January 24 Through February 4—TUCSON, ARIZONA: Annual show
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 Post subject: 2020 What's New in Tucson?
PostPosted: Wed Feb 05, 2020 4:19 pm 
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Let's talk about it. My vicarious thrill.


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 Post subject: Re: What's New in Tucson?
PostPosted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 1:59 am 
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yes would be very interesting to hear, for those who can´t participate...

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 Post subject: Re: What's New in Tucson?
PostPosted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 3:11 am 
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So far not much. I am seeing mostly more of the same. One thing I see more of is "opalina" from Peru, seems a banded mix of opal and chalcedony with chrysocolla (?) lending it rich to electric blue coloration. Got a couple pieces, hope it behaves in cutting.

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 Post subject: Re: What's New in Tucson?
PostPosted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 1:10 pm 
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Any pics to post?


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 Post subject: Re: What's New in Tucson?
PostPosted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 9:23 pm 
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My laptop won't connect to the wifi so I can't easily download, edit and post until I get home. I'll have a few to show anyway :)

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 Post subject: Re: What's New in Tucson?
PostPosted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 9:51 pm 
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I have found lots of cut sphene cheap. 10 bucks a carat.


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 Post subject: Re: What's New in Tucson?
PostPosted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 10:53 pm 
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What color is the sphene, David? I've always had a soft spot for the chrome green.


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 Post subject: Re: What's New in Tucson?
PostPosted: Fri Feb 07, 2020 4:20 am 
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The blue opal from peru is known for a while. Good quality comes near to paraiba colors.
But mostly more on the translucent side....
enclosed an example.


Attachments:
S100635.JPG
S100635.JPG [ 29.31 KiB | Viewed 3323 times ]

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 Post subject: Re: What's New in Tucson?
PostPosted: Fri Feb 07, 2020 11:25 am 
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This material is different. Less translucent, more banded and a purer, deeper blue without any green component.

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 Post subject: Re: What's New in Tucson?
PostPosted: Sat Feb 08, 2020 10:47 pm 
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:shock:
Good gawd. Has this year been so dismissive I should be glad I stayed home?
Nothing?
Really?


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 Post subject: Re: What's New in Tucson?
PostPosted: Sun Feb 09, 2020 12:21 am 
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I found some Ethiopian spessartine I hadn't seen before, orange to red, but I was told by a friend that it is not really new material. I bought one rough piece and one faceted stone of that with fine silky needle inclusions that give it a nice glow sort of like a Burmese ruby.

There is some cab-grade purple and pink sapphire from Guinea with lots of rutile silk which can star and has decent translucency. I got a half kilo of crystals which I anticipate cabbing and slicing.

But yeah, tons of nice stuff as always, but not much new. No trouble finding ways to spend money though.

I did get to briefly glimpse a bug in opal though!! Not the one from the recent GnG but from the same deposit and with a bigger bug (kinda beelike). That was cool! It wasn't for sale, just a recent acquisition that a guy was showing around.

I'll post pictures when I get home, but I did end up with a lot of the same stuff--opal, topaz, sapphire, etc.

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 Post subject: Re: What's New in Tucson?
PostPosted: Mon Feb 10, 2020 11:45 am 
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Just so Barbara won't feel so smug about staying home. The tacos were not as tasty without her.

There was a new stone being shown by a few dealers in private rooms mostly. point. Most of what I saw was rough, but one dealer on the AGTA floor had a few cut stones on display.

There are a few "trade names" being used for it at this point. The one that seems to be gaining traction is "UltraMarine". As you can guess by the name it is a blue Beryl. Extremely Dichroic. The color down the C axis is a Tanzanite blue, but a touch more grey. On the A/B axis it is a lavender color more like a pale Tanzanite. Most of the pieces I saw had a medium to slightly light color, but there were some that had a dark intense tone. Like most Beryls it is available in large sizes.

The source is said to be Brazil. When I first saw it, my reaction was "Maxi-Beryl". But the color is different, and the dichroism is very different. I heard various statement about treatment. Heat for sure, some said radiation as well, but some said for sure no radiation. I questioned color stability and was told that unlike Maxi-Beryl it doesn't fade. The story goes that the original source has left it out in the Arizona sun for some months to test stability with no fading observed.

There was a really nice intensely colored large , clear crystal that was offered to me for $45,000. I was tempted, but because I didn't know enough about the true nature of the material, I decided to pass.

Judging from the asking prices of the rough I would estimate that prices for 5 to 50 carat cut stones will be sold in the $75 to $250 range depending on intensity of color. But who knows where this will really settle when it gets fully distributed in the market.

So how do you like those apples Barbara!

Pictures added!

Attachment:
File comment: C Axis
Ultr2.jpg
Ultr2.jpg [ 242.08 KiB | Viewed 3250 times ]


Attachments:
File comment: A/B Axis
Ultra1.jpg
Ultra1.jpg [ 206.77 KiB | Viewed 3250 times ]


Last edited by 1bwana1 on Mon Feb 10, 2020 1:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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 Post subject: Re: What's New in Tucson?
PostPosted: Mon Feb 10, 2020 12:13 pm 
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I generally focus on gem rough. This year was the year of the fake rough mixed in parcels. A lot of this was going on this year. I believe it was ll mixed in the original parcels that the African dealers bought in the bush. Generally these guys are not sophisticated gemological so it is easy to fool them. They then sincerely offer it in the market.

I saw some very experienced dealers get hurt by this, with significant losses.

Nanosital glass was being tumbled and abraded to look just like classic rough garnets. Very well faked rough. One of the most experienced African Dealer got fooled by this.

Also saw good faked rough that was actually synthetic Sapphire. People are spending a lot of time prepping these deceptions. Dangerous for sure. They ask proper natural prices for the material so the loss potential is big. I spotted some which a dealer had agreed to pay a high price for. I took it to the GIA Lab, and my suspicions were confirmed. Big money saved.

The most common rough problem was with Paraiba Tourmalines. There is a deposit in Nigeria that is producing rough that looks exactly like African Paraiba. However, this material has no copper in it, so it will not heat to the Paraiba cyan colors. I found this to be offered as full lots, and mixed in with real Cuprian rough. This means that every piece in a lot must now be tested for copper individually. Lots of money could be lost here.

I did buy a few pieces at a low price to experiment with heating. The material is actually a nice purple color, but too dark in tone. Since many tourmalines can be lightened with heat, maybe some attractive stones will come out.

Interesting times!


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 Post subject: Re: What's New in Tucson?
PostPosted: Mon Feb 10, 2020 3:33 pm 
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Keep us posted. The tourmaline sounds interesting. If Mn is the chromophore there is a chance it will loose color all together when heated.

The beryl is super interesting. I'll see if I can dig up some more info on it.
Like this:
https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/fall- ... -dichroism

The tacos may have been disappointing, but I'm sure y'all made up with the margaritas. :wink:


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 Post subject: Re: What's New in Tucson?
PostPosted: Mon Feb 10, 2020 5:18 pm 
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I had three chicken tortas this year, all exceptional.

Maxixe can range in color from blue to even grape purple, and stability from seconds to at least brown topaz stable in sunlight. I put one deep blue (irradiated, Pakistan origin) in direct summer sunlight for several hours with no effect at all (not like a month but a great overall sign). I've heard rumors about this newer material, it sounds like a particularly nice, particularly stable variant to me, but I'm ready and hopeful to be proved wrong.

I saw some of that tourmaline, I think anyway. 90-150/g, looked just like mozambique stuff I picked a cuprian stone from last year, though any promising-looking purples were probably long gone. Glad to know what was up with that, it was at three different booths.

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