Freshly hand-cut gems!!!

[BurntBear]

Fresh, hand-cut gems!!!

Here are four hand-cut gems cut by Doc at Doc's Rocks Gem Mine in Blowing Rock, N.C..
My partner & I found these stones; not in a mine, but in a stream (except for the Ethiopian Opal) and had them cut at the gem mine.

First photo is an Ethiopian Opal .90 ct. 6mm Cab Cut - North Carolina Emerald .65 ct. 7x5mm Oval Cut



Ethiopian Opal .90 ct. 6mm Cab Cut - Untreated



North Carolina Emerald .65 ct. 7x5mm Oval Cut - Untreated



North Carolina Ruby 1.10 ct. 7x5mm Oval Cut - Untreated





North Carolina Black Sapphire .95 ct. 7x5mm Oval Cut - Untreated



All of these gems are natural and untreated. The Black Sapphire is interesting! Black Sapphire is actually a very, very DEEP blue that appears black as night!

Thanks for looking!

 

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[BurntBear]

Here is a short video clip of the Ethiopian Opal:

 

[BurntBear]

One more photo of the North Carolina Emerald

.65 ct. 7x5mm Oval Cut - Untreated

 

[DDancer]

Nice stones. The last one is pretty darn good. Suggestion for your photo's~ use lint free towels

 

[BurntBear]

Thanks! Those were the first photos I snapped and it was rather difficult. I will definitely be working on the quality aspect of the photos. Thanks for your input and informative posts.

 

[G Freeman]

One more photo of the North Carolina Emerald

.65 ct. 7x5mm Oval Cut - Untreated

View attachment 1047198

That is what I want to find. Great.

 

[BurntBear]

Sounds like you'll have to make a trip across that line for a day of prospecting! I'd be glad to take you along.

 

[PamDF]

Beautiful opal, I've always wanted one.... maybe I'd go shop later

 

[BurntBear]

Sorry, I missed your post. Thank you!

 

[BurntBear]

UPDATE:

We went to our appraiser finally, lol. Turned out to be a good day; so we took new photos and added the cut gems to our webstore on our website.

North Carolina Black/Blue Sapphire .95 ct. 7x5mm Oval Cut - UNTREATED - Appraised $225.00



North Carolina Ruby 1.10 ct. 7x5mm Oval Cut - UNTREATED - Appraised $325.00



North Carolina Emerald .65 ct. 7x5mm Oval Cut - UNTREATED - Appraised $650.00



Ethiopian Opal .90 ct. 6mm Cab Cut - Appraised $95.00

 

[BurntBear]

Headed to the cutter again tomorrow. I'm having a North Carolina Star Ruby cut, another North Carolina Emerald, as well as some beautiful Ethiopian Opal! I'll post the before and after shots when they're done.

 

[dawnhvr]

I have a rock I found in Deleware that resembles the emerald. Do you think it could be one?

 

[BurntBear]

Hi dawnhvr,

That's an interesting specimen you have and even more interesting that you found it in Delaware. I grew up in that area. It does kind of resemble Emerald. Since you have the stone in person, try searching Google Images for "Emerald Rough or Raw Form" and compare it. A better idea would be to locate a small rock club or lapidary club nearby or a geology department of a local college. I'm not sure where you're from or what's available to you. Let me know if I can help, send me a PM.

You could have a variation of a mineral called "Serpentine". Try researching that as well.

Here is an image of "Serpentine" from the web:

 

[dawnhvr]

That actually looks a lot like two others I found at the same place. My aunt lives on Bethany beach in Deleware and I got a lot of rocks from the inlet beach.

 

[dawnhvr]

That is definitely my rock.

 

[Eu_citzen]

Cool to see them appraised. I would not have guessed those values, except for the emerald. I guess the locality adds some value in this case!

 

[BurntBear]

Cool to see them appraised. I would not have guessed those values, except for the emerald. I guess the locality adds some value in this case!

Thanks! The locality definitely plays a part. Corundum is fairly abundant in N.C., but gem quality is scarce. It will be a week before the new Ethiopian Opal is done cutting. I may go pick up the Star Ruby today though.

 

[BurntBear]

Here is the before and after results of the Star Ruby cut:

Rough: 33 cts.





Cut: 1.25 cts. - Appraised: $375.00





I'll work on better photos tonight.

 

[Eu_citzen]

If it was a star ruby why on earth did the cutter facet it?? It's not very good to show off the star, you know.
And that weight loss is exceptional.

 

[BurntBear]

There were multiple reasons for this cut. I know what you're thinking though. There were fractures in this stone which took about 30%-40% of the weight right off the bat. Also, very few Stars actually produce a good star effect. This star was not proportionate for one, had fractures and was more of a risk trying to achieve a Star than just cutting it. It was the better decision.

Don't worry, there's a few hundred more Stars to cut.

I'm headed to pick up another cut Emerald and an Ethiopian Opal today. I got to see the Opal a few days ago when I stopped in. Wow, wait until you see that one!