Somewhere over the rainbow… is tourmaline

I’m always excited when I have new tourmaline in stock. I think it must be my favourite stone, with its unparalleled variety of colours, from soft pastels to vibrant primaries.

Freeform watermelon tourmalineWatermelon tourmaline
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Egyptian legend has it that the tourmaline, when travelling up from the centre of the earth, passed over a rainbow, and in so doing assumed all of its colours. Whether or not you believe that, the name tourmaline comes from the Singhalese ‘tura mali’, which translates to something like ‘stone with mixed colours’, referencing the spectrum of colours which this stone displays. Here I have just listed a veritable bouquet of rose cut freeform tourmalines. I have single colours, bi-colours and parti-colours, with quality ranging from included to nearly clean; soft pale pinks, to vibrant bubble-gum shades, sharp apple greens, neon yellows, and deep, dreamy blues. All of them are lovely; every stone with its own special character and each one unique. These would look fabulous on their own, or keeping each other company in spectacular fashion. As with all of my freeforms, these stones are rose cut on one side and tabled on the other, so can be set either way up, in a bezel, window or prong setting. Prices from $7.50 up, click here to shop. http://www.joopygems.com/categories/freeform-rose-cuts-polki-and-cabochons/tourmaline.html

Blue heaven

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I’ve been quiet for a few weeks, but I have been rushed off my feet, first of all attending a couple of GIA labs here in Hong Kong, relating to gem grading and identification, but secondly trying to get a whole lot of new stock photographed and listed. First up is more turquoise freeforms. I had some of these back in the spring and they just flew out of the shop, so I have re-stocked in larger quantities. This is US turquoise, stabilised with resin or oil. This is a very common practice with turquoise as it is a very porous kind of stone and so the stabilisation improves both the durability and the appearance of the stones, as it helps them to take a better polish. These freeforms are mainly polki cut – that is rose cut on one side and tabled on the other, although I do have some rose cut with flat bottoms. I always think polki cut is a great way of getting a lot of stone for your money and certainly they are always popular, fitting in well with a contemporary, individual feel to your designs. I’ve got them in a good range of shapes, sizes and therefore prices. Prices from $7.75 – click here to buy.

http://www.joopygems.com/categories/freeform-rose-cuts-polki-and-cabochons/turquoise-freeform.html

Welcoming back ‘old friends’

Finally back in stock I have some labradorite in sizes and cuts that customers have been clamouring for. These are labradorite 5mm round cabochons at $1.75 per stone, 5mm honeycomb faceted cabochons at $2 per stone and 6mm honeycomb faceted cabochons at $3.50 per stone. I am not quite sure what the problem has been with re-stocking these; I think it is just quite hard for my suppliers to get hold of nice quality rough. Such a lot of labradorite on the market is not nice; full of cracks with almost none of the highly desirable labradorescence. Since it is my opinion that a labradorite without good flash is like a blunt pencil (pointless) I’ve waited it out until now and finally I have some nice quality stones in large quantities, so I shouldn’t run out for a while! Feel free to buy like crazy!

Something blue

Don’t feel you have to rush out and buy these; if I get stuck with them, it’s not the end of the world… especially the one second from the left!  I have my eye on that one.  These are absolutely spectacular freeform labradorite cabochons with intense blue flash.  They are so bright and lively; no standing on your head and tilting them just so to make them flash, it is almost impossible to see the stone underneath. Madagascan labradorite, so you have a lovely, pale and transparent stone, glittering with the specks of mica that are so characteristic of this location. You can find them here:  http://www.joopygems.com/labradorite-freeform-cabochons/.