A Fabulous Find at the 2009 Tucson Gem & Jewelry Shows

Gem quality Translucent Richterite

While Richterite has been found in other locations, We think its the first in High Quality Translucent Blue

GIA says this is a First Lab Report on Blue Richterite 

   Our story begins in Tucson, Arizona, where we attend the Gems & Jewelry shows yearly. We were on the hunt for the best quality Sugilite available, While that was very successful, one vendor from South Africa had a specimen laying in the corner which everyone was passing on, or just plain overlooking,

  I check each piece to see how translucent the stones are and I did the same with this Rock. As I took a closer look at it, it was very high quality, We had already blown our budget and I wasn't ready to give the asking price, I did make an offer which was rejected, and I decided to sleep on it. Well forget about sleeping if you love top Color Gems as much as I do.

  We went back the next day and the dealer made me a better price. Needless to say the stone was ours. The stone weighed in at just over 8 pounds, kind of an oblong shape, with purples on one side and blues on the other side. I spent months just studing this beauty, This is what I found, and it is beyond belief,  I had found my own gemstone mine all in one rock, With enough Gem material in it to mine for years. With translucent Purples, Fuschia, Swirling mixed colors, and just the best Cornflower or Navy Blue Colors you can imagine. with 3 purples areas about the size of a small egg. and the same with the fabulous blues.

  I contacted many experts and they never heard of Richterite ( in blue color ) or seen it in gem grade. When I say gem grade I mean Very Translucent. So I was left to decide on my own; Save it as a specimen or Cut it up for Gemstones. After months of trying to figure out what I was going to do with it I decided to cut it up. And I am sure glad I did, this stone was just chucked full of gem material.

  I started cutting sections of this rough stone and sent a couple to my gemcutter for faceting and cabbing. along with another to GIA to do a lab report. GIA told me it was a first for them and wanted to do a story in their lab notes. Not sure what Issue it will be in, While I had searched the internet for other material like it, none was found, I did find some blue richterites but none even close to the quality in this beauty. I don't know if more exist or not but when this one is gone I don't expect to find another. This stone comes from the Wessels Mine in S. Africa.

 Lastly all I can say is the Forces of Nature sure did a magnificent job on this Beauty

jewelsroughgems.com

Larry & Yokmanee Juhl

All the Cut & Uncut stones listed below are from this 8 pound Rock

And many more to come from this 8 pounder ~ Stay tuned

Thanks for looking, Larry Juhl