0.34 ct. Dumortierite
Color: Medium Dark Violet-Blue / Grey
Clarity: Slightly Included
Origin: Madagascar
Cut: Marquise
Treatments: None
Measurements: 7.7 x 3 mm
One of the most exciting recent finds in the gem world is a small find of full gem grade Dumortierite in Madagascar. What is more, the color is superb - a saturated and bright cornflower violet blue. We saw a few stones of this exceptional material in Tucson and present a beauty here - bright and well cut. The color is the very best you could hope for, a deep violet with strong elements of the visible grey pleochroism. There are series of thin needles that give the stone its clarity grade, but these are low relief and the gem is lovely in-hand.
Transparent, gem grade Dumortierite is an extreme rarity in the marketplace. Small opaque pieces are sometimes encountered, but those transparent examples are exceptionally hard to source, particularly with an attractive color. For years we have been limited to very small stones from the Brazilian state of Bahia. It has always been in demand as the color can be quite lovely and it is unusually durable (8 on the Moh's scale) for a rare gem material.