Iolite - $4 to $20/carat
Locality: Madagascar

The hardest thing about cutting Iolite is finding clean material. It is very difficult to find decent sized pieces that are thick enough and good enough color on the "c" axis to cut anything. There are few stones that can match Iolite in color, at one time stone dealers hoped that it would be a good (cheaper) Tanzanite, but the rough quality and production have just never happened.

Note: This material has been hand cleaned. If you are familiar with this rough then you know how hard it is to get clean and how rare clean material is. This is all clean.

Iolite has very strong pleochroism, straw color/purple blue depending on the axis and you orientate for the blue/purple. It cuts fairly easy and I recommend that you start with a finer lap (600). Iolite works well in most brilliants and step cuts, Barions in general are not a good idea.

Currently Available:
1 each 16.65 carats - $335.00 blue/purple/clear (about the best color I have seen, not dark), best cut is cushion - 14.5mm x 18mm x 9.5mm deep
1 each 11.35 carats - $227.00 blue/purple/clear (about the best color I have seen, not dark), best cut is trillion? - 13.5mm x 15.5mm x 6.6mm deep
1 each 3.07 carats - $36.84 blue/purple/clear, best cut is rectangle - 6mm x 16.2mm x 3.8mm deep
1 each 4.75 carats - $76.00 blue/purple/clear, best cut is cushion - 9.1mm x 9.5mm x 7mm deep
1 each 8.25 carats - $148.50 blue/purple/clear, best cut is rectangle - 8.7mm x 18.7mm x 7.4mm deep
1 each 4.97 carats - $79.52 blue/purple/clear, best cut is rectangle/cushion - 9.7mm x 12.5mm x 7.2mm deep
1 each 7.96 carats - $143.28 blue/purple/clear, best cut is cushion/oval - 8.7mm x 13.5mm x 8.7mm deep
1 each 6.81 carats - $108.96 blue/purple/clear, best cut is pear/drop - 10mm x 15.5mm x 7.5mm deep
1 each 7.59 carats - $121.44 blue/purple/clear, best cut is oval - 10mm x 12.4mm x 11mm deep
1 each 8.63 carats - $138.08 blue/purple/clear, best cut is rectangle - 11.6mm x 15.5mm x 8.8mm deep
1 each 7.89 carats - $126.24 blue/purple/clear, best cut is rectangle - 9.2mm x 12.7mm x 9mm deep
1 each 4.15 carats - $58.10 blue/purple/clear, best cut is trillion - 8.3mm x 9.4mm x 7.5mm deep
1 each 4.83 carats - $77.28 blue/purple/clear, best cut is cushion/rectangle - 9mm x 9.7mm x 7mm deep
1 each 9.20 carats - $165.60 blue/purple/clear, best cut is trillion/pear - 11.4mm x 15.5mm x 10.8mm deep
1 each 5.65 carats - $84.75 blue/purple/clear, best cut is oval/pear - 9.8mm x 13.2mm x 8.3mm deep
1 each 6.83 carats - $109.28 blue/purple/clear, best cut is cushion - 9.5mm x 12.8mm x 7.2mm deep
1 each 8.15 carats - $130.40 blue/purple/clear, best cut is pear - 10mm x 14mm x 11.2mm deep
1 each 7.70 carats - $123.20 blue/purple/clear, best cut is pear - 12mm x 15.5mm x 6.8mm deep
1 each 5.48 carats - $87.68 blue/purple/clear, best cut is rectangle - 7mm x 14mm x 6.4mm deep
1 each 8.33 carats - $133.28 blue/purple/clear, best cut is oval - 11.2mm x 15.5mm x 7.8mm deep

Rough Index

E-mail to inquire or order: jeff@faceters.com or jeff@cabbers.com