Awesome lot of Neon Blue Green Nigerian Tourmaline Faceting Rough. This lot is primarily a Neon Bluish Green in color though the C Axis on these stones tend to be more Greenish in contrast to the AB Axis. The stones overall do have some minor inclusions and one stone will probably yield a very slightly included stone at best though more likely slightly included if cut for yield. The smaller of the two stones is EXTREMELY clean and we estimate that the inclusions in it are concentrated in about 15% or so of the rough and that stone alone is worth over the price of the lot were we to sell it as select material; however, this was sold to us as a lot of two stones as a sampling and that is what we are moving it out as. The larger stone has inclusions scattered around and it will take some planning to orient and facet it to get the best finished stone but the smaller one more than makes up for its shortcomings. These are NOT stones averaging around 15.5 carats! At that size we would charge $30+ Per Carat for select rough and at least 1 stone in here gets pretty close to that benchmark...

Both of these stones in the lot are nice and chunky crystal sections capable of giving above average yield. The stones are nice and bright and should hold their color well once cut. The price on this just doesn't get any better! If we took out the Facet Rough in here we would probably charge a higher price than for the lot as a whole!!!

1. Nigeria has steadily risen to be a powerhouse country for Tourmaline production and is now set to eclipse many traditional sources in sheer volume of material. Overall Nigerian material, like most African material, has the brownish overtones, darker colors and lacks the vibrancy and life that Afghan (and some Namibian and Nigerian) Tourmaline is known for; however, many Nigerian and African stones can cut beautiful finished gems that rival Afghan material. From my experience I don't think quality is even questionable as I still haven't seen any Tourmaline Floor me like the Best Afghani material in its natural crystal form! Afghan Tourmaline can cost an arm and a leg and Nigerian material is a great affordable substitute for everyone to have fun faceting some Tourmaline.