Afghan Lapis Lazuli

[airborne1092]

So, here is my little piece of Lapis I bought last night.

It weighs about .055 kg or 5.5 grams. It's roughly 2.5 inches long and 1 inch wide.

Just a little something for myself - I'm just a little sad I couldn't "go git it" myself, but I guess I value keeping my head attached, to be too sentimental...



P.S. - that pic is pert near actual size, too...

 

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[Eu_citzen]

Very nice, where did you get it from? Ebay?

If you didn't get it from a "reliable source" you might try to put on a few drops of acetone to see if it is dyed.
Sometimes the resins used to stabilize can also be dissolved by acetone.

I usually do that should I decide to resell it, then I've got a better idea of what I got.

 

[airborne1092]

I'm in Kabul right now - I picked it up from a local vendor, here on base.

 

[Eu_citzen]

Cool, but be careful buying rough gems. There is always a risk if your not knowledgeable about treatments, synthetics etc.

I'm saying this since a Gemmologist friend of mine in the US has checked several pieces of "gems" from there bought by soldiers. Many bought basically junk for small fortune.

 

[Rasputin]

I wrote this response to another post several years ago but it is still relevant today: I would like to make some comments and observations and open a spirited discussion about overseas purchases of gemstones not only by our service persons but by anyone travelling who finds themselves in a gemstone producing region. I selected talking about our returning servicemen and women not to single them out (as I have the utmost respect for the awesome job they have done for us) but because I have heard this story ad nauseum and I have first-hand knowledge of many of these stories. I will relate one of these to you. My wife is an I.T. Director at her company and does much work outside of her job for a large list of clients, both businesses and individuals. One Saturday I was bored so I tagged along with her to a client's house. My wife was busy talking to the guy's wife about their 'puter problems so I struck up a conversation with the husband. Seems both his sons where coming home soon from duty in Afghanistan and had purchased a large number of diamonds and other gemstones while overseas. Well, since I have collected gemstones since I was eleven, you can imagine that he now had my full attention. Knowing my interest and wanting my opinion on their purchases he proceeded to pull out eight gem trays full of gemstones. There were 300+ diamonds ranging in size from .003 to .25 carats each; many tourmalines and some kunzite and about 15 emeralds for a total of about 360 stones. His excitement grew as I looked them over and he wanted to know what he should sell them for and the best way of disposing of them. He rambled on about how much money they were going to make, how rich they would be...etc. etc. Well let me just say that I am not a Graduate Gemologist but I have read about and studied minerals and gemstones for years and was a geology major in college ( although I never finished my degree). As I studied the stones with the loupe he had handed me I got that twisted knotted feeling in the pit of my stomach as I realized all the stones were of inferior quality and I was now tasked with "raining on his parade." I asked him gently what he had paid for the stones and he enthusiastically replied only $6000.00 for the diamonds! (He didn't tell me what he paid for the other stones.) I now felt physically sick to my stomach as I tried to verbally extricate myself from having to render a verdict on his means of retirement. I stammered and stuttered and ended up wimping out in the end by telling him that he should have a professional jeweler appraise them as I wasn't qualified but "they looked good, especially the emeralds." As we left the house, knowing me as well as she does, my wife commented that the stones must have been poor quality as she could tell my disappointment. I replied that she was right, the diamonds were very visibly brown in color, and most of them were melee in size. The whole bunch probably were not worth $600.00, never mind the $6000.00 that he paid. The kunzite was commercial grade and very, very pale pink in color, almost colorless. The tourmalines were small, 1/2 to 1 carat in size, very pale in color, and moderately included. I would say not even of commercial quality. Now we come to the emeralds. Beautiful color and flawless clarity, which is a big red flag. Folks, even if you could find flawless emeralds of this color they would be thousands and thousands of dollars a carat. The emeralds, to me, looked exactly like the Russian synthetic emeralds that are on the market. Now I know what you are thinking, but he bought them at the source! They couldn't be fake! People in Columbia, Brazil, Afghanistan, and other gemstone-producing regions of the world may be unsophisticated but they are not stupid. They know full well the value of their goods and they are not going to sell them for pennies on the dollar. There are many gemstone scams and all you have to do to find them is to go on E-Bay. It is naive to think that someone who knows nothing about gemstones is going to go to that region to buy stones and not be ripped off. This brings me to my next topic--fair business practices. The sense of fair play in business that we enjoy as Americans is virtually non-existent in the third world. A good business transaction in those countries is one in which they have put the screws to the other person and made a fortune. In their eyes, this "proves" their business acumen. I am sorry this may have sounded negative but I felt the need to share this with everyone and I welcome your comments and I hope this post initiates some lively dialogue. Thanks for reading.

 

[Eu_citzen]

Rasputin,

Thanks, I hope that is a sound and solid warning to anyone.

It is better to buy of a source which can be trusted and pay more.

 

[airborne1092]

Rasputin,

Thank you for re-posting your older warning. IIRC, I responded to that original thread a couple years prior.

EU_citzen,

Thank you, for the words of advice and the tip about acetone. I'll try a drop or two when I get home.



I don't plan on buying anything that I don't like myself or find attractive. I've been many places where it's as you say - a businessman's acumen is determined by how much he can bilk out of the 'rich' American. I've learned a lesson or two myself over the years. Although there are signs posted about every kind of treatment available, the vendors are allowed quite a bit of latitude with their sales techniques. What I've found is, the longer the war, the higher the prices. What I really like anyway, and the direction I like anyhow, are raw stones, still in the matrix. For these, they practically give them away. Right now, I have this guy hunting down some Afghanite. Apparently it's not well known and considered to be a junk rock more or less. But, these guys are gaining some insight, as I've overheard other Soldiers asking about it, as well.

 

[Aghead]

I don't understand your warning

I don't quite get why or how you can compare buying $6k worth of poor quality diamonds to the purchase of a blue rock...That little piece of blue rock was probably bought for around $2 or $3, look it is uncut afghan lapis, you can by high quality, untreated lapis for dirt cheap there. Even in the the US where the prices are higher, the most you will pay for something like what is pictured is going to be about $7 to $10. It lapis not diamonds or gold.

 

[Shakeb Afzal]

Hey.. for how much can you get the best lapis from mine 4 (Badakhshan) .. suposedly per kilo?