Merelani Mint Garnets

Many people don't realize that garnets are not just red gemstones. They come in a great variety of colors. Some of the most sought after have always been in the green family. Demantoid garnets are usually light green and have a diamond-like brilliance. They also can have a diamond-like price. Large specimens are very rare. Another favorite has been Tsavorite. They are a beautiful, rich, emerald green. A new comer among the green garnets is the "Merelani Mint" Garnet.

Merelani Mint garnets are named for the Merelani Hills of Tanzania where they are usually found. They are a close relative of Tsavorites. Both are categorized as grossular garnets. The only real difference is the color saturation. Tsavorites are colored deep green by chromium or vanadium. Merelani Mint garnets are just paler cousins. A few years ago they were often dismissed as lower quality tsavorites, but many people prefer their more delicate, somewhat subtler shade and they have been quickly gaining an avid following. As their popularity has grown, of couse, so has their value. Prices of several hundred dollars per carat are common and I have seen them as high as a thousand dollars per carat for top grade specimens. Like tsavorites, large pieces, over 3 carats are very rare.

Visit my website www.PalmBeachGems.com to see more Merelani Mint Garnets as well as other garnets.

Opals on a Budget

Opals have been one of the world’s favorite gemstones for centuries. Nothing compares to opals for their fantastic displays of brilliant colors that move and change as the stone moves in the light. The finest opals can rival diamonds in price. Large specimens with bright colors, in sought after patterns can sell for thousands of dollars per carat. Fortunately though, there are beautiful opals available even for those of us on a budget.

One option of course is to sacrifice quality somewhat. You can find opals for under $20 per carat that are still beautiful. The colors won’t be as vivid as the higher priced opals and there may be areas of the stone that show no flashes of “opalescence” but they will still be very attractive stones.

But what if you want a really bright, flashy opal? Another option is to look for an opal “doublet” or “triplet. One reason that precious opal is so expensive is that it often occurs in thin layers that just aren’t thick enough to cut into a gemstone. But these thin pieces of material can still be used to make doublets and triplets! The layer of precious opal is first bonded to a layer of a cheaper stone. Usually ironstone is used. It is readily available in the Australian opal mining regions, it is very hard and it is a dark color. It does several things. It makes the stone thick enough of course plus it makes it. Plus, it gives the opal a dark background which makes its natural colors stand out more vividly! If it is going to be a doublet, it is then cut and polished as would any other opal. If it is going to be a triplet, another layer is first glued to the top of the stone.

This other layer is usually quartz. Quartz is very clear and very durable. So now when it is cut, you have a layer of fiery opal sandwiched between a layer of ironstone and a layer of quartz. The dark backing makes the stone appear more brilliant and the quartz top make it more durable and scratch resistant than a solid opal. But best of all, the prices for doublets and triplets are much lower. You will usually only pay about 10% of the price you would pay for a comparable looking solid opal. So for $20 you can get an opal that looks like a $200 opal. For $200 you can get one that looks like its worth thousands!

There are some cases where the layers may separate over time if not cared for properly. But if handled and cleaned with care, as you should with any opal, they can last a lifetime and you can own the opal of your dreams without spending a fortune.

Rich Blue Iolite Earring Studs

Iolite is not a real well known gemstone, but they are beautiful. High grade Iolite looks a lot like sapphire but at a fraction of the price. The mineral name is Cordierite. It is also sometimes called "water sapphire"
These are very nice, gem grade iolites from Kenya. They are set in sterling silver posts. For more details look at eBay item 300294975279

Color Change Garnets

If you were born in January, you probably know that your birthstone is Garnet. Most people think of rich red gemstones when they think of garnets. However through the years garnets have been discovered in many different colors. In fact just about every color but blue. There are emerald green "Tsavorite" Garnets, bright orange "Spessartite" Garnets and even some rare pink garnets. But if you still can't make up your mind there are also "color change" garnets. These garnets appear to be very different colors depending on the type of lighting. Typically they will be a greenish-blue color in sunlight but when indoors under incandescent lighting they will appear a reddish-purple color. They look a lot like Alexandrite which are famous for their color-change properties. All of the color change garnets that I've seen have come from Africa, mostly from Madagascar, Tanzania and Kenya. The prices vary depending on size, clarity and how pronounced the color change is. Top specimens can be $1000 per carat or more.The picture at left is a recently unearthed piece of color change garnet rough weighing 280cts found near the Kenya-Tanzania border.

Beautiful Coober Pedy Freeform Opal 1.83cts

This beautiful solid opal is now for sale on eBay. It is a freeform cabochon, approx. 17x12mm eBay item #300284853802 end time Jan-11-09 13:06:11 PST

Opal Fire Patterns

I wanted to continue our series on opals today. We've talked before about some of the general terminology of opals. In this article I wanted to try and define the terms used to describe a precious opal's fire pattern. Every opal is different but opal dealers have put them into categories to make descriptions easier. There are seven generally accepted categories used in the opal trade. The most common are "pinfire", "broadflash", "flashfire",and rolling broadflash. There is also what are referred to as harlequin. And others are categorized as rare patterns or picture stones.
Here is a description of each:

• Pinfire opals have tinyl pinpoint circles of fire.
• Flashfire has larger areas of fire that are irregular in shape. The splashes of fire can be fairly large but no one area would cover more than 50% of the surface of the opal.
• Broad Flashfire displays sheets of color covering large sections or all of the stone's surface.
• Rolling Flashfire has sheets of color which roll across the surface of the stone as it is moved in the light. These are highly sought after and almost impossible to accurately photograph.
• Harlequin. A true harlequin opal has square or angular blocks of fire set closely together. They are extremely rare and very valuable. Patterns that are not regular are also especially valued but not true harlequins.
• Picture Stones are opals that have an unusual pattern that resembles a picture of something, kind of like with picture jasper.
• Rare patterns, as you might imagine, is kind of a catch-all category for everything else.

Opals can be very difficult to photograph and even harder to describe. Hopefully knowing these terms will make it a little bit easier to visualize what an opal looks like when you read a description and easier for you to describe one to someone else.

What is the December Birthstone?

That seems like a simple enough question. But the answer isn't that easy. It depends on who you ask (and maybe what they are selling!). Different cultures at different times have adopted different versions of what stones go with which month. In ancient India the December birthstone was Ruby. Among the Mystics of Tibet it was Onyx. In western societies the traditional December Stone was Turquoise or sometimes Lapis Lazuli. In more recent times it was declared by the Jewelers of America to be Blue Zircon. In 2002, the American Gem Trade Association added Tanzanite as a Birthstone for the last month of the year. Some listings also include Blue Topaz as an option. Discounting the ancient Indians and Tibetans, the common denominator is that it is something blue. If none of these work for you, there are also birthstones assigned for the zodiac symbols and for the days of the week!

The bottom line, to me, is that it doesn't matter. Some people feel obligated to wear stones or give somebody stones based on their birth month. Buy or give gemstones because you like the way they look or make you feel or because they go with what you are wearing. Don't worry about what AGTA or your jeweler or some Tibetan Monk says you should wear.

Chart of the Traditional & Modern Birthstones