Gems

What I Have Learned about Paraibas

This blog entry has been a long time coming - I should have written it over a year ago, when I first started buying Paraibas on my inaugural visit in Tucson.
I have seen and admired Paraiba tourmalines ever since I got into the gem business in 2009. At that point, I knew little about buying and grading gems, but I was already attracted by their neon glow. I bought one single piece to make a tie bar...
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Why Don’t All Gems Come in Any Cut?

I got the following question from two customers just this week: can I supply a matched pair of Merelani mint garnets, elongated pear shape.  The answer – and I don’t even have to look – is “no.”  (I actually did find one pair, so I was wrong, but you’ll see the astronomical price tag on my Etsy site!)
So why doesn’t any gem come in any cut? The answer is really simple. Gems are cut to maximize the...
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The Danburites of Morogoro

I love unusual gemstones, as you know, and if my gemstone dealer has anything of interest, no matter how tiny the production, he usually shows me first. So you can imagine my surprise when he had me guess what the three teaspoons of clean yellow material were that he pulled out of a little plastic bag a couple of weeks ago. I know Danburite to be clear or faint vanilla color but had never seen...
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