RARE COLLECTOR GEMSTONES (fall 2010 update)

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RLKG10-219 - Prehnite - $ 250
Australia
thumbnail, 14.0 x 8.0 ; 4.10 carats

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Prehnite from Australia [db_pics/new2010/rlkg219a.jpg]

Prehnite from Australia [db_pics/new2010/rlkg219b.jpg]

Prehnite has always been a popular gem among collectors because of its lovely green color. Despite the amount of material on the market, it is almost impossible to find completely transparent stones. This stone is a beautiful yellow green color faceted stone with a "soft" almost "velvety" appearance from what is one of the most famous localities in the world for the material. The cut on this stone is an "Oval Brilliant". This gem is pretty clean for this material, and has such a unique appearance. This is a wonderful stone and considering it is relatively rare it's a great gem to fill a spot in your collection.

RLKG10-220 - Spinel - $ 275
Burma
thumbnail, 8.0 x 6.2 mm ; 1.46 carats

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Spinel from Burma [db_pics/new2010/rlkg220a.jpg]

Spinel from Burma [db_pics/new2010/rlkg220b.jpg]

Spinel is another gem that comes in a great range of colors. Most people are familiar with the Ruby Spinels, but a large percentage of Spinels out there are not red. This is a beautiful lilac/purple Spinel stone. It is an attractive gem with an almost silvery or metallic overtone. The gem is virtually eye clean and has a traditional "Oval Step" cut. This is certainly a good quality Spinel with a lovely color.

RLKG10-216 - Tourmaline - $ 490
Afghanistan
thumbnail, 9.2 x 6.9 mm ; 3.25 carats

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Tourmalines are some of the most diverse and popular gems out there. This particular gem was cut from a piece of rough found a few years ago in Afghanisan The stone shows a rich blue-green color, and is virtually eye clean, which is great for this material. Tourmaline is classified as a "Type 3" gemstone, as inclusions are almost always present, and accepted by dealers and collectors, so when you find a clean stone like this, it's a real treat. I have to say that these stones are becoming harder and harder to find these days with so much gem Tourmalines coming out of Brazil and Africa lately. The stone has a deep "Emerald" cut

RLKG10-213 - Spinel - $ 260
Burma
thumbnail, 8.4 x 6.0 mm ; 1.78 carats

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Spinel from Burma [db_pics/new2010/rlkg213a.jpg]

Spinel from Burma [db_pics/new2010/rlkg213b.jpg]

Spinel comes in a variety of colors and this particular stone falls into what is sometimes marketed as "Titanium Spinel". The color is almost metallic, and most Spinels actually have more a metallic appearance than most stones in my mind. The stone has what I would call a silvery overtone, but it appears to have a very slight blue color as well. The gem is virtually eye clean with a "Step Oval" cut.

RLKG10-218 - Sapphire - $ 260
Thailand
thumbnail, 7.2 x 5.5 mm ; 1.33 carats

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Sapphire from Thailand [db_pics/new2010/rlkg218a.jpg]

Sapphire from Thailand [db_pics/new2010/rlkg218b.jpg]

Sapphires is one of those gems that comes in virtually every color of the rainbow. With that said, the most recognizable color of Sapphires by far is blue. I've seen literally every shade of blue known to man exhibited in Sapphires, and they are still some of the most popular, durable, colorful and highly sought after gems on the planet. This stone has a beautiful "royal blue" color which shows up well in strong light. The stone is only very very slightly included and has an "Oval" cut, which is common for Sapphires.

RLKG10-217 - Tourmaline (unique color) - $ 500
Mozambique
thumbnail, 11.6 x 6.8 mm ; 4.00 carats

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Tourmaline (unique color) from Mozambique [db_pics/new2010/rlkg217a.jpg]

Tourmaline (unique color) from Mozambique [db_pics/new2010/rlkg217b.jpg]

This stone might possibly be a Uvite, as I've seen Uvites this color from Mozambique. With that said, it is definitely an unusual color of Tourmaline nonetheless. The stone has a rich golden hue with a very slight greenish overtone. The stone has an "Emerald" cut. The stone is virtually eye clean, which is not common in Tourmalines this size. I haven't seen many Tourmalines this color from any locality, and it would definitely round out a Tourmaline gem suite to show off the various colors of these stones.

RLKG10-215 - Spessartine (interesting locality) - $ 200
Kashmir, Pakistan
thumbnail, 7.3 mm ; 1.78 carats

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Spessartine (interesting locality) from Kashmir, Pakistan [db_pics/new2010/rlkg215a.jpg]

Spessartine (interesting locality) from Kashmir, Pakistan [db_pics/new2010/rlkg215b.jpg]

Although I haven't seen much of this material, this stone came from a trusted source, so I believe it is authentic. Spessartine occurs in all shades of red and orange, and this particular stone is a nice blending of the two shades. This stone has a "Step Trillion" cut and is only virtually eye clean, with great saturation of color. I've only seen a handful of these very hard to obtain stones from this dangerous area on the Indian border, and this is one of the best quality gems that I've encountered for the material.

RLKG10-214 - Herderite - $ 210
Brazil
thumbnail, 9.5 x 5.5 mm ; 1.41 carats

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Herderite from Brazil [db_pics/new2010/rlkg214a.jpg]

Herderite from Brazil [db_pics/new2010/rlkg214b.jpg]

Herderite is only found in a few localities around the world in gem quality crystals. It is a rare collector gem especially in larger size stones. I have seen quite a few faceted Herderites over the years, and they have some of the most unusual colors in the gem world. This stone is slightly included, and has a very light silvery-lilac hue. It has a standard "Step Pear" cut, and is a bizarre color for this material.

RLKG10-212 - Sillimanite Cat's Eye - $ 100
Sri Lanka
thumbnail, 5.5 x 5.0 mm ; 1.01 carats

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Sillimanite Cat's Eye from Sri Lanka [db_pics/new2010/rlkg212a.jpg]

Sillimanite Cat's Eye from Sri Lanka [db_pics/new2010/rlkg212b.jpg]

Sillimanite is actually trimorphous with Kyanite and Andalusite which means that they have the same chemistry, but different crystal habits create different minerals, just like Brookite, Anatase and Rutile. Sillimanite is sometimes called "Fibrolite" because of the fibrous nature of the material. Cat's Eye Sillimanites are actually pretty rare. This stone has a very distinct "eye" and a really unusual "smoky" color. The stone has good clarity as well. I photographed this stone with a strong penlight shining right on the stone to show the "eye" better, so it might not be as disticnt depending on what lighting in which you're viewing it.

RLKG10-208 - Sinhalite (rare) - $ 765
Sri Lanka
thumbnail, 10.1 x 9.4 mm ; 6.11 carats

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Sinhalite certainly has an interesting story behind it. This material was long thought to be brown Peridot until it was investigated in 1952 and found to be a new mineral. The material gets is name from the old Sanskrit word for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) "sinhala". It is usually found in metamorphic contacts in limestone like the skarn zones in Tanzania or in Warren County, New York. This is a rare gem, and despite its rarity, it occurs in VERY large gems from Sri Lanka. Stone between 1-5 carats are not unheard of. This particular stone is a virtually eye clean, light golden yellow gem with a beautiful Emerald cut on it. A very cool stone and very good sized for the material.

RLKG10-209 - Fluorite (large stone) - $ 665
Argentina
thumbnail, 36.18 x 19.48 mm ; 94.95 carats !!

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Fluorites come in virtually all colors of the rainbow, and are some of the few gems that occur in multicolor stones. I've seen this type of Fluorite from China, but rarely from Argentina. The stone comes from a trusted source so I have confidence that it's genuine. The stone shows alternating yellow, green and blue-green color banding throughout. It's a very attractive gem and is only very slightly included with an elongated "Emerald" cut.

RLKG10-210 - Triplite (exremely rare) - $ 900
Pakistan
thumbnail, 7.3 x 5.0 mm ; 1.20 carats

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Triplite (exremely rare) from Pakistan [db_pics/new2010/rlkg210a.jpg]

Triplite (exremely rare) from Pakistan [db_pics/new2010/rlkg210b.jpg]

Triplite is not rare in the aspect that it is found in various part of the world, but the large percentage of ALL Triplites around the world are essentially black and opaque, and not gem quality with a bright salmon orange color like this stone ! There was one find of these crystals and rough in Pakistan a few years ago, and they are simply some of the most impressive gems of any phosphate I've seen from any locality. One would be hard pressed to find another gem like this on the market, considering that all of these stones were quickly scooped up when they were made available. This particular stone is very attractive, extremely rare, very slightly included, bright salmon orange color stone with an "Oval" cut. A beautiful stone of this amazingly rare material.

RLKG10-202 - Sillimanite - $ 150
Sri Lanka
thumbnail, 6.25 mm ; 1.00 carats

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Sillimanite from Sri Lanka [db_pics/new2010/rlkg202a.jpg]

Sillimanite from Sri Lanka [db_pics/new2010/rlkg202b.jpg]

Sillimanite is actually trimorphous with Kyanite and Andalusite which means that they have the same chemistry, but different crystal habits create different minerals, just like Brookite, Anatase and Rutile. Sillimanite is sometimes called "Fibrolite" because of the fibrous nature of the material, but this stone is different from most Sillimanite on the market. This is actually pretty rare material, and one of the few I've seen in this clarity. This gem has a VERY light lilac-blue color, and the very very slight inclusions make it a worthwhile stone. I don't get my hands on many of these stones, and considering that the large majority of the Sillimanite in the world is used for cat's eye stones, clean material is very difficult to find.

RLKG10-203 - Chrome Diopside (excellent color) - $ 100
Russia
thumbnail, 7.0 x 5.0 mm ; 0.94 carats

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Chrome Diopside (excellent color) from Russia [db_pics/new2010/rlkg203a.jpg]

Chrome Diopside (excellent color) from Russia [db_pics/new2010/rlkg203b.jpg]

This stone is a fantastic, intense green color, virtually eye clean "Oval" cut gemstone of Chrome Diopside. Chrome Diopside is a very rare gem considering that the only good rough comes from one place in the world (which has a drastically shortened mining season due to the tremendous amount of annual snowfall), and the large percentage of the stones on the market are less than 1 carat. It is very very difficult to find this material in clean stones and inclusions are accepted by most collectors and dealers.

RLKG10-204 - Clinohumite (rare) - $ 200
Tajikistan
thumbnail, 4.7 mm ; 0.48 carats

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Clinohumite is a relatively uncommon silicate that RARELY forms gemmy enough crystals with good color for faceting. Recently there was a find of some of the most spectacular Clinohumite crystals in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan. These crystals were of a vivid color and excellent gem clarity. Many of crystals were cut into stones and set a new standard for the species as a cut gem. This particular stone is a stunning, bright orange color gem that is virtually eye clean and has a "Square Emerald" cut. This material is extremely difficult to find now as the locality seems to be exhausted and the best stones are long gone. Don't miss this opportunity to add this great rarity to your collection.

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Rob Lavinsky, rob@irocks.com

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