I purchased a 22.75 carat Rubellite Tourmaline at an upscale auction
house. It was part of a long time Diamond Dealers Club of NY member’s
estate. I have just sent it off to NYC to a friend to see what he
can find out about the quality, but it crossed my mind that someone
here may have experience with this type of stone and could provide
some insight.
It has been sitting in a drawer for over a year and I finally
decided it was a waste of a nice stone. (I am more of a blue stone
girl.)
It is a gorgeous deep color - consistent - no zoning. The cut is
beautiful; no thick girdle; no sloppy cuts and in fact, the stone
itself is absolutely clean - not a single imperfection eye or under
loop. Additionally, this stone captures the light amazingly well
with nice flashes of color in even incandescent light. I have a
photo and will gladly send it to you off Orchid.
My sense is that this gentleman had a collection of stones he had
picked upalong the way and this was one of them. Given his
association, my second sense is that he would not have held onto
stones that were of inferior quality. I had read that there was a
mine in Brazil that produced a consistent deep color - which this
stone has. Since I don’t have any idea of this stone’s possible
value, I am not sure if it makes sense to spend the $ to have it
certified by the GIA.
Any insight/help you can offer would be greatly appreciated…
greatly greatly appreciated. And, while I am not holding anyone to
anything, a generalsense of where the price per carat can fall on
these stones would be incredibly helpful in determining whether or
not to go the GIA route.
Thank you one and all,
C~