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 Post subject: Vessuvianite
PostPosted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 8:36 am 
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I have been cutting this material . Which is idocrase , and later found out the variety of vessuvianite is ambosellite . Has a definite colour shift rather than colour change . Citrine like yellow / gold to peridot green , depending on light , may be one or the other or a combination of both . Very interesting material . I've cut a few to 2.6 carats . It had a bad weight return due to many cracks / inclusions . I'm having trouble finding a cut stone on the web to compare the quality and or price . Anybody have any insight on this material ? I can upload some photos if anybody is interested .any insight would be great . Thanks :)


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 Post subject: Re: Vessuvianite
PostPosted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 12:04 pm 
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Pics would be helpful.


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 Post subject: Re: Vessuvianite
PostPosted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 12:17 pm 
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Sorry , but can't get photo bucket to work . Know no other way to post images . The material is as described and free of inclusions . I'll try upload again tomorrow . Any info Barbra ?


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 Post subject: Re: Vessuvianite
PostPosted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 3:09 pm 
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Imgur is the best option in my opinion. Here's a tutorial on how to use it: http://gemologyonline.com/Forum/phpBB2/ ... 39#p211439

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 Post subject: Re: Vessuvianite
PostPosted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:55 am 
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Image


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 Post subject: Re: Vessuvianite
PostPosted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:55 am 
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Shifts to vibrant green.


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 Post subject: Re: Vessuvianite
PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 10:29 am 
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I guess its one of those stones , rare , yet no knows or deals with it much . Still baffled I can't find any cut examples . Guess my research skills must be bad :)there has to be some out there .


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 Post subject: Re: Vessuvianite
PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 10:54 am 
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http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 78&alt=web
That one is the closest I can find with a quick search. It looks just a bit shifty in the photos.

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 Post subject: Re: Vessuvianite
PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 11:23 am 
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Yep , my research skills are bad . Material is very different to what I have though . I'll take another photo with the shift to green . Very sparkly stone , and I know that the photos of that( stone reference in ebay) are poor , I don't think as clean . Thanks a heap for looking . I guess the stone is more so , ambosellite , although vessuvianite .


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 Post subject: Re: Vessuvianite
PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 12:23 pm 
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I have a bunch of this stuff from Kenya, varable color change from green, green-grey, or green-yellow to anywhere from yellow to orange to gold. Oddly enough...I can't seem to find any price comparisons either.

Hardness of 7.5, uncommon material ad far as I can see, color change...was thinking of $100-$150 per carat, more for much larger stones. Thoughts? (Not like I'm gonna be selling any! All mine!)


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 Post subject: Re: Vessuvianite
PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 1:52 pm 
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Vesuvianite is a mixed bag.
Upsides:
Great name, ties in to something famous, should be marketable
Decent optical properties
Not too soft or cleavy to cut or set in some jewelry
Comes in good colors, including chrome green and magenta-purple.

downsides:
still an obscure gem
Not 7.5, hardness is ~6.5
Most available material is less marketable hues, including the dreaded "murk green" color range.
Yellow-green is much better than murk green but still not the hottest color range.

I did just a bit more looking. While there aren't direct comps readily available there are some indirect ones.
JTV, in spite of everything, does us all a service by raising awareness of more obscure gem varieties. They have a small selection of Kenyan vesuvianite, but they're all small and included so don't make a decent comp.
Here's a 3-carat stone on etsy. Darker and murkier, less attractive, but it does seem to shift between green and yellow between pictures and looks decently clean: https://www.etsy.com/listing/263854885/ ... e-gemstone
Alternatively, a better color match but small and included: https://www.etsy.com/listing/260327467/ ... stone-from
2 carats, decent cut and clean, worse color: http://www.gemselect.com/idocrase/idocrase-254030.php
An attractive green, probably too green to shift though? http://litnon.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=8278
A yellow-brown colored oddball from Kenya, about the right size anyway http://www.thegemtrader.com/Sep13VesuvianitePage.htm

All that to say, there is an abundance of cheaper Kenyan vesuvianite but I haven't found any that looks as attractive or well-cut as yours. Prices for lesser stones range from ~10-20/ct to ~100 ct online. The lack of better stones may indicate a lack of supply or that they get bought pretty quickly.

That said, there is rough for sale on eBay from time to time. Here's a 30 ct piece with appropriate color shift that sold pretty cheaply, though it's probably not very clean: http://www.ebay.com/itm/30-6-ct-Natural ... 7675.l2557

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 Post subject: Re: Vessuvianite
PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 3:24 pm 
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Somewhat related sidebar:
Years ago I did a Gem ID for Jason Brim.
He bought a hydrogrossular garnet and wanted me to check it out.

I was getting what appeared to be a little (little being an understatement) birefringence on the refractometer and an anisotropic reaction with the polariscope.

A little research made me suspect vesuvianite. He sent it to the GIA: Identified as idocrase (aka vesuvianite). 8)

Vesuvianite vs Ambosellite: What is the difference?


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 Post subject: Re: Vessuvianite
PostPosted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:32 am 
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Wow phteven ! You come up with the goods . One looks similar , but I guess that gets me in the ballpark , thanks for your research skills . Barbra , ambosellite is the colour shift / change variety of vessuvianite . I'm also a gemo and have done test to confirm its identity . Have another over 2 carat in a round with many facet that is almost finnished , I think this cut will bring out its merits a bit better . I'll post when Finnish . Thanks for the help , I'll guess I'll just put my price tag on it and see what happens . Hard to get website going when studying , cutting and working to get photos of hundreds of stones I've cut to sell while still learning photography as well . Almost there , just a day at a time . Looking forward to have these things established , would never have thought digging a few stones just a few years ago would have led me to this .


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 Post subject: Re: Vessuvianite
PostPosted: Sun Jun 05, 2016 5:37 pm 
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I like this stone very much - gorgous cut and color. =D>

Did you check it with a polariscope - very interesting.

I love the canadian pink to purple mangan variety - impossible to get a faceted one. But would be a great gem material.

Have a small yellow one ( no color shift ) too.

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 Post subject: Re: Vessuvianite
PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:11 pm 
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Resurrecting an old thread, sorry.... was trying to do more research confirming what I was told/sold by my rough vendor.

here is my attempt of documenting the color-shift on one of my stones:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSY8VO2BhdI/

It is an awesome stone and really wows people on how quickly it changes color....

but, yeah.. still trying figure out the value of these, I have a small pile that I want to cut :P

-Gj-


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