MINTY SCOPE GREEN TO SALMON PINK

Lot: Tourmaline-249

STONE 1

   
8.25 Carats & 8x10x11 MM. This is a nice and blocky crystal section shaped for high yield. Our personal recommendation would be a Shield cut as it is practically preformed for that. The color is a lovely Neon Scope Green and the stone looks like it should cut eye-clean or better with a little planning and effort. Please note that the stone does have some surface inclusions and feathering. These are common for Tourmaline in general and are confined to the rind. We anticipate that all inclusions should easily cut out with normal faceting; however, you will have to take a few minutes to plan the orientation of this stone to insure you get an eye-clean or better finished gemstone.

STONE 2

      
8.48 Carats & 8x9x9 MM. This is a nice and blocky crystal section shaped for super high yield. The color on this is a lovely almost Salmon Pink. Our personal recommendation would be a Brilliant Cushion or Emerald Step Cut though you could also go for an Oval. The stone looks like it should cut flawless with little planning and effort. If you spend a minute on it we don't anticipate you will get anything less than Flawless but that all depends on proper orientation. Please note that this stone was purchased IN Pakistan and was reported to be of Afghan origin and natural; however, we have never encountered this color coming from Afghanistan in the past. It is possible that it originated from the country; however, we have our reservations regardless of its beauty.

STONE 3

   
8.46 Carats & 7x7x16 MM. This is a nice and blocky crystal section shaped for above average yield (a slight indentation in the crystal structure prevents otherwise higher yield). The color on this is a lovely Neon Green and the C Axis is dark enough to be considered closed. We recommend a Brilliant Rectangular cut with steep C Axis angles. The stone looks like it should cut eye-clean to very very slightly included with a little planning and effort. Please note that the stone does have some minor inclusions and feathering; however, these are confined to the surface for the most part. These are common for Tourmaline and we anticipate that most inclusions should easily cut out with normal faceting; however, you will have to take a few minutes to plan the orientation of this stone to insure the best clarity.

COLOR: Minty Scope Green, Neon Green, Salmon Pink, Sea-Foam Green
CLARITY: Will cut flawless to very very slightly included stones (95%+ Top Grade Facet Rough)
ORIGIN:  Afghanistan
SIZE: Stones sizes:  8.25; 8.46; & 8.48 Carats (8.40 Carat Average)
WEIGHT: 25.20 Carats (3 Pieces) 5.04 Grams
PRICE: $302.40 ($12.00 Per Carat /$60.00 Per Gram)
DESCRIPTION:

Awesome lot of three TOP Electric Scope Green to Salmon Pink Afghan Faceting Rough Tourmalines. Please see above for a detailed description of each particular stone. This is the material that has made Afghan Tourmaline the benchmark in Tourmaline perfection! It doesn't get much better than this (Nodules being the exception). Every one of these is a SUPER lovely color and an ideally shaped crystal section.

This is TOP faceting grade material and most stones should cut 10x clean with a little hard work and some planning. The stones do have some minor inclusions and fracturing; however, these are all confined to the surface or in close proximity to it and most should facet out with relative ease. I only saw significant inclusions in 1 stone which will probably result in normal weight loss to produce an eye-clean or better stone. The largest stone in here looks like it should cut around 3+ carats and should produce an Vibrant Salmon Pink gemstone. This lot is not for the amateur and this is PREMIUM ROUGH! If you are interested in similar colored material in smaller sizes there are several lots up and you should take a look at the particulars on them. This stuff has to be seen to be fully appreciated.
COOL FACTS:

  1. Afghan Tourmaline pockets tend to be relatively small in size and as a result consistency in color & quality is a rarity! We have never seen Afghan Tourmaline sold by the kilo with like colored and quality material and lots are generally small in size seldom going over 1/2-1 kilo.

  2. All Afghan Tourmaline is exhumed from primary deposits and as a result mining costs are considerably higher due to dynamite expenditures and traveling expenditures to get to remote mining areas. It is also interesting to note that since all Afghan Tourmaline is from primary deposits most rough will usually have sharp crystal faces.