QUESTIONS? CALL: +1 (213) 440-0563
  • No products in cart.
THE FINEST OFGEMSTONES
SHOP NOW or call for pricing and specifications

Gemstones...
that's how it all got started...

Green Tourmaline Lot

As a young man, Bernardo Feler came to love and appreciate gemstones in the beautiful, gem-diverse country of Brazil. Colorful and brilliant gems captured his imagination and ignited a passion inside of him that has stayed with him for over 40 years now. That passion led him to create BrazRio International.

In the following years, Mr. Feler studied, invested in mining rights, sourced, cut, and traded fine gemstones for a living through BrazRio International. His company has now been in existence for decades and has become both a trusted name in the industry and a reliable source of gemstones for jewelers, designers and collectors around the globe.

The gemstone division of BrazRio remains the company’s largest business arm because its consistently-stocked collection of rare and unique gems. Most of our gemstone transactions come via calls from jewelers and designers looking for specific pieces; however, we still attend various renowned trade shows around the world – at sights such as Tucson, Las Vegas, and Hong Kong. Our presence at these shows gives buyers a venue where they can meet with us in person and see our amazing collection.

We have a large inventory of cut and rough gemstones that can fulfill just about any project or special order.

Thousands of Fine African and Brazilian Gemstones and many others.

Looking for the perfect gem for a project? Contact us now for pricing and availability.

The Painstaking of Sourcing the Perfect Gem

Many of us own beautiful pieces of jewelry, and we may even have a variety of gemstones in our individual collections. Some names for these stones are diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and tourmalines, and we call them precious gems because of their rare appearance (they can be hard to find) and their high value.

The journey of a gemstone starts deep beneath the earth’s surface under different natural processes and circumstances, which usually involve different temperatures from hot to cold, magma, contact with different minerals and gases, and millions of years undergoing these natural processes. The crystals that form from these processes end up being one of nature’s most interesting miracles.

Geologists look for these rare pockets in the earth that contain enough gemstone crystals to be worth mining. These pockets are called gemstone deposits and they can be either hard rock or alluvial (formed by the action of running water). The gems are mined by various methods such as panning, digging, drilling, or blasting. No matter which process is used, mining is a very difficult, time consuming, and costly process. Of all the raw material that comes from mining process, only a very small fraction of that material has what it takes to ever make it into the fine gemstone market.

This very small percentage of raw crystals are handed over to our gemologists and lapidaries so they can inspect and pre-grade each one in order to determine if each crystal has the quality to be used as a fine gemstone in the market. Gem cutters may need to saw and grind the edges off the crystals in order to have a better view of the material they are working with. Even then, there is no guarantee that the stone can go to market. Small imperfections or color zoning can only be seen once the gem is formed, cut, and polished. Often times countless hours go into finding the perfect stone, but end up yielding nothing.

Citrine Quartz

AQUAMARINE

Natural Aquamarine, Santa Maria

Once the best crystals are selected, each one will be shaped, cut, and polished by professional gemstone cutters, who must have extensive knowledge about colored gems in order to cut them properly. The cutters use special tools to turn rough stones into faceted gems, cabochons, or other forms, bringing out the natural beauty and brilliance inherent in each stone.

Lapidaries must first study how the crystal should be cut. They must consider various factors such as which cut will bring out the best features of a stone, how they can get the best color and most weight from the rough, if there are any inclusions that need to be removed, or if any inclusions can make the stone into a star or cats-eye gem.

They will ‘facet’ the stone properly to bring out the gem’s color and maximum brilliance. Gem cutters will polish the gem to bring out its luster. Special polishing machines, tools, and compounds are used for specific stones and shapes.

Once a stone is all cut, it is properly cleaned and set aside for a final inspection by our gemologists. The gemologists then analyze the stone’s quality, color, and clarity. They grade each stone using various tools such as a magnification loupes, microscopes, special lights, and more. If a gem is not determined to be of a Fine, High Quality Grade, it may still be of use in the market, but it will not be introduced to the fine gem market

Only the finest stones will make it into the BrazRio inventory, where we will sell them to dealers, jewelers, and designers through trade shows, our gemstone division, or as part of one of our beautiful jewelry pieces.

Some gemstones can be improved or enhanced by undergoing specific treatments. While most gemstones do not require treatment, some treatment may be required for certain gems (such as Blue Topaz, for example, where the blue only exists due to a radiation process). Other treatments can enhance the natural color of a stone. For example, many tanzanites are brownish or green in their natural form, and they can be heated to reach their desirable blue-purple color that they are known for.

Treatments and enhancements such as heat, radiation, oiling, bleaching, irradiation, and others, are accepted standard industry treatments to some gemstones; however, there are some forms of treatment that might not be acceptable in industry: coating, dyeing, glass filling, high-pressure, laser drilling, lattice diffusion, and others.

As members of AGTA, ICA, JBT, and other well-known industry associations, we at BrazRio are committed to deal only with natural stones, or stones treated or enhanced by accepted industry standards. We always disclose, to the best of our knowledge, the specific treatment or enhancement that a stone has been through.

Selecting and matching gemstones

TOP

Pin It on Pinterest