Post subject: Re: I sent a stone to AGL, it came back with unexpected resu
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 10:30 am
Established Member
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2010 8:43 pm Posts: 17
@ mrb. oh nooo I'm soooo not sending this one back! I'm sure that my vendor would be more than happy to see me return though However I do believe that someone on their end didn't do their job correctly and let this slip through the cracks. (and maybe a few more, you never know!)
@barbra, I'm looking at this stone in a whole new light especially after a night of sleep and I'm much happier today than I was yesterday about it. But that also means I better be on the ball and learn more! I have a few tools that will tell me if a stone is fake, i.e., refractometer, spectrascope, chelsea filter, but I do need to be more adept with reading them. I'm most embarrassed about that.
@jason; You're so right about AGL personnel being really nice. I had sent a few stones to them along with this one(one of which should have been cuprian but wasn't..but thats another thread) I did just realize Christopher is on the forum yesterday but I never made the connection...until you said something. DUH right?? I don't have enough posts to send PM's yet. I'll get there. My curiosity is really peaked now, and yeah, that other stone is totally going to AGL because if its a demantoid too, 2.5cts makes that a very big stone! I won't get my hopes up considering I purchased as a tsavorite but It won't hurt sending it either way I'm thinking.
@Minx, thanks. I tiptoed over into that discussion yesterday and its very very informative. I've got a few andradites which are very pretty, one of which is a light green and that discussion helped me to understand why they are classed as they are.
Thanks to everyone for the compliments. That means a lot. My vendor thanks you
So from what I've read and understand no horsetail means its of a lower value than a stone with a horsetail. Is this the correct assumption to have, or does the stone's color also come into play along with the horsetail?
If anyone can direct me to a fairly easy read that won't have my eyes glazing over because its so high level and beyond my understanding, I would really appreciate. (gotta start me off slow you know )
Post subject: Re: I sent a stone to AGL, it came back with unexpected resu
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 11:43 am
Site Admin
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
Quote:
So from what I've read and understand no horsetail means its of a lower value than a stone with a horsetail. Is this the correct assumption to have, or does the stone's color also come into play along with the horsetail?
I suspect it is a Russian demantoid and that microscopic observation will reveal some diagnostic fibrous inclusions. I personally prefer inclusions ONLY visible with the microscope, but many argue visible inclusions are preferable. For me, the value of the demantoid is a function of the the saturation of the pure, crisp, unmodified, green color, overall clarity of the material, coupled with excellence of cutting to reveal strong dispersion.
Post subject: Re: I sent a stone to AGL, it came back with unexpected resu
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 1:42 pm
Active Member
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 11:47 pm Posts: 96
Wow, I didn't realize you were thinking it might be a Russian demantoid! That would be a major coup for you and a costly error on the part of the vendor...I was just pricing very high quality Russian demantoids with beautiful horsetails and I was getting prices of roughly $4 - $5K/ct for a stone around 1 ct, and $10 - $12K/ct for 2+ ct stones. Prices are from two private vendors and one of the big houses that sells to the trade.
Post subject: Re: I sent a stone to AGL, it came back with unexpected resu
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 3:08 pm
Platinum Member
Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 11:10 am Posts: 2698 Location: Rock and Roll Heaven
Iran or Iraq, & Pakistan or Afghanistan, I forget which two out of these have been known to produce intense green Demantoids, but their usually much darker & included. I do believe one of these countries also produce horse tale inclusion, but I agree with Barbra, you most likely have a Russian stone, which in that color are greatly prized & valuable over all other garnets! One of the most expensive colored gemstones in the world!
_________________ Elvis has entered the forum and you ain't nothing but a rock hound!
Post subject: Re: I sent a stone to AGL, it came back with unexpected resu
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 3:21 pm
Site Admin
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
ChickenPotPie wrote:
If anyone can direct me to a fairly easy read that won't have my eyes glazing over because its so high level and beyond my understanding, I would really appreciate. (gotta start me off slow you know )
Read some of the information of Russian Demantoid available through Pala.
Post subject: Re: I sent a stone to AGL, it came back with unexpected resu
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 4:05 pm
Valued Contributor
Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 1:19 am Posts: 370 Location: Pakistan
ELVIS PRASIOLITE wrote:
Iran or Iraq, & Pakistan or Afghanistan, I forget which two out of these have been known to produce intense green Demantoids, but their usually much darker & included. I do believe one of these countries also produce horse tale inclusion, but I agree with Barbra, you most likely have a Russian stone, which in that color are greatly prized & valuable over all other garnets! One of the most expensive colored gemstones in the world!
Pakistan is producing intense chrome green demantoids in very large sizes. They are dark toned in rough or have inclusions that render them dark. The pic below is of a 28 cts crystal. It seems to have patchy darkness/brightness. Smaller sizes 8-12cts in rough have better color but would still fail a stone paper test. Have not seen typical horse tails in any of these but there are wavy pattrens which resemble tubes or cracks instead of golden yellow fibres. All these observations are based on rough or preforms , no stone is finished as yet.
Post subject: Re: I sent a stone to AGL, it came back with unexpected resu
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:32 pm
Established Member
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2010 8:43 pm Posts: 17
Jason wrote:
Wow Barbra, that's a magnificent bracelet!
+1 that about burned my retinas!
Thank you so much Barbra, I'm doing a custom wordpress install at the moment (gawd just shoot me now) but I will have downtime tomorrow so will give all of this a good read.
Thanks Elvis thats a lovely compliment You've put up some lovely stones of the day that certainly get my attention. (granted I don't always log on because I forget my password, but I do look a lot )
This is an amazing forum and the amount of stuff you can learn here is phenomenal. I may not make it to gemologist level but every time I'm here I find information amazingly helpful to me.
I'm for sure sending the other stone after the holidays, nothing to lose by doing it.
Post subject: Re: I sent a stone to AGL, it came back with unexpected resu
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 7:24 am
Active Member
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 11:47 pm Posts: 96
Ya know, CPP, I've given it a lot of thought and think it would be helpful for us all to know the name of the vendor - that way we could make sure none of the - shall we say - "unfortunate events" reoccur... Of course, this would only be a public service to the vendor, with nothing in it for us selfless souls ...
Post subject: Re: I sent a stone to AGL, it came back with unexpected resu
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 3:57 pm
Site Admin
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
Hi Danielle and thanks for the compliment. We buy from folks (usually private parties) who contact us with items they are thinking of selling. If it looks like it fits in with our style, we're interested.
Post subject: Re: I sent a stone to AGL, it came back with unexpected resu
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 5:24 pm
Established Member
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2010 8:43 pm Posts: 17
I can only say it was purchased from an internet shop (i,e., ebay) from a well known entity who was got lots of accolades on another board. Besides, i'm sure some have purchased from him here. I'd rather not put the name out though because this was a very serious mistake to have made for ANY shop, so I'll go no further than that.
Barbra, thank you so much, I've read that info, and a little more. So I now have an idea of what I should be looking at as far as a horsetail, and I just don't see a full one. I did see something that looked to be a beginning of one but I'm going to have to send it back to AGL for further analysis. So either I'm just going blind, or it was heated or, maybe it just is what it is.
The other beauty I received back from AGL is a blue tourmaline. Reminds me of the ocean around Bermuda. I believe AGL called it blue-green. No copper though (but I bought it knowing that one)
I got a feeling I should have put more money into equipment and less on stones. I've got 3 blue and blue-green tourmalines I need to look at, but thats for another thread for sure.
Post subject: Re: I sent a stone to AGL, it came back with unexpected resu
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 5:34 pm
Active Member
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 11:47 pm Posts: 96
ChickenPotPie wrote:
I can only say it was purchased from an internet shop (i,e., ebay) from a well known entity who was got lots of accolades on another board. Besides, i'm sure some have purchased from him here. I'd rather not put the name out though because this was a very serious mistake to have made for ANY shop, so I'll go no further than that.
CPP: I wouldn't really expect you to divulge your source, as it could be embarrassing to him. However, maybe you should see if he has any more "tsavorites" lying around...
I hope you continue to post on your discovery - its a great story if it turns out to be Russian.
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