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
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
posted by All That Glitters at 8:50 AM
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