four peaks amethysts

[Arkteia]

I examined the four peaks amethyst I got from Brad in daylight. It certainly looks better but lacks the saturation and brightness of the one from JXR. Is it true for all of them? I browsed Colorado Gems and Minerals website and they had a couple of ammys from the four peaks that looked very nice in picture. Have many people bought them, though? And how do they look in real life?
For me, the "catch" for buying amethysts from the US is that they are, presumably, unheated. And someone has advised me to look at the ones from the four peaks. So far I have only one, so I''d like to know the opinion of other PS-ers. Are they worth looking at? I absolutely love the "right" amethysts, but it seems that they are becoming hard to get...

 

[chrono]

Just like all gemstones of various varieties, there will be some that have finer colour than others of its kin. The 4 Peaks material show more red flash while the JXR has more blue flash, so to me, the two are quite different. It is like asking whether one prefers Washington apples over Gala apples. As to your original question, even within the Washington apple family, some are tastier than others.

 

[Upgradable]

Well, that was comparing apples to apples!

 

[Barrett]

four peaks rough material is hard to guage..they don''t form nice clean faced full crystals like say JXR does..you can hand select JXR material in the rough and know you are getting good stuff..I think the owners of the four peaks mine have only ever found a handful of actual full euhedral crystals..almost all is chunks with mottled or crappy distorted surfaces..hard to see the good stuff inside..so for cutters it''s hard to buy the rough without really cutting into it to see it''s full potential..so you buy a 20ct chunk or what have you..you get into it and it''s junk..what do you do..well you continue cutting it..paid money for it ya know..I had selected 2 pieces from a large burlap sack from the same guy that had all the amertrine..I picked what i thought were the best two chunks..gor home..sawed them..both were junk..I couldn''t tell how good they were even backlighting in the sun..where as with a Jxr you can tell immediately if the rough is good or not..nice big clean faces to peer into..it''s like apples to oranges like chrono mentioned but when it comes to 4 peaks rough it''s a heck of a lot harder to grade the rough

 

[StonieGrl]

Hi Crasu:

I live in not too far from Four Peaks

I have seen the inventory at Colorado Gem & Minerals IRL. I bought that 17-ct emerald cut 4 Peaks that I posted awhile back.

Jack has some really terrific amethyst and his photos don't touch the number of stones he has.

Questions you might want to ask Jack would be:

Who/where was the stone cut?
How is the saturation? Does the stone look darker or lighter IRL?
Please give me as many specifics as possible about the quality of the stone.

And Jack is a good hand with the camera and is computer literate, he can always send you some pics of the cut of stone you would like in the size you seek.

Ask about returns. He is in the US so should not be a giant problem.

 

[Arkteia]

Just wanted to thank everyone who responded to this post for their advices and comments. I shall call Jeff.

 

[gsellis]

I have a couple of Four Peaks pieces that are pretty clean. The samples I have have more grey in them than JXR. If I ever get some "me time", they are high on my list to cut. Sigh.

 

[Barrett]

a little tidbit of info I dug up from an old email with Jack Lowell that I stumbled across..for anyone interested

"It is usually more expensive because most production has to be taken down by helicopter from the mountain, and all supplies and equipment taken up the same way. It is in the middle of a wilderness area. no roads or land vehicles allowed."

I had forgot about that...it being hard to access

 

[Arkteia]

Well, it is still sitting in my box... and since I am thinking of downsizing, I am going to check with a small university museum here - if it is really small and they have no four peaks specimen, I am going to donate it to them. Likewise, probably, my topazolite (it is a beautiful stone but more a collector's rarity) and my pezzotaite. The pezzotaite is wonderful, but so small, I have no clue what to do with it! 3 mm...

 

[Haywood74]

That is awesome that you'd be willing to donate those to a museum for others to enjoy!

 

[autumngems]

I bought a Four Peaks from Colorado Gem & Minerals. It's absolutely amazing. Let me see if I posted a pic here somewhere. Here it is
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/look-whats-coming-my-way.121533/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/look-whats-coming-my-way.121533/[/URL]

 

[Arkteia]

This is amazing!