|
February 2008
 In our newsletter this month:
Buy It While You Can
New and Interesting Gemstones
New Content at GemSelect
Gemstones Worth Knowing
Customer Questions
Buy It While You Can
The colored gemstone business is quite different from the diamond business. Diamonds are promoted as rare and precious, but in fact they are widely available in standardized cuts and shapes. The fact that diamonds are expensive has more to do with De Beers' control of the supply chain than it does with rarity of diamonds. About 60 million carats of gem quality diamonds are mined each year. Unless you're looking for something very exceptional, you can always find diamonds in every shape, size and quality.
The situation with colored gems could not be more different. Colored stones, unlike diamonds, are mostly mined by independent, small-scale miners, working in remote locations in far away places such as Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Tanzania, Burma, Afghanistan, Columbia and Bolivia. Mining is carried out with pick and shovel, and only rarely with heavy equipment. Colored gems reach the market in a variety of ways, many of them involving relatively small deals between independent businessmen.
The reality of the colored gems business is very apparent when you go out in search of a specific gem. If you look for a sapphire in a specific color, size, shape and clarity, you have to be lucky to find exactly the stone you're looking for. The supply of material is so variable that not every kind of stone will be available in every color and size at any given time. It's one of the frustrations of the colored gems trade. At the same time, there is a lot of excitement when interesting stones come on the market.
From our years in the gems business, we've learned that you have to buy it while you can. When good stones come on the market -- and especially good stones at good prices -- you have to seize the opportunity. A few months later and it may no longer be possible to buy them. We've learned the lesson the hard way.
 Here are a few cases in point. Recently we were able to buy some unusual rose zircon from Tanzania. This was completely untreated material, very clean, and some of it in exceptional sizes -- up to 5 or 6 carats. We bought as much as we could and we hope we'll be able to buy it again. But we won't be surprised if next month the supply has dried up.
It happened with chrome tourmaline last year. We were able to find a nice parcel of this rare tourmaline colored by chromium. Not surprisingly, we sold it very quickly. We tried to buy more but it was no longer available. Then we didn't see it again for many months. Last week we got lucky again and found a small number of pieces at a very good price. We wish we could have bought more.
 Another example is demantoid garnet. This rare green garnet with the diamond-like luster is one of the most difficult to find of all of colored gems. Sometimes we go a whole year without any in stock. Last week we found a small lot and bought it immediately. Who knows when we'll see it again.
Some gems, such as the quartz family (amethyst, citrine, etc.) are always in good supply. But some others, while usually available, are not always available in the sizes or quality that we want to buy. For example, we've had many requests for peridot in larger sizes. Everything we had found in the market for months was under 2 carats. Then last month we found some Burmese peridot in sizes up to 11 carats, with outstanding color saturation. It is quite rare to find peridot that large and we'll be surprised (but delighted) if we see it again any time soon.
Like most gemstone buyers, we have a shopping list when we go into the market to buy gems. But if we only bought what was on our list, some months we'd buy hardly anything at all. In the colored gemstone market you have to be an opportunist. |
| New and Interesting Gems -- updated November 9th |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
|
|
|
New Content at GemSelect
We add hundreds of new gems to our inventory every day. But if you've looked at our sitemap recently, you may have noticed that we've been adding a lot of new website content as well.
Some of the new content is reference material that we hope you'll find useful. New pages include a refractive index chart for all the different gemstones, and another chart listing gems by specific gravity or density.
In our Other Gem Selections you'll find a number of new pages that let you view gems by color or shape. So if you want an easy way to see all our red gemstones or all our trillion cut gems you'll find convenient links to these and many more.
Finally, in our Gemstone Articles section you'll find a number of interesting new articles on gemstones written by the GemSelect staff, on topics as diverse as the history of birthstones and the mystery of andesine-labradorite.
Gemstones Worth Knowing
Each month we focus on one of the lesser known gemstones. This month's featured stone is Sphene.
Sphene is a calcium titanium silicate that is also known by its mineralogical name, titanite. The name sphene comes from the fact that its crystals are typically sphenoid (from the Greek sphenos meaning wedge). The name titanite comes, not surprisingly, from its titanium content.
Sphene occurs as translucent to transparent , reddish brown, gray, yellow, green, or red monoclinic crystals. Sphene has an unusually high refractive index (1.843-2.110), higher than zircon , ruby and sapphire (but lower than diamond which is 2.417-2.419). But it is sphene's dispersion or fire which is truly exceptional, exceeding even that of diamond.
For more information see our Sphene information page and our recent feature article on sphene.
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: |
I need a 7 x 5 mm gem for a standard setting. How much can a gem vary from 7 x 5 mm and still fit? Thanks very much for your answer. JN, New Zealand |
| A: |
The general rule for calibrated gemstones is a .1 mm variance for gems under 1 carat, and a .2 mm variance for gems over 1 carat. The exception is round stones, which have a larger variance since it is easier to adjust a setting for a round stone. When you search for gems using our calibrated size chart we'll automatically show you all the gems that qualify, including the permitted variance.
|
| Q: |
When I put some items in my shopping cart they are always there when I come back the next day. But today when I came back the two gems I'd saved were gone. What happened? DS, USA |
| A: |
Items will be saved in your cart for 3 days. There are 2 reasons items might disappear before the 3 days are up: (1) Another customer buys the item; or (2) You clear your browser cache and delete cookies from your system. We use browser cookies to recognize you when you return to our site. However, if you create an account with us and login before you put items in your cart, you don't need to worry about browser cookies, since the items are tied to your account ID rather than the session ID stored in your browser cookie. |
|
| 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.
Happy gem hunting,
Your friends at GemSelect |
|
|
|
|
.gif){kind=small}