Ouro Verde

One of my relatives purchased a beautiful gemstone from a TV show.
 It is called Ouro Verde.  It has a clean lemon/lime color." 

Hi Barbara,

Oro Verde is irradiated quartz; it is also less frequently known as
Neon Quartz. It is quite common on the mainland; maybe the spelling
confused your experts, or perhaps it is really a different stone.

Hope this helps,
Linda

Dear Linda, Ouro Verde IS the correct spelling inasmuch as the stone
originated in Brazil and the Brazilians speak Portuguese i.e. ouro
(gold) verde (green) ergo, green gold. Ron at Mills gem, Los Osos,
CA

Aloha, Barbara HQCE It is my understanding that “ouro verde” - which
I believe is more commonly called “oro verde” - is quartz that has
been irradiated. Regards, mskelly

Hi Barbara,

Your “Ouro Verde” (translation from the Portuguese: “golden green”
– or, perhaps, yet another way to make some gold off of those who
are green, depending upon your perspective) is a new twist on the
“enhanced” Smoky Quartz game. What this material is, simply enough,
is regular, colorless Optical Quartz (usually from Brazil, although
Isuspect other sources will do equally well), which has been
irradiated with x-rays to turn it a dark grayish-brown (i.e. Smokey
Quartz), then irradiated a second time with another frequency (gamma
rays, perhaps?), then heat-treated to drive off some of the
smokiness. What remains are sequential series of color zones, in
bands: chartreusey olive, then smokey gray-brown, then pale, sickly
yellow, then the olive again. If you’ll place your relative’s "Oro
Although I’m not positive as to which particular (double pun) kind
of radiation is used for this, I believe the color is reasonably
stable and safe to wear, but you’ll want to advise her against
keeping it near open flames or heat in excess of hot tap water: just
as the brown component is driven off during the color treatment via
heat, the entire piece can be substantially lightened (and quite
possibly returned to its native, colorless state) by just the right
amount of heat.

By the way, if you have access to a decent Optivisor or loupe, and
if you’ll view the stone upside down over a sheet of white paper in
fluorescent light, you’ll most likely be able to see those color
bands I’d mentioned (especially if the stone is an angular form,
like an emerald cut or triangle). If you’ll tilt the stone, slightly
off-axis, you’ll be more likely to find them, since cutters usually
try to orient the material so as not to make them too obvious. (Glad
to help out!)

All my best,

Douglas Turet, GJ,
Turet Design,
P.O. Box 162,
Arlington, MA 02476
Tel. (617) 325-5328
eFax (928) 222-0815
anotherbrightidea@hotmail.com

Aloha Ron at Mils gem, Los Osos, CA

Thank you for answering Linda’s question or remark. I haven’t read
her e-mail yet, but since you know the “Ouro” is the proper
spelling, can you offer your knowledge and inform us on what type of
"Gemstone Family" it belongs to?

Some industry people of 10 - 30 years have given us the following
answers:

Spodumene family - possibly Hiddenite Beryl family (since Triphane
has a natural green. Heliodor is from Namibia, Brazil, and Madagascar
but Beryls of the same color were previously known in Brazil and
Madagascar.) Quartz, but no specifications.

Now we don’t know who is right and who isn’t. What we are trying to
do is not spend the money on one Expensive Appraisal. If an
Appraisal has to be done, does any person have a recommendation for
a company located in Hawaii?

Much Aloha & Prosperity to All,
Barbara
HQCE

but since you know the "Ouro" is the proper spelling, can you offer
your knowledge and inform us on what type of "Gemstone Family" it
belongs to? 

‘Ouro Verde’ is Green Gold Quartz. Someone on the Orchid list already
made that statement, in this thread. Green Gold Quartz is made by
irradiating quartz and then heating it.

The late Mark Liccini had detailed recipes on his website for making
the Green Gold Quartz. He also mentoned that he had achieved several
other colors in irradiated quartz, depending upon the origin of the
quartz - such as red, and orange and strawberry etc.

Another commercially available variation for irradiated quartz is
Lemon Citrine.

Best regards,
Robert Lowe,
Lowe Associates - Brasil,
Gemstones, Rough, Specimens, -
Tucson - February 5 - 10, 2004 - GJX # 205,
e-mail: USA robertplowejr@juno.com February 2004
e-mail: Brasil <@Robert_P_Lowe_Jr1>

 'Ouro Verde' is Green Gold Quartz. Someone on the Orchid list
already made that statement, in this thread. Green Gold 
Quartz is made by irradiating quartz and then heating it.

Robert and All;

We at Creativegem.com are doing this treatment in house. White
Quartz is irradiated to get smoky quartz. Than we heat treat the
smoky quarts to get a lemon color. We are marketing the material
under the name Lemon Quartz.

You are welcome to visit our site and see some of the material. here
is a quick link:

http://www.creativegem.com/gem_deals/includes/shopdisplayproducts.asp?stone
combo=179&header=gemstone

Kie from Creativegem.com
We are cutting the best deals