Monday, January 19, 2009

Color Change Garnets

If you were born in January, you probably know that your birthstone is Garnet. Most people think of rich red gemstones when they think of garnets. However through the years garnets have been discovered in many different colors. In fact just about every color but blue. There are emerald green "Tsavorite" Garnets, bright orange "Spessartite" Garnets and even some rare pink garnets. But if you still can't make up your mind there are also "color change" garnets. These garnets appear to be very different colors depending on the type of lighting. Typically they will be a greenish-blue color in sunlight but when indoors under incandescent lighting they will appear a reddish-purple color. They look a lot like Alexandrite which are famous for their color-change properties. All of the color change garnets that I've seen have come from Africa, mostly from Madagascar, Tanzania and Kenya. The prices vary depending on size, clarity and how pronounced the color change is. Top specimens can be $1000 per carat or more.The picture at left is a recently unearthed piece of color change garnet rough weighing 280cts found near the Kenya-Tanzania border.

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Beautiful Coober Pedy Freeform Opal 1.83cts

This beautiful solid opal is now for sale on eBay. It is a freeform cabochon, approx. 17x12mm eBay item #300284853802 end time Jan-11-09 13:06:11 PST