Unheated Afghan Indicolite 4.70 (INI470)

4.70 Carat
Windex Blue
Medium 50
Moderately Included

GRADING REPORT INI470

• Identification: Natural Unheated & Untreated Indicolite (Blue Tourmaline)
• Carat: 4.70
• Shape: Shield/Cushion
• Measures: 12.20x9.37x6.89 (millimeter)
• Color Grade: Very Good
• Tone: Medium 50
• Color Zoning: Faint 
• Clarity: Moderately Included
• Cutting Grade: Excellent (precision cut)
  • Brilliancy: 50%
  • Depth: 74%
• Origin: Afghanistan
• Treatment: None

Certificate No: IGI 389902008 (more images)

Overall Grade: Very Good

Comment: Being December, I dare predict that this will be the most confusing gem of the year. After a quick look at the images, you perhaps thought 'paraiba', 'concave cut', and 'included'. Only the last attribute is correct. This is a heavy copper- but not manganese-bearing indicolite (blue tourmaline) from Afghanistan is precision-cut but not concave (a perfectly fitting choice for included gems). Anyways, here is one of the rare gems of which the owner tries hard to make ugly photos. Terrific shots were easy, each better than the last. But that's not the whole picture. So, I waited for nightfall and tried sobering shots in the near dark, under cheap headache-inducing office-light, on glazing white background (normally a quick path to depressions), I deliberately captured tilt-windows, see-through handshots from the back and yet: The Windex-blue magic is hard to dispel. Under UV light it turned deep violet-blue, as this paraiba did. See under 'more images': all shots below the lab-report were made to bring out the gem's worst. Our main image under normal daylight is what you can expect on average with good-will, the rest is a basket of surprises, a roller-coaster gem-adventure between neon indicolite and Windex paraiba. Recommended setting: a bezel or flush with a closed back, white gold or platinum, ring-sizes over 6, no pendant which would be disadvantageous to the wearer and positioning to standard light-settings. 

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