Gems

Written by Yvonne Raley

How to Heat a Zircon

Jan 13, 2012

Written by Yvonne Raley

My friend Anya and I were buying some stones at a gem dealer friend’s house last weekend. When we got there, we saw some rosy colored gems on his desk and I asked what they were. “Zircons”, he said. “I just heated them.”

“Huh?” I didn’t know heating could be this low tech. Because we were standing in his home office, and he didn’t have any particular equipment that suggested whatever fancy...

Written by Yvonne Raley

The other Tanzanite

Dec 04, 2011

Written by Yvonne Raley

Last December I pooh-poohed Tanzanite as a bad investment. I guess I always say what I think, even if it hurts my own business... But Tanzanite really is tricky. Relatively new on the market (since 1967 or something), it has gotten seriously pushed by the large conglomerates that own most of the mines in Tanzania. That’s why it now is a December birthstone, by the way. Meanwhile, the material... Continue reading

Written by Yvonne Raley

Topaz: Worth Having?

Oct 26, 2011

Written by Yvonne Raley

Topaz is one of the birthstones of November, aside from Citrine. But it has kind of gotten a bad rep in the gem world. Most of it is deserved, too. Next to the quartz varieties, white topaz is pretty much the most readily available gemstone material in the world. It comes in large clumps, with wholesale per carat prices starting as low as 99 cents. Beware of the trade name “smoky topaz”... Continue reading

Written by Yvonne Raley

Addicted to Spinel

Sep 26, 2011

Written by Yvonne Raley

You must have wondered: how much more spinel can she list on her Etsy site? Well, instead you should ask: how much spinel does she buy? A lot, apparently. I’m addicted to the stuff.

Spinel is its own mineral, but it is often found together with corundum – sapphire and ruby in other words. Spinel comes from Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Myanmar (Burma), but also Vietnam and Cambodia, Madagascar, Nigeria,...

Written by Yvonne Raley

Can You Get a Gem Like This? Some Brief Notes on Odds

Aug 07, 2011

Written by Yvonne Raley

I periodically get questions like these: can you get a 5mm princess cut blue tourmaline? Or: do you have a matched pair of 4mm round Ceylon sapphires? And sometimes that’s a “yes”. Mostly, though, it’s tough. To communicate how tough, let’s play a numbers game by multiplying out the possibilities.

1. Gemstone shapes: There are 8 basic gem shapes: round, oval, emerald, baguette, trillion,... Continue reading

Written by Yvonne Raley

How to Judge a Ceylon

Jul 23, 2011

Written by Yvonne Raley

It’s been an interesting year for Ceylon sapphires. Last summer, they were fairly reasonable in price, and I bought one for myself for a ring. Ever since then, customers have wanted a gem like mine: larger size (about 2 carats), nice rich popping blue, clean and sparkly, and unheated of course. But I couldn’t find any. The guy from Sri Lanka, from whom I bought my stone, was supposed to come...

Written by Yvonne Raley

What is an Old-Mine Gem?

May 22, 2011

Written by Yvonne Raley

I’d heard the term many times, but couldn’t make much of it initially. I looked it up online, but the only reference I found was to diamonds, where the term was used to describe a predecessor to the brilliant cut, dating back to the 1800s. An old mine diamond is deeper, it has a smaller table and fewer facets, less brilliance but a nice warm glow in candle-light. I have a few small ones – a...

Written by Yvonne Raley

Alex is Here

Mar 04, 2011

Written by Yvonne Raley

I went to another gem show last weekend. I love going to those because sometimes even the sellers you already know have special show deals they won’t give you at any other time. And you can get odd gems that usually take more time to find.

I stocked up on some lovely tourmaline pairs, and I got a lot of matched pairs of spinels as well, so look out for new listings in the earring sections. I...

Written by Yvonne Raley

The Green Diamond

Feb 06, 2011

Written by Yvonne Raley

So this is the story as it happened. I am got permission to write about it, but there will be no names and no pictures.

I was futzing around with princess cut citrines at D’s booth in one of the exchanges on 47^th Street, when one of his friends came downstairs from the office. “They’re cutting a natural green diamond. You should come up and see it.”

A green diamond? “That’s a naturalcolor –...

Written by Yvonne Raley

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emerald, EMERALDS

Emeralds: Before the Oil, After the Oil, and After That

Jan 27, 2011

Written by Yvonne Raley

Emeralds: Before the Oil, After the Oil, and After That

So my gemstone dealer D. and I decided to conduct an experiment. It was an ancient one, and he’s done it before of course, but I never had: we tested how an emerald would change if it got oiled. Oiling emeralds is as old as the hills, and it is common practice. Most emeralds on the market are oiled – an eye clean emerald that hasn’t been oiled is a rarity. I’ve read that cedar wood oil is a...

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Posts & Pages

Gems

How to Heat a Zircon

The other Tanzanite

Topaz: Worth Having?

Addicted to Spinel

Can You Get a Gem Like This? Some Brief Notes on Odds

How to Judge a Ceylon

What is an Old-Mine Gem?

Alex is Here

The Green Diamond

Emeralds: Before the Oil, After the Oil, and After That