The story even landed Moroccan amethyst in the Rio Grande catalog. The mine-to-market story is sold with the gems. It is now a brand and trademark of Geostone Group. Instead of selling the rough to gem cutters, the company now offers faceted stones and finished amethyst jewelry directly to consumers through multiple TV programs in different countries.Īs a result, Moroccan amethyst is not just another amethyst. He also introduced these amethysts to Gems TV. When Lehrer’s special cuts are applied, the yield was increase to an average of 20% for top-quality stones. The yield of Moroccan amethysts at a normal cutting factory is only about 8%. The special cuts also better use the rough. Lehrer saw the unique features in these stones and applied his cutting styles and award-wining patented cuts to show off their beauty. Luckily, the founders got connected with world-renowned gem carver Glenn Lehrer, who became their marketing advisor and took Moroccan amethyst in a completely different direction. Large colored stone cutting companies see little value in these amethysts. In 2013, when Geostone’s founders brought their Moroccan amethysts to Tucson to test the market, they went home deflated by the feedback. As people can imagine, the rough amethyst market is very competitive, since there are many sources in different countries. Marketing these amethysts is an even greater challenge. Photo by Eric Welch/GIA, courtesy of Geostone Group. Morocco produces deep purple amethyst with red hematite “finger” inclusions that can cause red flashes of color. Amethysts falling to this grade have an even lighter purple color than AA stones.įigure 2. The fourth grade is a category called Rose du Maroc. The AA grade is the most common on the market. Next come the AAA grade, which refers to the deep purple stones, and the slightly less purple AA grade. Rafei explained that only 1% of the production is gem quality (figure 2), of which only 2% are the double-terminated crystals. The topmost grade consists of double-terminated single crystals, which are extremely rare. Rafei explained the four grades of Moroccan amethyst. Rough amethyst crystals are transported to the company’s warehouse in Casablanca for washing and grading. The miners are still hand picking crystals out of the removed earth. As the wall has gotten pushed further back, excavators have been used since 2015 to move earth. From 2011 to 2015, the miners mainly used hand tools to remove the earth and extract the crystals. Mining started in 2011–2012 and has continued on a small scale since then. Seven years ago, a geologist and a cofounder of Geostone Group finally had the stones analyzed by GIA and confirmed that they are amethyst. The nomads kept bringing the crystals to tourist shops in the villages nearby. The next morning, they found purple crystals on the washed ground. 32–40), we gathered some fresh insights on the mine and the marketing strategy for this material from Alaeddine Rafei, who directs grading and sales for Geostone Group in Morocco.Ībout 40 years ago, a group of nomads were stuck in a storm in the Anti-Atlas mountain range of southern Morocco. Troilo et al., “ Amethyst from Boudi, Morocco,” Spring 2015, pp. While Moroccan amethyst has been featured in G&G previously (F. Although amethyst is readily available on the market, the material from Boudi in southern Morocco stands out. Photo by Eric Welch/GIA, courtesy of Geostone Group.Ĭharacteristic “hourglass” color zoning (figure 1) and striking red hematite “finger” inclusions help distinguish Moroccan amethyst. These amethyst crystals from Morocco show the strong zoning characteristic of stones from this location. Applied Jewelry Professional ™ Online Diplomaįigure 1.
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