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Lot 217
Ruby Crystal
7 December 2016, 10:00 PST
Los AngelesUS$2,500 - US$3,500
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Ruby Crystal
John Saul Mine, Longido, Tanzania
The first gemstone deposits found in East Africa were in Longido, Tanzania. Their production was generally small or of poor quality gems. However, a fantastic mid-1970s discovery of chromium-rich rock yielded not only some wonderful green tourmalines but some wonderful rubies, also colored by chromium, which required no enhancement. The color of these stones was splendid and their quality put East Africa on the map of gem-producing countries—right up there with Burma and Sri Lanka. Indeed some of the rubies from the mine were of such a fine distinctive shade of ruby-red which would later become a standard of quality. To cutters around the world the expression "johnsaul" simply grew to mean "very fine red" when it came to describing rubies. It is said that Van Cleef and Arpels bought a very large portion of the production of this mine at the time.
The present offering is a large, well-formed hexagonal ruby crystal which is doubly-terminated. This is a fine textbook example of a classic ruby crystal for the knowledgeable collector. Measuring 1 3/8 x 7/8 x 6/8 in
The first gemstone deposits found in East Africa were in Longido, Tanzania. Their production was generally small or of poor quality gems. However, a fantastic mid-1970s discovery of chromium-rich rock yielded not only some wonderful green tourmalines but some wonderful rubies, also colored by chromium, which required no enhancement. The color of these stones was splendid and their quality put East Africa on the map of gem-producing countries—right up there with Burma and Sri Lanka. Indeed some of the rubies from the mine were of such a fine distinctive shade of ruby-red which would later become a standard of quality. To cutters around the world the expression "johnsaul" simply grew to mean "very fine red" when it came to describing rubies. It is said that Van Cleef and Arpels bought a very large portion of the production of this mine at the time.
The present offering is a large, well-formed hexagonal ruby crystal which is doubly-terminated. This is a fine textbook example of a classic ruby crystal for the knowledgeable collector. Measuring 1 3/8 x 7/8 x 6/8 in