Yellow Dravite from Tanzania

During the 2016 Tucson gem shows, Todd Wacks (Tucson Todd’s Gems, Tucson, Arizona, USA) showed author BML a yellow 11.13 ct tourmaline that he faceted from a piece of rough recently obtained on a buying trip to Tanzania by Sir-Faraz Ahmad (Farooq) Hashmi (Intimate Gems, Glen Cove, New York, USA). The rough material was reportedly found in October–November 2015 in the Landanai region of north-eastern Tanzania, in an area that is known for producing green ‘chrome’ tourmaline. The rough consisted of a round ‘nodule’ that showed a few crystal faces. In faceting the gemsone, Wacks cut a small table and a deep pavilion to maximize the colour appearance

Purple Garnets from East Africa

During the June 2015 JCK gem and jewellery show in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, news circulated about some attractive new purple garnets from East Africa. Gem dealer Geoffrey Watt (Mayer & Watt, Maysville, Kentucky, USA) had an intense purple 3.87 ct cushion (Figure 5, centre), which was one of two faceted purple garnets that he bought from a Sri Lankan cutter at the 2015 Tucson gem shows. The cutter said he had purchased the rough material in Tanzania. Later, shortly before the JCK show, a 5.86 ct intense purple garnet was faceted by Jeff White ( J.L. White Fine Gemstones, Kingsport, Tennessee, USA; see cover of this issue). Subsequently White cut nine more of these garnets, ranging from ~2 ct to 13.31 ct. He purchased the rough from Steve Ulatowski (New Era Gems, Grass Valley, California, USA), who obtained the material in March–April 2015 while on a buying trip to Arusha, Tanzania. His supplier initially told him that the source was Tanzania, but he subsequently confirmed that the material actually came from Catandica, Mozambique. (This also may apply to the origin of Watt’s garnet.) Ulatowski noted that the pieces appeared alluvial and were irregularly shaped with a pitted surface texture. After several buying trips to Arusha and Bangkok through October 2015, Ulatowski obtained a total of 1 kg of this garnet (only selecting the better-quality material), commonly in pieces weighing around ½ g each

Orange Lizardite from South Africa

Lizardite, Mg_3(Si_2O_5)(OH)_4, is a member of the kaolinite-serpentine group, and is probably the most common serpentine mineral. It has a Mohs hardness of 2–3, and is noticeably softer than antigorite and harder than chrysotile (Gaines et al., 1997). It is commonly green to yellowgreen, bluish green, or nearly black, and rarely yellow or white. It was a surprise, therefore, to encounter faceted bright orange stones sold as ‘lizardite’ at the 2014 Tucson gem shows. The material was offered by Mauro Pantò (The Beauty in the Rocks, Laigueglia, Italy), who had two varieties: pure lizardite (Figure 4) and lizarditeincluded quartz (Figure 5). Pantò obtained the rough material at the February 2012 Tucson gem shows, in a parcel mixed with sugilite reportedly from the Wessels mine in South Africa. Although the orange stones in the parcel were sold to him as bustamite, an X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis performed by John Attard (Attard’s Minerals, San Diego, California, USA) showed that the material was actually lizardite

Purple Garnets from East Africa

During the June 2015 JCK gem and jewellery show in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, news circulated about some attractive new purple garnets from East Africa. Gem dealer Geoffrey Watt (Mayer & Watt, Maysville, Kentucky, USA) had an intense purple 3.87 ct cushion (Figure 5, centre), which was one of two faceted purple garnets that he bought from a Sri Lankan cutter at the 2015 Tucson gem shows. The cutter said he had purchased the rough material in Tanzania. Later, shortly before the JCK show, a 5.86 ct intense purple garnet was faceted by Jeff White ( J.L. White Fine Gemstones, Kingsport, Tennessee, USA; see cover of this issue). Subsequently White cut nine more of these garnets, ranging from ~2 ct to 13.31 ct. He purchased the rough from Steve Ulatowski (New Era Gems, Grass Valley, California, USA), who obtained the material in March–April 2015 while on a buying trip to Arusha, Tanzania. His supplier initially told him that the source was Tanzania, but he subsequently confirmed that the material actually came from Catandica, Mozambique. (This also may apply to the origin of Watt’s garnet.) Ulatowski noted that the pieces appeared alluvial and were irregularly shaped with a pitted surface texture. After several buying trips to Arusha and Bangkok through October 2015, Ulatowski obtained a total of 1 kg of this garnet (only selecting the better-quality material), commonly in pieces weighing around ½ g each

Yellow Dravite from Tanzania

During the 2016 Tucson gem shows, Todd Wacks (Tucson Todd’s Gems, Tucson, Arizona, USA) showed author BML a yellow 11.13 ct tourmaline that he faceted from a piece of rough recently obtained on a buying trip to Tanzania by Sir-Faraz Ahmad (Farooq) Hashmi (Intimate Gems, Glen Cove, New York, USA). The rough material was reportedly found in October–November 2015 in the Landanai region of north-eastern Tanzania, in an area that is known for producing green ‘chrome’ tourmaline. The rough consisted of a round ‘nodule’ that showed a few crystal faces. In faceting the gemsone, Wacks cut a small table and a deep pavilion to maximize the colour appearance

The challenge of the identification of a new mineral species: example "Pezzottaite"

In 2002, a new gem mineral of commercial importance was discovered. In accordance with the need for all new mineral discoveries to be scientifically characterized (see Nickel and Grice, 1998), the gemological community anxiously awaited the results of tests to positively identify the new mineral (Hawthorne et al., 2003, Hawthorne et al., submitted and Laurs et al., 2003). This period of analysis brought into play the question: Exactly what procedures are necessary for the positive characterization of a new mineral

Dark Blue Beryl from Pakistan

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Dark Blue Beryl from Pakistan

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Yellowish Green Enstatite (and Star Enstatite) from Tanzania

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