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December 2007
In our newsletter this month:
Gift Ideas for the Holiday Season
Shipping Advice for December
New and Interesting Gemstones
Gemstones Worth Knowing
Customer Questions
Gift Ideas for the Holiday Season
We receive a lot of email at this time of year asking us for gift suggestions. So we've collected some of our best ideas for this month's newsletter. We hope this makes your holiday shopping just a little easier.
If you're looking for a very special gift, a good place to start is with our Top Grade Gems. Our staff selects the finest pieces from our inventory for this group, so if you want our personal recommendations, you'll find them here. Not everything in this group is expensive, by the way; we include particularly fine examples of many inexpensive gems as well as our finest sapphire, tourmaline and spinel.
A personalized gift is always appreciated, so you may wish to consider a birthstone or anniversary stone. You can make your choice by month or by signs of the zodiac. There are recognized alternative choices for many months as well.
Another nice gift idea is a matched pair of gems. Well-matched pairs are actually quite difficult to find, but we buy our gems in volume and our staff spends a lot of time going through parcels of gems to put together matched pairs. We've made it a bit of a speciality and we typically have as many as 500 matched pairs in our inventory, with around 30 gem types represented. Click here to see all our matched pairs.
If you're looking for an inexpensive but unique gift, consider a gemstone carving. We have interesting figurines in a dozen different gem types, even some in sapphire and ruby. The carved turtles are a particular favorite and they are a traditional symbol of a long life here in Asia.
If you'd like to purchase a large gemstone but are looking for something fairly inexpensive, have a look at our huge selection of cabochons. These are popular with collectors and make nice momentoes as well as stunning jewelry. We currently have more than 25 types of cabochons in our stock.
Finally, we are often asked what are the best values in fine gemstones today. Everything seems to get more expensive every year, but in our opinion the finest gems for the price are tourmaline, spinel, spessartite garnet and zircon. This year we're recommending tanzanite as well, since we were lucky recently to buy some very fine pieces at an excellent price.
Shipping Advice for December
At this time of year we take special care to make sure our customers receive their orders promptly and reliably. We've shipped gemstones to more than 70 countries and we've become experts at international shipping. So here's some advice to take the worry out of ordering an important gift online.
We strongly recommend FedEx for all holiday gifts. It's fast (3 to 4 days to nearly anywhere in the world) and you can track your shipment online so you'll know exactly when it will be delivered. It is remarkably reliable as well. Just make sure your give us your correct address and provide a telephone number as well in case of any problems with delivery.
Please note that loose gemstones may be imported duty-free to the USA, but FedEx shipments to other countries may be subject to tax and duty. If you're unsure about the situation in your country, please email us and we'll advise you about the quickest and cheapest shipment method.
A final note: we cannot ship gemstones to France by FedEx due to customs clearance issues. Registered mail is the best shipping method to France, so order early! |
| New and Interesting Gems -- updated November 9th |
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Watermelon Tourmaline from Nigeria: Watermelon tourmaline is one of the most distinctive gems in the world. We have just purchased a small number of exquisite pieces from Nigerian with outstanding color and clarity. These are the finest we've seen this year. |
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Boulder Opal from Australia: Boulder Opal is the second most prized form of opal, after black opal. The name derives from the fact that this opal is found embedded in ironstone boulders. Boulder opal is especially attractive because, like the black opal, it has a dark body tone which adds vibrancy to the play of color. We've just purchased a small lot of excellent pieces, in sizes between 4 and 15 carats. |
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Clinohumite from Tanzania: Clinohumite is a rare mineral. It is a member of the humite group of minerals, which includes humite, clinohumite, chondrodite, and norbergite. Only three sources of gem-quality clinohumite are known: the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan, the Taymyr region of northern Siberia and the Mahenge plateau of Tanzania. Usually clinohumite is found in sizes under 1 carat but we just have acquired a small number of new pieces from Tajikistan in the 2-3 carat size. |
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Huge Topaz from Brazil: Gem-quality minerals are sometimes found in exceptionally large sizes. We've acquired some natural topaz from Brazil in sizes between 360 and 507 carats. We currently have 4 pieces in a light champagne color with outstanding clarity (all of been graded IF). Collectors take note. |
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Fluorite from Namibia: Fluorite is said to be the most colorful mineral in the world. We've just bought a new stock of some very colorful pieces, including electric greens and blues and some fascinating multicolor pieces. Most of the new pieces are in the 10 to 45 carat size, with a few larger stones, all with excellent clarity. We've recently added some very colorful cabochons as well. |
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Color-Change Diaspore from Turkey: Diaspore, sometimes marketed under the name Zultanite, is a color change gem from Turkey recently introduced to the international market. Under natural or fluorescent light, Diapsore has a kiwi green color, with flashes of yellow. Diaspore displays a champagne color under incandescent lighting, and when exposed to subdued lighting, such as candlelight, has a pinkish hue. We've recently bought a substantial number of new pieces, with a good choice of cuts and sizes. |
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Snowflake Obsidian from Mexico: Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass. It is formed when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools without crystal growth.In some stones, the inclusion of small, white, radially clustered crystals of cristobalite in the black glass produce a blotchy or snowflake pattern, and this is known in the gem trade as snowflake obsidian. |
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Unheated Sapphire from Tanzania, Madagascar and Thailand: Our unheated sapphires have been very popular and we continue to increase our stock (now over 700 pieces). For the discriminating gem buyer who will accept nothing less than 100% natural, you'll find pink, blue, green, yellow and violet pieces, all guaranteed to be unheated. You may be surprised how affordable these are in the smaller sizes. |
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Seraphinite from Russia: Seraphinite is a trade name for a particular form of clinochlore, a member of the chlorite group. The dark green color of seraphinite is enhanced by a silvery and feathery shimmer caused by mica inclusions. Seraphinite was named for the seraphim, the highest order of angels, because of the feather-like appearance of the chatoyant fibers in the stone. This fascinating gemstone is a new addition our inventory. |
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Top Grade Amethyst from Brazil: We've just acquired some top grade natural amethyst from Brazil in very large sizes, ranging from about 20 to 75 carats. These are all VVS or IF clarity in the richest purple we've seen in amethyst in a long time. If you've been looking for a very special piece of amethyst, you'll want to check these out. |
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Demantoid Garnet from Namibia: Demantoid is the rarest and most valuable of the garnets, and is one of the most difficult to find of all colored gems. It is one of the few colored gemstones with a luster and brilliance similar to diamond. We have built up a stock of more than 100 pieces of Namibian demantoid, including some very fine matched pairs. |
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Amber from Poland: Amber is the fossilized hardened resin of the pine tree, Pinus succinifera, formed mainly in the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary period, about 50 million years ago. Amber has been used since prehistoric times for jewelry, amulets and religious objects. The most prized pieces contain inclusions of insects or plants or pyrites. Most amber is found in the Baltic region. We buy amber just a few times a year from our source in Poland and we've just added a new stock. |
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Turquoise from Afghanistan: Turquoise has been known and valued for thousands of years. We've bought some new pieces from Afghanistan, in an interesting variety of blue and blue-green hues. We've also found some of the popular apple-green turquoise that we first carried last year, and some superb matched pairs in blue. |
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Huge Star Rose Quartz from South Africa: We carry many large gemstones, but none as large as these Star Rose Quartz. We've collected 9 pieces over 100 carats, with the largest weighing in at an amazing 974 carats. The star effect in rose quartz is unusual in any size, but quite rare in these very large stones. |
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Axinite from Tanzania: Axinite is a group of brown to violet-brown or reddish brown minerals that sometimes occur in gem quality. Axinite is distinctive for its strong vitreous luster when polished, and its interesting pyro- and piezo-electric properties. Axinite is also popular with mineral collectors due to its unusual crystal structure. We have found a small stock of golden brown Axinite from Tanzania. |
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Spinel from Burma: We buy fine spinel whenever we can find it, and we've recently added some very fine pieces of Burmese spinel. You'll find red, violet, orange, blue and gray in a variety of shapes and sizes, including a good selection of pairs and lots. |
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Blue Sapphire from Madagascar, Ceylon and Tanzania: One of the most classic of all colored gemstones, the blue sapphire is always fashionable. This brilliant and hard-wearing gemstone is perfect for any kind of jewelry. We've added many new stones to our stock of more than 400 blue sapphires, including a number of excellent cornflower blue pieces. |
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Jadeite from Burma: Jade has been known and treasured for more than 7,000 years. But only in 1863 was it discovered that jade is actually not a single mineral. What was traditionally called jade is in fact two separate and distinct minerals: jadeite and nephrite. Jadeite is the rarer and more valuable jade, with the most famous deposits coming from Burma. We have verified samples of our Jadeite at the AIGS gemological lab in Bangkok. You'll find a good range of colors in these, including white, green and lavender. |
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Spessartite Garnet from Mozambique: We have added a large number of new pieces to our extensive inventory of this very popular gem. We now have over 500 pieces in stock, in mandarin and red-orange, in both cabochon and faceted. The range of sizes and quality grades is extensive. Our most recent additions are in the best mandarin orange color, mainly in smaller sizes. |
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Color-Change Garnet from Tanzania and Madagascar: We've recently found some rare Color-Change Garnet from Tanzania with a dramatic color change from greenish-brown to red pink. We have a small number of pieces, mostly eye-clean, in the 1 to 2 carat size. We've added these to our substantial stock of Color-Change Garnet from Madagascar. |
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Sphene from Sri Lanka: We have added some excellent new pieces to our stock of this rare gemstone famous for its remarkable dispersion or fire. These are bright golden and green pieces in interesting shapes and cuts, including a number of rounds in smaller sizes. Sphene tends to have inclusions, but we've found a number of eye-clean pieces. |
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Emerald from Colombia: We have just received a new stock of Colombian emeralds with rich color and good transparency. These are mainly ovals and pears in smaller sizes, ideal for earrings and ring settings. |
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Gemstones Worth Knowing
Each month we focus on one of the lesser known gemstones. This month's featured stone is Apatite.
Apatite, a stone seldom found in jewelry stores and virtually unknown to the general public, is beloved by collectors for its many different colors and forms. Only with the recent availability of the neon blue-green variety from Madagascar, has its jewelry use increased. The color of the best specimens of this type rivals the famed Paraiba tourmalines, but apatite is not quite as hard, so its not recommended for daily wear rings.
We have apatite from Madagascar in a range of greens and blues, including a number of pieces in the popular neon blue-green. To see all our stock in this intriguing gemstone click here.
Customer Questions
Every month we answer questions of general interest from our customers. Please feel free to send your questions to help@gemselect.com, with "Newsletter question" in the Subject line. |
| Q: |
What is the most durable gemstones? SK, USA |
| A: |
Many people would answer "diamond", since it is the hardest of all the gemstone materials. But there is more to durability than just hardness. For example, diamond has perfect cleavage, meaning it can be split with a single blow. Corundum (ruby and sapphire), while not quite as hard as diamond, has no cleavage, a property they share with spinel. Some other gems which are quite hard, such as emerald, typically have internal fractures which are filled by oiling, and thus require special care. For more information on caring for your fine gems, please see our information pages on Caring for Gemstones and Cleaning Gemstones.
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| Q: |
When you give gemological information for each gem, you include something called "color of streak". What does that mean? Why is it important? Thanks, for your answer, DN, New Zealand |
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The streak test is one of the many methods used to identify gemstones. Each gemstone has an inherent color, that is, it's true color not affected by any impurities. The color of a mineral when powdered is called the streak of the mineral. Crushing and powdering a mineral eliminates some of the effects of impurities and structural flaws, and is therefore more diagnostic for some minerals than their color. Streak can be determined for any mineral by crushing it with a hammer, but it is more commonly obtained by rubbing the mineral across the surface of a hard, unglazed porcelain material called a streak plate. The color of the powder left behind on the streak plate is the mineral's streak.
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| A final note -- If you send us email, please be assured that we answer all our email very promptly, 6 days a week. But we sometimes have problems with spam filters on the receiving end, so please adjust the settings on your mail client so you can receive mail from help@gemselect.com.
Best wishes for the holiday season !
Your friends at GemSelect |
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