Bluish Green Chalcedony

[Nathan Renfro]

http://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/winter ... chalcedony

[Barbra Voltaire, FGG]

Wow.... excellent info!

This material is special. I'd love to have more info on the exact locality.

I read with interest that the associated qyz xls being colorless indicated the specimen had not been subjected to irradiation. Will all clear qtz get smoky when irradiated?

How does this material chemically and physically compare to the chromium bearing chalcedony widely used in jewellery and seals throughout the Roman Empire, presumed now to have originated from Anatolia? (This is a topic of interest for both Cidgem Lule and Lisbet Thorenson and much research has been done on the properties of this Turkish chrome bearing chalcedony).
And, the new kid on the block, the Zimbabwean chrome chalcedony (known locally (in Zimbabwe) as mtorolite), anything to compare and contrast with this new find?

Also is this new material readily available? I'd love to have a hunk if anyone knows a source.

[Stephen Challener]

Just saw someone today swapping some 'paraiba chalcedony' which might be this stuff? They were saying it was new and it looked similar, but I didn't get a close look.

[Nathan Renfro]

Just saw someone today swapping some 'paraiba chalcedony' which might be this stuff? They were saying it was new and it looked similar, but I didn't get a close look.

Could be. The implications for "paraiba" are certainly on par with the color.

[Stephen Challener]

Unfortunately it was an interdealer deal and I just overheard it, but if I see any I'll buy some.

[Barbra Voltaire, FGG]

Today's feature article in JCK:

The Story Behind the New Gemstone: Aquaprase

Two years ago, veteran gem explorer Yianni Melas was doing some work at an African location—he doesn’t want to say where, so the area is not overrun. Geologists had dismissed the locale, convinced it held only some few stray opals. Locals didn’t think much of it either, but when Melas went to a friend’s hut, he saw an interesting specimen on a shelf that looked like he nothing he had ever seen before.

“I knew it was something unusual,” he said. “The stone was in really bad shape, and you could only see a little bit of blue-green inside. But when I put my light to it, it changed color. It went from blue-green to yellow-green. I thought: Where does this come from?

“I couldn’t explain why I thought it was different,” he adds. “It is like a third eye. I have seen thousands of stones and you get that feeling. When I picked up the stone, I had the chills, a funny feeling. That feeling is something you have to follow.”
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