Tuesday, December 29, 2015

All That Glitters Website and Info Changes for January 2016!

Another fast year has gone by and 2016 is here.  We are recently back from the Far East and have made some new purchases.  In a few weeks, we will have images, descriptions, stock numbers and pricing for many items we are sure will receive attention when posted.  Some of these are very special pieces and will most likely be certed by GIA.  These might include:  Alexandrite, Alexandrite Cat's Eye, Pink Scapolite from Burma that fluoresces, a Grossular Garnet that also fluoresces, unheated Sapphire and Ruby (as well as heated), including Fancy Multi-Colored Sapphire, Padparadschas, unique one of a kind Opals, many Star Sapphires, Blue Moonstones, various colored Spinels, a carved Iolite Chameleon, neon Apatite, Green Sphene, Tsavorite, Aquamarine, a fancy kite-shaped Tanzanite, Demantoid, Chrysoberyl,  Cat's Eye Chrysoberyl, a Diamond Crystal (2.8+cts) with a flower-like Hydrogen Cloud, as well as Blue, Yellow and Green Zircon!

Here are the changes on the All That Glitters Website for January 2016:

This Month's Special:  Natural Agate Slice!
A wonderful natural Agate Slice from the Tabajaran Mine in Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil
Save $40 - including Shipping and Insurance…

This Month's Gem News:  'Grumpy' Husband Who Found Gold Nugget Sells It For $175K
A Victorian man who found a 2.7kg gold nugget after his wife booted him out of the house for being “grumpy” has sold it for $175,000…

Newly Faceted or Photographed Gemstones:
MANY newly purchased gemstones from our month in the Far East will be available on our website shortly.  They will appear on our Newly Photographed page as well as on pages associated with the particular gemstone species.
Back from our Carver/Sculptor are two Oregon Sunstones - one is a rich lively Reddish Orange (SOLD!) and the other displays Schiller with a color typical of this material (when tipped, one can see the shiny copper color of the schiller).
Both of these are carved by hand (v-grooves) as our cutter awaits a new machine for making smaller diameter concave facets.
GIA has certed 5 more of our gemstones - Rubies, all a Purplish Red.  One is unique as it is purple under fluorescent (and therefore could be called Sapphire, and it was certed as a Sapphire previously), and it goes purplish red under incandescent where it picks up more red - enough to be called and certed as a Ruby!  A unique piece.
We are also offering a Male Ant in Amber, with the stand.  This is an item that has graced the All That Glitters office for decades - the ant is approximately 50 Million Years Old - and is fascinating to look at with the naked eye, loupe or microscope.  (This is in our East Coast Office, and won't be available for shipping until May).

Gemstones in Cutting:
One Color Changing Diaspore is being Concave faceted, and two others will be carved/sculpted.
One final piece of Sunstone (Oregon) rough is currently in the possession of our carver/sculptor.  This last piece has HEAVY LARGE Schiller!   We recently delivered three final pieces for the end of 2015 - a fan shaped Ametrine, a large Ouro Preto Precious Topaz (orange!) and a nice blue Tourmaline.  Hopefully, he can work his magic on both of these pieces, but we won't have any of gems in our possession until perhaps the end of 2015 and hope to post them as soon as possible.  (This work is being created by an award winning cutter whom we are just starting to work as of 2015.)  These newly finished pieces will be posted on our Newly Photographed page as soon as possible.
(Note that the Ametrine has been finished as well as one piece of two of the blue Tourmaline; next scheduled is the Imperial Topaz.  Once completed, these gemstones will be returned to All That Glitters and we will post the results!  Other rough will be worked on in the future when our cutter can schedule it.)

New Link/Page - Tribute to Stephen Kotlowski, Supreme Master Gemcutter:
We added a new link/page at the very bottom of the left hand navigation column dedicated to our friend/master cutter, Stephen Kotlowski, who passed away unexpectedly in October 2015.  There is information on Stephen, as well as various photos, and approximately 50 images of gemstones that Stephen either faceted from All That Glitters rough or re-cut from previously faceted gemstone purchases.  This represents all of our gemstones faceted by Stephen that are currently available for sale; a few that have recently sold.  This is an unexpected premature ending to the legacy of an experienced cutter who continued to amaze the gemstone community with his talents.

More All That Glitters Gemstones Studied at GIA:
http://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/fall-2015-microworld-blue-gahnite-inclusions-cats-eye-heliodor
GIA's Gems & Gemology, Fall 2015:  Blue Gahnite Inclusions in Cat’s-Eye Heliodor