GRADING REPORT CHES253
- Identification: Natural Unheated & Untreated Hessonite Garnet
- Carat: 2.53
- Shape: Long Cushion
- Measures: 9.68x6.77x4.68 (millimeter)
- Color Grade: Excellent+
- Tone: Medium 50
- Color Zoning: None
- Clarity: Free of Inclusions
- Cutting Grade: Excellent
- > Brilliancy: 95%
- > Depth: 69%
- Origin: Ceylon, Sri Lanka
- Treatment: None
Certificate No: IGI 291763890
Overall Grade: Excellent+
Comment: Outstanding quality even for an old hessonite-fan. Delicate golden hue with just the right dose of those internal swirls that are found only in this specific type of grossular garnet. There is much to like about the darker, or sleepier, or redder version of the gem, but for many, me included, this here is the apex-hessonite, or the best of all golden gems in general (master-gem). See this 2.53's side image where its high brilliancy does not distract the camera from its rich color. No inclusions even under the lens, almost 10mm long from only 2.5 carat, but no window, untreated, and fully identified with a big IGI report. Nothing less than perfect, even the traditional hand-cut is so well done it deserves an 'excellent' for precision and maximum brilliancy with minimum weight-loss. Cut from Ceylon rough, the rightful 'birth-location' of honor for hessonite (though they are now found in other places but not in this divine color). As all our 'excellent+' gems, never cheap, but a life-long source of premium joy that only the most impeccable quality of any product can give: The knowledge that it cannot get any better and not a single 'but' or 'if only' can be found to spoil the pleasure. Frankly, on some level, I'm ashamed for this snobbish only-the-best-will-satisfy notion but some gems simply are perfect, and the matching perfectionists cannot 'un-see' individual flaws, while another, more flexible soul, may cherish a little color-zoning or the individual inclusion as his personal choice. He may snicker at the obsessed purist spending double for having 'nothing but perfection', but, as they say: chaqu-un a son façon!
