Awesome lot of EXTREMELY DISCOUNTED Afghan Tourmaline Gemstones ranging in color from Neon Blue to Neon Green! This lot was an oddity we picked up as it was very well priced and we knew we couldn't just let it go by! The material is very clean for the most part with roughly 70-80% or so being eye-clean to very slightly included. We estimate that roughly 20% is slightly to moderately included. This material was faceted in Pakistan (a few stones were faceted in the US) and is composed of mostly rectangular and squarish cut stones. The stones average about 1/2 a carat and the cutting is not the best as is common with your typical native cuts. Many stones do have windows and fisheyes but I'm sure that for the price we have on this you shouldn't think twice about picking this lot up. Going cutting rates around are usually around $1.00 per carat and even though this isn't the best cut material being native cut it is a steal for the price.

1. Cutting rates in Peshawar, Pakistan are dependent on the type of material being cut. This is true for both Faceting and/or Cabbing charges. In addition, there are cutters who charge higher rates because of their superior work product whereas there are others who cut such a large volume of stones that there isn't much attention paid to every stone. Current faceting rates in Peshawar for material similar to this run from $.25-$1.00 per carat. The higher end of the cost is usually for custom cut stones in larger sizes.