About one year ago we received the first samples from the new mine. Judging the quality of tourmaline rough is always a tricky affair. Even the most experienced gemcutters have had their share of unpleasant surprises. Due to the strong pleochroism each piece of rough is a challenge and basically you only get to know if the colour is pure or has that unwanted brownish tinge once the stone is cut and polished. Furthermore there are some African tourmalines that literally explode upon first contact with the cutting disc. Cutters have appropriately nicknamed these stones “glassheads”.
Well, we were in luck. The stones turned out to be of pleasingly high clarity, most in fact eyeclean, with colours ranging from yellowish green to green and a stunning slightly bluish green. These new stones are definitely superior to the common brazilian verdelites (often jokingly termed “beerbottelites”).