Do people usually heat the rough or faceted paraiba? does it any positive and negative of heating rough or faceted paraiba? correct me if I am wrong, but my gut telling me that heating faceted paraiba (and other stones) has the higher risk of cracking.
Is there any particular shade of purple that produce a great color of heated paraiba?
Typically it is heated after cutting since it is important to minimoze the number of inclusions which could potentially widen or even split the stone during heating. It may vary with context though.
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:58 pm Posts: 1424 Location: San Marcos, CA
I truthfully would not risk heating a true Paraiba Tourmaline, if it were clean enough to fashion into a nice faceted gem why risk it. I have heated many darker red, brown Tourmalines after cutting or previously cut and some develop fractures even if they appeared clean, some explode without a reason or your experimental attempts are just not working. The results are varied as well, Home cooking gemstones is somewhat of an experiment case by case.
Just heat several purple paraiba, as you said, most of them are either crack or explode. some lose almost all of the color. only one turn into a beautiful greenish blue stone
Second question, is there any non cuprian purple tourmaline?
Third question, what are those orange-red needle inclusion i found in paraiba? why in some case these pretty thick needle gone or change color to brown?
Easy to get noncuprian purple with iron and manganese, but it is typically not the same vivid purple without that intense poolwater component to the color. Usually more dusky. The needles are usually hollow growth tubes with iron staining.
Easy to get noncuprian purple with iron and manganese, but it is typically not the same vivid purple without that intense poolwater component to the color. Usually more dusky.
I think I have a piece like this in my possession, a closed C axis with a noticeably pink tone to the brown. A few of the red and brown crystals seem to start edging purpler, and sometimes have green-blue zoning.
Apologies for the hair, it's a rainy day and trying to get good natural lighting is difficult here. Kind of a chestnut colour.
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