GRADING REPORT HID1961
- Identification: Natural Unheated & Untreated Hiddenite (Spodumene)
- Carat: 19.61
- Shape: Rectangular Antique
- Measures: 15.87x13.89x11.00 (millimeter)
- Color Grade: Excellent
- Tone: Light Medium 40
- Color Zoning: None
- Clarity: Free of inclusions
- Cutting Grade: Very Good+ (Germany, ca. 20 years ago)
o Brilliancy: 95%
o Depth: 79%
- Origin: Afghanistan
- Treatment: None
Certificate No: 107570527 (see more images) plus DSEF in process
Overall Grade: Excellent
Comment: Giant orange-yellow hiddenite with a remarkable liquid crystal, coming from old stock out of Afghanistan. A challenging customer in front of the camera but I hope the half dozen images show the ocean of soft gleaming yellow without green but with a tint of orange. Spodumene, as a mineral, is plentiful and important for industrial uses. Facet-quality with no treatment-needs, however, is the one-in-a-million exception, like pink kunzite and the yellow-green hiddenite which are rare and sought-after, with hiddenite being even harder to find than untreated kunzite. Both, also opaque triphane crystals, are important healing gems said to work through all seven chakras of the human body and thus are recommended for the most universal inflictions like depression or insomnia. Neon or vivid colors in kunzite, and to a lesser degree in hiddenite, are most likely the result of treatment (heat and/or irradiation), and might fade within a short time. Untreated, their colors tend to be soft and mild but PERMANENT. There is, yet, no conclusive testing process for these gems, which forces us to stay away from too-good-to-be-true strong colors, or rely on a tightly controlled supply-chain that begins with a shovel and ends with a camera. Such a supply-chain we had installed during our jungle years in Sri Lanka, but as we grew internationally, tight control turned impossible, especially in war-torn and hostile countries. The sad result is that we can only occasionally track a parcel of rough that has been in safe hands from the beginning. Other than that, we must limit ourselves to mild and 'realistic' color saturation - as in this beautiful orangey yellow specimen with zero inclusions under the lens, a fine traditional German hand cut and intense brilliancy. The current 'lab-report' is partly written in German. I was simply too impatient to wait for the December newsletter with this exquisite gemstone. Note, in the handshot below, that even through a twenty-carat gem, the fingerprints remain visible, which gives you an idea of its clean and ethereal crystal. A truly remarkable gemstone in many dimensions.
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