Gemstones Of East Africa

[Jason Barrett]

Not sure what section this goes under....I thought there was a "books" section, but I may be mistaken. Please move to appropriate section if need be

I just got my hardback copy of "Gemstones of East Africa" by Keller. I enjoyed it and found it to be in-depth enough for my liking, which tends to be a problem when trying to find reading material in this genre. I found particularly interesting that section of the Manyara emerald and alexandrite mine in Tanzania. It seems like a cornucopia of crystals come from that place. Along with emerald and alex, you find ruby and sapphire corundum, apatite, garnet, spinel, peridot, phenakite, tourmaline, and beryl(non-emerald). The section on that deposit was referenced from Gubelin and his observations. Strange to have all of those minerals in the same deposit

[Barbra Voltaire, FGG]

I would love to see a comparison of alexandrite from Manyara and Brazil and India and Sri Lanka and the Urals.
hint hint

[Stephen Challener]

One of my friends just got a number of Alexandrites, and he had them all lined up in his booth at our gem show last weekend: two Russian stones, three Brazilian and three Tanzanian (no Indian stones) all lined up in his booth. I actually tend to prefer the Brazilian and Tanzanian stones over the Russian material despite its greater value--the teal and purple colors just appeal to me more, and the mixed color under mixed lighting is hard to beat.

[Barbra Voltaire, FGG]

I expect a full review.