Stones for Sandy

[minousbijoux]

Hi all

As I'm hunting for work and finding that I have more free time to read and be online, I have been reading everything about Sandy's aftermath, especially here. I am so grateful that it appears that everyone in the PS family has made it through, but it breaks my heart to hear first hand about all the devastation and all the need.

Of course I went to make a donation and then realized I'm out of funds due to being out of work I'm not complaining - I have my house, and good weather, and my neighborhood and friends intact...you get the point. But what I DO have are gemstones. Most of what I own are precision cut. I figure I'll sell some stones and donate the proceeds! Yippee!! Good ol PS ingenuity at work! Only I wasn't planning on selling any, so I took some quick pics of what I have, and if there is anything you like, or anything you think I might have that you've been looking for (e.g., material, color, size, shape, etc.,) let me know! I'll then go make a listing on DB or Loupetroupe, whichever works for the purchaser (disclosure: I've never sold anything through LT, but figure I'll muddle through).

First up,1.88 ct Mozambique blue tourmaline cut by Roger Dery. This has the glow. It is considered way too light to be ideal "paraiba" color, but it competes with the best of them in low light situations. I never thought I would give this up, because its the stone that greets me in the dark, and because I have never, ever sold a stone cut by Roger. One pic is Roger's, one pic is with a Mahenge and Namibian Spess holding its own. She is quite photogenic and I have many pics. I took the one in the flowerpot on an overcast day under an umbrella in our yard. For kicks, I put it in the flowerpot under the foliage to see if it would glow or shine at all...he he

Last photo for this post is a group shot of some of the Barry garnets I have. If anyone is interested, I'll follow up by posting dimensions and more photos - and prices - just didn't want to do the work if there was no interest...

 

[minousbijoux]

Some more stones: unheated teal sapphire and dusty pink/to purple spinel. Some pics of them outside in overcast daylight, one pic of them in fairly low incandescent light sitting on my Mac...group shot with a bluish green tourmaline and Mali garnet (courtesy of Packrat!)

 

[ForteKitty]

Is the Namibian Spess in the first picture for sale?

 

[chrono]

Is the Namibian Spess in the first picture for sale?

Hehehe...I was thinking the same thing.

 

[JuneRose]

What a wonderful thing to do! Unfortunately I'm not in the market for any coloured stones but I hope these sell quickly for you!

 

[minousbijoux]

Unfortunately, it is no longer with me. Now I'm sorry I posted the pic. It was an old one I had on the computer and I wanted to show off the glow of Roger's stone. I should probably have gone and taken new photos, but was hoping I could wait until someone said they wanted something before I expended the effort!

I'll root around, though, and see what other stones and photos I have.

 

[missy]

Aww minous, what a lovely thing for you to do! You are so sweet and generous!!!

 

[minousbijoux]

You know, Missy, reading about your beach house and seeing the pics, finally hearing from Deb aka AGBF and hearing that houses burned down on the water in Greenwich, and VL, and Kaleigh, and LV, and knowing that while Soocool just got power so many others haven't - just got to me. Knowing that Aviastar opened her house in the middle of the storm to those in need, makes me think I've got to do something! I've been having nightmares and I have not suffered at all! I can only imagine what's going on for you and all the others. I keep hearing horrific things on the news and yet I have everything I need. What good are gems gonna do, really?!!

The Mali and the Afghani bluish green tourm together, two pics of the tourm, then a profile shot of Roger's gorgeous cutting.

 

[missy]

You know, Missy, reading about your beach house and seeing the pics, finally hearing from Deb aka AGBF and hearing that houses burned down on the water in Greenwich, and VL, and Kaleigh, and LV, and knowing that while Soocool just got power so many others haven't - just got to me. Knowing that Aviastar opened her house in the middle of the storm to those in need, makes me think I've got to do something! I've been having nightmares and I have not suffered at all! I can only imagine what's going on for you and all the others. I keep hearing horrific things on the news and yet I have everything I need. What good are gems gonna do, really?!!

The Mali and the Afghani bluish green tourm together, two pics of the tourm, then a profile shot of Roger's gorgeous cutting.

 

[texaskj]

minous, tell me more about the teal sapphire.

 

[minousbijoux]

Hi Texaskj - sorry, just now seeing your question.

The sapphire is 2.4 carat, unheated, Tanzanian, 7.7mm precision cut by Dana Reynolds. Oh, and according to Dana, its a color shift sapphire (I keep forgetting that as it seems to me that almost all sapphires shift color in different lightings, but oh well). It has an ever so slight asymmetry on one edge of the girdle, I assume where there was an inclusion or where the rough ran out (I'm sure there's a more eloquent way of saying it). Here are some more pics. It has very good saturation and is the most teal or bluish green sapphire I've seen (most I've seen are greyish or brownish green). Photos have been taken at different times - in North facing, mid-day outdoor light, in outside, overcast conditions, and in low incandescent light (sorry, I don't have bright inside lights). I had it priced at $1,069, which is a bit more than I paid. I can go lower, but want to send as much as I can back to Sandy recovery.

 

[minousbijoux]

Sorry, I've got to remember to shrink my photos!

 

[texaskj]

No, your photos are just fine. Thanks for posting.
It's such a pretty stone and a great size. I couldn't tell if it was one or two carats.
I'd probably be all over it if I didn't need a new computer so much.
Thanks minous.

 

[minousbijoux]

Bump - another storm is on its way back East...was hoping to be able to help

 

[ChrisA222]

Minou,

I may be interested in one (or two) of the Barry Garnets..but I don't know the dimensions or the price. I get paid tomorrow

I'd potentially be interested in the orange one on the right, and the red-orange one in the middle.

I also may be interested in a few other stone types if you have them available. Im going to be in the market for a Tanzanite, very saturated violet or violet-blue, a Red-Red Spinel decently larger than my current nice, but small, 1.26ct, and a White Spinel larger than my 1.38ct Native-Cut Roval.

If you still have my email, you can use that, or contact me thru DB listings.

Thanks!

Chris

 

[minousbijoux]

Chris: Isn't it nice when you get to the point in your collecting where you have a few specific stones you seek, instead of needing/wanting every variety?!!

As for listings, I realized that I needed to put up listings anyway before most people would be interested and was just about to start taking photos (I have a ton of those Barry garnets, but I stupidly can't tell the oranges apart based on the pics so I need to take new ones), and now its raining here. I try to put up photos showing them in northern noon light, afternoon daylight, and incandescent or evening light. I will put them up on DB as soon as I can take good photos, probably tomorrow.

As for the others you seek, I'm striking out - I don't have white spinels, nor do I have any tanzis or red spinels I want to part with, I think.

 

[ChrisA222]

Haha...Minou...you're right, it is nice having specific wants....I'm getting there. I can't even believe how much I've learned in a relatively short amount of time. I laugh when I read things that I wrote in gem-related emails, or see stones that I bought, as recently as 6-8 months ago. I guess thats what happens when you get obsessed with something and then learn everything that you can about it in your spare time.

As far as Spesses...its one gem that I haven't really bought "the one". "The one" for me, is of course precision-cut (or worthy of a recut) with strong saturation and either a pure orange or a slightly reddish-orange. Or one of each... I don't care for the yellowish-orange ones (even though I have one of them thats an excellent example) and I already have a nice burnt-orange one. But I want a bright orange, or a bright slightly reddish-orange. I do have the reds, and the orangy-red, the pink-red, and so on.

Red Spinels are popular, expensive, and hard to find...so I'm not surprised you don't have one for sale. White Spinels are even harder to find! I was lucky to find the one I own, but its only 1.38ct and is a native roval. I really want a larger white Spinel to use in place of a Diamond. I may just go Zircon, but the Spinel would be a lot more durable.

Ill watch for the DB listings. The reason I picked the Orange one on the far right was for size (looked the biggest) and that it looked the most "orange". The reason I picked the one in the middle is because it looks right on the line between red and orange, so I also liked that.

Also, consider yourself lucky that its raining. My half-hour commute home tonight took two hours and 15 minutes. It is too soon for this--snow in CT in November!! I dont know why Im surprised, last October 28th we got like 2 feet of snow. Crazy weather...

Thanks, Minou.

 

[minousbijoux]

I have now listed some of the stones on DB. Here is the link (here's to praying that I've provided the right link ):

http://diamondbistro.com/other/2188/seller.html

I still have a few more to list and will try to get to them tomorrow...

 

[minousbijoux]

Okay, I haven't gotten to listing all of them yet, but this is what I've listed so far:


1. 1.52 ct cushion cut Afghani Mint Tourmaline $245. (I believe sale pending)

2. 1.88 ct, 7.3 x 6.6mm, eye clean Roger Dery cut Mozambique copper-bearing tourmaline (from the same location as the other "paraiba-type" tourmalines posted on the Bistro recently). This stone would've glowed because of the material, but with Roger's cutting, it is sometimes blinding. Hoping for $859; would consider close offers. I am unlikely to sell any more of his stones and am only selling this to raise money for a cause.

3. 2.28 ct, 7.6 mm eye clean Barry Bridgestock reddish orange spessartite. Reads as almost pure red in low light conditions and then a blazing reddish orange in daylight. $235 or close offer.

Listings will be continued with next set of pictures...

 

[missy]

You have a beautiful collection!

 

[minousbijoux]

Listed Stones Continued:

4. 3.33 ct Barry Bridgestock Raspberry Rhodolite. Medium dark with strong saturation, this is, well raspberry colored or a reddish/purplish red wine not too deep in color, say a purply pinot noir? Absolutely no brown in stone (I'm detail oriented so I now feel compelled to say that in case the wine you know is brownish at all! ). This is another of his great ring stones, though at 8.8 mm this would make a ring with presence! In the inside shot, please note that Rhodolite is on the left. $238 (sale pending)

5. 2.18 ct orange orange spessartite. Barry Bridgestock again. Beautiful stone, eye clean, 7.5mm. I'm not sure of origin on this one (I bought it before I became obsessed with mandarin spessartite locations ). $328 (sale pending).

6. 2.43 ct, eye clean 8mm Tanga garnet. Another Barry stone. They're all exquisite - what's not to love about his cutting? This one is hard to pin down color because it gives off sparks or flashes of various pinky/purply color. $189 (sale pending). Tanga on the right in the indoor incandescent light shot with the Rhodolite. (sale pending)

7. Please someone buy these beautiful Bob Kast rubellite tourmaline stones - I'll sell them together or individually. They are really beautiful stones, and they are now priced a good bit less than I paid for them. Please make me an offer!

Its a little premature, but I believe that thanks to several of you, I'll be making a large donation to help out with Hurricane Sandy!

 

[GemFever]

What an awesome idea Minous! I'm looking for a round stone that's a hair under 7mm, do you have anything like that? Trying to put a stone in a mount that currently holds a stone that's 6.7 x 6.8mm.

Cheers!

 

[minousbijoux]

Missy and Gemfever, thanks for the kind words. A weird thing happened to me recently and it changed my thinking - along with Hurricane Sandy. One saturday night recently in my neighborhood, the beautiful, historic and much loved landmark church (national register of historic places) on my block caught fire. Due to its age, it went up fairly quickly, being an old wood-framed structure. Along with other neighbors I was told to evacuate. In that moment, being told to leave when you know you don't have a lot of time, what do you take? I took my 3 dogs and two laptops. My logic was that the laptops had photos. I thought about taking my boxes of great old family photos and knew I couldn't carry them so sadly left them.

What didn't cross my mind - well it did for a fleeting second - was my jewelry and my gemstones. I am shocked to say - please don't shun me for saying this - that it was not a priority at all even though the majority of it is not insured. So on the heels of that, two days later Hurricane Sandy comes along, and well, the right thing to do is obvious. So I've decided to sell my dogs!
Ironically, perhaps I should be giving to the rebuilding fund for the church, but that seems an extravagance compared to what the East Coasters are going through and the shelter needs they have.

Gemfever, I'll look for a stone for you and see if there's anything that meets your criteria. Thank you both again, it means a lot.

 

[missy]

Missy and Gemfever, thanks for the kind words. A weird thing happened to me recently and it changed my thinking - along with Hurricane Sandy. One saturday night recently in my neighborhood, the beautiful, historic and much loved landmark church (national register of historic places) on my block caught fire. Due to its age, it went up fairly quickly, being an old wood-framed structure. Along with other neighbors I was told to evacuate. In that moment, being told to leave when you know you don't have a lot of time, what do you take? I took my 3 dogs and two laptops. My logic was that the laptops had photos. I thought about taking my boxes of great old family photos and knew I couldn't carry them so sadly left them.

What didn't cross my mind - well it did for a fleeting second - was my jewelry and my gemstones. I am shocked to say - please don't shun me for saying this - that it was not a priority at all even though the majority of it is not insured. So on the heels of that, two days later Hurricane Sandy comes along, and well, the right thing to do is obvious. So I've decided to sell my dogs!
Ironically, perhaps I should be giving to the rebuilding fund for the church, but that seems an extravagance compared to what the East Coasters are going through and the shelter needs they have.

Gemfever, I'll look for a stone for you and see if there's anything that meets your criteria. Thank you both again, it means a lot.

I totally agree minous. Things are not important- it's people and animals that matter. I don't think anyone would disagree with you!

 

[minousbijoux]

Gemfever: I took a look and I'm sorry to say that I don't really have anything suitable for you - is it for a ring?

 

[GemFever]

Minous: it is, but I'm not in a rush. Something will turn up eventually! Thanks for looking.

 

[minousbijoux]

Tanga is sold.

I've dropped the price on these Bob Kast Rubellites to $60. That is a lot less than I paid. There is nothing wrong with these stones, other than they are not a matching pair as they are two different diameters. But they are beautiful, saturated stones!

 

[tara3056]

What a wonderful thing to do! I am being tempted by those BK rubellites because I know how beautiful they would be in person based on the one I bought for my Mom's pendant, but they're a bit smaller than I can use at the moment.

I'm on the hunt for blue spinel and blue-green tourmaline (something bluer than the average "mint" color and more saturated than your lovely Dery stone), so keep me in mind if you end up listing anything like that

 

[minousbijoux]

I'm on the hunt for blue spinel and blue-green tourmaline (something bluer than the average "mint" color and more saturated than your lovely Dery stone), so keep me in mind if you end up listing anything like that

Tara, I've been wanting to reach out for a while to say that I love the stones you've had for sale - I think we have similar taste I LOVE blue-green tourmalines too and I collected them for a while like they were candy I **think** I've sold most of them off already, though I might have one or two at the bank. If you want to contact me through one of my listings, I'll let you know what I have and you can see if anything works for you.

 

[minousbijoux]

Okay, for PSers only - dropping the price on the Dery Mozambique cuprian tourmaline by $130 to $729. Again, its 1.88ct, extremely glowy. It is light in tone, a light blue. I bought it knowing that in almost any ring mounting, it will darken slightly and look even more saturated. I just never got around to setting it and I've lost my desire for rings it seems

Anyway, two more pics of it, one showing its glow, the other the requisite sparkle or flash shot in the sun. The link is here:

http://diamondbistro.com/category/238/Tourmaline/listings/32284/Roger-Dery-Mozambique-Tourmaline.html