Forwarded Message FollowsFrom: Jeannine Russell grgarden@infinet.com
To: service@ganoksin.com
Subject: Tavalite
Looking for info on Tavalite. What type of stone is it?
Jeannine Russell
At 08:13 AM 11/13/96 +0000, you wrote:
Forwarded Message Follows
From: Jeannine Russell grgarden@infinet.com
To: service@ganoksin.com
Subject: Tavalite
Looking for info on Tavalite. What type of stone is it?
Jeannine Russell
Hi, Jeannine:
There may be a stone out there called “Tavalite, but I study the field
pretty intensively and haven’t heard of it. Are your sure you’re not
thinking of Tsavorite (American spelling)? In England and some other parts
of the world it’s known
as “Tsavolite” due to a differing system of naming gems .”
In the unlikely event you don’t know what Tsavorite/Tsavolite is, it’s an
emerald-green grossular garnet mainly from Kenya near the Tanzanian border.
It was given that trade-name by Tiffany & Co. in 1974 when they did a big
marketing campaign to popularize it. The “Tsavo” part of the name comes
from the famous Tsavo Park, a world-renowned game refuge near the mines. A
new deposit was recently discovered in another part of Kenya, near the
Uganda border. Gem-quality material is very scarce and expensive – but
beautiful!
If my guess is wrong, let ME know what “Tavalite” is if you find out.
Rick Martin
MARTIN DESIGNS
Richard O. Martin wrote:
In the unlikely event you don’t know what Tsavorite/Tsavolite is, it’s an
emerald-green grossular garnet mainly from Kenya near the Tanzanian border.
It was given that trade-name by Tiffany & Co. in 1974 when they did a big
marketing campaign to popularize it. The “Tsavo” part of the name comes
from the famous Tsavo Park, a world-renowned game refuge near the mines. A
new deposit was recently discovered in another part of Kenya, near the
Uganda border. Gem-quality material is very scarce and expensive – but
beautiful!
Have heard the name Demontoid Garnet used I believe for the same
stone…Anyone?..Gavin
At 11:59 AM 11/13/96 +0000, you wrote:
Richard O. Martin wrote:
In the unlikely event you don’t know what Tsavorite/Tsavolite is, it’s an
emerald-green grossular garnet mainly from Kenya near the Tanzanian border.<
Gavin Gilmore wrote:
Have heard the name Demontoid Garnet used I believe for the same
stone…Anyone?..Gavin
I never have, but if someone did it would be wrong. They’re both green
garnets, but that’s where the similarity ends. Tsavorite is a grossular
garnet colored green by vanadium. It is produced mainly in Africa and is
scarce. Demantoid, on the other hand, is andradite garnet originally
discovered in 1868 in Russia’s Ural Mountains. It was the first green
garnet recorded in gemological literature, and instead of being scarce, it’s
downright rare (unless reports I’ve read recently of a new source in “Asia”
turn out to be true). Whereas Tsavorite/Tsavolite have enough production to
allow wide-scale marketing, demantoid has been a rare collector stone,
recognized by it’s typical “horsetail” inclusions of byssolite. The
grass-green color is caused by traces of chromium in combination with iron.
The stone’s name was taken from the Dutch word for diamond, “demant,”
because of its very high (for a colored stone) refractive index, and because
it’s ability to break white light into spectral colors (called dispersion or
“fire”) exceeds that of diamond.
There’s another green garnet, uvarovite, seen these days mostly as drusy
material from Russia. It’s also colored by chromium. It would be a very
valuable gem if it occurred in large sizes, but it doesn’t – so far (new
garnets have a way of cropping up, like the new Mali garnet which is a
previously unknown combination of andradite and spessartite).
Hope this helps.
Rick Martin
MARTIN DESIGNS
procedures
Looking for info on Tavalite. What type of stone is it?
Jeannine Russell
If my guess is wrong, let ME know what “Tavalite” is if you find out.
Rick Martin
Dear Jeannine and Rick,
As far as I know, “Tavalite” is a registered trademark of Golay Buchel (a Swiss based gem company) that is some sort of hi-tech coating of their cubic zirconia. It is a very hard (7+ mohs) opalescent coating that has a two color irredescence available in several color combinations. I’ve seen rings using Tavalite for sale on HSN.
Hope this helps,
William
At 07:18 PM 11/13/96 +0000, you wrote:
Looking for info on Tavalite. What type of stone is it?
Jeannine Russell
If my guess is wrong, let ME know what “Tavalite” is if you find out.
Rick Martin
Dear Jeannine and Rick,
As far as I know, “Tavalite” is a registered trademark of Golay Buchel (a
Swiss >based gem company) that is some sort of hi-tech coating of their
cubic zirconia. . >I’ve seen rings using Tavalite for sale on HSN.
William
William:
Here I am studying “Gems & Gemology” when I could be getting my professional
updates via HSN! Go figure. Thanks,
Rick
Richard O. Martin wrote:about garnets…
Richard,
I was great to find out the difference in the tsavorite,demontoid and
others…I wonder if you can describe the demontoid inclusions as
feathers …??..Gavin
At 01:47 AM 11/14/96 -0600, you wrote:
Richard O. Martin wrote:about garnets…
Richard,
I was great to find out the difference in the tsavorite,demontoid and
others…I wonder if you can describe the demontoid inclusions as
feathers …??..Gavin
“Horse-Hairs” and the inclusion is Byssolite(forgive my spelling)
Mark Liccini
LICCINI
Gemstone Rough Dealers since 1970 U.S.MAIL
E-Mail: @Mark_Liccini1 224 7th St.#2B
http://www.LICCINI.com Jersey City,N.J.07302
Voice Mail/Fax: 201-795-1115
Now Gavin… we all know what a feather really is…I think . . Don’t we??..
Un ‘Crack of eye proportionate quality’???
No, let’s not glorify ‘Das Crack’!!!
Jim
At 01:47 AM 11/14/96 -0600, you wrote:
At 01:47 AM 11/14/96 -0600, you wrote:
Richard O. Martin wrote:about garnets…
Richard,
I was great to find out the difference in the tsavorite,demontoid and
others…I wonder if you can describe the demontoid inclusions as
feathers …??..Gavin
Hi Gavin:
“Horse-feathers” maybe? No, as Mark Liccini pointed out, the “horsetail”
inclusions look exactly like what they’re named after. If you have access
to a library with good gem books check out John D. Rouse’s “Garnet,” one of
the Butterworths Gem Books. There’s a great photo of one opposite page 87.
And if you’re interested in garnets, this is THE book to have.
Rick