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Tag Archives: green
Strange and unique, possibly chrome green emerald cut.
Well here is another gemstone hot off the dop stick. The rough had a natural table that was obvious and the tables outline looked rather like a “D”. It had a moderately strong degree of dichroism with a very nice … Continue reading
Sea Foam, the neon look, Afghanistan and Paraiba like from Mozambique
The events in the following post really happen yesterday (01/003/2014. The point of the post has been brought up many times, but I still think it needs to be reinforced because it could cost you money. I have cut a … Continue reading
My little emeralds (tourmaline), no, not chrome this time.
I just finished two beautiful green tourmaline, one shield cut and the other a standard round brilliant. (12/11/2013) that are different enough to build a post. Each gem was cut from a different alluvial pebble that had significant inclusions. The … Continue reading
Gold to Green color changer, Dravite the species oval.#300
In my opinion this is a true color changer. I have run into a few on the inter net, but this is the only one in the collection. I did not realize that I had a another type of color … Continue reading
Slightly included non dichroic blue green oval#737
This is a very nice and rather different blue green oval. It has a medium tone level and has a uniform color and tone level because it is not dichroic. It is slightly included beside the girdle, which has no … Continue reading
A yellow green bi color that appears to be eye clean, emerald cut.#450
I love this stone. It is a wonderfully subtle, but effective mixture of about 2/3 medium toned green and 1/3 quite pale yellow. It is as bright as an emerald cut can be with superior crystal and the complete lack … Continue reading
Flawed, medium light, non dichroic, pastel blue green emerald cut.#449
This is a nice sized emerald cut that is not dichroic and has a medium light tone level. It has fine crystal, but a couple of residual radial flaws spoil the stone clean flashy look. When I see this amount … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, emerald cut, green, non-dichroic, pastel, verdelite
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Green IceT all around for this highly transparent emerald cut.#448
This pale green emerald cut is not dichroic and without any problems with its cleanliness or crystal. I would honestly think this was a beryl or maybe even a greened quartz before I would guess a tourmaline. With successful polishing … Continue reading
Hexagonal cut, lightly tone level, vegetable juice green#447
I have seen a light tone and this rather flat green before and I have shied away from calling it a vegetable juice green, but this stone color is filled with the juice, in my mind. I tried to bring … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged celery juice, green, hexagonal cut, light green, verdelite
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An eye opening golden green emerald cut.#445
I knew there was something “funny” with this emerald cut as soon as I focused on it. It has golden green on the storage box, but color was not that big a deal with this mostly green emerald cut. I … Continue reading
This is a GEM, exceptional gemstone, sea foam, emerald cut.#444
Now I knew that this was an exceptional gem, but it was in a different tray than the other sea foams, so I never really compare it with them. Now, thanks to this effort in posting (2013), I have all … Continue reading
Posted in Etc., Verdelite
Tagged afghan, emerald cut, green, outstanding, seafoam, verdelite
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Well saturated, medium dark tone level, blue green emerald cut, Namibia#441
This solid, established member of the tourmaline community appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. The emerald cut has steeply cut ends because they are closed. Its well saturated, medium dark tone level, blue green color does shift … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, color-shift, emerald cut, green, medium dark, Namibia, verdelite
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Open ended medium tones blue green emerald cut.#440
This is the type of emerald cut that is not rare in the collection. It probably came from Afghanistan and is very pretty without being overtly flashy. It is completely open and is probably eye clean. There really is nothing … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged afghan, blue-green, dichroic, emerald cut, green, medium green, open-c, verdelite
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Bright, medium tone, pastel blue green emerald cut.#439
This emerald cut is only slight dichroic and has a nice, evenly bright, medium pastel blue green color. It appears to be eye clean and has fine crystal. Even with all of this going for it, the stone is fine, … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, emerald cut, green, medium green, pastel, verdelite
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A very bright, non dichroic, medium toned, emerald cut. cuprian.#438
This pastel green with a touch of blue, emerald cut stands out in the tray of green emerald cuts. It has a great medium tone and a very bright eye clean look. I discovered that this gemstone has copper in … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, cuprian, emerald cut, green, Mozambique, non-dichroic, pastel, verdlite
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Golden green, olive medium plus tone level emerald cut.#437
This closed ended emerald cut has a nice medium plus tone level. Its color is golden green on the storage box, but I would probably call it an olive green. It appears to be eye clean and have fine crystal. … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged bronze, emerald cut, golden green, green, olive green, open-c, verdelite
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Rather dull yellow green closed ended emerald cut.#436
This stocky emerald cut has closed ends, but has a good amount of flash. In the daylight its color definitely has a bronze, brownish cast in the medium dark plus toned, yellow green color. But this is a gemstone that … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged bronze, closed-c emerald cut, color-shift, green, verdelite, yellow-green
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Smaller emerald cut with dichroic green and yellow green color.#434
This emerald cut has normal angles and an open yellowish green c axis. The a/b axis is a medium green and the overall tone level is moderate. It appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. It came from … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged dichroic, emerald cut, green, Mozambique, open-c, verdelite, yellow-green
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Semi open ends with a flatter crown, green emerald cut.#433
This stone appears to be open on the ends and I cut it with the normal angles. Still the c axis ends lack the expected transparency. The flatter crown gives the stone a wide open look. It appears to be … Continue reading
Completely open, bright blue green emerald cut, Afghanistan#432
This is another winner from Afghanistan. Its yellower c axis sparkles in the end and the bluer a/b axis dichroic color makes for a touchdown. As usual the stone has great transparency. It appears to be eye clean and weighs … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged afghan, blue-green, emerald cut, green, open-c, yellow-green
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Open ended bright, medium toned, green emerald cut, Mozambique#431
Looking at this bright medium toned emerald cut reminds me of my problem with propagating flaws in the green Mozambique material I got about ten years ago. This gemstone has a quite visible, residual, radial flaw flashing at me. I … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged dichroic, emerald cut, green, medium green, Mozambique, verdelite
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Bare dichroic, medium toned, slightly bronze, green emerald cut.#429
This emerald cut is oriented with the c axis and its bronze color across the stone rather than in the ends,like the vast majority of emerald cuts. Since the stone is barely dichroic in tone values, the bronze color and … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged bronze, dichroic, emerald cut, green, medium green, verdelite
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Barely dichroic, medium toned, blue modified green, emerald cut.#428
This emerald cut has a sophisticated green that plays a bit with blue. It is completely open and barely dichroic. Still it is not eye candy and it may have just a touch of gray to keep it in line. … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, dichroic, emerald cut, green, open-c, verdelite
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Open ended flashy emerald cut with a bit of olive in the color.#427
This is a nice smaller emerald cut with normal ends and a good amount of flash. The c axis is sort of a olive bronze that gives the stone a below average color. It does appear to be eye clean … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged bronze, dichroic, emerald cut, green, olive green, verdelite
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Beautiful completely open dichroic green emerald cut. Afghanistan#426
Now I love a great green in a closed ended, emerald cut, but when you see the true potential of green tourmaline in a completely open gemstone with mixing dichroic colors, it is big step up. Afghanistan again claims the … Continue reading
Semi closed ended, spicy green emerald cut#425
This spicy emerald cut with semi closed ends is pretty flashy for an emerald cut. It appears to be eye clean and have fine crystal. It has a medium tone level and weighs 1.24 carats. Bruce
Slightly included average green emerald cut with closed ends.#424
This smaller emerald cut is slightly included, but has fine crystal and is unaffected by the inclusion. It has closed ends and with steep angles. It has an average, medium dark tone level, green color and weighs 1.20 carats. Bruce
Average green, closed ended, emerald cut.#423
This gemstone is a middle of the road green emerald cut with closed ends. It appears to be eye clean and has nice crystal, but the color is not exceptional. It weighs 2.89 carats and has a medium dark tone … Continue reading
Hexagonal cut green tourmaline.#422
This gemstone was an experiment in cutting a “hexagonal cut” in a moderately toned, bluish green tourmaline. The shape of the gemstone and its crown are the same as an emerald cut, but the pavilion is angled toward a culet. … Continue reading
Great green, closed ended, medium dark, emerald cut.#421
This stocky emerald cut looks rather like an octagon with the corners cut off so much, because of the steep angles on the ends of the stone. But it seems to produce a great showing of this gems superior flash … Continue reading
Usambara effect, chrome chromophore, green emerald cut.#420
I will be posting more on the usambara effect in tourmaline, but I will focus more on this specific gemstone in this post. It is always a pleasure to discover something new about tourmaline and then to discover something unexpected … Continue reading
Posted in Dravite, Etc.
Tagged chrome, dravite, emerald cut, green, umbasara, unique
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Sharp crystal like clarity, green, closed ended emerald cut.#418
I stopped a moment to try and come with a better description of what this stone looks like (including other eye clean and well saturated greens.). Just saying that it is probably eye clean or with fine crystal doesn’t seem … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged closed-c, crystal, emerald cut, green, medium green, verdelite
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Very bright bronze and green, dichroic, emerald cut.#402
The posted stone, emerald cut, 1.13 carats. Older cut stone, round, .83 carats Same material. I like a stone like this very bright emerald cut. It has a very good green c axis color and a more muted bronze a/b … Continue reading
Closed ends with normal angles, green emerald cut.#415
This small emerald cut has normal angle even though it has closed ends. It does show darker areas at each end of the emerald cut and the flash is different. It still has a nice green flash and can be … Continue reading
Closed ended with classic yellowish green color, emerald cut.#414
This emerald cut is an excellent representative for its class of tourmaline. It has the following properties. 1, Strongly dichroic, with a closed c axis. 2, Well saturated slightly yellowish green a/b axis. 3, Cut with steep ends to minimize … Continue reading
Medium light tone, blue green color with significant flaw, emerald cut#412
This bright open blue green emerald cut has sparkle in the ends. It has a more shift in its color than the more common yellow greens which is pleasing. Unfortunately this gemstone appears to have failed and there is a … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged color-shift, emerald cut, green, open-c, verdelite, yellow-green
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Well saturated green with a touch of blue, closed ended, emerald cut.#411
If I was an emerald, I would want to look like this green with a touch of blue tourmaline. (like many synthetic emeralds). The tone level of medium dark along with being eye clean and with fine crystal blows many … Continue reading
Well saturate, eye clean, closed ended green emerald cut#406
This emerald cut is the best you can cut from the world of small highly dichroic green tourmaline crystal that nature has produced. It has the typical well saturated yellow green in a medium tone level, which is good for … Continue reading
Closed ends but a great green emerald cut.#410
This emerald cut has steeply cut ends, but that doesn’t stop the a/b color from being exceptional. Its beauty is helped by being eye clean and with fine crystal. It medium dark tone is very rich and smooth. It weighs … Continue reading
Small emerald cut saturate green color and open ends.#409
This is about as small as I have ever cut an emerald cut. It weighs .33 carats and is a dandy little open ended and well saturated green gem. It also appears to be eye clean. Bruce
Fine, medium toned, green emerald cut that is not visibly dichroic.#408
This is a beautiful, well saturated green emerald cut that is not visibly dichroic. It appears to be eye clean and with excellent crystal. Its completely open ends with the same color and tone values as the sides of the … Continue reading
Dichroic medium light yellow green emerald cut.#407
The ends of this emerald cut are a deeper yellow green, while the body of the gemstone is a medium toned green. It is a nice open gemstone that is only moderately dichroic. It weighs .60 carats. Bruce
Steeply cut ends on a well saturated green emerald cut.#406
The emerald cut has normal ends because it has open ends. Its well saturated green color is is bright and flashy. It appears to be eye clean and with great transparency. It weighs 1.20 carats. Bruce
Steep ends on a semi closed, well saturated, medium toned green emerald cut#405 cut.
This emerald cut has steeply cut ends because it has semi closed ends. Its well saturated medium tone a/b axis color is very nice. It weighs .72 carats. Bruce
Well saturated, eye clean, green emerald cut.#404
This green emerald cut has a well saturated color. It appears to be eye clean and has almost open ends which helps make it flashy. It weighs .64 carats. Bruce
Included green emerald cut with closed ends.#403
This face up visibly included green emerald has a nice clean color. It has a medium dark tone level with closed ends. It weighs 1.18 carats. Bruce
Snappy green classic green emerald cut with semi closed ends#402
This small emerald cut is quite flashy considering that its ends are semi closed. It appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. The medium toned, snappy green a/b axis is what really makes this gemstone. It weighs 1.13 … Continue reading
Almost square, completely open, green emerald cut, Afghanistan.#401
This is a beautiful almost square emerald cut from Afghanistan. Its medium tone level is a little high for sea foam, but it is in the same blue green family. It appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. … Continue reading
Included, medium light toned, blue green oval.#1200
This is the last of the four ovals that I cut from a large included piece of rough. I have written about cutting this stone on another post about cutting included rough, if you would like to read more about … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, cutting tourmaline, green, medium green, oval
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Spicy yellowish green medium plus tone level, emerald cut
The long ratio of this narrow emerald cut minimizes the closed ends and put forward a nice medium plus tone level of spicy green. It appears to be eye clean and weighs.1.32 carats. Bruce
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged closed-c, emerald cut, green, medium green, spicy, yellow-green
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Bright medium light sea foam oval from Afghanistan.#1194
Sea foam is another color variety that will go out of my way to try and get as much out of it as I can. This small oval is too small to really get the full effect of the lightly … Continue reading
Nice medium toned slightly included emerald cut.#1191
This emerald cut is dichroic with semi closed ends. It has a good amount of flash, but is not eye clean. It has a slight radial feather that is on one side of the table, on the long side. The … Continue reading
Pale pink oval with frisky yellowish spot.#1188
This rough for this gemstone is from Nigeria and I have seen quite a bit of it. The body is a nice pink, but some faces of the crystal have a yellowish green layer on them that appears to have … Continue reading
Included, dichroic, medium dark green trilliant cut.#1187
Now I am not saying the I prefer included stones, to the pure joy of bright, flashing, eye clean perfection, but some inclusions don’t bother me as much as they use to. This trilliant has a great dichroic green. But … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, dichroic, green, trilliant, verdelite
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Included, long ratio, bright blue green, medium toned, oval.#1184
This is one of the ovals that I cut from a large piece of included rough. This stone has a moderate amount of inclusions, but is still bright and flashy. I have posted about cutting this oval in a post … Continue reading
Medium light tone blue green dot of color#1181
This blue green dot of color is bright and has a medium light tone. It wished that it was bigger at .20 carats. Bruce
Medium toned blue green dot of color#1180
This standard round brilliant is a very nice medium tone level, pastel blue green dot of color. It appears to be eye clean and bright and weighs .20 carats. Bruce
Chrome green dot of color#1178
This chrome tourmaline has a nice flash driven green color. It weighs .20 carats. Bruce
Blue green pastel dot of color.#1179
This standard round brilliant is a nice medium pastel dot of color. It is quite and bright and appears to be eye clean. It weighs .18 carats. Bruce
Chrome tourmaline, flash driven green round.#1177
This dark green dot of color has a flash driven green color. It is called chrome tourmaline despite the fact that it is probably colored by vanadium. It weighs .20 carats. Bruce
Dark green chrome dot of color.#1176
This dark green dot of color has some flash driven color. It is called chrome tourmaline despite the fact that it is probably colored by vanadium. This standard round brilliant weighs .17 carats. Bruce
Emerald green dot of color.#1175
This small standard round brilliant is cut from chrome tourmaline. It has a bit better tone values than the other five green dotes of color on the same tray. It weighs .20 carats. Bruce
Chrome green dot of color.#1174
This small dark green, but with good flash, round is called chrome tourmaline. It has a different feel to it than green Elbaite the most common form of green tourmaline. This dot of color weighs .16 carats. Bruce
Green dots before your eyes, chrome dots of color (6)#1173
Dark, but with a very nice flash driven emerald green color. This chrome tourmaline is one of six rounds that I cut from the last of a dealers inventory. Chrome tourmaline has a different presence than green Elbaite and you … Continue reading
Included medium toned pastel blue green oval.#1172
This is one of four ovals that I cut from a large included piece of rough. I describe the work in another post that discusses the cutting of included rough. I hope that you would read that for more details … Continue reading
Included medium toned pastel blue green oval.#1171
This oval was cut along with three other ovals from a large piece of included rough. I have gone into quite a bit of detail about their cutting in a post discussing cutting included rough. So I would see that … Continue reading
Fully open, slightly dichroic, spring green emerald cut.#1169
Over the years of cutting green tourmaline with every degree of darkness down the c axis, I have really come to appreciate an emerald cut like this one. It is slightly dichroic, but the c axis is wide open and … Continue reading
Really a tourmaline? Purple green bicolor, round.#1168
First of all, cutting a round out of a bicolor is not the “normal” way of bring the best out it. But the rough was unbalanced and so stubby that to cut an emerald cut would not show the colors … Continue reading
Posted in Bi-Color, Etc.
Tagged bicolor, green, horizontal split mains, purple, unique
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Closed ends does not make a dull green tourmaline, emerald cut#1159
This emerald cut is alive with nice flashes of classic yellow green color. It does have completely closed ends, and is cut with steep ends, but it never was too dark or dull. It appears to be eye clean and … Continue reading
An included round from the sea.#1158
This is an old stone that is so included that it sat away from the collection for years. Still when I was getting the collection in order for this website and photography, I looked it over again. And I still … Continue reading
Dichroic, but open ended snappy green emerald cut.#1157
This emerald cut has a little less than a medium tone level to set off a yellowish green to bluish green, flashy, color. It appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. It is only mildly dichroic and has … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, color-shift, dichroic, emerald cut, green, verdelite, yellow-green
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A black that is dark green emerald cut.#1152
This is a stone from the old days that I decided to store with the collection. Then thinking about it, if I want as broad a sample of color/intensity/tone as I can get, I should include it as a permanent … Continue reading
Moderate pale green droplet of color from Brazil#1150
This standard round brilliant is moderately included. Its minty green body produces a reasonable amount of flash. I bought the rough in a lot from Brazil and it was some of the first material I cut, when I was getting … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged Brazil, droplet-of-color, green, mint, pale, verdelite
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Moderately included spring green droplet of color.#1147
This standard round brilliant has a nice , spring green, look despite its moderate inclusions. Its medium tone level is much in demand with the droplets of color. It weighs 1.36 carats. Bruce
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, spring green, verdelite, yellow-green
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Long ratio, semi closed ends, spicy green emerald cut.#1145
I went to college in Colorado in the late sixties from New Jersey. Besides being introduced to many delicacies of western fare, I ran into Mexican food for the first time. When I asked my “friends” which salsa I should … Continue reading
Open ended and medium toned, green emerald cut.#1143
This emerald cut appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. It has open ends and a fine medium tone level. It green color is interesting as it is a bit different than most green tourmaline. Just another example … Continue reading
Heavily included pale green emerald cut. Brazil#1142
When I first got back into faceting after a long hiatus, I bought mostly small sized, inexpensive, cutting rough, much of which was junk. The lot that the posted gemstone came from was Brazilian and had tourmaline with three distinctly … Continue reading
Great blue green with a few visible growth tubes oval.#1138
I really like this medium plus tone level of bright blue green color. The gemstone has one fault. There are a few quite visible growth tubes deep in the culet that parallel the sides of the oval. I remember thinking … Continue reading
Medium toned, blue green, dichroic gemstone is a droplet of color.#1133
This standard round brilliant has an interest mixture of the two dichroic colors of blue green and yellow green. It appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. It weighs .54 carats and is a droplet of color. Bruce.
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, dichroic, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite, yellow-green
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A nice medium toned green dot.#1125
Now what does it take to be a fine dot of color besides a determinative size? The rich enough tone level to be seen and a fine color. This standard round brilliant has both and has been accepted. ( Since … Continue reading
Summing up the parts, beautiful yellow green shield cut.#1124
With all the difficulty and expense of getting natural tourmaline rough, it makes me wonder sometimes why I just don’t cut synthetic. I don’t believe in any mystical force of nature or the healing power of natural gemstones, but I … Continue reading
Posted in Etc., Verdelite
Tagged green, outstanding, shield, verdelite, yellow-green
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Another winner, pale yellow green, deep round.#1122
I feel a growing acceptance of a new force in the round world. It the tourmaline rough meets the following criteria, it may end up being cut with a split horizontal main pavilion and a modified step cut crown. 1, … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged green, horizontal split mains, pale, verdelite, yellow-green
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Classic blue green emerald cut tourmaline.#1118
There, I have brought up the fact,in the title, that this beauty which screams tourmaline when you look at it, is a tourmaline. I think you may have been surprised by the world of color in tourmaline as you brows … Continue reading
Posted in Etc., Polishing Tourmaline, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, emerald cut, green, outstanding, polishing tourmaline
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Deeply cut medium pastel green round.#1111
This delightful gemstone owes much of its interest to the increased depth and bright flash created by a different cut, than the standard round brilliant. This cut consists of eight horizontally split mains for a pavilion and a modified two … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Verdelite
Tagged cutting tourmaline, green, horizontal split mains, pastel
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A medium pastel green with a nice bluish smile. round#149
This stone #149 needs a picture. This really is a pleasant gemstone. It color which is mostly green will make you pause to appreciate its bluish flavor, if you look closely. It appears to be eye clean and have fine … Continue reading
Dichroic forest green round#146
Face up this standard round brilliant appears to have a nice even medium dark forest green (green with a blue touch), but it is hiding the truth. When I turned it over to check for inclusions/flaws etc. and rotated it, … Continue reading
Green to blue green, medium dark, droplet of color.#140
This is a very pretty droplet of color with a very nice, rich, shifting color between green and blue green. It likes light as most medium dark tone gems appreciate, but it seems more open than most to more moderate … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, color-shift, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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Strongly dichroic forest green round.#139
Most of the smaller rounds and many of the larger ones are cut with their table perpendicular to the c axis (principle axis). This is to get the best level of tone and an even color, face up, in the … Continue reading
Cuprian, medium toned, shift blue green round.#138
The top grade cuprian tourmaline that came out of Mozambique can be much larger and cleaner than the vast majority of Paraiba material from Brazil. But in both deposit, included material represented the vast majority of the production. I lowered … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, color-shift, cuprian, green, Mozambique, verdelite
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Medium pastel blue green beauty, round.#137
This pastel is outstanding for its open medium tone and a bit of a different blue green hue. It does slide around blue to green, but is a true blue green. It appears to be eye clean and as flashy … Continue reading
Pleasant, average green with blue overtone, droplet of color.#135
This droplet of color has a green color that is modified by a blue cast. It is a bright flashy gemstone that appears to be eye clean. It is a standard round brilliant and weighs .84 carats. Bruce
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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Just your average nice little green droplet of color.#129
Man can not live on eye candy alone. This little standard round brilliant is an honest green droplet of color that never pretends to be more than it is. It appears to be eye clean with an average green color. … Continue reading
Bright flashy medium dark blue green droplet of color#126
This round just doesn’t want to be quiet. It has a deeper tone level, but still seems to have a better flash then many of its brethren of the same tone level. Its blue green color is attractive and it … Continue reading
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Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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A fine medium toned blue green round#127
This gemstone is pretty close to the sea foam from Afghanistan. It has a little bit darker tone level and is not as neon in brightness. Still this is a very nice open pastel blue/green that is bright and flashy. … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, medium green, seafoam
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Another blue green round with transparency problems.#122
This standard round brilliant is a medium dark toned disappointment. The lack of transparency is again evident with a stone cut perpendicular to the c axis. It does have some muted flash and a decent bluish color, but it is … Continue reading
A darker average green round#119
This standard round brilliant is pretty much what people, who have not taken the adventure of color in tourmaline, expect from tourmaline. A darker rather unpretentious, nondescript green. Having it in a round rather than an emerald cut is a … Continue reading
A perfect beautifully green chrome tourmaline.#117
Saying a chrome tourmaline is green is redundant, but I don’t want anyone, even for a moment to think that this standard round brilliant is anything other than the ideal green tourmaline in a medium tone level. It is not … Continue reading
A green color dot with apparent c axis transparency problems.#115
I have been finding more tourmaline with c axis transparency problems than I realized in the collection. They have all been blues and greens. This medium dark, small standard round brilliant seems to have joined the group of known examples. … Continue reading
Included. mostly green with blue overtone droplet of color.#114
This standard round brilliant has a good tone level for such a small stone. The medium plus tone level also helps to mask the dot of color’s inclusions. So this green with a blue overtone is a decently little gemstone … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, medium green, verdelite
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Bronze to olive green shield cut.#198
Sometimes you never know which part of the collection will spark the appreciation for tourmaline that I hope to instill in my fellow man. When I spent a day with a curator of gems and minerals at a large eastern … Continue reading
Between yellow and green this is toward the darker green side, round.#195
I have posted on yellow greens and most of them are on the yellower end. This count really does not include many classic green colors of tourmaline that are just this side of pure green and not a blue green. … Continue reading
Nice sized, larger, medium toned yellow green round.#194
This medium toned yellow green is on the yellow side again. I just can not lay off the yellows. It has fine crystal and appears to be eye clean. As usual it is very bright and flashy, which may be … Continue reading
Bronze star for this round since the color doesn’t sell it.#193
Bronze is a nice way of saying that the yellow green has enough brown in it to be darker and not as flash. And that is what we have with this standard round brilliant. It is a rather common color … Continue reading
Excellent yellow green with the green dominating, round#192
This is an excellent, wide open, fully transparent, deep round. The depth of the stone is enhanced by the used of horizontally split mains. Its color is a flashy medium tone that appears to be eye clean. I use the … Continue reading
Attractive pure green round. #191
This standard round brilliant is cut with it table perpendicular to the c axis. This gets the highest tone value out of a pale crystal. It is used much more often with pink/red because of the strong dichroic nature of … Continue reading
Lightly included green with brown overtone shield cut. cuprian#188
The wispy feathers in this larger medium plus toned shield cut are hard to see (best from the pavilion) and do not effect the flash. The green is taken down a peg with a brown overtone in daylight, that is … Continue reading
A normal medium toned green droplet of color.#185
This standard round brilliant has a nice even medium toned green. It has no noticeable dichroism and appears to be eye clean. This is a fine combination for a 1.36 carat stone that earns it a pathway to droplet heaven. … Continue reading
Bright cool refreshing mint blue green, cuprian round#184
Another unexpected copper discovery with my spectrometer that is in a much more desirable (expensive) color, minty blue/green. The eye clean stone has a very bright, medium light pastel color, but really does not have the neon look to me. … Continue reading
Distinct slices of pie shaped alternating color, green, golden green round.#183
This standard round brilliant was cut with its table parallel to the c axis. This produces a wheel of pie slices that alternate from green to golden green and back again when you look at the stone. It is interesting … Continue reading
A cool touch of blue in a green round.#181
This is not a happy spring kind of green standard round brilliant. This medium toned green does try to get up in the yellowish light, but a touch of blue keeps it more sophisticated. It appears to be eye clean … Continue reading
Non dichroic, rich pastel blue green shield cut.#180
This smaller shield cut is a bit hazy from a lower grade of crystal. Still its rich blue green pastel color is nice and the naturally flashy nature of the shield cut helps to make this a nice gemstone. It … Continue reading
Nice and spicy green trilliant cut.#178
This trilliant cut is not particularly flashy. I don’t think it is the few minor inclusion I see, but a generally low quality of crystal. I cleaned it, to double check, and it still shows its spicy green color in … Continue reading
Medium rich green with slight inclusions, cuprian droplet of color.#175
Of all the colors I explored with my spectrometer for copper, the most discoveries of copper were made in greens. I also had quite few indications of copper in pink/red, but there are technical issues with that color of tourmaline … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged cuprian, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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Slightly included, nicely saturated, yellow green, cuprian, droplet of color.#174
I was most fortunate to be in the hunt for different colors in tourmaline, when Mozambique began to produce cuprian tourmaline. Then it was years before the copper bearing nature of the deposit was revealed in a reverse Alexandrite color … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged cuprian, droplet-of-color, green, Mozambique, verdelite, yellow-green
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Dichroic golden green and green round.#173
This combination of a golden green c axis and a nice medium well saturated a/b axis seems to be reasonably common with tourmaline. This is another smaller round that has been cut with the table parallel to the c axis. … Continue reading
Richer yellow green droplet of color.#172
When I venture out into the world of tourmaline rough for sale, I do not really think about what I want, rather what I have an opportunity to buy. If I am able to make a tentative list of possible … Continue reading
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Tagged droplet-of-color, green, verdelite, yellow-green
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Fine medium dark forest green droplet of color.#171
Honesty is the best policy, but I don’t claim to be unbiased. I think that tourmaline has the most exciting greens in the gemstone world. It might not have the ultimate green of an emerald buried in a museum or … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, forest green, green, medium green, verdelite
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Another green lifted up by a fine shield cut.#170
I like this bright medium toned well saturated green shield cut. It is always refreshing to find a nice piece of green rough suitable for something different than an emerald cut. This piece of tourmaline does not appear to be … Continue reading
A yellow green with an uplifting shield cut.#168
When you have a piece of rough that is being preformed and it looks like it will make a shield cut, things are going well. This eye clean, medium toned yellow green is nice, but the cut makes it a … Continue reading
The droplets of color demand this green with golden wash, cuprian round.#165
This standard round brilliant is a nice, eye clean, gemstone with a flashy, medium dark tone green, that is a bit on the yellow side. I found out that this round was cuprian because I tested it with my spectrometer. … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Droplets of Color, Etc., Verdelite
Tagged cuprian, droplet-of-color, golden green, green, Mozambique
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Dichroic golden green and green round.#163
This dichroic gemstone has the classic pie slice shaped areas with alternating yellow green and green, when you look face up at this standard round brilliant. It appears to be eye clean and has a medium dark tone color. It … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Verdelite
Tagged cutting tourmaline, dichroic, golden green, green, verdelite
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Delicate sea foam oval from Afghanistan.#162
A fine little oval that came with the sea foam lot from Afghanistan. I has a light tone level that doesn’t support the sea foam color very well, but it is very bright and eye clean. It weighs .83 carats. … Continue reading
Medium dark forest green droplet of color.#161
This standard round brilliant appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. I don’t see any dichroism in its medium dark, forest green color. It is nice to have another green droplet of color. It weighs 1.52 carats. Bruce
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, forest green, green, medium green, verdelite
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Fine medium toned green shield cut.#158
Sometimes I think that movie critics should not review new movies because they have seen too much. Who really cares if the plot was ripped off a 1947 thriller and the lead actor is trying to act like Laurence Olivie … Continue reading
Sea foam droplet of color, Afghanistan#155
This smaller droplet of color came with the bigger boys from Afghanistan. It is just a little shaver and lacks the tone value to really show what top grade sea foam can do, but it is still very attractive. It … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged afghan, blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, seafoam, verdelite
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Included dichroic golden green/green round#153
This standard round brilliant has the classic pie shape alternating areas of golden green and green. The two colors blend together pretty well and give it a pleasant mixed color appear. Its inclusions are significant and they do effect the … Continue reading
This medium light, pastel yellow green, droplet of color is included.#152
This gemstone has a galaxy of tiny flashing inclusions. It certainly effects the droplets of color’s flash. But in a way it makes it look more like candy, that is also enhanced by the stone light tone values. It weighs … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, pastel, verdelite, yellow-green
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Nice medium dark green droplet of color.#151
This standard round brilliant has some minor inclusions that have no effect on the stones flash. The droplet of color has a nice medium green color that flashes in a medium dark body. It is simply a nice medium dark … Continue reading
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Tagged droplet-of-color, green, medium green, verdelite
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Smallest round in the collection and a green dot of color.#109
This is as low as I have ever cut a small gemstone. This standard round brilliant only weighs .11 carats, but it is a chrome tourmaline and probably has as good a green as there is in the collection. If … Continue reading
Medium toned forest green droplet of color. #109
This standard round brilliant does not have the darkness of the deep forest, but it does have a hint of evergreen in its pretty middle of the road green. It appears to be eye clean and with a moderate flash … Continue reading
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Tagged droplet-of-color, forest green, green, verdelite
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Ideal tone level in a crisp blue green droplet of color.#107
It is tempting to call this a sea foam and perhaps it would be by some people. It came from Afghanistan or Pakistan and it has a great bright blue green color, but I would not rate its brightness above … Continue reading
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Tagged afghan, blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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Bright, neon, sea foam droplet of color Afghanistan/Pakistan.#105
This standard round brilliant has the bright neon sea foam look, but is getting a little small for the best tone level. It is eye clean and of fine crystal. It weighs .71 carats and joins a select group of … Continue reading
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Tagged afghan, droplet-of-color, green, neon, seafoam, verdelite
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A sea foam droplet of color from Afghanistan.#102
There are only a few varieties of tourmaline that I think can approach cuprian tourmaline in brightness. One of them is top quality sea foam from Afghanistan/Pakistan. And how “neon” the material certainly effects it price. This standard round brilliant … Continue reading
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Tagged afghan, droplet-of-color, green, neon, seafoam, verdelite
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Pink culet and the rest green makes great mixing for a round. Nigeria #98
This is both an interesting and beautiful gemstone. The standard round brilliant is a great cut to mix up colors and this gemstone has great ones to mix. Both the pink culet and green crown rather disappear when the stone … Continue reading
Larger Nigeria pink green mixed to orangy, round #97
This standard round brilliant is big enough to really see the mixing of green and pink into yellow and oranges that happens in this interesting stone. The mixing certainly depends on the light and you can still see the pink/ … Continue reading
What you see face up is not what you have green/pink round.#96
I have gotten more than a few pieces of this interesting rough from Nigeria over the years. It is really a pink crystal that has some faces that look they had a chomophore (trace element that effects color) diffused into … Continue reading
Medium Toned, Yellow Green Bronze Round #93
This medium toned standard round brilliant is both not a dense stone or one that is excessively brown. Its color is not completely driven by flash and under a gray sky I can see some bronze flash mixed into a … Continue reading
Darker oil green with lighter green flash, round #87
This standard round brilliant suffers from the same lack of transparency down the c axis that I have seen in some other richer tourmaline. This effect manifests itself by the stone having muted flash under the table, while brightly flashing … Continue reading
A bit of mint covered in chocolate, dichroic round. #88
When I came to this small round that was cut years ago, it made me pause. I have written golden green on the back of its storage box ,but I am seeing a more complex picture than that. This standard … Continue reading
Golden Green Dichroic Round. #86
This standard round brilliant has a great well saturated golden yellow principle, c axis and a paler a/b axis that is yellowish green. The mixture produces a medium dark tone gemstone with slices of pie shaped area of both dichroic … Continue reading
Beautiful tricolor, pastel blue green, colorless, pink emerald cut. Afghan #80
This is a beautiful gemstone and the largest of the three examples I got threw a dealer that had direct connections with Afghanistan. He was also a cutter, but had found them too fragile for his heavy hand. I was … Continue reading
Posted in Bi-Color
Tagged afghan, bicolor, blue, colorless, emerald cut, green, pastel, tri-color
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A beautiful tricolor, blue green, colorless, pink, emerald cut. Afghanistan. #70
This is a beautiful gemstone. I was given the opportunity to buy this tricolor rough because it is fragile like many bi and tri color tourmaline. I was successful in cutting this long ratio emerald cut, but it needed to … Continue reading
Posted in Bi-Color, Etc.
Tagged afghan, bicolor, blue, colorless, emerald cut, green, tri-color
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A great, clean, yellow green piece of eye candy, copper bearing round. #62
This is a beautiful gemstone. Its acid yellow green color seems to burn a hold threw the little plastic box I store it in. Its medium toned splendor is augmented by having copper as a chromophore in its chemistry. I … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Verdelite
Tagged cuprian, green, neon, outstanding, yellow-green
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Pastel green pink bicolor from Brazilian “salad”. #59
I read somewhere that Brazil, the homeland of tourmaline for many years was not producing much quality material anymore. But it was producing what they cal “salad” which are native cut gemstones in mostly included tourmaline. Sometimes it is just … Continue reading
Posted in Bi-Color, Cutting Tourmaline
Tagged bicolor, Brazil, cutting tourmaline, emerald cut, green, pastel, pink
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Bright yellow green oval with a two step crown. #51
Yellow green is a wide venue that is full of excitement with tourmaline. This bright yellow green oval is toward the medium toned, yellow end. It appears to be eye clean and have excellent crystal. It maybe me, but I … Continue reading
longer ratio, blue green emerald cut with steep ends. #400
This longer ratio emerald cut has blue green color and is very dichroic. It has steep ends that help minimize the darkness in the ends of the gemstone. It appears to be eye clean and have great crystal. A fine … Continue reading
Classic bright saturated green with dark ends emerald cut.#399
This is a quintessential example of a classic green tourmaline taken to perfection. Its central color is a bright grass green, but it is so dichroic that the ends are completely dense. To generate flash in the ends and minimize … Continue reading
Slight bicolor with a few marks blue to green emerald cut.#396
This medium light toned emerald cut slides around between green and bluer green depending on the light. It has excellent transparency except for a few marks scattered in the stone. The most important is on a corner of the table … Continue reading
Posted in Bi-Color, Indicolite
Tagged bicolor, blue, emerald cut, green, non-dichroic
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Completely open, medium toned blue green, emerald cut.#395
This is a beautiful gemstone. It has a great,completely open, medium toned body. In fact it is not even dichroic, at least by eye. The color shines from the tray without needing to be flashed and when it is moved, … Continue reading
Excellent completely open dichroic green emerald cut.#392
This dichroic emerald cut has a great well saturated green c axis on the ends and lighter blue sides. The overall impression of the stone is of a bright flashy medium toned green with a touch of blue. The stone … Continue reading
A fine eye clean blue to green emerald cut. #389
This well saturated blue to green emerald cut, shifts with the light. It has open, but slightly darker ends that still flash quite nicely for an emerald cut. It appears to be eye clean and has the typically high quality … Continue reading
Lightly toned, not dichroic, deeply cut, watery blue green, emerald cut.#386
This lightly toned, non dichroic, emerald cut does not look like a classical tourmaline. If you did not do an index of refraction test on it and find that it has a much higher index than beryl, I would guess … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged aquamarine, blue-green, green, non-dichroic, pale, unique
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Closed ends with steep angles blue green emerald cut.#384
This emerald cut has closed ends. The medium dark tone and steep ends reveal a well saturated blue green body. It appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. It weighs 1.90 carats. Bruce
Normally cut, blue green emerald cut, with slight flaw#382
This smaller emerald cut has semi closed ends that are cut with normal angles. It has a rich well saturated green to blue color depending on the light. It appears to be eye clean except for a slight flaw in … Continue reading
Really snappy blue green, not dichroic, emerald cut
Now I like medium dark fully saturated emerald cuts as much as the next man, and maybe more, but when I see a medium tone, well saturated non dichroic barn burn of a blue green, I rejoice. This eye candy … Continue reading
Completely open, medium light tone, green emerald cut.#379
The emerald cut has a wonderful tone level and a green that strikes me as watery, without any blue in it. It dichroic colors appear to be the same color except that c axis is darker. The stones ends flash … Continue reading
Deep, completely cut, open medium pastel blue green emerald cut.#376
This is a great gemstone. I cut it with the full complement of 3 steps of facets on the crown and 4 steps of facets on the pavilion. This, along with a medium toned blue green color, that flashes from … Continue reading
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Tagged blue-green, emerald cut, green, open-c, pastel, verdelite
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Medium dark tone, hexagonal emerald cut shaped, green.#374
This is the only example of this different back on an emerald cut shape, in the collection. It worked and gave a different radiating flash than an emerald cut’s flash, but I still prefer the old fashion emerald cut. It … Continue reading
Outstanding, medium toned, well saturated, blue green emerald cut.#373
This emerald cut is completely open and flashing. It is slightly dichroic, but from face up, I can not see any darkness or difference in color in the ends from the saturated blue green color on the sides. It is … Continue reading
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Tagged blue-green, dichroic, emerald cut, green, medium green, verdelite
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Bright, medium tone,saturated, grass green emerald cut.#372
This emerald cut is a beauty. It has well saturated, green flash, sides and ends that flash with a slightly darker green. It appears to be eye clean and with find crystal. It weighs1.09 carats. Bruce
moderately dichroic blue green, moderately toned, emerald cut.#370
This emerald cut easily shows its greener ends and blue green sides when the sun shines on it. It has a moderate tone that is augmented by not having the ends too dark. It appears to be eye clean and … Continue reading
A moderately dichroic blue green emerald cut.#369
This medium toned emerald cut definitely has richer green ends and rather pale bluer green sides. The green ends dominate the stone, so I would call it a green with an overtone of blue. The ends though darker than the … Continue reading
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Tagged blue-green, dichroic, emerald cut, green, open-c, verdelite
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Moderate dichroism and tone in a blue green emerald cut.#368
When the sun shines on this moderately toned blue green emerald cut you can easily see the dichroism. The more greenish ends are distinctly different from the blue green sides. It has a somewhat muted color, that may be result … Continue reading
Slightly dichroic, but not closed, medium dark blue/green emerald cut.#367
This is a very nice medium dark toned blue with an overtone of green. The color is flash driven and saturated. It appears to be eye clean and have a fine crystal body. The dichroism causes some darkening of the … Continue reading
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Tagged blue-green, dichroic, emerald cut, green, medium green, open-c
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Medium pastel green with a flaw threw the heart, emerald cut.#366
I should probably replace this smaller emerald cut with another stone. It medium tone green with touches of blue is OK, but it obviously cracked while cutting and I can see areas of white from too far away. It weighs … Continue reading
Medium lightly toned grayed green emerald cut.#365
This medium lightly toned grayed green goes toward the bluish side when permitted by the light. It has a bright flashy look with completely open ends. It appears to be eye clean and with fine crystal. It weighs 1.91 carats. … Continue reading
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Tagged blue-green, emerald cut, gray-green, green, open-c, verdelite
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Afghanistan produces a nice pastel green droplet of color.#363
Bright and light are the passwords for this medium light tone, green droplet of color. It has a very slight flaw at the girdle, that makes no difference in the beauty of the gemstone. It weighs .90 carats, which is … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged afghan, droplet-of-color, green, pastel, verdelite
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Smaller, bright green with a touch of blue, open ended emerald cut.#362
This smaller emerald cut has a color many real emeralds would be jealous of. It is medium dark green with a touch of blue. It appears to be eye clean and has completely open ends. Such sparkle in a darker … Continue reading
Fine, rich grass green, with darker ends, but not closed, emerald cut.#358
This emerald is a medium plus toned, flash driven gemstone. It ends are darker, but still open enough to give life to a really fine grass green color. It weighs 1.05 carats. Bruce
Small, bright, open ended, included, blue green emerald cut.#356
This small emerald cut is a very nice gemstone. Its flaws are not major and the emerald cut is still bright and flashy. It has a medium toned blue green look that grabs the eye. It weighs.68 carats. Bruc
Great blue green in a medium toned emerald cut.#353
No need for steep ends on this bright opened blue green emerald cut. It is a very outgoing gem with a medium tone level that is not inhibited by poor crystal of inclusions. It weighs 1.23 delightful carats. Bruce
Bright, crisp, blue green, steep ended emerald cut.#352
This steep ended emerald cut has a medium dark tone, but the flash driven color is a snappy blue green. It is a personal stone that appreciates good light. It weighs 1.17 carats. Bruce
Rich, lush, mysterious jungle green droplet of color.#647
This round has a dark flash driven green color that brightens up the rim of the crown, but leaves the center mysterious. The body appears to be both eye clean and with fine crystal, so the lack of flash in … Continue reading
Pastel yellow to green slider, round#643
This medium light toned pastel flirts with both yellow and green. The cut between these colors is always difficult in tourmaline and depends in part on the individuals eyes. Yellow is the much rare color as you will definitely see … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite, Yellow
Tagged color-shift, green, verdelite, yellow, yellow-green
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Bright eye clean peridot yellow green, round#642
It is rather sad to use peridot’s green to reference tourmaline’s, but I think that more people know it than tourmaline’s colors. Hopefully not for long. I like yellow greens in tourmaline, they polish wonderfully and I think they have … Continue reading
One vertical feather and the green flashes on, droplet of color#639
I can see I was successful with this standard round brilliant in getting the principle feather to intersect the table at about ninety degrees. Face up the feather is just a narrow whitish line. The bright, rich, exceptional, slightly yellowish … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, verdelite, yellow-green
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I should make a mint, on this eye clean, mint colored droplet of color.#632
This standard round brilliant is eye clean and with a great medium tone level. Its blue green color loves the yellowish lights, but it is still a delight in the gray overcast light of autumn’s waning days. I was comparing … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, mint
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Powerful blue green wave from the abysis, droplet of color#628
This standard round brilliant is a personal stone, that draws you into its bottomless reaches of darker blue green, flash driven, color. It appears to be eye clean, but with its darker tone level minor flaws are not really a … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, dark green, droplet-of-color, green, sea green, verdelite
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Medium toned sea foam from Afghanistan, droplet of color#626
This standard round brilliant was cut from the lot of high quality sea foam I obtained from Afghanistan. It is eye clean and medium toned, but really too small to show the dynamic interplay of the blue green and yellow … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Etc., Verdelite
Tagged afghan, blue-green, dichroic, droplet-of-color, green, seafoam, verdelite, yellow-green
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Included minty green droplet of color.#625
This droplet of color, in the yellowish light that I have now, is so bright and rich in color that it is hard to call it minty, but I know that in sunlight is will not be as saturated. Its … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, mint
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A single inclusion in a great green droplet of color.#622
I am guilty of pushing the rough to get the best yield I can while protecting the color potential of the piece of rough. What has to give, at times, is the retention of flaws that could have been removed. … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, forest green, green, verdelite
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Please pass the extra virgin olive oil, droplet of color.#620
Olive oil has grown in popularity over the years and I vote for this color to get more respect in tourmaline too. It doesn’t have to be rare to be good for your color appreciation. It sets off its color … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, olive, verdelite, yellow-green
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The green green grass of home, droplet of color#618
I was not born to grow great grass at home or anywhere else. Still I was fortunate to cut a piece of rough that produced this exceptional, green as grass, green. I think that this standard round brilliant can stand … Continue reading
Pale, completely uniform yellow green pastel, droplet of color#617
This tourmaline was born to not look like tourmaline. The standard round brilliant that was cut from it is bright and flashy, but with only enough tone level to just keep out of the IceT space. It could easily be … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, pale, pastel, yellow-green
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Olive yellow green droplet of color.#615
Now there are all sorts of olive greens in tourmaline and it is not a particularly prized color. This medium dark, standard round brilliant, has decent flash for it tone level. It also appears to be eye clean with good … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, olive, verdelite, yellow-green
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This is a great round of top grade Afghan sea foam.#612
Nothing come close to being wrong with this wonderful medium sized standard round brilliant. It is big enough to show off its top grade sea foam color with an ideal tone level. It is eye clean and Afghan tourmaline is … Continue reading
A great open blue green droplet of color.#604
How can I, a cutter that has scaled such tourmaline pinnacles, call a smaller standard round brilliant with a reasonably common color and tone level great, because it is. Size does matter with tourmaline, though certainly not as much as … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, dichroic, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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Tiny dot of color in the blue green world#799
This standard round brilliant is almost the smallest gemstone in the collection. I cut it while I was experimenting with standard round brilliants to see how small I could cut a stone. It is a nice rich green with a … Continue reading
blue green dot of color#796
This small standard round brilliant has a nice bright medium toned blue green color. It weighs .21 carats and I haven’t gotten smaller than that many times. Bruce
Small medium toned green dot of color#788
This standard round brilliant was cut while I experimented with cutting small rounds. It has a nice medium tone that stands up to being in such a small stone. Its color is a nice green without dichroism and is a … Continue reading
Medium toned green dot of color.#787
This standard round brilliant has a nice medium toned green color. It appears to be eye clean and without dichroism. It weighs .35 carats and is a nice do of color for the eye. kBruce
Nice blue green color dot.#776
This green standard round brilliant has enough tone value to still be darker in this color dot. It weighs .36 carats and has the typical amount of flash for a darker stone. Bruce
A smaller plain green droplet of color.#773
This standard round brilliant has a good tone level for a smaller droplet of color. The rather sedate green is just that green. It seems with tourmaline you are always reaching for adjectives to describe the multitudes of greens. Well … Continue reading
Medium toned green dot of color#770
This smaller standard round brilliant is eye clean and has a nice medium tone. I cut it when I was experimenting with cutting small round brilliants. It weighs .36 carats. Bruce
Slightly include, pale, pastel green IceT, groupie#769
This pale green round just missed being a droplet of color. It is slightly included and really wished that it was larger so that its tone level would be more appropriate for such a small standard round brilliant. It weighs … Continue reading
This bright droplet of color looks like a bit of sea foam from Afghanistan#767
When the standard round brilliant gets this small the force of sea foam is much diminished. The Afghanistan material just does not have the tone level to descend this low. Still the eye clean round is attractive and has found … Continue reading
Tower of Green Power Emerald Cut with Dark Ends.#761
To cut a nice gemstone from tourmaline that has closed ends (very little if any light is transmitted down the principle, c, axis.) restricts your options as a cutter. The choice of the emerald cut is essential for minimizing the … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Verdelite
Tagged closed-c, cutting tourmaline, emerald cut, green, verdelite
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Great light minty green droplet of color.#753
This standard round brilliant is a really crisp pastel green with a touch of blue. It would make a fine after dinner mint if it wasn’t so hard. It is eye clean and very bright. It weighs 1.23 carats and … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, mint, verdelite
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A sea of color in a lower transparent round. Droplets can’t pass it by.#548
This standard round brilliant just doesn’t have the crystal to shine. None of its flaws flash or are distracting. But they help keep this gemstone’s beautiful, blue green color, from lifting it into being a pinnacle of power. It weighs … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color
Tagged blue-green, dichroic, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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An emerald cut with open ends and green touched with blue.
No 540 picture for now. This emerald cut has a nice complex color that get touches of blue in a mainly a green world. The gemstones tone level is delightfully breezy and without any darkness in the ends. Such a … Continue reading
Very Pale Yellow to Green, victim of wishful thinking round. (IceT for sure)#530
Now the IceT party is ready to party hard with this standard round brilliant no mater what official color I come up with. In the morning light I see a very pale green, but there is yellow on the box. … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite, Yellow
Tagged color-shift, green, IceT, pale, verdelite, yellow
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A great medium toned green droplet of color.#520
This standard round brilliant is slightly included, but still bright and flashy. It has a great medium tone level that reminds me of sea foam. I would call it sea foam, except that I like to leave sea foam for … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, pastel, verdelite
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An extremely faint trace of green in the IceT emerald cut.#516
This emerald cut goes back awhile, to a time when I thought that the straight sharp fagot of tubes in the pavilion of this emerald cut were rutile crystals not growth tubes. (Now I have never heard of rutile in … Continue reading
A blue green round of middle proportions, droplet of color.#509
There has to be something in the middle of the road to have a middle of the road, and this pastel blue green round fills the bill. I have nothing bad to say about this standard round brilliant that rolls … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, forest green, green, verdelite
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Another round of bluish blush for this green round (droplet).#508
There are many views of nature’s rich pallet of greens in Pennsylvania’s springtime awakening. The bright and flashy hillside drenched in sunlight and the gathering darkness of the canopy in the deep forest, along with all the grass people continue … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, forest green, green, verdelite
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A light pastel blue green droplet of color.#730
Another shade of the complete continuum in tourmaline color from green to blue. It is a light pastel with the brightness and flash that you would expect in an eye clean stone. It weighs .76 carats and joins the raising … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, pastel, verdelite
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Slightly included medium forest green, oval#728
I think that this medium toned forest green oval has just a touch of blue. It has a slight flaw close to the girdle, but it should not weaken the stone. The rest of the gem is eye clean with … Continue reading
Small, but potent sea foam droplet of color.#725
This bit of a standard round brilliant was sliced off one of the high quality sea foam pieces I got from Afghanistan. It appears to be on the bluer side of sea foam and has enough tone value to be … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, seafoam, verdelite
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Open Bright Green Droplet of color.#224
Another rare find in a bright medium toned green that is open enough to be a standard round brilliant. It appears to be eye clean and has fine crystal. There are never enough of these for the droplets of color. … Continue reading
Here is the yellow green Peridot color you have been looking for round.#719
These standard round brilliants are so bright when they are cut from a medium pastel piece of rough, with a great color, like this one. This stone acts like a headlight in my secret place besides a twisted florescent light … Continue reading
A nice sized sea foam colored round#716
The phrase “eye candy” connotes a certain element of superficiality that this superior, sea foam, standard round brilliant doesn’t have. But it will grab your eye as soon as you spot it and it is eye candy to me. Most … Continue reading
An emerald cut with a greened bronze color.#713
Now a collection of tourmalines that wants to be inclusive can not only go for the eye candy in the world. Besides I wouldn’t have a lot to cut if every stone had to have great commercial potential. This dichroic … Continue reading
A slightly dichroic minty green, droplet of color#709
Green standard round brilliants are not as common as you might think because of problems with dichroism. Either the c axis is too dark to cut a round or one of the axis does not have a desirable color. So … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged dichroic, droplet-of-color, green, mint, verdelite
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Fascinating green to golden brown color changing oval.#300
This tourmaline is unique in the collection. It is a color changer from golden brown in incandescent light and green in daylight. Neither color really grabs you, but the color change is hard to miss. I looked at the stone … Continue reading
Included bright medium toned apple green emerald cut, copper bearing
I did not buy the rough for this included emerald cut as copper bearing. I liked its medium toned blue green to apple green color despite its included grade. I usually try not to cut emerald cuts with inclusions under … Continue reading
Old #44 is a large peach oval with a heart of green.
This oval is one of the first larger tourmalines I cut and I even remember the listed sale number it had (44). The rough was advertised to have peach and green, which can make an undesirable mixture. I think that … Continue reading
Dichroic greenish yellow eye candy, emerald cut
One of the features I love about color in tourmaline is how different a color such as yellow green can look/feel in different gemstones. I think there are at least three different sets of conditions that can produce a yellow … Continue reading
An amazing GEM green emerald cut.
To be a GEM (highest quality gemstone) in the world of green tourmaline is saying a lot. The competition from chrome tourmaline and cuprian tourmaline is intense. Now I am not saying that this gem can match the level of … Continue reading
Posted in Etc., Verdelite
Tagged emerald cut, green, non-dichroic, unique, verdelite
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Lightly toned Afghan green with touch of pink center, round
This combination of a pale pastel green and pink is a classic and distinctive one from Afghanistan. Many times the green rind on the rough, that had a watermelon color distribution, is not thick enough to be retained with the … Continue reading
Green c axis and golden brown a/b axis emerald cut
This smaller emerald cut tourmaline has a distribution of color that I think is unique to tourmaline. Its c axis is very nice mid toned yellowish green and the a/b axis is a golden brown. In this emerald cut the … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged brown-green, color-shift, dichroic, emerald cut, green, verdelite
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Green and Pink make yellow all in pastel, round
This is another example of a tricky tourmaline from Nigeria. It is really a combination of pink and green that is mixed by the standard round brilliant into almost a completely uniform blend, that produces a creamy yellow. There is … Continue reading
Big and Bright and Brassy, Yellow Green Emerald Cut.
Here is a live one. This large extremely bright yellow green without any dark tones, emerald cut will not calm down. I personally think that yellow greens are some of the brightest tourmalines out there. Whether it is to do … Continue reading
Posted in Bi-Color, Verdelite
Tagged bi-color, emerald cut, green, verdelite, yellow-green
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A green oval that reminds me of seaweed.
Tourmaline comes in every shade of green from yellows that just a touch of green to blues the hate to show their green wash. This oval is a bid different green with a level of yellow that reminds me of … Continue reading
Fine, large, stable, green emerald cut
This larger emerald cut has such a great stable green that the dark ends take very little away from the gemstone. The color is a classic tourmaline green, rich, saturated and with just a touch of yellow. The beauty of … Continue reading
graded green to colorless emerald cut.
I don’t know if I would call this emerald cut a bicolor, because it really is only one color. The colorless end might be a very light green, but I doubt it. The emerald cut is a really bright and … Continue reading
A great and solid green emerald cut with dark ends.
Now no one wants dark ends, but if that is the fate of your tourmaline, than at least get one that has great color. Well this longer ratio emerald cut tourmaline has one great solid green color. Its medium toned … Continue reading
Classic, longer ratio closed ended, yellow green emerald cut.
This longer ratio emerald cut appears to be eye clean and with good crystal. The emerald cut’s ratio helps to reduce the impact of the close ends. The ends are faceted with normal angles. Its green color is the classic, … Continue reading
A small round of sea foam for the IceT group.
In trimming larger pieces of high quality sea foam from Afghanistan, I cut off a terminus. This small standard round brilliant came from that terminus. It has the heart of a champion, but not the tonal value to measure up. … Continue reading
Classic, stable green, emerald cut with dark ends and a radial fracture.
Many tourmaline crystal have radial fractures (perpendicular to the c axis) that limit the yield from a crystal. Even if they are not noticeable in the finished gemstone because of the of its rich tone value, they should be removed, … Continue reading
Bright and light without a hint of darkness, emerald cut.
This emerald cut is an example of why it is difficult to make broad generalized statements about tourmaline. Many tourmalines do not show strong or even noticeably pleochroic/dichroic effects. There are many tourmalines in my collection that can not be … Continue reading
An emerald cut with a color that looks like green vegetable juice.,
This emerald cut has a very different feel than the numerous smaller blue greens ones I have been posting about. It has a fully transparent c axis and a complex rather watery green color under natural light. Under my yellow … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, color-shift, emerald cut, grass green, green, verdelite
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Dark ends on a dark grass green colored emerald cut
This is a classic darker grass green emerald cut. It has dark ends, but normal angles. It longer ratio helps to keep the emerald cut from being too dark. It appears to be eye clean and with good crystal. It … Continue reading
Smaller blue green emerald cut with closed ends.
This blue green emerald cut obviously has dark closed ends, but I cut it with the normal angles. I think it makes a better stone (easier to set) even if the darkness invades the center a little more. The gemstone … Continue reading
It is final, this is the best green, bar none, in the collection!
Now that is a big title for such a small stone, but it is true. This standard round brilliant only weighs .21 carats, but it is a chrome tourmaline and that means GREEN. Chrome is really a misnomer because it … Continue reading
Posted in Dravite, Droplets of Color, Etc.
Tagged chrome, dravite, droplet-of-color, green, outstanding
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Smaller blue green emerald cut with normal ends.
Another bit of blue green beauty in a smaller emerald cut. The emerald cut has normal angels on the ends and has an eye clean, darker toned presences. It and its brothers have help keep me cutting threw some pretty … Continue reading
This smaller oval dances to a yellow green tune
This yellow green oval is not dichroic and has a bright eye clean look. It has fine crystal and a moderate tone level. It would look great in a delicate,golden ring. It weighs .77 carats. ( Its tone level and … Continue reading
Makes you wonder if it is a tourmaline emerald cut.
The only problem with pretending that this is not a tourmaline is the color. I don’t know too many other gemstones that have this stone’s bright yellow green hue. (Maybe beryl) Still all the people who think that tourmaline is … Continue reading
Smaller, Open Ended Dichroic Green, Oval
This middle of the road green oval has refreshingly open ends. Both dichroic color are green and blend together nicely with the darker color in the ends. It appears to be eye clean and has fine crystal. It weighs .80 … Continue reading
Dark Ends and Passionate Green Emerald Cut
In tourmaline it isn’t always easy being green. You may have closed ends and have a problem finding a cut, outside of an emerald cut. Even when properly cut, your window of transparency and flash is limited and rejection can … Continue reading
Posted in Cutting Tourmaline, Verdelite
Tagged closed-c, cutting tourmaline, emerald cut, green, verdelite
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Olive green under the girdle and forest green around, oval
I have posted before about an interesting phenomenon of decreased transparency down the c axis. This green gemstone is an excellent example of that phenomenon. Under the table, which is perpendicular to the c axis, is a bit darker olive … Continue reading
An after dinner, pastel green mint of an oval.
This light green oval has that light pastel look that we associate with babies. It appears to be eye clean and with decent crystal. It does not appear to be dichroic and the ends of the oval flash very nicely. … Continue reading
Slightly included spicy green emerald cut.
This nice sized emerald cut is slightly included, but the tiny dark lines are not distracting. This is not true of the emerald cuts color which is a really bright and fun, slightly yellowish green color. The ends of the … Continue reading
Wonderfully open ended blue green emerald cut from Afghanistan.
Many people who have become familiar with commercially cut emerald cuts, hold them in low esteem. They don’t have the scintillation of many other cuts (all emerald cuts share this) and the emerald cut’s flash is lessened by cutting them … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged afghan, blue-green, emerald cut, green, open-c, verdelite
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A faintly dichroic green oval
This oval is a very nice green and is only faintly dichroic. This lets the ends of the oval be nice and flashy. Still I don’t think that the c axis is aliened with the long axis of this oval … Continue reading
Slide the tone level of green all the way up with this emerald cut.
This attractive and interesting emerald cut is not a bicolor or tricolor. It is just one bright acid green color displayed along the long axis of the stone from very pale to a dark tone. There is a darker end … Continue reading
How Green is My Tourmaline, VERY, emerald cut
This green emerald cut is made from a dichroic crystal, but the emerald cut keeps the darker yellower green c axis color pretty well isolated in the ends. The central window of the gemstone focuses on the really nice a/b … Continue reading
Large Barion Cut Spruce Green Cushion.
I have a friend that I work with to make beautiful jewelry. He is an excellent goldsmith and I hope to have some of his work with my stones on this site. He would look at my collection, which he … Continue reading
Darker forest green with less transparent center, droplet of color.
This standard round brilliant is a nice clean rich forest green. The gemstone was cut with the c axis perpendicular to the table and that is causing some lose of transparency under the table. It still has a great ring … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged dark green, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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Darker Yellow Green Clean Round
This standard round brilliant is a yellow green with a higher tone level than most. I would not call it a classic tourmaline green because it is too yellow. It appears to eye clean and has excellent crystal. At 2.72 … Continue reading
How green is my grass with a bit of inclusions, droplet of color
I realize that green tourmaline is recognized as generally a flawless gemstone, but lighter toned exciting greens generally have some inclusions. This standard round brilliant is just a fine grass green. It is dichroic so the grass tends to flash … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged dichroic, droplet-of-color, grass green, green, verdelite
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A bit of scatter in a mint green droplet of color
The standard round brilliant grabs your eye. At first it looks like a sea foam, but it is really too blue for that honor. It also doesn’t have waves of the two colors (yellowish green and bluish green) mixing together … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, mint, verdelite
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Dark flash driven blue green color in a droplet of color.
If you like your sapphires dark, you will like this standard round brilliant with its flash driven blue green color. It is included in the middle of the pavilion, but the dark tone level hides them pretty well. It weighs … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, dark green, droplet-of-color, green
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Small sea foam, but still a sea foam droplet
This standard round brilliant is eye clean except for a tiny flash that is unimportant to the beauty of this top grade sea foam. The tone is a.little light for such a small droplet, but it still sparkles. It weighs … Continue reading
Included misty green round
What is misty green, well in this case it is a green that has too much blue in it to be a sea foam. This, want to be sea foam, is bright and flashy despite having white inclusions next to … Continue reading
Average darker toned yellow green round.
This standard round brilliant has a couple of white flaws and a faint feather that are next to the girdle. They do not impact the beauty of the gemstone very much. The rest of the stone has decent clarity and … Continue reading
A bright grass green droplet of color.
This standard round brilliant is a glorious grass green color. It has a medium dark tone value that is enhanced by great crystal and an eye clean demeanor. It is also not noticeably dichroic. You might think that it was … Continue reading
Green IceT over ice, droplet of color
This standard round brilliant is a yellow green, but it is cool and icy light. With a tone level that darn near hits bottom, this eye clean droplet is very bright and crisp. It weighs 1.03 carats and helps bring … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, IceT, pale, verdelite, yellow-green
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Dichroic yellow green and yellow brown droplet of color.
There has been quite a bit of looking at this standard round brilliant stone before its color was figured out. At first glance it seemed almost like a gray, but then brownish flashes appeared. Now that doesn’t make a lot … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged brown-green, color-shift, dichroic, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite, yellow-green
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Great Sea Foam from Afghanistan, round
The droplets wanted this really high quality sea foam from Afghanistan, but she is just too big. She has a medium toned flawless beauty that can stand alone. This standard round brilliant is cut with its table perpendicular to the … Continue reading
Great green to blue droplet of color
This standard round brilliant has a great tone level for a small gemstone. It goes from a fine green in yellowish light to a fine blue in natural light. I would call it a color changer, but it is hard … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Etc., Indicolite
Tagged blue, color change, droplet-of-color, green, indicolite
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An average tourmaline green with steep ends emerald cut.
I have cut many gemstone like this classic, medium dark toned, yellow green that drifts into blue green, emerald cut with closed ends. The emerald cut does benefit from steeper ends, but if I have a decently large ratio between … Continue reading
A fine pastel dichroic green with a few precks deep in the round.
This dichroic pastel green is dominated by the interplay of a clean blue green and a richer yellow green which is probably the c axis color. It has a few deep inclusions that are difficult to see. It has a … Continue reading
A bit of scatter in the end, but a GEM sea foam emerald cut none the less.
Well, I can’t really call this great medium toned, neon, sea foam emerald cut a GEM because there is some light scatter in one end. Still the inclusions make very little different in the real world beauty of this gemstone … Continue reading
Smaller dichroic green oval
This dichroic oval in a mixture of bluer and yellower greens and is nice to see in an oval. It is darker than ideal, but still displays it color nicely. It appears to be eye clean and weighs 1.14 carats. … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, dichroic, green, oval, verdelite, yellow-green
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Medium Dark Tone Level in a Deep Round
This round, which has a horizontally split main pavilion, is a down to earth yellow green beauty without any brown tones. It does not appear to be dichroic in any appreciable way. So it is bright, even and resistant to … Continue reading
Top of the Line Afghanistan Sea Foam Emerald Cut
The title of this post should be put up in neon lights, because this top grade sea foam gemstone is so bright. It also appears to be eye clean with great crystal. On top of all that it has a … Continue reading
A score of ten for the flawless high quality sea foam from Afghanistan.
This Barion cushion is cut from a very high grade of sea foam tourmaline from Afghanistan. It has the desirable neon look and the cut blends the blue green and yellow green together wonderfully. It has great crystal and appears … Continue reading
A Dichroic Dancing Green Round.
This standard round brilliant is a very active gemstone. It is definitely dichroic and not cut with the table perpendicular to the table. This works very well here because both colors are of similar color and tone value. The dynamic … Continue reading
Smaller green emerald cut with closed ends.
There is some blue shifting in this modest green emerald cut. It has closed ends, but is cut with normal angles. I personally like the improved flash with normal angles even if the darkness encroaches a bit more from the … Continue reading
Extra virgin olive oil for this shield cut’s color.
There is a hint of olive in the yellow green of this eye clean shield cut. The color stays a medium toned green in different white lights and is well presented. This is because this green is not dichroic and … Continue reading
A beautiful top quality sea foam with a feather Barion cushion cut.
Face up this top quality sea foam looks flawless because I manage to get a slight feather just out from under the table. As you tilt and rotate the nice sized Barion cushion cut you can see a few islands … Continue reading
A GEM Emerald Cut of Afghan Sea Foam
Years ago I bought a National Geographic’s tape about diamonds. I was still not focused on my destiny in stones. Part of the tape was about cutting diamonds. One example was in India and showed a boy using a platform … Continue reading
Very nice smaller green shield cut
When I find a piece of tourmaline rough that is suitable for a shield cut I jump on it. The strongly dichroic nature of many green tourmalines makes it relatively rare to find a suitable piece even when there is … Continue reading
Good Sized Solid Green Oval
I am working with an artist on a portrait that I will post on the “who am I” part of the site. While I was watching him paint, I went threw one of his catalogs. There were thousands of different … Continue reading
A great sea foam with a small flaw, Barion cut cushion
At first glance, this sea foam Barion cut cushion is a GEM and couldn’t be better. It has the very desirable “neon” glow in an excellent mixture of bluer and yellower greens. As I move the stone off face up, … Continue reading
Bright dancing yellow green dynamic oval
This flashing oval may have a bit of an inclusion that is very difficult to see by eye and has not impact on the stone. I confess that I am drawn to greens that are open and not dichroic like … Continue reading
Blue No Green No Blue No Green emerald cut.
I was getting ready to post about a smaller blue emerald cut with closed ends, when I checked the back of the box and saw green. So I checked under my yellowish light and sure enough this quite saturated blue, … Continue reading
Announcing an Emerald cut of note, Pure Sea Foam.
Emerald cuts are very useful for the cutting of tourmaline. This is due, at times, to their dichroism. or crystal shape or desire to keep colors from interacting too much in a gemstone. It is also a cut that … Continue reading
Favorite green in the collection is a fighter, round.
Now to be the favorite green in this collection is saying something and it did not come easily. I purchased the rough for this gemstone well before copper was discovered in tourmaline from Mozambique, in “Laurellites” I supplied the GIA. … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Etc., Verdelite
Tagged cuprian, green, Mozambique, neon
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A darker, but not dense green dancer, round.
There is green in the middle of the range of colors that this gemstone displays. Under the yellowish light source, there is even a bit of olive in the green, but that all disappears and blue dominates a forest green … Continue reading
Beautiful blue to green round
Simply put this gem is a rich sapphire blue in natural light and rich emerald green in yellowish light. My yellowish light is not incandescent, just a miniature florescent in a yellow shade so I am going to check the … Continue reading
Dichroic, blue green droplet
This standard round brilliant has dynamic color, with both a dichroic effect and shifting from greener to bluer. It appears to be eye clean. It is still on the dark side of good, but an interesting gemstone none the less. … Continue reading
Darker tone Jumper from yellow green flash to blue flash, round.
Here is another good one. This standard round brilliant is dark enough to have its color mainly flash driven under average lighting conditions. I have a yellowish light and a diffused midday light to work with. And this stone’s flash … Continue reading
A Blue Green Joy, Round
Its after lunch and I am going to try a write some new posts on a tray that I have not looked at for a while. And what should I pick out next, but a treasure. A solid medium toned … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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A green droplet with the shadow of blue.
This eye clean droplet met the competition and came on board the droplet train. It has a moderate tone level and an open personality. Still it isn’t a wimpy watered down round with its bluish green (mostly green) color. This … Continue reading
Green round that is an above average stone.
This standard round brilliant has a nice clean look and good colors. It is certainly attractive, but kind of gets lost in the collection because of what is around it. Still it would hold its own, when it helps others … Continue reading
Sea Foam or Blue Green Droplet
What is in a name, maybe a better price. I try and limit the use of sea foam to tourmaline from Afghanistan with a medium light to medium tone and two open colors. A bluer green a/b axis and a … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, seafoam, verdelite
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Darker average brown green round
This .76 carat standard round brilliant is a pretty average dichroic browned green color. It has a darker than average tone. It appears to be eye clean. The droplets have decided to include this gemstone, because it has a common … Continue reading
Color droplet of pure green, chrome tourmaline
This small standard round brilliant is a pretty average size and color for a good chrome tourmaline. Its tone would be too dark for large pieces, but the green has great saturation. It absolutely loves yellow light and would put … Continue reading
But A Moment to See Chrome is Better
This chrome tourmaline is a different species (dravite) of tourmaline than Elbaite, which is the most common tourmaline made into gems. When just enough vanadium/chrome is found in dravite, you get an outstanding green. Unfortunately chrome tourmaline ‘s tone level … Continue reading
Very Nice Greenish Yellow Deeply cut Round
This gemstone got a split horizontal main pavilion to enrich its really nice yellow, washed in green. That kind of pavilion can make a stone hard to photograph, but it shines when it is moved. The nice average tone level … Continue reading
Darker Grass Green Round
This small standard round brilliant is darker than desirable. Still the flash driven grass green color is nice, but after considering its size the droplets have dropped another one. The .43 carat stone appears to be eye clean. Bruce
Average clean dichroic green round. Droplet accepted.
The droplets try and take the average as well as the exceptional into their group. This standard round brilliant was very pleased to accepted with its average dichroic green color. It is clean, but has only average brightness for a … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged dichroic, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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Green Dot of Chrome Tourmaline
When I first started back into faceting after a long hiatus, I did not spend a lot of money on rough. To get anything to cut that had decent color in tourmaline I had to go small. And being small … Continue reading
Great waves for a sea foam droplet.
This is a great little sea foam droplet. It has great crystal to go alone with a bright medium toned. blue green color. There is nothing flawed about this beauty. A perfect little GEM. It weighs 1.12 carats and stands … Continue reading
Nice Bright Patel Green Round with Incusions
This round standard brilliant has a variety of inclusion that hardly slow it down. It leaps at the sun even with its pastel nature. It could and should be in the droplets and so it is. This medium toned green … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, pastel, verdelite
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Sea Foam Droplet from Afghanistan
The rough for this stone came from a large lot of high grade sea foam tourmaline from Afghanistan. I was able to buy one over 10 carats piece and some smaller stones. This round standard brilliant does not have the … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Etc.
Tagged afghan, droplet-of-color, green, neon, seafoam, verdelite
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Good Size green oval with light growth tubes.#249
A nice, spicy, larger oval tourmaline with a good uniform, medium toned green. Wow I got a lot into that sentence. The only thing I can see that lessen the glory with this gemstone is a few deeply buried ghostly … Continue reading
Darker Rather Obscure Green Oval#244
This darker green oval does not have dichroic dancing colors to make it dynamic. It just flashes it color and goes toward the olive or back toward the bluish side depending on the lights. It is cut with a … Continue reading
WOW a Whale of a Green Oval#243
I have been working on a tray that my son organized after the last gem and mineral show that the Carnegie Museum did in Pittsburgh. The green ovals are nice and there is a sprinkling of blues, but most … Continue reading
Moderate Dichroic Green Oval#242
This is a very transparent green oval, with typical dichroic coloring. It appears to be eye clean and with the type of crystal that would make it try and disappear in a glass of water. It weighs 1.93 carats. Bruce
Moderate Dichroism in Green Oval#241
This gemstones gains quit a bit from its dichroism. This because its tone in the ends of the oval are quit moderate and the overall stone shows the two colors well. The typical c axis color is yellower with the … Continue reading
Darker ends on smaller oval#239
This smaller oval has a nice blue flash in the middle of the gemstone and darker yellowish green ends. It is still flashy and really fires up under incandescent lights. It weighs 1.06 carats and appears to be eye clean. … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, dichroic, green, oval, verdelite, yellow-green
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A bit toned down dichroic green oval#235
This oval does not seem to share the same level of visual impact as other medium toned dynamic greens. Still it is an attractive stone that would make a nice ring stone. It appears to be eye clean and weighs … Continue reading
Spicy mixture greens in an oval#234
Another find member of a large family of spicy dynamic green tourmaline. The c axis is the yellower color and the bluer color is the a/b axis color. I always put the a and b axis together because they … Continue reading
Posted in Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, dichroic, green, oval, verdelite, yellow-green
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Deep Crown. Browned Green Oval#233
This gemstone was cut with a deeper than average crown. That effort produced a medium dark browned green that twinkles with a brighter more saturated green. It appears to be eye clean and weighs 2.89 carats. Bruce
Definite Dichroic Green Oval#232
This oval shows classic area of yellow green and bluer green that comes from dichroism. (The ability of the stone to separate light into two rays that travel different paths threw the stone and produce different colors.) This gives the … Continue reading
Bright even medium light green oval#231
The gemstones medium light tone level just doesn’t produce a pastel with this oval. It is just too bright. It is clean and not noticeably dichroic. It weighs 1.96 carats. Bruce
A different look darker “chrome” tourmaline#230
This gemstone is made of a different member of the tourmaline group than most of the gemstones in this collection. It is a vanadium/chrome (most of the time the vanadium dominates) colored Dravite, the species. Dravite has magnesium in it … Continue reading
Great Clean Medium Blue Green Oval#229
This oval slides around blue to green and therefor it is blue green. It has a medium tone and good crystal for a bright stone. It weighs 1.77 carats. A nice respectable gemstone that will be sure to please. Bruce
Green with a blue side, pastel oval
This paler shade of green definitely is on the blue side. It is not noticeably dichroic and the medium light tone level is refreshing. It weighs1.15 carats. It is eye clean and you can easily see inclusion in pastel gemstone … Continue reading
Bright medium toned yellowish green oval
This ovals bright medium light green is not what many people expect from tourmaline. But when the rough does not have dark ends, the lapidary is set free to cut different shapes. This oval has good crystal and appears … Continue reading
Very Dichroic Green Oval
The two dichroic colors in the this oval are very distinct, while still being green. The c axis in the ends of the ovals are a nice medium forest green while the a/b color in the middle is a yellowish … Continue reading
Very Nice Green, Clean, Oval
This oval is a great dynamic mixture of dichroic green colors. The oval appears to be clean and has find crystal. It weighs 2.15 carats and has a medium dark tone level. Just right for a great stone. Bruce
Very Nice Green Oval with Growth Tubes.
This oval is a great combination of medium rich dichroic greens that is spicy and good crystal. Its one drawback is a group of growth tubes (long defects in growth parallel to the c axis). The reflect light and are … Continue reading
Cuprian Green Bright Round
This bright minty standard round brilliant has been found to contain copper. It is clean and eye clean. It tone level is a moderate light pastel and I would not call it a “neon” gemstone. I picked up the copper … Continue reading
Complex gray green Oval#215
I call this complex grayed green color “celery juice”. This oval had a good drink and came out a medium toned gemstone, but without noticeable dichroism. This leads to a brighter stone than many greens, but the gray overtone does … Continue reading
Nice Refreshing Green Oval#218
This oval is on the blue side of green. It is uniformly open and bright and flashy. This is given to it by a limited amount of dichroism and a moderately light tone level. It appears to be eye clean … Continue reading
Moderately Pale Green Oval#214
Pass the celery juice around again for this oval could have used another shot. The pale pastel gemstone has an even if unexciting grayed green color. It appears to be eye clean and have fine crystal. It is flashy and … Continue reading
Darker Ended Dichroic Green Oval#213
A very nice rich green with good saturation is the principal color that can be seen in this oval. The darker yellowish green in the ends, just appear dark unless you have a strong light. The cause for the two … Continue reading
Gray Green Restrained Oval#212
This oval’s tone is darker than desirable, which comes in part from having semi-closed ends . It’s gray overtone restrains the stones native green and along with its tone level makes for a rather quiet gemstone. It appears to be … Continue reading
Delightful Green Droplet#211
Sometimes it is just nice being green, even if the morning light make you a little blue. This standard round brilliant has nothing bad to have reported on its beauty . I have a soft spot for medium toned, … Continue reading
Moderate toned dichroic green oval#208
This oval is bright and flashy. The darker color in the ends is definitely bluer than the paler blue on the sides. It appears to be eye clean is an above average, attractive gemstone. It weighs .79 carats. Bruce
Darker Dichroic green oval#204
This darker, yet flashy oval is quite dichroic. The ends of the oval show a really nice medium dark grass green and the sides of the oval show a brownish yellow green. It appears to be eye clean and has … Continue reading
OnlyTwins in the Collection Green Ovals#203
This is the only set of twins in the collection. I lost interest in cutting matching tourmalines many years ago. I also stopped worrying about cutting calibrated sizes as I cut bigger material that was not well suited for … Continue reading
Common Yellow Green Oval#202
A medium bright oval with a common classic color of yellowish green. It is eye clean and weighs .88 carats. Bruce
Medium toned bluish green.#201
This smaller oval has open ends and a really bright flashy presents. It has quite a bit of blue in its green, but it is still a green. It appears to be eye clean and has good crystal with … Continue reading
Open Ends and a fine moderately toned green in an Emerald Cut.#1097
This nice green emerald cut is trying to reach toward being sea foam. Its open ends sparkle with a bit yellower green, while the sides try and slide into blue green, but it just does not make it. It is … Continue reading
Clean rich tourmaline green in a closed ended emerald cut#1094
The combination of a pure rich tourmaline green with a touch of yellow and closed ends produces a very modern look in an emerald cut with steep ends. The steep ends produces a pattern of flash where alternate bars of … Continue reading
A clean cool after dinner mint droplet.#1093
You have just had a colorful meal and you only need a touch of cool clean color to finish it properly. Well this eye lean droplet is for you. It is a nice medium pastel green with a touch … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged blue-green, droplet-of-color, green, pastel
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Can a Yellow be Cold, no! I Am Green Round#1083
The transition between yellow and green is a variable one with people. Lighting also makes a major impact on whether the tourmaline looks greenish or not. Then I look at the box and check the stone away from the … Continue reading
Excellent Green Color with dark radial flaws, Emerald Cut.#1072
With rough that has a great color, you try and make a decent stone somehow. This rich bright green emerald cut has dark ends and a find selection of dark radial flaws. It probably should not be in the collection, … Continue reading
Clearly Dichroic from fine Grass Seed, Round#1064
This is the type of green tourmaline I love. With open ends in a rounded frosted pebble, I had more freedom to cut what I wanted and be rewarded, in this case, with a darker green and yellow green all … Continue reading
Grass Green with a Feather threw its heart, emerald cut#1063
This rather squat emerald cut really lights up from its acid yellow green of spring grass. The flash tries to hid a feather thew the center of the emerald cut, but it is easily seen when you examine the … Continue reading
One of the Best Blue Green Droplets.#1056
Blue green can be one of the best color ranges for tourmaline. Even sapphire does not give it much competition. This droplet is right up there at the head of the class when it comes to color. It would really … Continue reading
Darker Grass Green Oval#1055
This oval has a three step emerald cut like crown that opens up fields of grass green color as it is moved. It does not appear to be dichroic and its tone level is higher than average with the … Continue reading
Peri-do or Peri-dot it’s really a tourmaline oval#1053
I think that the idea of “inventing” modern birthstones that the trade can supply in abundance at a profit is pure genius. It gives a thoughtful, but naive buyer an easy out, when looking for that special personal gift that … Continue reading
Olive Green Shield Cut#1048
Now no tourmaline really wants to be labeled olive green, but there are many of them out there. Many of them are dark and dense and have helped give tourmaline its popular presence (dark and green) in some people’s … Continue reading
Beige on a different axis with a secret, oval.#1045
Thank goodness I just followed my own advice. Face up I am looking at a rather paler stone with a darker middle and light pastel ends. This means that the c axis which usually goes down the long axis … Continue reading
Blue Spruce Emerald Cut#1041
I like this good sized emerald cut’s color because it shifts around the blue green spruce look. Some greens are so middle of the road and have such stability that one glance, as pretty as it maybe, is all … Continue reading
Hurray for a smaller green shield cut.#1023
It is always a pleasure to be able to preform a piece of tourmaline rough into a triangular shape suitable for a shield cut. This is about as small a shield cut that I make and it has a great … Continue reading
Fine Green Emerald cut#1021
Now this is a fine emerald cut. It has all the right properties of clean color that is especial bright under incandescent/yellowish light, tone level and saturation. It also has normal angles on the ends. During the last few years … Continue reading
Definitly dichroic green droplet of color.#1019
This bright medium grass green droplet has darker weeds mixed in it that makes for a lawn with nice dynamic color. It seems to be eye clean and weighs .94 carats. It is a very nice addition to the … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged dichroic, droplet-of-color, green, verdelite
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Celery juice in a tourmaline emerald cut.#1018
Celery juice was squeezed out of me when I saw this tourmaline. Now I know it is a tourmaline, but this is a jester moment. I would definitely think that this was a beryl if I didn’t know better. … Continue reading
Solid down to earth green emerald cut#1017
In 1968 I returned home from Golden Colorado via Yellowstone and Niagara Falls, after taking a surveying course. I had stayed in cheap motels and eaten fast food so I had a little money left over. My home was … Continue reading
Really Nice Green Round#1015
I know that I shouldn’t bias my love of a color on cut, but with green I truly long for nice ones that are not emerald cuts. There are several reasons for cutting green tourmaline rough into emerald cuts. … Continue reading
A yellow green IceT droplet#1012
A delicate wisp of yellow green and a Hi O Silver will get this bright clean very pastel droplet pledge on the trail to being a star in the western sky. This standard round brilliant needs you to be … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, IceT, verdelite, yellow-green
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How long I have waited pink/champagne/green tri-color#1010
Now I love tri and bi and watermelon and completely mixed up tourmaline, but they are not the main thrust of the collection. Color in all its diversity is center stage, yet chances do come along and I have … Continue reading
An Oval Mixer of yellowish green and gold with a touch of brown.#1003
This oval will have to be called a yellow, but its dichroic nature keeps the stone dancing between flashes of greenish yellow and golden all with a touch of brown. I am a true supporter of yellowish tourmaline, but … Continue reading
Oval with Dreaded Olive Green Color#1002
This larger oval has a very common and not very appreciated color, olive green. I have not really run into other gemstones being called olive green, but some yellowish greens with a touch of brown produces a tourmaline that … Continue reading
Almost square, very transparent green, to blue emerald cut.#995
This is a beautiful gemstone. Now that I have gotten that out of the way, this gemstone feels Afghanistan. I think I purchased it in my last significant lot of green tourmaline from anywhere. The squarish cut is unusual, but … Continue reading
A Responsive Engine of Color, Blue Green Emerald Cut#993
Nicely balanced and brightly tuned this engine of color goes from green toward blue in the drop of a light source. Since it idles in mixed light most of the time, I call it a blue-green. It is clean … Continue reading
Long ratio open ended green emerald cut#991
When the choice and supply of tourmaline rough runs down, I usually have a choice. Either buy medium pinks or long ratio greens. With pinks you do not have a problem with closed ends, but they can be included. … Continue reading
How Green is my Afghan Gem#988
This is a beautiful gemstone. Its bluer a/b axis blends beautifully with the more yellow green c axis. I said blend because the tone level of both axis are the same and that gives such a light bright feeling … Continue reading
Nigerian Pink Edged in Yellow Green Round#987
This larger round is mostly a medium light pastel pink. The yellow green on the side of girdle is pretty isolated and only really effects the body (green and pink make yellow)of the stone when you peer threw that … Continue reading
Nigerian pink-green makes yellow round#983
The piece of rough that became this standard round brilliant came from the giant find of tourmaline in Nigeria over 20 years ago. The overall appearance of the round is that of a yellow, but it is easy to … Continue reading
Long Ratio, Open Ended, Green Emerald Cut#982
Rough that requires a long ratio emerald cut is not #1 on my hit parade. They take effort to keep their long narrow facets square even during the polishing process. Being common does not help my enthusiasm either. The … Continue reading
Clean Moderate Tone Green Emerald cut with open ends.#979
This flashy emerald cut needs to be examined closely to be really appreciated. The end sparkle because they are open and this green tourmaline shows a very good level of transparency. The stone’s color slides from grassy green to … Continue reading
Surprising mint green droplet#974
This droplet tried to make the big time in a piece of custom jewelery, but I ran out of money. When it came home I tested it with my new spectrometer and I finally understood why I really liked … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged cuprian, droplet-of-color, green, unique, verdelite
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A Great Fake Peach Round
True or False. Pink and green light mixed together with the right level of tone makes YELLOW. True and the story goes on. In the tray this large round with a pavilion consisting of eight split mains and … Continue reading
Posted in Bi-Color, Cutting Tourmaline, Pink
Tagged bi-color, green, Nigeria, peach, pink, unique
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Ring size Yellow Green with great crystal.#963
Now yellow green in tourmaline is not greatly prized. In higher tone values it is probably one of the more common colors with tourmaline. It might even rate right in there with medium light pinks for being everyday material. … Continue reading
Two Distinct Hues in a Green Oval
Now I love the dynamic nature of hues (color) in many tourmaline, but it can make an effort to honestly present, in both photography and writing, its beauty. Now this eye clean oval possesses two distinct colors that had … Continue reading
Large round spruce specially cut gemstone.
Sometimes when you start out on a new adventure with a piece of tourmaline rough, the color is so outstanding that you cannot miss. Now there is the other side of the coin and a completely water worn pebble … Continue reading
nice bright green droplet of color#939
I love to find a bit of green that had a nice open green color in the c axis direction because it gives you more latitude to make a beautiful stone. This bit of green was too small and … Continue reading
A large round green jester of a tourmaline#936
When I received this piece of rough from Africa it was rather hard to believe. For at least 7 years I only cut tourmaline anymore and this was presented as tourmaline or I would not have purchased it. The … Continue reading
Blue/Green emerald open ends#931
This rather pudgy emerald cut wins the day with open ends that are more greenish than the rather blue a/b color (typical). The emerald cut permits you to see the different colors easily because it isolates the c axis … Continue reading
Nice classic tourmaline green with dark ends.#930
This 1.70 carat medium toned grass green emerald cut is a pure classic tourmaline. It is eye clean as most material like this is and has the unfortunate dark ends that aren’t too bad in larger ratio gems like … Continue reading
A Large, Really Green Round of Mistery#928
I have just spent a bit of time trying to orient this rich green gem with it c axis. With a gemstone that weighs 19.54 carats and is distinctly dichroic, that should not be too difficult. But perhaps I am … Continue reading
Small green droplet of color, big color#919
Now green is a common color in tourmaline, but I am a lover of bright, well saturate color in any hue (color) so I like this small .26 droplet of color. It comes to life in any light. Bruce
Average green droplet of color#916
Every collection has its peaks and valleys and in the quest for color my collection is no different. Still I take pride in thinking that even an average small standard round brilliant like this .40 carat green pastel got … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color, Verdelite
Tagged droplet-of-color, green, pastel, verdelite
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Large ratio green emerald cut with dark ends#918
This green emerald cut is longer than I would like with its narrow width. I generally do not get much rough that is dark in the ends and the crystals are too short to be split into two or … Continue reading
Austere green green droplet of color#907
This 1,26 carat bright standard brilliant round has just been declared a droplet of color. It is an honor for a rather aloof and austere color in rich pastel blue green. The color appears consistent, but doesn’t really invite … Continue reading
Pretty Little Blue Green Emerald Cut#906
Going down the tray this smaller gemstone does not grab you eye because of its size. but focus and you see a very nice gemstone. I don’t think that it is perfectly clean like most tourmalines, but nothing really … Continue reading
A yellow green, a good after dinner mint#905
This tourmaline is ready to give you a color fake and head for the “in” zone of your heart. It is not a Heliodor, which is a variety of beryl and is probably the most common gemstone in … Continue reading
Green Shield Cut rarer than you might think.
Green in all its shades is one of the most common colors in the world of tourmaline. Only pinks might compete with green as production shifts between locations during different years. Yet there are very few nice green shield … Continue reading
Duo-blue/green, A portrait of a star in the tourmaline heaven#942
The rough for this exceptional gemstone came as an after thought with the most outstanding purple piece of tourmaline I have ever seen. (the name Duo-blue/green coming from being one of two pieces in the lot) The purple … Continue reading
Posted in Cuprian Tourmaline, Indicolite, Verdelite
Tagged bi-color, blue, blue-green, cuprian, green, round, unique
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A Quick Rainbow with Droplets of Color
I was sitting at the computer and thinking about how to show off tourmaline in a simple post. I decided to grab a rainbow of droplets of color. I call small rounds that have no real claim to fame except … Continue reading
Posted in Droplets of Color
Tagged blue, droplet-of-color, green, orange, purple, rainbow, red, yellow
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spruce cushion with step crown
This cushion cut, which is a Barion, meet point design, partially developed by Mr. Graham, is one of the few more “modern” designs I use when cutting tourmaline. I am a strong believer in simple traditional cuts and I … Continue reading