Description
This garnet comes from a small lot of old rough that came out Tanzania in late 2013. There was a very limited supply of this rough and I was lucky to acquire a decent amount. It has been identified as a rare form of pyrope garnet called pastel pyrope. The GIA published a research note on these garnets in their summer 2015 issue of Gems and Gemology and a more detailed article is forthcoming. It has excellent brilliance and dispersion and shows a gorgeous color shift from hot pink to purple, depending on the lighting. Under most fluorescent lighting and some newer LED lights the garnet is a rich purple color, while under incandescent light it changes to a hot pink. In daylight it appears pinkish-purple with flashes of blue and red–really quite a beautiful garnet.
These garnets all tend to have tiny tube-like inclusions as well as rutile needles, and this gem is no exception, but it requires a loupe to see them–its eye clean. I cut this gem in my custom “Helena” brilliant oval cushion design. It weighs 1.64 carats and measures 7.5 x 6.3 x 4.8 mm.
