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Where best place to buy mozambique neon tourm?

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Green with Envy

Green with Envy

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jun 25, 2007
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970
Ok- my favorite post from my cat''s eye search is hands down the neon tourmalines from mozambique. It seems like most of them are blue, but I might be able to find the right shade of light lime green. suggestions for online venders? I see you can get them very cheap on ebay- but it doesn''t seem like quality all that hot.

MozComparison 1.jpg
 
It''s really hard to find lime green copper bearing tourmaline, most of it is more mint green (bluish green). I can ask my friend for you, he specializes in Moz copper bearings ("Moz Paraibas"). The Nigerian copper bearing material is more of a teal green or mint green to, and not as neon, but it''s hard to find more yellowish, or lime greens. Also, just so you know, just because a stone has copper in it, doesn''t mean it will glow, so you have to be careful of what you are getting. Don''t be swayed into buying something just because it contains copper (the element that gives that glow to the stone), if the stone "speaks" to you, then it doesn''t matter.

I have to admit that the quality on ebay went from decent to pretty bad lately. There are some pretty stones that pop up from time to time, but it''s getting less and less, and that tells me that the mine isn''t producing the fine material in droves like it used to. Either that, or Pala is buying it all up!!!
 
I also found this webpage and on it are some terrific tourmalines. In particular, some are from Nuristan (Afghanistan). I hear wonderful things about the vibrancy of Afghan tourmaline and that it has an appeal similar to copper bearing.

http://www.atggems.com/Photos_Tourmaline1.htm

I''m not sure if any of these appeal to you, but I just wanted to share.
 
Thanks for checking. Pala''s site has lot''s of neon green tourmalinexs, but most without photos. I will have to have someone check for me because a few have descriptions like light green and light lime green, or electric lime green so maybe something will work. After all- I found this color on ebay for starting bid of .99 cents (no bidders yet) so someone must have this in better quality.

ebay tourm.jpg
 
Some of those on this site seem pretty good! Now i just need someone to tell me if the cuts look ok- or not worth it...

I like these... choice A

trm_168pt_pear_unique-grn.jpg
 
CHOICE B

trm_208pt_oval_lime.jpg
 
CHOICE C

trm_396pt_oval_ylw_grn.jpg
 
Those last three have a very olive cast to them, and you want a lime green. That''s the very thing you need to be careful of, you don''t want olive, you want lime. Unless, you like the olive cast in them, but I was under the impression you wanted something a bit more vibrant, and olive, like gray, is a modifier that deadens a stone, and detracts from its value. Do you like the color of the top stone the best, or do you like the other three that have a similar color. I would say that the 99Cent ebay stone has the best color, even if it has poor cutting and clarity.
 
Duh me. I totally see what you mean. You are right- I do NOT want olive. It is very obvious once I look at all 4 in a row.
 
My friend said he would check his inventory. Here's one that I saw on ebay as "Yellowish Green Tourmaline" with a certificate that shows it has copper. I don't know if it glows, and it's hard to tell from the picture exactly how bright it is. The fact that he has it on a black background tells me that it's probably light in saturation. You can email the seller. It is a large size though and it looks as though it's cut fairly well. It has some inclusions, but you'll see that with most copper bearing tourmalines, and when you see it from a distance, at hand's length, they're probably not distracting. It definitely looks like your cat's eyes.

http://cgi.ebay.com/5-47cts-Paraiba-Copper-Tourmaline-PORTUGUESE-Certified_W0QQitemZ220133114700QQihZ012QQcategoryZ10282QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I've never purchased anything from this dealer, so I don't know what to make of it. If you like this stone, I would ask him the following questions:

1) Is this stone more green than yellow (you don't want it overly yellow)?
2) Does it glow?
3) Are the inclusions distracting to the eye, or is it eye clean?
4) Is there any brown or olive cast to this stone, or is it a true bright color?
5) Is it light, medium light, or medium in saturation? (I wouldn't want anything too light).

Also check out his negative feedback on toolhaus.org.
 
Thanks- I actually did see that on ebay and was considering it- but for over $100 I thought it might be safer to go with venders know to PS. I did bid a huge $1.55 for that lime green stone that is not worthy of setting, but migt be fun to look at. Shipping will cost 250% more than stone if I win bid, but that''s ok. i got back to mulitcolor.com to ask more about his best suggestion. It is this tourmailne very similar to the one you originally found for me on that site, but David says this one is closer to the right color and is a little larger.

http://www.multicolour.com/detail/index.html?-1380365782

Pala''s inventory is of course the largest and probably the highest quality- but we are talking serious bucks and if there was even the right color- her neon stone range from $800- $12000 a ct! I always seem to like the most expensive ones!!!


There is a smaller chrysoberyl that looked good at AJS, but I was very surprised when they emailed me back they recommended the larger and more expensive stones that everyone said were cut badly and bad color undertones so I don''t trust their advice anymore.

I emailed the site you gave me "all that glitters" and mentioned their stones seem close, but olive undertones. Did the kite one catch your eye on that site? That seemed to be the brightest without blue tones. I sent them a picture of the cheap lime green ebay stone and my cat''s eyes and they are going to keep a look out for me and also look at the stones they have posted in the daylight to see if really olive, or just in the photos.

Wink said Richard might have something also- but I am not sure about the concave cuts- it is just not what I am used to so i am just waiting for an email back from him with pics. The large stones currently posted on that concave sight look too green or olive.

i will now research this thaigem place...
 
Also- I noticed that stone is over 5 ct, but dimensions are 11.58x9.64x7.40 mm and the 3.22 ct for similar price on multicolor.com is 10.80x8.5x5.6 mm. Does this mean the ebay stone has much more weight underneath and that is not good? I know I want a large stone, but will I notice a huge difference with 11.58 x 9.64 vs 10.8 x 8.5?
 

This stone is not perfectly cut, and the cutlet is off as you can see in the side photo. Moz tourmalines are rarely cut well unless someone recuts them. The thing I was looking at the most was the color. The color you're looking for is very difficult to find in a Mozambique Copper Bearing tourmaline, especially with the slight bit of "unripe avocado" color that your cat's eyes have. Ever cut open a hard avocado that hasn't ripened, that bright green color reminds me of his eyes. This stone looked as close to your cat's eyes without being overly olive or brown, and it looks like a very bright stone.



Again, and some people on this board would kill me for this, I always look at color first and foremost, and then cut. There are people that are sticklers for perfect cutting, and that's great, I commend them for that. I would love every stone I buy to be perfectly cut, but I know when I'm looking for a very rare color, it's something I have to bend a bit on, especially in the colored gem world. Rubies, sapphires and other valuable rare gems are rarely ever cut perfectly because they are cut for weight, not beauty. That doesn't mean I would buy a stone that is horrendously cut, but I think the cutting on this stone is good enough for me where it doesn't have a noticable window and it would look very bright and sparkey in a setting. I don't see much extinction either for a deep stone. Remember, you're looking at a very magnafied view of the stone, it would always look better in your hand. Just look at it through the table in the picture, I think it's very lively and there's no giant window. I think has good approximate proportions (12 x 9 x 7), maybe a bit deep, but the width differs by about a full mm from the smaller multicolour stone. I think it would look noticably larger than the multicolor stone, even though the mm sizes don't look like much. If you took two marbles and one was 9mm in size, and one was 8 mm in size, you could noticably see the difference. A mm in a gem makes a big difference, although it seems like a small measurement to us.

What color do you like better, the multicolour stone or this one? I'm not trying to talk you into the ebay one, you still need to investigate it with the seller, but if it looks as good as it does in the picture, I think it's a good match to your cat's eyes. However, if this stone doesn't "speak" to you, forget about it.

The website I sent you had some pretty stones, and the kite one did catch my eye, but again "olive undertones all over those greener ones". The ebay one, unfortunately, is the one that to me looks closest to his eyes. Maybe some will disagree with me, but that's just my opinion. I really love that stone if it looks as good as it does in the picture. It sure has lots of bidders!!
 
This is what I''m inspired by!!

avocado.jpg
 
I agree- the color is great and THAT is what is most important for this project. vender has only about 7 negative comments out of over 650 good ones and most people are happy if they are not getting light pink stones or VS1 clarity. I asked them questions and waiting to hear back. What is the story about having a stone recut? Will that just make it much smaller- or can a gem cutter improve look? I am not talking about making it concave the way Richard Homer works- but something to make it not set so high for ring?
 
I just asked a few lapidaries that were highly recommended to cut a 7 carat stone I had, and they said the loss would be about 40%. So it would end up being 3 to 4 carats in size. It''s not a small amount, and you might not like the results afterward, and it could affect the saturation of color. Because it''s me, and I''m not super picky about cutting, I think I would leave that stone as it is. I would only recut a stone if it had a huge window, or really horrible proportions, and I don''t think that one is so bad. You might be pleasantly surprised when you get it. However, you''re not me, so if it really bothers you, ask some of the lapidaries. You can search pricescope for who is recommended.
 
Ha ha too funny! I do agree about avacado and it has just a bit more yellow that Richard''s great suggestion of the opaque gaspeite from earrings in original thread. Now that i look at the Multicolor tourmaline again- i see olive shading on the edges. Ugg! I am from CA and this has become sooooo like wine tasting. Trying to name the exact combo of tastes, woody, floral, blah blah blah. I also found this 99 cent ebay that is a bit too dark- but it has a cloudy look that is what Basil''s eyes look like in shadow rather than sunlight.

ebayoct..jpg
 
I think you are right about not recutting. trying again to show the other 99 cent ebay stone...

ebayocctagon.jpg
 
That stone you just put up doesn''t look much like a tourmaline to me!! It has a different luster than a tourmaline. Be careful of ebay, even if they''re 99 cent stones!! Thaigemhouse just had a $60,000 and a $20,000 paraiba windex blue tourmalines for sale. They were really beautiful, not sure if they sold though. Oh well, I never bought anything from them, but it''s nice that there''s a GIT memo with the stone, at least you know it''s a copper bearing tourmaline and not some coated or irradiated topaz or lab gem. I hope the seller gets back to you with your questions, let us know.
 
Oh, I do know this stone is not good- but for .99 I thought the creamy color was interesting. But not a collector''s item!

Still waiting to hear from ebay seller...

This is what vender said about the multicolor.com tourmaline...

http://www.multicolour.com/detail/index.html?-1380365782


"Yes I have seen YTM330mj personally and it is a fine stone. It is very well cut
and clean so the brilliance has been maximized. However, chrysoberyl has a
higher refractive index so it will always be a little brighter."

If I lose out on the ebay bidding... could look for pair of smaller chrysoberyl that will have more green. I could set them in a ring like this (bad glare on pic, but you see what I mean...)

OR I could find a pair of neon tourmalines that are smaller and thus less expensive! gee wiz- I realize I can''t even find one stone, and now I am thinking of trying to find a matched pair? I am a glutten for punishmnet.

Cat eyes 025.jpg
 
Our Thai Gem house ebay seller says that the stone is more green than yellow. He ignored the questions about "Glow" so i assume it doesn''t have that same effect of really high quality paraiba''s. He said it is eye clean and not olive- looks just like picture. Now bidding is up over $120! I always lose out on this ebay stuff, but I am still in the running for my $1.55 lime green triangle shaped stone!
 
I asked the Thaigem dealer some of the same questions so we could corroborate, and I just think his English is not very good. He said the following:

"this green color. not olive color, nice sparkle under low light" The last part I asked him was that if it sparkled under low light, and that kind of indicates if there is some neon to the stone, or brightness to the stone. Copper bearing tourmalines of good quality have good sparkle and brightness under low light, and he said it did sparkle under low light. He might not have understood the word "glow".

I asked my gem dealer friend about lime green paraibas, and this is his response:

He said they really don''t buy paraiba which is not blue or violet since the demand isn''t as high for them. When he has bought yellowish green tourmaline, they end up not containing copper when they get them certified. I think this has to do with the rarity of this particular color in copper bearing tourmaline. He already sold some old stock of yellowish green (lime) copper bearing tourmaline. If you need to discuss with him further, his email is [[email protected]] and his name is Suhail.

The only way to win ebay auctions that have lots of bidders is to bid 20 seconds right before it ends with a high speed connection, and to bid as high as you possibly can (if you really want the stone, that''s a necessity). I''m not sure if it''s worth it for you. This stone could go up just a few hundred dollars in the span of a minute. I''ve won auctions like that for high demand stones (like my sphene I recently won). It''s a pain, that''s why I detest ebay auctions. I prefer "buy it now best offer". Unfortunately, it''s always the stones that you want the most that are up for auction!!! Errgghh!!
 
Date: 7/28/2007 1:44:59 AM
Author: Green with Envy


Doesn't this one have bad window???




http://www.multicolour.com/detail/index.html?-1861757598





I could still try this one from AJS, but for $400 it should be awesome!
Click to expand...

I don't trust AJS pictures at all. Too many people have complained about the stones looking very different than the pictures. Someone on these boards recently purchased a bright pink rubellite, and it looked a very nice hot pink in the picture. When she got it, she was disappointed at the brown cast to it. I'm really sorry, if anyone thinks differently feel free to offer some good feedback about AJS. I have a feeling that stone isn't as green as it looks, and if you have to return it, it would be a long and expensive process returning it back to Thailand.

That being said, it does not appear to have any window. You know a window if the has no sparkle and you can read newspaper print through the stone. Chrysoberyl is a bright sparkley stone , but I think tourmaline is as well in bright paraiba colors and looks even better than a chrysoberyl for the most part. I think regular non-copper bearing tourmaline goes extinct in incandescent light and loses it's vibrancy, especially when it has an olive cast, like the one multicolour has. Do a google lookup on the exact quote "how to choose a chrysoberyl" (put the phrase in quotes in google). You'll find some interesting information in the first thread that pops up.
 
So- the AJs crysoberyl is $400 and looks like good cut but that is alot more money to probably never send back! The multicolor.com chrysoberyl is under $100 (but a smaller stone).

I guess I feel better about multicolor.com and can ask them again about their chrysoberyl. It seems like they think it is more sparkle than the tourmaline. And you said looks ok- no window. This one from mlticolor just looks dark in the middle or something? It is described as having 'light" tone so not sure if the green will really be pronounced- as seen in attched pic.

I can see what happens on the ebay bidding before it closes- but I don't want to get caught up in a bidding war! I'm with you- I hate dealing with ebay bids... I always lose or end up spending WAy too much money!

b_ycb146hh.jpg
 
Someone sent me this idea as well and they say there is NO olive cast in real life...

Cat eyes 023.jpg
 
Opps- wrong pic...

CAUZENQX.jpg
 
I see some brown in that last stone, but you know what, I don''t want to sway you. If you think it''s a nice color, then it''s your choice, and your cat does have a bit of brown in his eyes. I personally cannot stand any brown or olive cast in stones, unless they''re rare collector stones like my sphene or andalusite which exihibit cool phenomenons. But, I don''t want to be the one that makes your ultimate final decision. That last stone does look a lot like the color of your cat''s eyes. I was just trying to remove the brown or olive cast from every yellowish green stone I see because I don''t care for it, but I''m not the one who has to like it, you do.
1.gif


I do like the vanadium chrysoberyl posted above, and I''m not familiar with Lembeck gems all that well, but if they have a good return policy and the fact that they''re situated in the New York and you''re in California, would make returning it much easier. Again, I would ask the same questions about the stones you like, that I asked the Thai dealer. I think it would be easier finding a nice chrysoberyl than a copper-bearing tourmaline, and I rather go with a chrysoberyl than a non-copper bearing tourmaline. Chyrsoberyls are still bright sparkley stones, and an extremely durable stone very suited for a ring if you wished to wear one all the time (8.5 on Mohs). They''re a lot more durable than tourmaline, which in itself is has a decent durability. I know it''s a hard decision, but I''m sure whatever you end up with will be gorgeous, and a fine match to the eyes of that adorable cat of yours.
 
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