All That Glitters Website Changes and Info for January 2009

First, we would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Second, we would like to thank all those goldsmiths, custom jewelers, wholesale gemstone dealers and especially the online public for giving us a wonderful year, as sales at the end of February 2008 were record setting. Fine quality remains strong in a weak economy. The standard typically low quality gemstones and jewelry that most stores have in inventory, remain a slow sell as it is not offering the public quality, value or price. Those in the know are seeking something unique and not what every store has in their show cases. Third, we are celebrating our 10th year online and our official 28th year in business.

Here are the changes to look for on the All That Glitters website for January 2009:

This Months Special: 3.95ct Oval Blue Zircon

http://www.atggems.com/Monthly_Special.htm

One of our popular gemstones and colors, this deep blue zircon will show lots of dispersion under the right lights, just like diamond! A very nice sized gemstone for a ring or pendant, without being over large, and smaller gems will not have this intense blue color...

Gem News: Winza Ruby from Tanzania and What is All This Pink Zircon about?

http://www.atggems.com/Monthly_News.htm

Observations by L. Allen Brown, owner of All That Glitters on various new finds coming to the market, especially the over abundance of pink Zircon, something that really hadn't been seen before considering all the colors that Zircon can be found in. Greens and Reds are rare, nice Orange is uncommon, but we haven't seen pink before. Should this send up a 'red' flag like Andesine Feldspar over the past few years? L. Allen Brown starts his investigation.

Newly Faceted or Photographed Gemstones:

http://www.atggems.com/Photos_New.htm

The last of the large neon or teal blue Madagascar Apatite rough has been faceted by our award winning master cutter. This material is over 10 years old and we finally have faceted in. We have seen lower quality which is smaller, included and doesn't have such a nice color, not to mention that we don't know of anyone else putting the time, effort and money to produce gemstones in this material that could be entered in cutting competions! The prices out there are actually more than what we are asking.

A wonderful matched pair of pinkish/purply Sapphires are available - rare to find a good match and in this unique color! Our first faceted Oregon Sunstone has come back from our master cutter, as well as a recut Burmese Spinel.

We have re-photographed three fine blue Sapphires for a customer, and we are sharing the new photos with everyone. These appear on the New Page as well as on our Sapphire Page.

Currently in the Cutting Process by Our Award Winning Master Cutter:

Nothing currently in faceting. All larger important rough has currently been faceted, and no other material is being re-faceted. Though we have some fine blue green, neony blue, teal and similar colors from Nuristani area of Afghanistan, we have sufficient gemstones already faceted and have no plans to facet this old and valuable material for the time being.

Make A Wish:

We are off to Tucson in the near future - end of January/early February. If there is anything that you have been wanting but haven't found as of yet, please let us know and we will attempt to make that purchase for you, assuming we find it and it is something that we feel comfortable with in the All That Glitters Inventory; it has to pass our cutting, inclusion, size, color and the normal rigorous demands, including price!

Market Observations by L. Allen Brown, owner of All That Glitters

We expect to see more of the Winza Ruby from Tanzania showing up on the market. The color is different from Burmese Ruby, but it can still be a very fine color.

There has been a large amount of Pink Zircon in the market over the past several months. This has been raising some red flags, just as the Red Andesine did a few years ago for the owner of All That Glitters. Like Red Andesine Feldspar, pink Zircon has not been very common at all until recently. We have started asking questions of the Germans, a well known gemstone company on the West Coast, a Cambodian who sells nothing but Zircon and the gemstone editor for JCK Magazine.

The Germans and the West Coast company, indicate that this is a deposit of Zircon with miscellaneous colors, the best pink of which can be described as a dusty rose, coming from the Tanzania/Kenya border. Many Zircons are heat treated to produce other colors, and it might be so with this material; perhaps the rough is taken out of the ground and then heated to produce this dusty rose color. However, there are photos of pink Zircon in very bright pinks, even neon pinks, and a number of reds coming out of Thailand. Thailand is not only known for heat treatment, but also for diffusion and they are coming up with new enhancements all the time - selling these gemstones as totally natural, only to be disclosed years down the road that the material had been treated! The owner of All That Glitters feels that these very fine pinks where photo enhanced to produce the fine colors. It is also possible that there is some treatment being performed, but these hot pinks have yet to be seen in person, and most likely will be available in Tucson.

Another thing that is worrisome, is the fact that the Thai companies selling these 'pink' Zircons, indicate that their origin is Tanzania, Africa, Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Now these countries could all of a sudden be producing/mining pink Zircon, but this is very reminiscent of the Andesine treatment which is not going to fade from memory for a long time....the origin of the Andesine was originally said to be a new find in the Congo. Many thought it was actually coming from a mine in China. All That Glitters had been told by a company that they were doing the mining and that the gems were coming from Nepal. In reality, it seems that the Chinese were purchasing yellow Feldspar from Mexico and using a proprietary diffusion treatment they had developed (perhpas developed by the Thais?), that would turn the yellow cheaper Feldspar into nice red, orange and reddish orange expensive Andesine Feldspar!

Time will tell, but All That Glitters has been making the inquiries, working with JCK Magazine and others in an attempt to find out the truth and possibly obtain some fine high end material for the trade and the public should the material be deemed natural in origin, without diffusion.


Our Monthly Gemstone Special for January 2009 is a wonderful deep blue Ziron!
Monthly Special

You can view our Zircon Inventory by visiting the link below. You will find Yellow, Blue, Green, Orange and even a deep Red available! (The Green, Orange and Red are rare colors in these sizes, cutting, clarity, etc.)
Zircon Photos