - something about it said it was probably a neon stone. I was floored when I got it. It really glows and is probably the most neon stone in my collection. Here it is on the right in a very dim lighting situation. It's sitting in a mount that I used for another stone. I still have to get this little stone set. It's included yes, the cutting is terrible, but the color is amazing to me. You can't even see the brown inclusion with the naked eye.

 

[Pandora II]

Sphene normally looks terrible in photos - even the really top stuff. Whereas it sparkles all over IRL, in photos you get huge areas of extinction.

Be warned - it''s very soft (5.5 on the Mohs), is very brittle and is really a collectors stone not a wearing stone (you can use it in pendants/earrings if you are very careful).

Mali garnet also photographs disappointingly. I liked my stone in the photo enough to HAVE to buy it, but was blown away when I opened the package. It''s still one of my favourite stones ever.

 

[T L]

Date: 12/16/2008 8:26:12 AM
Author: Pandora II
Sphene normally looks terrible in photos - even the really top stuff. Whereas it sparkles all over IRL, in photos you get huge areas of extinction.

Be warned - it's very soft (5.5 on the Mohs), is very brittle and is really a collectors stone not a wearing stone (you can use it in pendants/earrings if you are very careful).

Mali garnet also photographs disappointingly. I liked my stone in the photo enough to HAVE to buy it, but was blown away when I opened the package. It's still one of my favourite stones ever.

Pictures???? Pretty please??

 

[Pandora II]

Here''s the photo that made me buy the stone:

 

[Pandora II]

Here''s some I took of the same stone. Nothing shows the amazing sparkle and dispersion well. In daylight it''s a greenish yellow with flashes of orange. In electric light it''s more of an orange with flashes of green and yellow...

Next time I''m photographing stones I''ll have another bash at this one - I got the settings very wrong on the camera this time!

 

[Harriet]

Yes, my spessartite. My dealer''s picture wasn''t great and I wasn''t looking for one. Then, he showed up with it and, lo and behold, it was love at first sight.

 

[Linda W]

OMG Pandora!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a beautiful garnet, it is simply breathtaking. I adore the color

 

[T L]

Thanks for posting pictures of that PandoraII, very nice dispersion on that stone.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

In my case, it was spess.

I got some old Namibian stones that a dealer just had sitting around. For the price I paid, I wasn''t expecting much. But when I opened the package... Oh my! I carried those stones around for a while in my purse and I would always be startled by the sparkle and glow when I opened it.

 

[Harriet]

The one that almost got away... I should have cleaned it first.

 

[T L]

I think I once mentioned that I thought that was a piece of sunshine on your hand. It definitely looks like a glowing ember!! Love it.

 

[newsboysgrl777]

Date: 12/15/2008 9:49:01 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 12/15/2008 9:15:13 PM
Author:lavenderlill
Was there ever a stone that seemed well priced but mediocre in photos that blew you away one you saw it in person or set it in jewelry? Would love to hear your success stories.

For the faceters, ever a piece of rough that didn't speak to you at first that ended up producing something too amazing to be true?

I bought this fractured included little cuprian tourmaline on ebay for very little. It's around 2 carats, and it has a brown inclusion. I took a chance by the picture on the left - something about it said it was probably a neon stone. I was floored when I got it. It really glows and is probably the most neon stone in my collection. Here it is on the right in a very dim lighting situation. It's sitting in a mount that I used for another stone. I still have to get this little stone set. It's included yes, the cutting is terrible, but the color is amazing to me. You can't even see the brown inclusion with the naked eye.

Tourmaline, I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the color of this stone!! WOW! It's blowing ME away!! LOL. And I know you said you weren't permanently setting it in that ring, but BOY!! That combo really 'does it' for me. It's great!! Congrats!!

I know you buy a lot of stuff off of ebay and stuff (and have gotten a LOT of great deals), but how in the WORLD do you KNOW when you should 'just do it' or not? Is it something you've learned through experience? Were there purchases that you made that were essentially a waste of money? I'm not really collecting or doing much of anything - just starting out (by logging onto PS every day for hours at a time...LOL!!), but would love any advice!

Thanks!!

And I love the other beauties on here, too!! Congrats to you guys who took the chance and got something amazing!! Can't wait to see more finds!

-Rachel

ETA: Can I just say one more time that I LOOOOVE the color of your 'neon' TL!!

I can't stop staring at it. LOL

 

[newsboysgrl777]

::bump, bump::

PS TL: what does cuprian tourmaline refer to? Where it came from? Or the color? Or what?? Just curious? Also, you mentioned that the cut was horrible. Do you plan to do something about that before you set it, or are you going to set it as is? THANKS!!

 

[T L]

Date: 12/18/2008 12:16:28 AM
Author: newsboysgrl777

Date: 12/15/2008 9:49:01 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 12/15/2008 9:15:13 PM
Author:lavenderlill
Was there ever a stone that seemed well priced but mediocre in photos that blew you away one you saw it in person or set it in jewelry? Would love to hear your success stories.

For the faceters, ever a piece of rough that didn't speak to you at first that ended up producing something too amazing to be true?

I bought this fractured included little cuprian tourmaline on ebay for very little. It's around 2 carats, and it has a brown inclusion. I took a chance by the picture on the left - something about it said it was probably a neon stone. I was floored when I got it. It really glows and is probably the most neon stone in my collection. Here it is on the right in a very dim lighting situation. It's sitting in a mount that I used for another stone. I still have to get this little stone set. It's included yes, the cutting is terrible, but the color is amazing to me. You can't even see the brown inclusion with the naked eye.

Tourmaline, I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the color of this stone!! WOW! It's blowing ME away!! LOL. And I know you said you weren't permanently setting it in that ring, but BOY!! That combo really 'does it' for me. It's great!! Congrats!!

I know you buy a lot of stuff off of ebay and stuff (and have gotten a LOT of great deals), but how in the WORLD do you KNOW when you should 'just do it' or not? Is it something you've learned through experience? Were there purchases that you made that were essentially a waste of money? I'm not really collecting or doing much of anything - just starting out (by logging onto PS every day for hours at a time...LOL!!), but would love any advice!

Thanks!!

And I love the other beauties on here, too!! Congrats to you guys who took the chance and got something amazing!! Can't wait to see more finds!

-Rachel

ETA: Can I just say one more time that I LOOOOVE the color of your 'neon' TL!!

I can't stop staring at it. LOL

Newboygrl,
Thank you so much for the kind words on my stone.

I think we've all probably purchased duds in our lifetime, with anything, cars, clothes, jewelry, electronics, but I think you really learn from your mistakes. I've purchased duds on ebay as well, but I learned from experience I guess. Over time, especially on ebay, I have really learned what to look for in photographs to tell if a stone just isn't quite "right," like photoshop and other enhancement techniques. It's not a perfect science, but I think once you purchase a stone from a vendor, you kind of know what to look for in their photographs to determine if another stone is a choice one or a dud, and believe me, most gems on ebay are duds.

I happened to find this vendor looking through feedback and locating someone else that was buying their stones and reselling them in settings for much more $$$. The person who was selling the stones in rings had much better and true representations of the photos than the actual vendor did. He also had great feedback on the stones from people that purchased his rings. I pointed out to the vendor that someone was reselling her stones in rings on ebay, and now she's doing it as well.

The vendor for this stone is Thaigemvilliage and Thaigemscity (same vendor, but two stores). Most of the stones she has are badly cut and very included, and lately she hasn't had much neon merchandise. However, I did take a chance on this stone about two years ago. She also offers GIT memos with all her cuprians to prove that they're copper bearing. I also got my 7 carat cushion cuprian from her as well, but it's not as neon as this stone. I will eventually set this stone one of these days I guess. Her photos are just gawd awful, but I think that the neon really stood out to me in this one photo.

 

[T L]

Date: 12/19/2008 10:18:45 PM
Author: newsboysgrl777
::bump, bump::

PS TL: what does cuprian tourmaline refer to? Where it came from? Or the color? Or what?? Just curious? Also, you mentioned that the cut was horrible. Do you plan to do something about that before you set it, or are you going to set it as is? THANKS!!

Cuprian tourmalines are those that contain the element copper in them. This element, along with maganese and sometimes gold, cause the tourmalines to look like glowing turquoise. The original find of these types of tourmalines were in Paraiba, Brazil in the late 1980's. The miner for these stones found these amazing glowing neon turquoise tourmalines, and he took them to the Tuscon gem show I believe. The rest is history since the prices went from $100's a carat to tens of thousands a carat in one day. They were the talk of the show. Eventually the mine dried up (it still produces a little bit of material, but most of it is gone). These original neon turquoise tourmalines look like they're radioactive. You can see some true examples on www.paraibainternational.com. The clean material in top gem form costs about $50,000/ct. Paraibainternations and Palagems has some of this Brazilian material.

About five or eight years ago, a new find of this material was found in Mozambique, Africa. The African and South American continents uses to be connected millions of years ago, and the material was centered where the two countries of Brazil and Mozambique connected. The stones from Mozambique are also cuprian, and some are heated to produce these neon colors. However, the best material has come out of Paraiba Brazil, and these tourmalines are famously known as Paraibas. They sometimes call the Mozambique cuprians Paraibas as well, but there's a whole argument for the nomenclature, so I just refer to them as Mozambique Cuprians.

I hope that answers your question.

BTW, I don't think I would recut the stone. You can't really notice the bad cutting because the color is such a standout. I have a 3.45 carat round cuprian that is very clean and neon (although not as neon as this one) and I want to recut it. The window is awful. I think it would cut to an amazingly brilliant and gorgeous stone. I'm inquiring about recuts for it.

 

[T L]

I just wanted to point out that they may be bulk diffusing Mozambique tourmalines (in particular pinks and blues), which doesn''t surprise me. I just found this out from a gemological watch dog site. Therefore I would stay away from Mozambique tourmalines for the moment, especially on ebay. Ugh, it seeems no matter what you do, they find a way to treat everything.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 12/19/2008 11:17:57 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
Newboygrl,
Thank you so much for the kind words on my stone.

I think we''ve all probably purchased duds in our lifetime, with anything, cars, clothes, jewelry, electronics, but I think you really learn from your mistakes. I''ve purchased duds on ebay as well, but I learned from experience I guess. Over time, especially on ebay, I have really learned what to look for in photographs to tell if a stone just isn''t quite ''right,'' like photoshop and other enhancement techniques. It''s not a perfect science, but I think once you purchase a stone from a vendor, you kind of know what to look for in their photographs to determine if another stone is a choice one or a dud, and believe me, most gems on ebay are duds.

I happened to find this vendor looking through feedback and locating someone else that was buying their stones and reselling them in settings for much more $$$. The person who was selling the stones in rings had much better and true representations of the photos than the actual vendor did. He also had great feedback on the stones from people that purchased his rings. I pointed out to the vendor that someone was reselling her stones in rings on ebay, and now she''s doing it as well.

The vendor for this stone is Thaigemvilliage and Thaigemscity (same vendor, but two stores). Most of the stones she has are badly cut and very included, and lately she hasn''t had much neon merchandise. However, I did take a chance on this stone about two years ago. She also offers GIT memos with all her cuprians to prove that they''re copper bearing. I also got my 7 carat cushion cuprian from her as well, but it''s not as neon as this stone. I will eventually set this stone one of these days I guess. Her photos are just gawd awful, but I think that the neon really stood out to me in this one photo.

This is exactly how I use ebay - toolhaus is a quick way of assessing their negatives, then I spend a lot of time looking at who else is buying from them and analysing their purchases. You can quickly tell if the vendor you are interested in is selling serious stones to serious collectors, or rubbish to people who just want something sparkly.

I have a couple of stones that could be improved with a recut, but I am reluctant to do so as the faults are not glaring and the colour more than makes up for it.

Big windows are always a no for me because they really impact on the stone''s colour, but off meet-points etc won''t stop me buying a stone if other characteristics are exceptional.

I did buy a ring with an amazing neon stone on ebay that was listed as tourmaline - I used PayPal to protect myself, and when it arrived it turned out to be coloured glass. I knew it was a 1/10,000 shot that it ''could be'' a Paraiba and so took a risk. Had a huge row with the vendor who refused to refund the money unless I provided a gemmologist''s report (which would have cost more than the ring) even though I told him that proving it wasn''t tourmaline did not require a gemmologist! In the end we went to arbitration, ebay found in my favour and he had to pay my shipping costs as well!

 

[Harriet]

Date: 12/17/2008 10:48:17 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
I think I once mentioned that I thought that was a piece of sunshine on your hand. It definitely looks like a glowing ember!! Love it.

Thank you. I think I finally have a design for it.

 

[Harriet]

Date: 12/19/2008 11:31:09 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
However, the best material has come out of Paraiba Brazil, and these tourmalines are famously known as Paraibas.

The good news is that the top African material can rival the Brazilian one. The bad news is that the former is also getting scarce. I''m lusting after this one from Mozambique:

 

[Harriet]

It''s showing off its dichroism:

 

[Harriet]

Oops:

 

[LD]

I purchased a ring (terrible terrible setting) but the stone knocked me sideways! It doesn''t photograph well (again a Moz. PT) but it glows and is neon beyond belief. Shortly after I found a pendant and the same thing happened. It''s like buses, when you''re not looking 2 appear!

 

[LD]

My other real "surprise" stone is a recent purchase and is my Umbalite Garnet from Gene at Precision Gems. I adored the picture on his website and when it turned up it was exactly as he had photographed it. However, in daylight it comes alive and seems to radiate pinks and purples and becomes a half/half colour stone. It''s mesmerising and I''m going to set it into something really special because it deserves it.

 

[T L]

LD,
Love your neon tourmalines and I''m not sure the umbalite counts for this thread since it was drop dead gorgeous from the photographs. No surprises there!

 

[LD]

TL thanks for your kind words! Actually the photograph that Gene had showed a very pretty Umbalite but only one colour! He didn't mention the two colour thingy going on! Here's Gene's original photo:

What do you reckon? Can we call it a surprise stone now?