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 Post subject: Re: I don't like using paraiba type etc and you can not make
PostPosted: Thu Nov 10, 2016 5:28 pm 
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Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2012 6:29 pm
Posts: 214
Would a rose by any other name smell so sweet?

Would a blue elbaite by any other name command such pricing from predatory jewelers?

Down with silly varietal and trade names like paraiba and tanzanite, and up with

plain

old

science!

I say the trade should call an elbaite an elbaite, and start being honest, or just quit pretending to be scientific at all, and laugh like hyenas when the Russians get tired of growing flawless 10 ct blue diamonds and start producing perfect blue elbaites.


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 Post subject: Re: I don't like using paraiba type etc and you can not make
PostPosted: Thu Nov 10, 2016 8:50 pm 
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Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:31 pm
Posts: 4015
Location: North Carolina
As a scientist I cannot agree with you at all. Gemology is not pure science, nor should it be.

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Rough and cut classic and exotic synthetic gems:https://store.turtleshoard.com


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 Post subject: Re: I don't like using paraiba type etc and you can not make
PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2016 6:30 am 
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Joined: Fri Dec 25, 2015 8:31 pm
Posts: 276
Tourmaline is just the tip of the iceberg regarding trade names, I dare you to say the same thing with garnets. :lol:
That group is probably less messy than the classifications of tourmaline we have and even then you would be hard pressed to determine the point a garnet lies on the group without compositional analysis...


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 Post subject: Re: I don't like using paraiba type etc and you can not make
PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2016 4:54 pm 
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Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:33 am
Posts: 840
Location: Mars PA
If tourmaline is just the tip of the iceburg than it must be a pretty big iceburg. I just got finished reading my newly arrived Guide of market driven prices. As previously presented, a whole list of colors with copper from Mozambique and Nigeria (everywhere, but Brazil) are all under cuprian tourmaline. And the market says ..... that top quality cuprian tourmaline in the 3.00 to 4.99 size range is the same price per carat as the 5.00 to 7.99 carat range, while the lesser grades, except for Extra Fine Lower (9) where the smaller stones are worth more per carat than the larger stones, are significantly less costly per carat than the larger sizes.

Could this strange pricing indicate that some people are buying and selling "cuprian tourmaline" as "Paraiba"? What other explination can there be for larger stones in the 3 to 8 carat range being the same cost or less, in the top grades of cuprian tourmaline, per carat? The availability of rough and its prices certainly did not support that pricing, so the demand must be significantly different for the smaller stones verses the larger stones in that size range.

To me this is a big deal and damages tourmaline much more than anything in the pure and simple world of garnets.

Bruce


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