NEW RUBY FIND FROM TANZANIA

Last fall, a small trickle of these fabulous gem sapphires and rubies started to bleed out to our world from the gem and faceting community. Loose crystals only came over at first, until the collectors realized they could get more for matrix specimens than for cutting rough bits. One shudders to think how much of this material was already cut for faceting rough, or broken off matrix, before thought was given to saving some of these jewels for specimen collectors! The color of corundum from this locality varies from rich lilac and purple sapphire to a nearly blood-red (and quite valuable) ruby color with intense saturation. Often the crystals are attractively multocolored and zoned. Thus they make for fascinating specimens from several points of view, beauty and scientific both. Most crystals are not entirely gemmy, but translucent with pocket gem zones within.

Thus, many have already been cut for the ruby value, which can be astronomical in the finished product compared to the specimen value: An approximately 2 carat cut stone was recently offered in a public Natural History auction for $9000 per carat! So, the cut gems from here can attain quality enough to fetch prices that previously were reserved for Burmese rubies. For specimen collectors however, the sharp habit and intense color of these crystals is unlike ruby specimens from other localities, and immediately recognizable as something "new". Unfortunately, the Tanzanians have learned about specimens in recent years and recognize this as well; so the prices are not cheap at the source even from the get-go, aside from the problem that intrinsic gemstone value makes it a challenge to get these rubies to the specimen market before they are cobbed up into pieces for easy money on the gem market. Nevertheless, now that there is an awareness of the specimen desirability here, I think we will see more trickle out.

US$ € EURO ¥ YEN £ POUND CAN$ AUS$
- 14 specimens selected - back to the Galleries

WINZA-02 - SAPPHIRE/RUBY - ¥ 60606
Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania
thumbnail, 2.0 x 1.3 x 1.2 cm

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This lustrous and gemmy, lavender colored crystal is also doubly terminated. Two smnall spots of Minor damage or contact is present but do not materially affect the display of the specimen. The color is oddly zoned between part sapphire and part ruby; and in particular more purpley under fluorescent lights and more reddish in sunlight. There is a significant amount of medium-purple colored cutting rough inside this crystal. 33.3 carats

WINZA-13 - RUBY - ¥ 202020
Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania
small cabinet, 6.3 x 4.5 x 4.0 cm

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This is a major matrix piece for the discovery, to date. Aesthetically perched high on its matrix is a doubly terminated, lustrous and translucent, cherry red crystal of ruby, measuring 2.2 cm in length. Very nice form and sharpness make it stand out dramatically! This crystal is unlike most others from here, very well formed. Compared to other locales, these rubies are sharper with better defined faces, than you normally see in a natural crystal.

WINZA-05 - RUBY/SAPPHIRE - ¥ 303030
Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania
miniature, 3.4 x 2.1 x 2.1 cm

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Perched aesthetically on matrix is a lustrous and gemmy, color-zoned sapphire and ruby crystal, measuring 1.5 cm in length. It is completely freestanding with a fully exposed termination, and is thus one of the best matrix crystals I have seen from the find as yet. Absolutely superb! Even the gemstone dealer I got it from understood the special value of a pristine, dramatic crystal on well trimmed matrix and protected it from harm. The crystal is complete all around. It is gemmy, transparent even with minimal backlighting. As with other specimens from this find, the color varies from more red to more purple depending on light spectrum but this leans mostly to Ruby. A SUPERB matrix ruby specimen!

WINZA-01 - RUBY - SOLD
Winza,Tanzania
thumbnail, 1.8 x 1.4 x 0.9 cm

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This is a lustrous and gemmy, deep red crystal. It is nearly complete all around, with just minor contact on the back side. For sharpness and clarity, this is one of the larger crystals of quality we have yet seen. There is some cutting rough in this crystal, as well. Seldom do ruby crystals come out of the ground as sharp and lustrous as from this new locality and this is a steller example of what is so "hot" about it. 21.75 carats

WINZA-12 - RUBY - SOLD
Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania
thumbnail, 1.6 x 1.1 x 1.1 cm

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Unusual for THIS locality, here we have a stereotypical ruby crystal of classic hexagonal form and pink-red color. It look smore Russian or Vietnamese in form, but its from teh same place as the odd bicolors and pure intense rubies we have seen come from Winza lately. Nicely doubly terminated, this prismatic crystal of lustrous and translucent ruby weighs 29 carats.

WINZA-11 - RUBY - SOLD
Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania
thumbnail, 1.6 x 1.1 x 0.6 cm

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A near floater, this doubly terminated SAPPHIRE/RUBY crystal is lustrous and translucent, with a rose red color. It is complete, but irregular in form due to contact constraints during growth. Note the particularly sharp zoning within this crystal. 11 carats

WINZA-10 - RUBY/SAPPHIRE - SOLD
Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania
thumbnail, 2.3 x 1.4 x 1.3 cm

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This specimen literally hosts a "jewel" atop! The dominant crystal is a well terminated, glassy and gemmy, purpley to rose red crystal that looks faceted! It is lustrous and sharp all around. In fact, the very tip of the crystal is facet quality and probably worth quite a bit, if cut. 29.8 carats

WINZA-09 - RUBY - SOLD
Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania
thumbnail, 1.3 x 1.3 x 1.1 cm

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RUBY from Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania [db_pics/pics/winza-09a.jpg]

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RUBY from Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania [db_pics/pics/winza-09b.jpg]

This is a rather equant, glassy and gemmy, rose to cherry red, doubly terminated, ruby crystal. The color is very close to the pigeon�s blood red, found in rubies. Only contacted at the bottom. This is a SUPERB loose ruby crystal of really quite good lustre and form compared to rubies from any other locality. For this particular deposit, it is more pure red, and more gemmy, than most crystals of this size. It should have a considerable gem rough value within. 25 carats. photos do NOT do this crystal justice!

WINZA-08 - RUBY/SAPPHIRE - SOLD
Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania
thumbnail, 2.7 x 2.5 x 1.7 cm

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A large, complex, doubly-terminated, crystal. It is lustrous and translucent, lavender to rose-red colored and has a sizable amount of translucent gem rough inside, I would say. The piece leans more to ruby but is obviously zoned and has regions of sapphire as well. 83 carats

WINZA-07 - RUBY - SOLD
Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania
thumbnail, 3.0 x 2.3 x 1.3 cm

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This matrix hosts lustrous and gemmy, lavender colored ruby crystals, to .7 cm across, perched high on matrix. Some peripheral contact is present to the sides of the crystals, hence the low price - but it looks good from the front.

WINZA-06 - SAPPHIRE/RUBY - SOLD
Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania
thumbnail, 2.1 x 1.7 x 1.5 cm

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This specimen features a SHARP doubly terminated, lustrous and gemmy, lavender and red, bicolored crystal atop, that is about 1 cm across. It is very gemmy and there is a significant amount of cutting material here! Minor contact on the back side is insignificant to the display face (a shot from behind is shown in bottom right photo). When backlit, this crystal shows particularly interesting zonation effects. 50 carats - a large and hefty full thumbnail size!

WINZA-04 - RUBY - SOLD
Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania
thumbnail, 1.1 x 0.9 x 0.7 cm

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RUBY from Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania [db_pics/pics/winza-04a.jpg]

This is an extraordinarily glassy and gemmy, rose-cherry-red crystal of ruby. It is also doubly terminated and nearly complete all around, only with minor contact on the back side. A real gem, this does have some intrinsic cutting value and is as gemmy as any good crystal in this lot! The high price per carat compared to other specimens is due to the fact this is glassier, gemmier, and has such intrinsic value (possibly much more than the specimen value, in fact). 5.4 carats

WINZA-03 - RUBY - SOLD
Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania
thumbnail, 2.0 x 1.7 x 1.2 cm

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RUBY from Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania [db_pics/pics/winza-03a.jpg]

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RUBY from Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania [db_pics/pics/winza-03b.jpg]

This ruby specimen is composed of several, intergrown crystals with a few small sharper crystals poking out of the top. The lustrous and translucent crystals are primarily lavender in color. The color is oddly between sapphire and ruby and in particular more purpley under fluorescent lights and more reddish in sunlight.

WINZA-14 - SAPPHIRE/RUBY - SOLD
Winza, Mpwapwa district, Dodoma region, Tanzania
small cabinet, 6.4 x 5.9 x 4.0 cm

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A large piece: the matrix is composed primarily of massive corundum, and host to a few lustrous and translucent crystals, of lavender to rose red ruby/sapphire. The large crystal is doubly terminated and measures 3.0 cm across. There is a negative impression on the back of the main crystal where another ruby was once in contact but the display face presents nicely. This is a lot of color, and large crystals, in matrix, for the price compared to the asking prices on generally smaller crystals (many with facet rough which added value we have to pay as specimen collectors to keep them from being cut).

- 14 specimens selected - back to the Galleries

Rob Lavinsky, rob@irocks.com

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