Spectacular lot of Vibrant Deep Peachy Orangey Pink to Pink Treated African Rubelite Tourmaline Top Facet Rough. This is a small lot and will be a treat to the one who gets it. All of this material will cut at least eye-clean and it is all in nice chunky pieces ready for maximum yield! The color is actually considerably more vibrant up close and I'm sure you will love this! We are unfortunately uncertain of the origin of this material; however, we are fairly confident that it is from Nigeria. These crystal sections have been cobbed eye-clean or better for the most part and stones average 3.91+ carats. Practically every stone in here is capable of cutting eye-clean to flawless with little or no effort and we are confident you will get some lovely finished gems out of this lot that will leave you breathless!!

This lot was part of a test treatment run. It was originally a White to Pastel Peachy Pink (you can see the untreated material in Lot: Tourmaline-86) in color prior to being irradiated with a cobalt 60 unit at roughly 60 megarads. This treatment is a COMMON practice in the world of Tourmaline and even though you are routinely supposed to disclose it MOST sellers choose not to or are unaware of the treatment. This treatment is indistinguishable from that which occurs in nature and as such you really can't ID that this was treated. We have a very strict policy of disclosing as much about the rough as is in our foreknowledge. Please note that prior to treatment the edges were lathed to prevent any etching from extending into the center. This basically means that we smoothed the exterior and it may already have a nice flat side for you to dop as soon as you open the package.

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.