Help a new guy here, what can i do with this gemstone...?

adjesv · Oct 27, 2016

Hi guys, how are you?, i'm new in this forum and i'm posting this because almost no information in my country and is dangerous do this question, my dad has this stone about 40 years ago, a gemologist told us that is a imperal topaz, but i'm trying to get other opinions and i would like to know the processes for carving (sorry for the bad english using google translator here).

the weight of the stone is about 200 carats, after the carving process how much weight you could lose? and how much could cost carving as certification?.

PD. I'm living in Venezuela actually, the stone is from Brazil, idk much about any of this, sorry if i have commited something wrong posting this, but i will apreciate any help, we are trying to sell the stone because the hard time that we are passing in our country and certainly in my family, sorry for any mistake and thanks in advance

Some images of the stone...

Michael_E · Oct 28, 2016

Re: Help a new guy here, what can i do with this gemstone...

It's not topaz, unfortunately. Topaz never shows well rounded pitting due to it's crystal structure, and almost always shows some evidence of cleavage planes on fractured surfaces of a rough stone, which this stone doesn't appear to have. It looks very much like an agate to me, (carnelian most likely), and this is easy to tell when looking at it in hand. Take it to a gemologist or gem cutter and ask them what they think.

chrono · Oct 28, 2016

Re: Help a new guy here, what can i do with this gemstone...

Michael_E|1477633002|4091446 said:
It's not topaz, unfortunately. Topaz never shows well rounded pitting due to it's crystal structure, and almost always shows some evidence of cleavage planes on fractured surfaces of a rough stone, which this stone doesn't appear to have. It looks very much like an agate to me, (carnelian most likely), and this is easy to tell when looking at it in hand. Take it to a gemologist or gem cutter and ask them what they think.

Or rather, a better gemmologist who actually knows his stuff. The shape and structure doesn't look like topaz to me either.

adjesv · Oct 28, 2016

Re: Help a new guy here, what can i do with this gemstone...

the geologist who reviewed the stone told me that it had a hardness of 8 on the Mohs scale, here is another photo of the stone

adjesv · Oct 28, 2016

Re: Help a new guy here, what can i do with this gemstone...

and another photo...

OTL · Oct 28, 2016

Re: Help a new guy here, what can i do with this gemstone...

Topaz indeed has a hardness of 8 on Mohs scale, but topaz generally doesn't form in that shape. If you know the lattice of Topaz you'll know that's not it.