GRADING REPORT TSVP135
- Identification: Natural Unheated & Untreated Tsavorite
- Carat: 1.35
- Shape: Pear
- Measures: 5.42x8.12x3.93 (millimeter)
- Color Grade: Excellent
- Tone: MD75
- Color Zoning: None
- Clarity: Lightly Included
- Cutting Grade: Very Good
- Brilliancy: 66%
- Depth: 73%
- Origin: Tanzania
- Treatment: None
Certificate No: TGL 18031280
Overall Grade: Very Good+
Comment: Full sized green gem, well over one carat and 8x5mm, a serious grossularite garnet of that precious type we may call 'Tsavorite', from an area on the Kenyan-Tanzanian border. I once made a joke about DSEF called them Tsavolite, with a 't', but in fact the joke is on me: the original name, the older one, given by the original discoverer is 'Tsavolite'. However, the US-dominated trade has settled on an 'r' for the last 50 years or so and there we go. This pendant-shaped and -sized specimen comes with a clean body, except for two pincer-like planes sitting deep in the 'fat' part of the backside, re-distributing all luster in the lower half of the gem in a roundish shape, suitable for the round part of the gem and therefore of little concern. Although, under the lens, they distract from the otherwise exceptionally clean crystal, such that is at times called 'water' or 'glass' or 'gaseous', all expressions I find not very suitable for hardened gems but descriptive. We have the 3*NOS checked, plus the richest deepest green, not blinding neon like 0.78 but hypnotic dense, hard to turn away from but always a temptation to forget yourself in a stare, time passing unnoticed. If this causes a problem for the gents at the next table, let 'm suffer, or hide the gem for a while so they can finish their dinner. If in motion and one gets stuck in front of you, slap him away or let him ask for date or whatever is on your agenda. This gem comes down the same path as 1.00 sapphire, a gem-share for sale after many years of gathering rarity and value. Also, the pincers are of the same type as the inclusions in the 1.00, with the brain filling in from a distance what the eyes studied only under the lens. As for settings, we could suggest an extra thick bezel of platinum, perhaps with a closed back, a shell filled with a green not seen elsewhere in nature.
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