Colored Diamonds; Really The Blues Part II

by Richard W. Wise, G.G.

Fancy diamonds are back in the news, another auction record broken This time its blues. At Bonhams of London, a 5.30-carat fancy deep-blue diamond set a world auction record for price per carat when it sold for approximately $7.3 million, or $1.8 million per carat bettering the previous record of 1.68 million per carat. I recall a 5+ carat Fancy Deep blue emerald cut I viewed at the Las Vegas show some five years ago with an askiing price of 1 million per carat, quite a nice appreciation.

Some might argue that auction prices do not reflect actual market prices, but in the case of fancy colored diamonds and colored gems such as important ruby and sapphire, auction prices set the market. This is a pattern that began to emerge in the 1990s and accelerated in the early 2000s as retail buyers became a larger factor in the auction market. Online auctions also have helped spread the word about important gem sales and in many cases, auction prices actually lead the way.

Update on The Wittelsbach:

Another famous blue diamond is The Wittelsbach, the largest blue diamond ever sold at auction. I wrote about this gem previously, After being recut and regraded from Fancy Deep Grayish Blue to Fancy Deep Blue and exhibited at The Smithsonian Institution side by side with The Hope, London dealer Lawrence Graff reportedly sold the gem for $80,000,000 or something over 3.3 million per carat.

The Wittelsbach-Graff after recutting. Note the distinct grayish hue. Most published and Photoshopped images show the diamond as a rich pure medium hue, the reality is somewhat different; Photo: Gary Rossman

Of course there are a number of Fancy Deep Blue diamonds over five carats but no others over thirty excepting The Hope. Weighing in at 31.06 carats, The Wittelsbach commands a price based on the extreme rarity of a colored diamond of this size.

Share GemWise With Your World!

Buying Gems on The Internet; Picture Perfect

1 Reply

by Richard W. Wise, G.G.

Everyone is familiar with the old sayings; seeing is believing and a picture is worth a thousand words. In the internet age, however, I'd suggest prospective gem buyers embrace another old saying, "believe half of what you see!" Yes, thanks to Photoshop coupled with the ability to select a broad range of lighting options at varying color temperatures, a picture can tell a thousand lies. Despite this, gem buying on the internet has increased a thousand fold aided by a crop of gem forums where hobbyists, prospective grooms and gem collectors gather to share information and critique gems on offer.

Many of the participants in these forums believe that a gemstone is just another commodity that qualities are uniform and prices follow some sort of median so that if most of the 1 carat sapphires they see online are $3,000 a carat then any stone with a price tag above that number is, by definition, expensive and overpriced. As I have said in my book, Secrets of The Gem Trade, and other places, this is simply not true. The prospective buyer who limits himself to images and median prices is doubly mistaken assuming that quality is his goal. This myth is reinforced by largely untrained online gurus who claim the mystical power to judge the quality of a gemstone by simply evaluating an image and by consumers who simply want to believe them rather than doing some of the tedius work of actually comparing stones.

As gemstone approach theoretical perfection in color/cut/clarity and crystal, smaller differences in those criteria make for larger and larger differences in price. At the same time, those subtle difference are extremely difficult to capture in an online image. An image can tell a lot about a gemstone with regard to clarity and color, I can often see enough to pass on a given stone, however, I cannot see enough to make a firm buying decision. From this point on, actual comparison is absolutely essential.

Unrealistic Expectations:

Of Off center Culets and Tilt Windows:

Share GemWise With Your World!

The Making of a Masterpiece VI (Part 2)

Ancient Technique of Sand Casting:

Truly handmade jewelry is made in the ancient manner using the metal itself.

Modern commercial and some so-called handmade pieces are actually carved in wax and then cast using the cire perdue or lost wax process. The more ancient method is sand casting. The approach is similar, a model is made and it is impressed into a crucible. In each case the molten gold is poured into a vacancy. Once a mold is made, lost wax can be used to produce multiples.

The total time required for Michael Corneau to produce the Peacock Pendent was 212 hours. This did not count, of course, the time spent developing the concept, discussion and selection of gemstones.

Sand casting the peacock’s body: Molten gold is poured into the depression made by removing the model from the sand.

Setting the gems: Once the feathers have been dapped out and soldered together and the cast body has been finished and soldered to the tail, gem setting can begin, the method is known as thread and bead setting.Peacock Pendant: Micro view, all gems set.

Share GemWise With Your World!

Treasures from Trash, What is Art?

1 Reply

Head of The Phoenix. The total length of this sculpture by Chinese artist Xu Bing is 110 feet. The weight, 12 tons. The head is a commercial jack hammer. Photo: R. W. Wise

by Richard W. Wise, G.G., A.S.G.

At 110 Feet long and weighing in at 12 tons each, the artist Xu Bing’s Phoenix Project currently on view at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is impressive. It is particularly interesting given my last post in which I asked questions regarding art and the use of precious materials.

Once you get beyond the shear size of them, what is particularly striking about the twin bird sculptures suspended from the gallery ceiling, is the fact that they are totally built from construction waste. That’s right junk!

In my last post, I showed a beginning series of images of a 4 x 1.75″ Peacock Brooch constructed of 22k gold, 18k gold, black opals, rubies & sapphires and asked the rhetorical question, can a piece of jewelry constructed out of precious materials be considered art? Many critics hold that the jeweler’s art, if it is art at all, is a minor one.

So, when my wife Rebekah and I walked into the gallery Sunday, what to my wondering eye did appear but a huge, in fact two huge works of art made exclusively of junk, the very antithesis of or you might say the other side of the coin. Junk had obviously been used as a material to create art, what did that say about the use of gold and gemstones?

Close up of the wing of the Phoenix, note the use of various types of waste found around construction projects. Xu Bing lived in the U. S. for many years, when he returned to China he was struck by the magnificence of some of the new buildings going up contrasted with the dwellings of the poverty striken workers who built them. Photo: R. W. Wise

Close up of the wing of the Phoenix, note the use of various types of waste found around construction projects. The artist used re-bar, flashing, discarded gas bottles and shovel blades among other things to construct his birds. Xu Bing lived in the U. S. for many years, when he returned to China he was struck by the magnificence of some of the new buildings going up contrasted with the dwellings of the poverty striken workers who built them. Photo: R. W. Wise

The first thing that struck me as that the constructions themselves were quite beautiful. It was necessary to focus, to draw the mind away from the contemplation of these wonderful works of art to be able to discern the method and materials of their construction. First you see the whole, only later the parts.

What makes a material precious? It is largely a question of attitude. Gold has been valued from the beginning of recorded time. You need only to see and touch a natural gold nugget to understand the material’s appeal. First the color, in its pure form, gold is a striking orange-yellow. Its weight is reassuring, its touch sensual. Are these attributes simply too seductive to the senses, do they submerge the artist’s intention and make it impossible to convey meaning? Certainly it doesn’t help.

Given the tactile and visual qualities of gold and the connotations of wealth associated with it, it is clearly impossible for anyone to view the object qua object without reference to the material of its construction.

When you view Xu Bing’s Phoenix you are struck by his achievement. When we view the Peacock Brooch are we simply overwhelmed by its glitter?

All That Glitters; The Peacock Pendant: 22k gold, 18k gold, opals, rubies, sapphires, spessartite garnets and natural Mississippi Pearls

Still, there is no denying the beauty and appeal of the Peacock Pendant. Each bird appears to float, each has a distinct attitude, the tiny gems twinkle in the light and the peacocks magnificent tails’ wrap themselves provocatively around a golden bower. They eye is, of course, drawn to the center stones. The two opals exhibit a fabulous flashing pallet of color.

NEXT POST, The Making of a Masterpiece VI (Part 2) MORE IMAGES, STAY TUNED.

Share GemWise With Your World!

The Making of a Masterpiece VI (part 1)

Birth of A Concept:

The concept began with a pair of black opals the two peacocks, a perennial part of the Art Nouveau design lexicon. The peacock has been used as a symbol from the time of the ancient Greeks. However, in this case, it seemed particularly useful as a naturalistic excuse to show off the the bird’s plumage using a rainbow of colored gemstones.

Second Preliminary sketch.

Completed sketch

Accenting Color

Finding accents for gem opal is always a challenge. Very few gemstones find a simpatico with opal. In this case; ruby and blue sapphire worked very well, picking up the corresponding hues in the opals, but when it came to the orange tones in the opal, orange sapphire and diamond simply did not work. The only gemstone that the opal would accept was spessartite garnet. Here is the preliminary

layout: In the next post, I’ll share some more images including the steps involved in the hand manufacture of this beautiful pendant. Stay tuned…

Share GemWise With Your World!

Natural Heliodore, Golden Beryl from Connecticut

2 Replies

10986: 2.11 Carat pear shaped brilliant cut with exceptional vivid color and crystal.

by Richard W. Wise, G.G.

10987 A 1.74 Carat ovall brilliant heliodore from the Roebling/Merryall MIne, Litchchfield, Ct. The gem exhibets an exceptional vivid medium toned golden hue.

10987 A 1.74 Carat oval brilliant heliodore from the Roebling/Merryall Mine, Litchfield, Ct. The gem exhibits an exceptional vivid medium toned golden hue.

Golden Beryl; An American Gem

In the 19th Century, the state of Connecticut was known as a major source of golden Beryl.

In the past few years a fair amount of golden beryl a.k.a. heliodor has entered the gem market. Material currently in the market is coming from Pakistan, Brazil and Ukraine and although there is no reliable gemological test that will prove irradiation, much of this material is thought to be enhanced by gamma radiation, a method that leaves behind no footprints. Of late there have been misguided attempts to cash in on the gem’s more famous sibling by re-labeling the gem as “yellow emerald.”

The continental United States is not known for its gem wealth though historically both California and especially the New England states have produced some exceptional gems. In the 19th Century, Maine was known as a repository of gem quality tourmaline, some beryl and amethyst. Most of the gems found in New England are of pegmatic origin the result of long super-hot magmatic fingers working their way up through cracks into the country rock causing localized melting into a chemical stew and its constituents, where beryllium oxide was present, might reform into beryl crystals. Many of the most important strikes were found in Maine including the famous Mt. Mica Mine which resumed operations in 1990 after a long hiatus. Pegmatites are found in all the New England states excluding Rhode Island and are particularly numerous in Maine and New Hampshire. Gem mining was in most cases simply a byproduct. The mines were mainly exploiting mica, Beryllium and feldspar.

Beryl is a family name whose best known offspring are emerald and aquamarine. If a beryl is pink it is known as morganite if red it is called bixbite or simply red beryl. In the 19th Century, golden beryl was quite rare and Connecticut was considered a major source. The term heliodore, from the Greek meaning “gift of the sun” was originally a trade name made up to describe yellow beryl from Southwest Africa.

“A Gift from the Sun,” Gem Mining in Connecticut:

Few realize that the George Roebling or Merryall Mine located in Litchfield County, Connecticut was, historically, one of the most productive and commercially important gem mines in the United States. This mine opened in 1880 as a feldspar and mica mine and worked intermittently until 1955 when it was closed. According to the late John Sinkankas, Merryall is known to have produced particularly fine beryl in shades of blue, yellow and green including a 40.44 blue-green heart shaped gem that now resides in the Smithsonian. The mine produced some sizable aquamarine, but most of the heliodore production was limited to very small faceted gemstones.

We recently acquired a few particularly fine rough examples of natural unenhanced heliodore, portions of a single large crystal, sourced at the Roebling/Merryall Mine site from a pile of unsorted mine run material in the early 1980s. The crystal was inside a large boulder. This material has been precision cut into a few lovely heliodore gems. These gems are flawless to the eye, exhibit a particularly fine crystal structure, a high degree of transparency and a vivid pure yellow hue and perfectly cut by our lapidary.

10987 Rough material from which the 1.74 carat oval, 10987, was cut.

10987 Rough material from which the 1.74 carat oval featured at the beginning of this post, 10987, was cut.

As Sinkankas points out, very little of the material sourced from this location is of gem quality never mind eye-flawless material. Mine run material containing 1% Beryllium is considered a rich deposit. Gems from this site have not been on the market in many years. For the gem collector, this is an or for the jewelry lover looking for a lovely vivid yellow gemstone, this is an opportunity to buy American and acquire a particularly fine gem from a truly rare source.

Share GemWise With Your World!

Gemstone Cut Grading; Distinctions Without a Difference II

4 Replies

by Richard W. Wise, G.G.

Of Tilt-Windows, Off-center culets and other minor issues:

The image of the gem quality 1.44 carat alexandrite might lead the uncritical observer to conclude that the gem is windowed. What the gem is actually exhibiting is some extinction beneath the table. In a perfect world, both are minor faults, but we are talking about the rarest gem on earth. In the world of true rarity, beauty not mathematical perfection of symmetry is the ultimate criterion.

The first time I ever heard the term tilt-window was on the Pricescope forum. As you know, a window is a part of the gem when viewed face-up that exhibits transmitted light. Windows are almost always found right beneath the table. A quick test is to place the stone over a piece of newsprint. If you can read the print, you are looking through a window. Windows are the result of a shallow pavilion, a too shallow depth to width ratio. Windows are considered faults because they are a portion of the gem that does not sparkle.

Gem cuts are designed and engineered to be judged face-up with light perpendicular to the table. Tilt the gem away from the perpendicular and every gem other than a briolette will exhibit a window. Ironically the more precise the cut, the more likely the gem is to window when tilted as little as five degrees from the perpendicular. Some gems, particularly those with a bit of fat around the pavilion, may exhibit some brilliance when tilted as much as ten to fifteen degrees from the perpendicular. What cannot be eliminated must be embraced. A tilt window, forgetaboutit!

Grading; From Minus To Plus:

Gems with bulbous pavilions are often criticized for being overweight, meaning that the stone’s face is smaller than it would be if the stone was perfectly cut. The irony here is that such stones may actually exhibit a greater arc of brilliance which contributes to the beauty of the gem. Once the eye is four to five feet from the gem, the overall brilliance becomes the real issue, not the stone’s mathematical diameter. Broader bellies also extend to the length of the light path and may enrich the color (hue, saturation and tone) of the gem.

In another Pricescope thread, one ubiquitous poster put a link to an alexandrite (pictured above) on my website and criticized me for the failure to disclose an off-center culet. How did this forum member determine that the stone had such a terrible fault? The page included a side view image of the stone face-down. If there was an attempt to hide the fault, it was hidden in plain sight. http://www.rwwise.com/products/id,255 Unfortunately her interpretation of the image was quite wrong. The stone does not have an off-center culet. What the forum member saw was a very minor symmetry fault, one side of the pavilion has a slight indent coupled with a tilted crown which when placed on a flat surface caused the culet to appear off-center. And if the gem did have a slightly off-center culet, so what! We are talking about one of the earth’s rarest treasures, a gem quality alexandrite!

Each Gem Is an Individual with a distinct personality and should be judged on its merits:

Gem aficionados usually begin their love affair with the colorless diamond. They learn the famous 4 C’s and attempt to apply those criteria, namely color, clarity cut and carat weight uncritically to colored gemstones. As I have said elsewhere all Cs are not created equal. In the connoisseurship of colorless diamond, cut is the 1st and most important criterion. Diamonds have no color, they are all about brilliance and sparkle, so naturally cut, which delivers sparkle is the most important single criterion. I knew a neophyte jeweler once who was not satisfied with eye-flawless sapphires, he demanded that all of his sapphires be flawless under 10x magnification. The problem, without inclusions it is almost impossible to determine if a stone has been enhanced and determination of geographic origin is absolutely impossible.

Colored gemstones as their name suggest are all about color and cut is, at best, a secondary consideration. An off-center culet in a diamond would be a major symmetry fault and materially effect price. In a colored gem, an off-center culet in and of itself is a minor fault which has no effect on price. Why do such things exist? A culet might appear off-center for a couple of reasons. The lapidary may have removed a potentially eye visible inclusion or have placed the culet slightly askew to smooth out color zones so that the zone does not appear in the gem when viewed face-up.

It should be remembered that colorless diamonds are not truly rare. The introduction of cut and clarity scales that have nothing to do with beauty are more about creating the appearance of rarity than the thing itself. The connoisseurship of gemstones requires discernment and careful contemplation. Gems cannot be accurately graded by image. The aficionado should beware attempts to reduce it to a formula or a check list.

Share GemWise With Your World!

Gem Cut Grading; Distinctions Without A Difference

3 Replies

The diagram shows the proper angle for viewing an asymetrical gemstone. The bottom half of the gem is evaluated, the gem is then turned 180 degrees and the other half is judged for percentage of brilliance, the two percentages are then totaled.

$This matche pair of carat sized blue sapphires exhibit off-axis refraction also known as extinction. The dark areas move as the gem moves partially defilning the positive areas of scintillation$

This matched pair of carat sized blue sapphires exhibit off-axis refraction also known as extinction. The dark negative areas move as the gem moves partially defining the positive areas of sparkle (scintillation) in the gems

I wandered over to one of the major gem forums this morning. One of the members was talking about a phenomenon he called “shadowing.” This poster defines shadowing when a gemstone exhibits brilliance across half the stone when the stone is held off axis, that is not perpendicular to the light source, he was looking for a cure.

A Non-Issue:

This is a good example of a non-issue. Non-symmetrical cuts, rectangle, oval, pear viewed under a single beam light source will always show brilliance across half the face of the gem when the stone is tilted away from the perpendicular. Why, because the gemstone is not symmetrical and therefore treats light in a non-symmetrical fashion. In the cuts just mentioned, some facets particularly the pavilion facets which are responsible for delivering brilliance, cannot be uniform. Some are larger, some are longer therefore light hitting these facets will refract in an irregular fashion. Symmetrical cuts, rounds and square cushions, by contrast have uniform facet patterns and do not suffer this phenomenon.

For this reason, asymmetrical gems are graded under a single light source, viewed at at a 45 degree angle away from the light source angled toward the eye. At this viewing angle, half the gem, the bottom half is potentially brilliant. The percentage of that half is then compared with the other half when the gem is rotated 180 degrees and viewed a second time. Add the relative percentage of each half and voila you have the total percentage of brilliance. In colored gemstones, 80% brilliance is considered excellent which means that at any given time, 20% of the gem will exhibit extinction.

One trick for viewing the brilliance of the entire stone at once is the use of sky light. Turn your back to the sun and view the gem at the same 35 degree angle toward the eye. In this position the light filtering around the body of the viewer should light up the 100% of the gem. Any lack of brilliance in this position is a fault and should be subtracted from the theoretical 100% to arrive at the percentage of brilliance. In most cases, gem photographers correct for this phenomenon by photographing gems with non-symmetrical outlines by using multiple light sources.

A Little Extinction Contributes To A Gem’s Beauty

Extinction is another much misunderstood phenomenon. I am often asked, particularly by members of this forum, if a particular gem shows extinction. First lets define our terms, what is extinction. This phenomenon is caused by off-axis refraction. When light enters a gemstone, it enters the crown and reflects internally off the pavilion (back) facets and eventually back through the crown to the eye. Inevitably some light refracts at an angle that is not toward but rather away from the eye, the greater the angle the more extinct it becomes, in a tonal continuum from gray to black.

All faceted gemstones without exception exhibit extinction, no extinction, no scintillation. the great German philosopher Hegel said determinatio est negatio. which when reduced to simplest terms means g all positive requires a negative. Sweet has no meaning without salty, good does not exist without evil, etcetera. So too with gems. Scintillation, sparkle is the result of light being broken up into pieces, tiny scintillas of light that are refracted back to the eye in little pieces. Between those pieces is darkness, extinction. Want a gem to light up like a flashlight with no sparkle, eliminate extinction. Some degree of extinction is therefore required as contrast.

Extinction As A Fault:

Extinction can have other causes as well, dark is the absence of light. Gems lacking transparency will often show what one of my clients once called a “heart of darkness” at the center of the gem beneath the table. This is particularly prevalent in sapphire and the cutter will often cut a window to let in light through the culet, the apex of the cone shaped pavilion of the gem. So while some extinction is desirable, in fact necessary to the beauty of the gem, large areas of extinction are a definite and definable fault.

Share GemWise With Your World!

3rd Annual June Gem & Antique Jewelry Sale

5 Replies

10603: A matched pair of mint tourmaline from Afghanistan. Perfectly cut. Regular price: $1,790.00, on sale @ $1,006.87.

10608: A lovely perfectly matche pair of Brazilian golden topaz. Regular price: $1,932.00. Sale price: $1,449.00.

10608: A lovely perfectly matched pair of Brazilian golden topaz. Regular price: $1,932.00. Sale price: $1,449.00.

Yes, it has come round again. For the third straight year, R. W. Wise, Goldsmiths is offering loose gemstones and antique jewelry in its extensive inventory at 25% off the normal price.

For those of you who have been our clients over the year, you know that we do not normally discount. We feel that in deference to our clients, our prices should be fair and firm.

You are cordially invited to log-on to our Gemstone Gallery or our Antique Jewelry Gallery and browse through our inventory. We do not post prices of gems above $5,000.00, we also do not have a market basket. In all cases the prices listed are the regular retail price, not the sale price. Please give us a call at 800.773.0249, mention the sale and we but will gladly quote the price and give you the discount. The 25% discount does not apply to items in our Sale Gallery.

Stay Tuned: Videos Coming Soon:

One of the biggest issues in buying gemstones on line is the quality of the images. Every monitor is different and images lie and gemstones are dynamic objects, meant to be seen in motion.

10558: A magnificent "pidgeon blood" color Burmese ruby weighing 1.15 carats. Regular price: $9,800.00 on sale at 25% off

After some experimentation, next week we will be posting videos of some of our finest stones. However, even with videos, the often subtle differences are often not discernible online. So we want to speak with you and discuss your purchase. We offer a five business day evaluation period when you purchase one of our pieces, gems and jewelry, online. If you are not happy with your purchase, return it within the five days for a 100% refund of the purchase price, you only pay shipping/insurance.

Share GemWise With Your World!

Tucson Treasures 2012 Part 1:

2 Replies

by Richard W. Wise, G.G.

Tucson; Life As A Treasure Hunt:

There is more than one way to build a gem collection.

One of the great things about my job is that my life is a treasure hunt. Seeing all of the newly acquired treasures spread out on the desk is ne of the most rewarding parts of the whole experience. Only then do you get a real sense of what has been accomplished. That is why Rebekah and I make the Tucson pilgrimage year after year.

Show & Tell:

Over the past twenty-five years, we have made buying trips all over the world, but there is still something special about Tucson. This year’s show was a mixed bag. There were no exciting new finds to rock the gemworld. Prices were strong reflecting the continued erosion of the dollar in overseas markets. There was a great deal of Ethiopian opal available and spinel continues its rise to stardom. Let me share a few highlights from our trip:

Spinel:

Speaking of Mahenge Spinel, with prices skyrocketing for the pure pinks, mixed hued gems like this beautiful 2.02 carat orangy-pink "padparadscha" spinel, are still comparative bargains. Inventory #10604

Two factors, the discovery of quantities of bright Cobalt blue spinel in Vietnam and hot Mahenge pink in Tanzania in the early part of the last decade have supercharged demand for this previously little appreciated gemstone. Why is a mystery, spinel has always been a good choice, it is highly crystalline, durable and comes in many hues, but since these two discoveries, demand and price have escalated dramatically.

According to statistics gathered by Dr. Adolf Peretti, President of The GRS Lab in Bangkok and presented to the Accredited Gemologists Association annual seminar in Tucson, spinel prices that have been rising steadily over the past five years have jumped by an astonishing ten times is just the past two years. Though most of this price increase is in the higher end of Cobalt blues and Mahenge pinks, prices for all colors have followed the trend.

Tahitian Black Pearls:

Ever since my first trip to the pearl farms of the Tuamotu Islands, north of Tahiti, I have been entranced by the beauty of black Tahitian pearls. Black pearls, of course they are not really black, in color they are varying tones of gray. Black pearls carry with them an air of mystery and are a wonderfully sophisticated alternative to white pearls. Just as flexible fashion-wise, anywhere you can wear white, except perhaps on your wedding day, you can wear black pearls.

Exceptional pearls are described as having life! Life is an elusive quality. First the pearl must have a flawless skin and high luster, but not only that, a steel ball-bearing has great luster, the other component is overtone and the black pearl has the finest, most distinct overtone of any pearl variety. What is overtone? Rather than indulging in long winded explanations lets see if this image will replace a thousand words. Pictured below right are three top quality Tahitian pearls.

Note the lovely mirror like luster and the rose/green overtones of the pair to the left. Often confused with color, overtone is ethereal, it hovers and clings to the pearl like an early morning mist. This combination is known as peacock. The single pearl to the right is a delicate rose.

Under the microscope, the skin of a pearl resembles a shingled roof. Overtone is the result of light refracting through tiny translucent prismatic “shingles” of nacre, made of aragonite, a calcium carbonate, nacre secreted by the host mollusk makes up the pearl’s essence.

12.5mm Tahitian Black Pearls of exceptional quality. The pair to the left exhibit a peacock overtone, the gem to the right is a delicate rose pink over a slightly darker almost black hued pearl.. Inventory #10596

We are used to seeing white Japanese akoya pearls with a distinct pink overtone, but that is normally false. Akoya pearls are normally bleached white then dyed pink. The overtone that you are seeing here is completely natural and is the distinguishing feature of the Tahitian Black Pearl.

the normal overtones in Tahitian pearls are rose, green, blue and purple along with various mixtures. Green is the most common, blue is rare and purple almost non-existent.

We also managed to obtain a 9mm strand of multi-overtoned black pearls. These strands alternate the various overtones. Pearls with distinct overtones have a high degree of translucency which means that the pearls will actually pick up subtle hint of color from the dress or blouse that a woman may be wearing.

Flawless and perfetly matched rounds, this 9mm strand exhebits blue, green and rose overtones. Inventory #10606

Flawless and perfectly matched rounds, this 9mm strand of black Tahitian pearls exhibits the characteristic blue, green and rose overtones. Inventory #10606

Like to hear more from GemWise? Interested in the crème de la crème of gemstones. check out the table of contents to the right.

Subscribe! You can have GemWise delivered right to your inbox or by RSS feed.

Share GemWise With Your World!