A Couple of Paraiba Questions

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Klosblue

Costs nothing to be nice!
Joined
Jun 24, 2008
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I have a couple of questions regarding Paraiba which maybe Gav, Meeshoo or some other well informed friend may be able to answer for me please.

1. Is the colour of Paraiba reflected in the price or it is purely personal preference and taste? I've seen some colours more expensive than others - eg Electric Blue appears to be dearer than the Green colour.

2. Why do we never see Paraiba in cluster designs only ever in single stone designs? Maybe it's just me who's never seen clusters?

Probably 2 daft questions but hey that's nothing new for me! :9:

Thank you :33:
 
If you were to have your PT valued there is a hierachy of colour. At the very top is neon electric blue. The neon greens are considered to be slightly less valuable. However, it IS all about colour so if you see a well cut neon PT then it will always be of more value than a well cut "normal" PT. If you look at these two, the top one, although it has more inclusions than the bottom one, is more expensive, simply because of the colour. Both are neon and top grade though.

Paraibagreenandblue.jpg


If you buy PT please make sure that it's well cut. I'm seeing windows that Everest Double Glazing would be proud of at the moment being sold everywhere! (Other double glazing companies are available). I'm not commenting specifically on the PT sold by any of the channels by the way, it's just a general observation.

In terms of clusters - yes you can buy them. I think years ago GemsTV had some cluster rings. Typically though, they won't be top colour because if you have a piece of stunning rough that's going to produce a neon gemstone, why would you carve it into tiny pieces? The only time you'd do that is if the cutting process went wrong!
 
You're so right about the windows, Meesh - I'm grateful to you for explaining this in a previous thread a long time ago, and I can't help noticing now. I don't have any paraiba and I've been tempted by some on Rocks & Co as they have good colour and some nice designs, but I've been totally put off by the windows. Why on earth spoil a rare and valuable gem by not cutting it properly?!
 
Thanks very much Meeshoo - I knew you would know the answers. Yours look fab - as usual!
With regards to the "windows" - I think I understand what windowing is but I'm not 100% sure!! Is it when there is a sort of lighter middle to the stone? Oh dear I don't think I've explained what I mean very well and I'm probably completely wrong too!
 
You're spot on KB. A window typically means when you're looking at the gemstone face on, there's an area in the middle that you can see straight through. It's NOT a window if you need to use a loupe or when you tilt the stone and look at it from an angle (as certain facets will allow you see through when you do that especially in lighter coloured gemstones). So basically a window looks like the one on the right in this picture. The gem on the left is a better cut as all the colour is bouncing back to your eye. With the one on the right, you can see through it:

35ba4113.jpg


Here are some that I've had the misfortune to see! Not from Rocks&Co!

Trim525.jpg


CeylonPadsR.jpg


Typically the reason for windowing is that the cutter has cut the gemstone to maximise the size and get a bigger carat weight, rather than cut for beauty.

Another thing to look for and this is less apparent (and can be less worrying) is "extinction". Typically extinction in a gemstone means that you see black areas instead of the colour. Here's an example:

Extinctioningemstone.jpg


However, you have to judge a gemstone as a whole and rotate it and look in all lights. Look at this next picture. This gemstone has some extinction (not too bad though) but the overall colour and brilliance is phenomenal so it didn't stop me from buying it!

UmbaliteGarnetinLOGRsetting1.jpg


Hope that helps.
 
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Thanks again Meeshoo that's really interesting. It's funny because until now I'd never heard of "extinction" but there's been a few times when hubby and I were watching another channel (not Rocks & Co) and we both noticed black bits on some gems but weren't sure if it was the lighting! Obviously not! I can't actually remember which gems it was but am 99% certain it was Rubellite. See it's true what they say - you learn something new every day - even at my age!!
 
Ah...happy memories!

Ah Meesh, just like a trip down Memory Lane ..............
rolleyes.gif


Hells bells I'm
Drooling.gif
again!

Now what was the bow tie effect again.......? mysmilie_1436
 
Gulp - Just checked some of my bits and I think I have more windows than the Crystal Palace.
 
Yup I've got quite a few windows in some bits, but considering the price I still like em.
& I think I've seen some extinction too (now I know what it is)
Its good knowing the proper terms - although I can never remember them lol

Thank you Meesho!
 

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