Rubilite rubricks from Teófilo Otoni, March 2009, and a dearth of good tourmalines for buyers and sellers

Sad to say, Natasha and I are not getting any younger -- she is 59 and I am 54. What this means is that both of us are getting to have terrible eyesight. I need really strong light and high magnifications, and she does, too.

So, the week before last, she saw this yummy looking rubilite -- by yummy, I mean the color, because the cutting was not that great and the stone could have used a bit more altura.

[Height? Depth? I'll have to come back and correct this post once I learn the proper cutting terms. Natasha speaks no English, and I speak no Russian, so we have to communicate with each other in our bad Portuguese; thus, most of the gem business vocabulary that I know, I learned in Portuguese, not English. UPDATE: yup! Altura is the distance between the very bottom of the stone and the table.]

But on this particular trip to Teófilo Otoni, we really didn't see much to buy. There was a real lack of decent merchandise for sale, particularly of tourmalines.

I will come back to that later.

But first, I just want to point out something about the photo above. That stone had really nice color and flash, a lot of life, but the cutting could have been better, and the stone could have had more depth, which brings me to its window. The windowing wasn't the worst that I have ever seen, but notice how most of it has been hidden by a convenient reflection covering at least a third of the table. (Whenever looking at oval cut stones, notice the windows! More altura usually means less of a window if the cutting is done properly.)

Convenient (NOT!) -- I took the photo like that on purpose!

more later...

Baaack! OK, why was Natasha thinking of buying this particular stone? Answer: she wants to resell it to a jeweler in Moscow.

Sound of loud warning buzzer going off...

Look, if she had wanted to buy it for herself because of the yummy color and because the price was low, then that would be all right.

But, she wanted to resell it.

We were in Teófilo Otoni for only two days, running around like crazy, so Natasha did a smart thing -- she made a deal with the seller to take the stone home and come back in two weeks and pay for it.

Whaaat!?!

Yeah, sure, the dealers in TO know Natasha, and they have this thing they do, which always makes me feel funny when they try to do it to me -- they say, "Take them with you!" and they try to put the stones right into your hands.

They want to close the deal, and if they think they can count on you to pay and if at the same time they think they can afford to risk losing the merchandise, they just put it in your hands, then, yes, you can go home with the stones and pay later (within the month, or then you have to pay interest charges of 5% per month -- not per year).

To make a long story short (because I need to finish up this post), we came back home with this stone, I had a real good look at it with a loupe, and, having seen at least two major problems, I borrowed it from Natasha to take photos just to post on this blog, because the stone has such great examples of typical tourmaline problems.

First, click on the photo below so it will enlarge to show you the real deal.


Do you see the two major problems (although there are others)?

OK, obviously the big black inclusion coming up from the bottom, at the girdle (which is called a rodízio in Portuguese), but notice also the gray spot up on the top.

Both of these are likely to be the result of the polishing material entering the stone via a fissure (like the black one) or a tiny hole (growth tube?) (like the gray one). Well, they are both the result of tiny holes, but let's leave that aside for the moment.

I have to try to get my hands on that stone, again, to see if I can take photos of the entrances.

To be updated...

UPDATE: well, I didn't take any more photos of the stone, but Natasha printed out the one just above so that she could show it to the seller when she returned the stone (because I finally managed to talk her out of buying it).

Personally, the only thing that I could think of doing with this particular stone was to have it recut, but even if the price were right, there would still be a good chance that the same thing might happen again -- polishing material going into tiny growth tube holes and ruining it. So, why bother? Skip it! Keep looking. Don't imagine that this will be the only yummy-colored rubilite you will ever see in your life. If you have money to burn -- whatever. But if not, give this stone a pass if you are looking for top quality rubilite tourmaline in Brazil -- there is better available (but naturally it will be more expensive).

Copyright © 2009 N. Tenney Naumer -- All rights reserved.

Natasha being swamped by gemstone sellers at the entrance to 22 Rua Minervino de Castro Pinto, Teófilo Otoni, Minas Gerais

OK, first let me just say that Natasha is not really being "swamped" -- she is a relatively experienced buyer, well known there, and the stone sellers on this, the most important of the streets where gems are sold in Teófilo Otoni, are a very polite bunch. Times are rough, business is down, they are an anxious lot.

The sellers on the street or in the praça are there because they never made it big or got that lucky break or they couldn't manage success when they had it or maybe they are there trying to sell someone else's stones on commission. In any case, one needs to respect the fact that they are there trying to make a living just like the next person. Unfortunately, over 90% of the time, they will show you inferior stones.

On that street, there are two unassuming but very important buildings where gem dealers have their offices.

More later...

Morganite and kunzite, treated and untreated, Teófilo Otoni, March 2009

Morganite and kunzite are just really special stones -- especially if you like a real purdy light pink or violet. [Please click on the photo to enlarge it.]

The big trillion (ca. 54 cts.) morganite on the left has been irradiated. Notice it has been cut without a table. Personally, for morganite, which has an extra special brilliance compared to a beryl like aquamarine, I love this type of cut. It throws out flashes of light all over the place. On this trip, I didn't see treated morganite with horrible greyish tones. I was told (OK, time for a GOS -- grain of salt) that there is a new morganite treatment and that the stones were being sent to Germany for it, but who knows. This trillion had a very slight orangy tone to it, especially in low light or artificial light.

The second, smaller trillion is also morganite. I was told that it had not been treated (GOS). Its color is still very decent considering that its depth is so much less than the larger stone. Morganite is one of those stones that opens up when it is cut and can turn out a lot lighter than the rough appears to be. Notice that this stone's table gives it more of a window than the larger trillion.

The two trillions were most likely cut in Teófilo Otoni. A couple of years ago, I had some morganite rough cut just like the stone on the left, right across the street from where this photo was taken. It was over 40 carats when finished and was nearly completely branco ("white") or colorless, as we would say in English, although the rough was a light salmon pink.

[In Brazilian Portuguese, the color of transparent, colorless stones is referred to as branco. Although the words for "stone" (pedra) and "gem" (gema) are feminine in Portuguese, the word for "color" (cor) is masculine (or maybe just neutral), and since, in this case, branco is the adjective for cor, it ends in an "o" instead of an "a."]

The fat pear is a kunzite. I was told (GOS) that it was an untreated Brazilian kunzite. Kunzite is a really weird stone for cutters. It can be in the final polishing stage and just suddenly split in two. All that work for nothing. Nevertheless, they are cutting gobs of it in Governador Valadares (and I was also told that they mine it right around GV -- GOS alert), about 2 hours from Teófilo Otoni. And the cuts are so sparkly and beautiful that you could just drool over them.

Some years back, most of the kunzite I came across was emerald cut or a mixture of the emerald and scissors cut (as it is known here -- if anyone can tell me what the proper name is, please leave a comment). Those two cuts certainly do show off the strong concentration of color at the end of the crystals (oops, another vocabulary deficiency I hope to fix in the near future -- isn't it nice the way you can go back and change anything you want in a blog!), but they do not show off the brilliance and flashes. Let's just put it this way -- these fancy oval and pear cuts put a lot of life in kunzite that will never show up in an emerald cut.

Of course, my wimpy little amateur camera can't begin to show the beauty of these stones.
more later. . .

OK, so if you click on the photos, they will enlarge dramatically and show lots of details -- the flaws! Take a good look at the kunzite in the top photo. Rotate the photo 90° (or turn your head or whatever). Look at that little fissure on the bottom right, almost exactly where a prong might press if the stone is set.

For me, since this stone is a kunzite, I would have to reject it without another thought. I could be wrong (and I am often wrong, so feel free to comment if you think so), but since kunzite has that peculiar tendency to snap in two, I would not buy one with a fissure right in that spot (where a jeweler is going to have to apply some pressure with a prong) or maybe any spot at all -- why take the chance?

Copyright © 2009 N. Tenney Naumer -- All rights reserved.

Gem buying in Teófilo Otoni and the Caixa Dois (the second till), or how it is normal for businesses to run a bit illegally in Brazil

Caixa Dois -- the other cash register

Wow! Whoa! This topic is so large that several books could be written on it. I wonder if accounting majors cover this topic at Brazilian universities. If they don't, they should, because all Brazilian accountants must know how this thing works in order to be able to do their job properly, which is to help their clients maintain the caixa dois.

On the most basic level, caixa dois is the means by which sales and purchases are kept off the official books of a company in order to avoid taxes. There are other things that can be kept off the books in order to avoid taxes, for example, employees (that saves any business an absolute ton of money) and assets (Brazilian politicians love this one).

Let me just start off by stating that the Brazilian internal revenue service (called the Receita Federal) is fully aware that probably 90% of businesses do not have everything on their official books. As long as the business owner does not go overboard or so long as they can grease the right palms adequately, they will not get in trouble.

This begs the question: "Is any business done completely legally and above board in Brazil?"

For an answer to this, please ask any Brazilian and watch how long it takes them to come up with an answer.

Sure, on a daily activities level, you can go to a store and buy groceries or to a shoe store and buy shoes -- those sorts of things are pretty normal. At least as far as the consumer goes. It is the back room operations that are murky.

And, you can open a bank account and have your salary deposited there and even have all your bills paid automatically, if you want.

However, you had better keep a close eye on your balance. Just offhand, I can name three people I know who have had their accounts cleared out -- all inside jobs. They all got their money back, but it sure messes up your life while you wait.

What does all this have to do with going to Teófilo Otoni to buy gems? Just let your mind voar ("fly around," as they say here) on that one.

First, most all the sellers love for transactions to occur off the books. Some of them do not even have books in the first place because they have never set up a business entity.

Second, what about you, the buyer? Are you going to declare the value of all those gorgeous stones at Customs when you get back to the U.S.? Well, are you?

Let's assume that you are as honest as the day is long and that you will declare the stones upon your arrival back home.

You're going to need a receipt.

Here in Brazil, there are two types of receipts: that flimsy one on the smaller pads usually with a piece of carbon paper in between the original and the copy, and the other kind, the official kind that is recognized by the state government tax authorities of whichever Brazilian state you happen to be in, and it may come in up to five copies. It is called a nota fiscal.

That flimsy one? That is for the caixa dois. But you know what? The U.S. Customs Service couldn't care less about a Brazilian business trying to avoid paying Brazilian taxes -- what they care about is you not cheating on your U.S. taxes.

Let's go back to the non-official receipt. You can probably have the seller fill it out any way you want. That is going to be up to your own level of honesty or ability to self-righteously deceive yourself that you already pay enough taxes and why should you pay more and it cost a lot to come on the trip in the first place and you'll never be able to afford that stone that you just gotta have if you also have to cough up at Customs, etc.

Pay attention here! If you want a receipt, don't forget to ask for one!

For most gem transactions, if you forget to ask the seller for a receipt, he/she will not bring it up, unless they are a very large reputable firm who pays most of their taxes (in which case, chances are, you are going to be paying through the nose for whatever it is you are buying).

But even in the case of the official receipt (nota fiscal), things may not need to be entirely kosher.

To be continued . . .

Update -- I will write a Part II to this post as a separate post, and then I will put the link here.

Copyright © 2009 N. Tenney Naumer -- All rights reserved.

Paraíba tourmalines from São José da Batalha, Paraíba state, Brazil, purchased at FIPP2005 and FIPP2006

Tiny but faaaaabulous!!!!

I think the biggest one might have been 10 points. And this photo was taken in the shade because in direct sunlight they just knock you out!

These 3 were bought at FIPP2005. I sure wish that I still had them! The word on the street (March '09) is that the Japanese are paying top dollar for even the tiniest ones of just a few points (although the cutting on these might not be up to par for the Japanese -- for that matter, they might even be too included), and they only want the real ones, not those Nigerian or Mozambique wannabees.

[Post incomplete -- more later . . . ]

OK, I'm back. The word on the street circa March 2009 is that there is no production of the true paraíba from São José da Batalha. This is exactly what the word was back in early 2007. So, is there any production?

Yeah, maybe, but I would be willing to bet (and I am very risk averse) that there are buyers right there at the mines scooping up whatever little gem material rough is coming out.

I was told (extra large grain of salt) that the tiny good real paraíbas of just a few points were going for US$300 per carat because the Japanese wanted them so bad, that they were being cut and sold in Hong Kong, and that (and now get this cute little detail -- who knows if it is really true?) you can't even pick out the ones that you want -- you take what you are given. LOL

So, who is going to do the good cutting for those tiny stones? Not around here, probably. I am pretty sure that no one in Teófilo Otoni has either the skill or the equipment to do precision cutting on tiny stones. Maybe in Governador Valadares. If I find out more on this, I will report back to you. If I am wrong about this, I will correct this post, but in the meantime, take it with a grain of salt (GOS).

Copyright © 2009 N. Tenney Naumer -- All rights reserved.

Green and blue-green tourmalines available in Teófilo Otoni in 2005

Tourmalines selected from a "salada" and purchased in late 2005 in Teófilo Otoni, Minas Gerais, Brazil, from Valdair Santos.

What is a salada (salad)? Well, a salad is a bag of tourmalines of all different shapes, sizes, and colors. The bags can be of different qualities of the stones.

For example, the selection above was taken from a very high quality salad. In fact, the seller was doing me a big favor to let me select out the ones that I thought were the best (or at least the ones that I thought that I could afford).

These saladas that are a large quantity of cut stones in a big plastic bag have some essential drawbacks -- 1. you are not going to find any matching pairs. 2. the chance of finding an undamaged stone is really slim -- they are not being well-treated by being flung around together like that. 3. since it is difficult to find a stone in relatively good condition, you will have to spend a lot of time looking.

But if you have the time and patience and you don't go blind while you spend hours looking at the stones with a loupe, then you may be rewarded by finding some very pretty tourmalines.

Once, while still a relative newbie, I spent 10 hours over two days looking through saladas, only to buy just R$800 worth of tourmalines (about US$400, at that time), but it was worth it. I did actually see nothing but colored tourmalines dancing in front of my eyes when I tried to sleep that night.

Usually, dealers prefer to sell the entire salad in one go (yeah, who wouldn't?). They would rather not waste their time while some tourist or buyer without much money sits there and spends an hour picking over their wares.

They particularly would prefer that someone not pick out all the really good stones and leave the rest. (A few years back, dealers would "sweeten" the salada by putting in a few larger, higher-quality stones to make the whole salada look better.) Those were the good ol' days, long gone, now, it seems.

Usually, on the last day of the annual gem fair, the prices will go down, and on the day after the last day, you can sit out in the praça, in the morning, and possibly get some really good prices. Some mighty nice pickin's are to be had if you can stay over an extra half day.

Have a look at this salada from the Brazil Gem Show held in Governador Valadares, MG, in 2007 (photo taken indoors under artificial light). I picked over it for at least an hour and found nothing.


But, there are also other types of saladas, for example when cut stones, often with some that match in size, cut, and color, are laid out on pieces of cotton covered with saran wrap (the stones sort of stick to it) and folded up in sheets of white paper.

THIS POST IS INCOMPLETE -- TO BE CONTINUED . . .



OK, this photo is of a lot of wimpy-colored, rubelite tourmalines, but I am using the photo to show you how a salada is laid out on saran-wrapped cotton. Also, notice the middle stone in the second row from the bottom. That might be a keeper. And also possibly the one to the left of it. Or, on second thought, maybe not. Look, this is not the real juicy rubelite color. But, if you click on the photo, you will be able to see in detail some of the usual rubelite inclusions. Personally, if someone shows me a rubelite with no inclusions at all, I am not going to buy it unless I know and trust that seller really, really well.

Do you wanna go window shopping? Just look at 'em all!

Do you see any stones that have the same dimensions so you could buy a pair to be used in earrings?

Don't pay a lot for this muffler!

Copyright © 2009 N. Tenney Naumer -- All rights reserved.