Seaglow's Finds

[Bluegemz]

I'd love to get a tiny jadeite stone with a little window cut in it, just to have. They are SO beautiful!

 

[Burmesedaze]

Same one
2,500 ks entrance fee

 

[Seaglow]

Oh I LOVE those tiny jadeite stones! Oh wow, I'd be captivated by those if I were there. It's great that your jades are A grade.

Bluegemz, there was a cushion cab there about 8mm square, that was sooooo luminous! It looks like textured kryptonite! It was in a temporary ring setting but literally the thickness was paper thin! I wonder how it will survive in a proper setting. To call it a cab is generous, it was more like a sheet (lol) but the color!

 

[Seaglow]

Same one
2,500 ks entrance fee

How do they charge? There is no gate, right?

 

[Burmesedaze]

How do they charge? There is no gate, right?

There is. If you walk in the middle to the concrete perimeter.

 

[Seaglow]

So got some stones today.

First is a big one....plum-colored 131.46 carats Burmese star sapphire....got it from a jeweler who had kept it for more than 20 years. Opaque but untreated with nice display of star and hexagonal crystal structure.

Second is a lavender Madagascan spinel, 2.57 carats, and third an untreated 2.21 carats Burmese silky medium blue sapphire, photo with my purchased sapphire from Yangon.

Fourth is a small Thai black star sapphire, 3.56 carats.

Fifth is not a purchase, but a half carat Pezzottaite given by good ol' dad set in a bracelet.

Photos taken under natural light and LED lighting.

 

[Bluegemz]

So got some stones today.

First is a big one....plum-colored 131.46 carats Burmese star sapphire....got it from a jeweler who had kept it for more than 20 years. Opaque but untreated with nice display of star and hexagonal crystal structure.

Second is a lavender Madagascan spinel, 2.57 carats, and third an untreated 2.21 carats Burmese silky medium blue sapphire, photo with my purchased sapphire from Yangon.

Fourth is a small Thai black star sapphire, 3.56 carats.

Fifth is not a purchase, but a half carat Pezzottaite given by good ol' dad set in a bracelet.

Photos taken under natural light and LED lighting.

Wow, that star is BEAUTIFUL! I love the majestic size. It really seems like a wise, old crystal full of earth magic. Looking into the hex pattern is almost hypnotic, like looking at a mandala. I am so curious, do you have plans for it? How did the man agree to finally depart from it after 20 years?
I also love the bracelet. What a sweet gift! All of the stones are great , especially those mid blue sapphires. I adore them in that color range!

The black star is adorable. I've been wanting to find a nic yellow star and a nice black one someday. I think the opaque varieties of black and greys, reds have a unique beauty all their own. You are getting such an amazing collection.

 

[Seaglow]

Wow, that star is BEAUTIFUL! I love the majestic size. It really seems like a wise, old crystal full of earth magic. Looking into the hex pattern is almost hypnotic, like looking at a mandala. I am so curious, do you have plans for it? How did the man agree to finally depart from it after 20 years?
I also love the bracelet. What a sweet gift! All of the stones are great , especially those mid blue sapphires. I adore them in that color range!

The black star is adorable. I've been wanting to find a nic yellow star and a nice black one someday. I think the opaque varieties of black and greys, reds have a unique beauty all their own. You are getting such an amazing collection.

The jeweler is also a jewelry designer and selling finished jewelry mainly which the clients buy, and simply the stone was unset for years. It is quite heavy, so I can only think of it to use as pendant or as part of a cuff or bangle. It's still not hard to find big, opaque stars, especially ones that come from Africa, but they are heavily treated, so are the big black stars and the ones that are untreated have some cracked lines on the surface (the treated/heated stars looks either glassy, or has this splintery look, and some has the back look porous). So this stone I find attactive because of the full hex pattern, no surface cracks, nice and unique body color, and a nice star. There are opaque yellow stars coming out of Myanmar/Thailand but not the clear ones. The black stars with a golden star can be beautiful, especially with an even, black or golden/bronze black body color. The mid blue sapphires are not as highly priced as the royal blues. The Pezzottaite, aka raspberry beryl, at faceted, gem quality, is difficult to find these days. The supply came in a flash and with a blink, the Madagascan mine was exhausted. Here are more photos of the star.

 

[Burmesedaze]

That reminds me of a whopper burger Now I know what my jeweller was referring to when she said that Myanmar used to produce hugeass ones in the past.

I see a few opaque and once a translucent yellow star sapphires here. Small sizes between 3 to 10 ct. But pricey as they are rare. My jeweller has an opaque one.

 

[Seaglow]

That reminds me of a whopper burger Now I know what my jeweller was referring to when she said that Myanmar used to produce hugeass ones in the past.

I see a few opaque and once a translucent yellow star sapphires here. Small sizes between 3 to 10 ct. But pricey as they are rare. My jeweller has an opaque one.

Some nice purples come out of Myanmar once in a while. Remember the small cabs I got from Snow White? You hardly see that grape color. India produces the darker saturated purples as well, but the Indian stones tend to have a brown/gray cast in the stars.

 

[Bluegemz]

I've seen the opaque yellow stars available, but never a translucent one. They must be very rare indeed!

 

[mochiko42]

Today I went to Mae Sot, the Thai border town to Myanmar. Lots of overly processed stars and glass-filled materials. There were spinels and some gem stars of saturated purple, blue, and red stars kept by sellers but prices were way too high. So I just got a few pieces, mostly close to mineral specimens rather than gem quality and grabbed some narrow-cut jade, a bracelet and a carved pendant. Jade, I usually do not gamble as there are B jades that are nicely done and it takes sophisticated testing equipment to determine good polymer impregnation, so I only buy jade that costs more than souvenir prices at reputable sources. I can only check the polish to see signs of polymer impregnation and veins for signs of artificial coloring but there are good Type B and Cs in the market. The sellers said their jade are Type A, and to the best of my ability I bought pieces that are affordable but have higher chances to be Type A. The carved pendant I bought is reddish brown in one side and olive green on the other. The brown side is the rind of the stone and the green not a top color, and the green still have black spots, so it has good chances to be untreated. I bought nicely colored green jade rods with decent thickness. Rods/shards have higher chances to be untreated as it is a shape not preferred and often ignored and nicely colored green jadeite occur as narrow veins. Other stuffs I got is a lavender opaque jade bracelet, an 8.54 carats included untreated faint pink sapphire cabochon, 8.45 carats untreated white star sapphire, a parti-colored untreated 6.18 carats sapphire - a nice mineral specimen, some small rough spinels, among others.

I love reading the gem hunting adventures of you and Burmese daze. You have to be very experienced indeed to know what you're looking for at the Asian gem markets. I'm in Hong Kong and I haven't dared to buy anything locally! Only a few cheap gems here and there from the big gem show but not much.

 

[Seaglow]

I love reading the gem hunting adventures of you and Burmese daze. You have to be very experienced indeed to know what you're looking for at the Asian gem markets. I'm in Hong Kong and I haven't dared to buy anything locally! Only a few cheap gems here and there from the big gem show but not much.

At the border towns many are blatantly fakes like glass, cubic zirconia, synthetics, or overly treated stones...like 90-95% then add some numbers for misrepresentation...kyanite for sapphire, garnet for spinel....spinel for ruby and so on. When I was starting more than 20 years ago, I bought everything mostly synthetics...even amethyst! For 5 years there were a lot of misses before I got the hang of it. I still keep my first collection for posterity....mostly synthetics and cubic zirconias. Lol.

Eventually the eye gets trained and you memorize the inclusion types.

 

[Seaglow]

I've seen the opaque yellow stars available, but never a translucent one. They must be very rare indeed!

Transluscent yellows are very rare. I haven't seen them bigger than 2 carats, but maybe there are more in Sri Lanka.

 

[Bluegemz]

If you happen to see any, would you mind snapping a picture? Id love to see any, either opaque or translucent to get a better sense of what they are like. The ones I've seen are only in pictures of very low grade or super rare clear yellows. Only 2 pics found of the translucent variety.

 

[Seaglow]

If you happen to see any, would you mind snapping a picture? Id love to see any, either opaque or translucent to get a better sense of what they are like. The ones I've seen are only in pictures of very low grade or super rare clear yellows. Only 2 pics found of the translucent variety.

Sure. I'll take a photo when I see them again. The opaque yellows can be large but the transparent ones are elusive. The yellows are at Mae Sot but no yellows at Mae Sai.

 

[Seaglow]

Part 1: Mae Sai

So I was on a spinel hinting mission on Mae Sai. Unfortunately, there's hardly nice big ones. So I got some mostly between 1-2 carats.

First I got a couple of big gray 3.8 carat spinels that badly needs a recut.
Sent them to the cutter and maybe I still get about 3 carats for each and maybe a little less.

Then some fantastic colored spinels, decent cutting, no windows except for a bigger light blue stone. I also got a ring with a bigger stone and very sparkly purple cushion cut earrings. Both set in silver.

I also selected from a lot of spinels. One was yellow with no inclusions under 10x magnification...I wondered what it was....(but took it anyway) as spinel hardly is in yellow. After some checking, it turned out to be yellow zircon. The brown and yellow zircons occur at the mines where the corundum and spinel mines are. It usually happens with spinel lots that other stones get mixed. Usually aquamarine and peridots.

I also got an orange and red not so bright cushion spinels....the inclusions are not typical Burmese....inclusions indicative of African origin.

Out of my spinel hunt, I got a fantastic 1.24 carat red!

Then I saw a 37 carat moonstone with no sheen but good clarity from some big moonstone lot. The rest of the lot have some cloudy white spots.

 

[Seaglow]

Part 2: Mae Sai

My friend asked me to hunt for pear-shaped blue sapphires, and I chanced upon a 4-piece lot of Thai blues. The seller said they are unheated, which looks like it because the silk inclusions are unaltered.

In the photo with the sapphires is the yellow zircon mixed in the spinel lot.

Then I saw a nice, transparent 2.61 carat white sapphire. There is a bit of a pink spot at the side but good transparency and nice star. The photo doesn't do it justice but the star is nice.

Then one seller was insisting I take some black sapphire pears. Black sapphires are mined in Thailand and quite prevalent. But a nice even body doesn't always occur. These stars are 5+ and 6+ carats bought an a low price for the quality.

Whenever I go to Mae Sai, I get some stone carvings. This time I took a dragon carving ( carved on both sides) in a green stone. The carving is 12-inch in length.

Saw some nice jade transluscent pair for earrings but price is in thousands of dollars for each stone. Lol.

 

[Bluegemz]

The spinels are lovely! I love the many colors, especially the reds. The black stars are truly perfect for earrings or a bypass ring. The pink star is so icy pretty with delicate color. And, I love the carving!!

 

[Seaglow]

The spinels are lovely! I love the many colors, especially the reds. The black stars are truly perfect for earrings or a bypass ring. The pink star is so icy pretty with delicate color. And, I love the carving!!

The spinels used to be almost ignored before the Mahenge strike. They are getting smaller and smaller at the markets as the bigger stones get snatched up at the mine by the big dealers. Gone are the days where the grays are just almost given away.

 

[Burmesedaze]

Lovely assortment of colours there!

That dark grey can be found at around 3 to 4ct here but not at your prices. I'm looking for the lighter ones around 3 to 5ct too but no cigar so far.

Very badly windowed non Burmese sapphires in humdrum colours were going for us150-350 at the Sg fair. I saw the mahenges at the fair too but didn't ask the prices since they were at the more expensive booths. If the Namyazeik mine can be accessed, I think they can give the Mahenges a run for their money.

 

[Seaglow]

Got 3 Mozambique copper-bearing tourmalines for collection.

Blue (2 carats), blue green (3.35 cts.), and a lavender blue (2.48 carats).

 

[elle_71125]

They are all gorgeous!
The blue green one has my heart. It's huge and my fav color! So jealous!

ETA: it's really neat to see the color variations.

 

[Acinom]

Gorgeous finds!! I love your red spinel. It has an amazing colour.
Your glowies are amazing. Like Elle, I especially love the big blue green.

What are your plans with your copper bearing tourmalines. Any setting ideas?

 

[Seaglow]

Gorgeous finds!! I love your red spinel. It has an amazing colour.
Your glowies are amazing. Like Elle, I especially love the big blue green.

What are your plans with your copper bearing tourmalines. Any setting ideas?

Thanks! I still have no idea. The 3 kinda look good together so I was thinking of a pendant with all 3 of them but at the same time the green looks gorgeous as a ring. Like your green ring, i have to agree this shade of blue green looks captivating in person (although the blue is the top color in the trade which is gorgeous in its own way), I remember you saying you like your green a lot.

 

[Bluegemz]

Those are lovely sea glow! I love thelavender blue one! I can imagine pendant with earrings. I think the slight differences in color , but similar size and glow would make them ideal for this, kind of like pink and blue diamond earrings, or yellow and blue south sea pearls .. the assymetrical earring style, in which the earrings differ from each other, is a very fun look. You could but a melee of snmaller, green paraiba around the smaller blue oval, and leave the green with a smaller drop of blue beneath or it both could then have drops. Maybe even something in a gentle yellow color. Then the lavender one could be the pendant! Just my imagination going...whatever you do, will be beautiful!

 

[valeria101]

Cobalt blue Luc Yen spinels.

That pile of blue & pink spinel rough took my breath away ...

Same happened earlier, on account of the patchy dark yellow with deep blue Thai sapphire rough, showing in a corner of one of your photos. Even more interesting than the Australlian calico rough ...

I'd wear them as they were.

 

[pregcurious]

Got 3 Mozambique copper-bearing tourmalines for collection.

Blue (2 carats), blue green (3.35 cts.), and a lavender blue (2.48 carats).

That middle oval is amazing!

 

[Sabrina31]

Seaglow, are you a dealer? Do you have a website? Sorry I'm brand new here.

 

[Seaglow]

Seaglow, are you a dealer? Do you have a website? Sorry I'm brand new here.

No I'm not a dealer and don't have a website (no etsy, no eBay, no loupe troop). I do hunt some stuffs (and design jewelry as a hobby) for friends (which I do not post here because they aren't mine) because I travel to gem countries. But even if I am a dealer, I cannot sell here and have to declare such. I am a collector and maybe in the future there is a possibility I might invest or do something major in the trade but by then I would have to switch to trade and stop posting photos here. So far I'm just getting things when they are affordable and buying study stones for my upcoming GIA class.