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 Post subject: Tunduru "Sapphire"
PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:01 pm 
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What is this junk?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Natural-Multi-Tundu ... 0223650785

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0222771754

http://69.36.178.73/necklaces-page2.htm

Garnet being mis-representated as sapphire? Glass-filled corundum? Something else that's been tied, dried, and dyed in the hide?

Chris


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:08 pm 
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Looks like teeny tiny itty bitty tundudru sapphire beads to me. Is there a reason you doubt the vendors veracity?

J-

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:15 pm 
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Hi Jason!

I wondered if it might actually be spinel, but beryllium treated sapphire seems the best bet, judging from the look of the beads and the description in this article:

http://www.colored-stone.com/stories/ma ... search.cfm

Staying tuned,
Chris


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:01 pm 
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The ebay dealer has an excellent record according to toolhaus.org. Much better than most. Seems to be a bead specialist.

Jason, ever seen this before? I know you like to find the unordinary on ebay :)

Jim


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:12 pm 
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Looks like legit sapphire from Tunduru that's been thoroughly cooked with Be. There is also certainly a lot of multi-colored spinel coming out of Tunduru as I recall, but there doesn't seem reason to not suspect Be-corundum.


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:31 pm 
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Chris,

Tunduru is famous for producing a wide range of gems. For a while parcels of "Mixed tanzanian rough" were widely available. These parcels contained everything from sapphire to spinel to kornerupine to garnets. It's possible these beads are made from similar parcels of rough and then roughly color matched. As best I can remember the rough was not expensive except in larger sizes.

If it's sapphire only I'd guess it's been heated but otherwise untreated. If it were be heated the colors would be quite bright and vivid. As it is they are pretty drab.

J-

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:49 pm 
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Thanks, guys! A fount of helpful information, as always.

Best regards,
Chris


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:15 pm 
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Jason, you really think so? That first eBay link sure has some surprisingly orange sapphires for "natural".


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:22 pm 
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And the Colored Stone article did indicate a coppery orange resulting from Be treatment:

Quote:
Tunduru (Tanzania) sapphire — Results were unpredictable. Generally, light purple to pink-purple stones turned a darker purple; colorless or light pink stones turned orange-pink; blue stones turned colorless, yellow-blue, or coppery orange.


These are beads, remember - the dull dogs of Facet World... :wink:

Best regards,
Chris

P.S. What the heck do you suppose CS meant by "yelllow-blue"? :?
Parti-colored?


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:29 pm 
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Quote:
P.S. What the heck do you suppose CS meant by "yelllow-blue"?
Parti-colored?


Hi Chris,
Color zoned maybe. Check out these 2 from Mineral Miners. Scroll down a bit here .

The seller claims no treatments on one and only gentle heat on the other. No BE treatment.

Looks more greenish blue/ yellow to me, but, I'm not there to judge.
Some crazy stuff out there in sapphires, by hook or crook.


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:53 pm 
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Many natural sapphires are naturally parti-colored, especially some from Australia. Some exhibit beautiful yellow-blue to orange-blue. Here's a particolored Tunduru sapphire of mine that displayed the yellow-orange color only after low heat treatment.

Image

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 12:03 am 
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I have a strand of sapphire beads identical to the ones on the first link posted. I really like the subtle tone on tone quality they have.


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 12:23 am 
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Hi Barbra -

And they are indeed sapphires, right? No garnets or spinels or whatever sneaking in there?

What's your guess on the heat vs. heat + Beryllium treatments?

Best regards,
Chris


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 12:36 am 
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I presume they are all sapphires, I haven't individually tested them, but I bought them as sapphires and they all appear to be. They were very inexpensive, their tones are very earthy and subtle, not vibrant at all. Some of the stones look treated; others not.
These beads are not for everyone, but I like them, especially with khaki colors.


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 1:12 am 
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gem-n00b wrote:
Jason, you really think so? That first eBay link sure has some surprisingly orange sapphires for "natural".


n00b,

Given the description in the Colored Stone article I guess they could be BE heated. I'm still guessing though they may be actually mixed stones.

J-

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