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Couple weeks ago, a good friend of ours brought some stunning gem quality crystals of vayrynenite from a new find in Nigeria. Size wise, they dwarf the material from Pakistan / Afghanistan.

https://i76.servimg.com/u/f76/14/44/26/30/vay10.jpg

They come from Tudun, a pegmatite in Nasarawa state ...

For those of you who might have missed this article from Billie Hughes:

https://lotusgemology.com/resources/art ... -synthetic

https://i76.servimg.com/u/f76/14/44/26/30/green_10.jpg

Still having fun on my YAG little pet project. This vanadium YAG material has a very punchy and aggressive green color, maybe a bit too much, I think I prefer the more subdued minty one.
The sliced rough piece it came from was flattish and ...

Thanks! I looked around and found some lab grown, but they wanted like $300/carat. I understand at the Las Vegas show they were selling for $50/ct, and half that was the cost of cutting.

I don't know about $50/ct, but now you can find some "lower qualities" 2 caraters synthetics (which means H ...

I don't know how you guys manage to do it, 18 days of show is waayyyy too long. I was already done by the end of GJX :mrgreen:


There was a big find of dioptase in the congo, so lots of nice specimens available everywhere at pretty good prices.

That explains why there were so many! Too bad I ...

I would like to get a synthetic diamond to use for calibrating my Raman. Any suggestions?

They are found in every show these days. Except AGTA, by policy.
I saw a vendor in GJX. If you go to the HK fair, there's an entire hall dedicated to synthetic diamonds now.
Otherwise, with your company ...

https://i76.servimg.com/u/f76/14/44/26/30/tanga11.jpg
The new rhodolite production from Tanzania, Tanga. It was already coming to Bangkok end of last year (photo is from November). The material is nicer looking in the rough, the cut stones have a touch of grayish unfortunately.

https://i76 ...

From my little experience with AGL reports.

Additionally, some common oils and epoxies used for emerald clarity enhancement include:
- Canada balsam, a natural resin with an R.I. of 1.53 Might be classified as "Traditional"? We used natural oils in the past (non cedarwood) to enhance some emeralds ...

The paraiba mine at Mavuco in Mozambique has been completely ransacked and the mining equipment torched.
Apparently all the rough stockpiled in the office was stolen, 300kg gone.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCCcU1oStRl/?igsh=eXoyY214NXN3d3Zt


Another mob tried to enter the ruby mines at ...

Very sad news.

https://agta.org/in-memoriam-renowned-s ... ies-at-87/

I'm not surprised at all. You can clearly see when you go the major shows that the market has cooled off considerably this year.
HK september show just wrapped up and the general overall opinion is: not great. Sales down, attendance down. People were looking to buy cheaper, smaller stones. The ...

The question is - as always - how long is this quality possible to be sourced?


If there's only one thing that I've learned in the gem trade, it's "just get the material when it's available". I still remember the super fine, neon colors Namibian tourmalines from that large pocket circa 2009 ...

Stephen Challener wrote:The GIA examined specimens from Afghanistan years back. A friend of mine bought that parcel and I got a tiny one from it--it has that same aqua blue, different from the German material but quite attractive.

Interesting! I will try to get my hands on some samples then.

Yes, I've seen a couple of rough pieces lately. Very large for hauyne, up to a few grams. Is it really hauyne, though? And not sodalite? I'm tempted to buy some samples and send them to the labs here in Bangkok. For fun, and science! :lol:

Anyway, it will be interesting to see if it's a one-off or ...

Yes, they were cut stones. Sold with their IGI report. Besides the ubiquitous modern round brilliant, there was many different classic shapes to choose from : marquise, pear, emerald, radiant, oval...

The sales staff were handing you a huge printed excel spreadsheet, you told them which diamond you ...