The Home Team Tourmaline
Versus World Tourmaline
A Great Value Any Way You Cut It
In the early days, I refused to believe that any tourmaline from anywhere else in the world could be as good as what we mine right here in Maine. I genuinely believed that. It took me, a true believer, a decade to get over that level of fandom. Because we mine tourmaline just outside of the city of Portland, I was the state’s expert in good, better, and best Maine tourmaline. And, because we always bought the best, I was certain I was rooting for the right team.
As the years went by, I could see there were some really pretty tourmaline found in various places in the world, and that some of them cost less than our Maine gems. It took me a while, but I came to believe that it was possible to acquire a beautiful non-Maine tourmaline, then properly identify it (we are obsessive about source identity), accurately price it, and produce a beautiful piece of jewelry with a world tourmaline at a great value.
Some pieces, with the rise in gold prices, have today what seems like an unbelievably low price and great value. This necklace has a large 2.80-carat green World tourmaline in the twilight cut. We bought the gem from Sean Sweeney, America’s best gem cutter. Sean lived here in Maine, in Bar Harbor. We set his gem in a design we call Bar Harbor. The town of Bar Harbor was named for the sand bar at low tide connecting the town to Bar Island.
The tourmaline is big at 2.80 carats (a World tourmaline, not a Maine tourmaline). The setting and chain are 14 karat yellow gold. The price for such a large necklace is great. The look is exceptional. If we were making this today from Maine tourmaline and higher gold, it would probably be $1,200.00 more.
Why We Love This Necklace
Sean Sweeney was one of the world’s best gem cutters. We have purchased many Maine gems from him, as well as a few non-Maine gems. Sean passed away several years ago. Sean was a great gem cutter; he was a straight-shooter. I wish there were more people like him in the world. Sean cut his gem.
The Gem is a Twilight Cut
The big gem is a twilight-cut green tourmaline. The twilight cut captures pure white light, allowing it to reflect through the interior, gathering green brilliance. Then, it returns the light to the eye in a glitter of cubic brilliance that twinkles up and down the length of the gem. If you’ve never had a twilight cut gem before, you will delight in this new style of cutting.
The price is exceptional on this piece because it’s a world tourmaline. And it was priced at a time when gold was much lower.
Absolute Firewall
We maintain an absolute firewall between Maine-mined gems and alternative World-sourced tourmaline gems. We do this because it is vital to us, and we know it’s vital to you, too. We take the origin of tourmaline deeply, deeply seriously. There is never a pretend or an error. Everything is clearly marked and positively identified. Our firewall of source identity is absolute.
