The Gemstone Project

I always struggle with the point to call something “teal” and I don’t know where that specific point is in the spectrum of blue-green that something is delineated from turquoise to teal. Turquoise, to me, has always been more blue than green, while teal has always been more green than blue. Don’t get me started on aqua and cerulean! Again, I have no idea where this transition occurs, but I feel like it changes depending on the person doing the judging. Regardless, I wanted to take a minute and write a bit about a blue-green tourmaline I have.

I wish the resolution of the picture previews was better.

Barry Bridgestock
Namibian – Usakos
Tourmaline
2.32 carats
8.5mm
round brilliant
Flawless at 10x
Medium blue green

This particular stone is interesting and has a shift between a blue-green and a minty green in certain lights. Of course, depending on the lighting, it can look much darker, or quite a bit lighter. I think it is particularly beautiful in natural daylight conditions.

Recently there has been a spike in blue-green tourmaline prices. From what I have heard, it’s partially becoming less plentiful, but also, all of the turmoil overseas has reduced mining both in the Middle East and in Africa. So rough prices for tourmaline in general are going up, and the blue-green prices had been going up already.

Unfortunately gem prices are going up across the board – for pretty much all varieties of stones.

I have another stone that is similar to this one in color that is in my private collection that I have been struggling to come up with particular design elements for. It is a little bit deeper in tone than this one, but the hue is very similar. I keep considering keeping this one over the other one because of the size difference, but the other is a more interesting shape and I think it fits more with the design I have come up with for it. That setting will not be possible for quite a while (I have to come to some decisions about it first!) but it’s a bit whimsical and out of the ordinary. I don’t want to talk about it too much because it’s so far into the future, but I will drop a few hints: yellow gold, Art Deco, New York City.