0.45 ct. Orange Benitoite
Color: Medium Dark Orange
Clarity: Eye Clean
Origin: San Benito Co., California
Cut: Round Brilliant
Treatments: Heat
Measurements: 4.6 x 3.7 mm
Benitoite is one of the most well known and beloved of collector gem materials. In many ways it is a perfect "rare stone"; it has an exceptional color, is found at a single source and is sufficiently durable enough for jewelry use. The top color for gem Benitoite has always been a deep violetish-blue color, but the stones range through lighter blues and into truly colorless stones. It is a little known fact about this gem that those colorless stones are capable of heating to an unusual and attractive orange color. Only some of the already colorless material will heat to orange and then the exact temperature and process are proprietary. The availability of this orange material is therefore severely restricted and it has been absent from the market for a number of years.
This is a spectacular example, in the finest orange hue that these are capable of. As you rotate these you often get the most dazzling flashes of yellow and pink brilliance - really a lovely effect and all the better in such a finely cut stone. Moreover, this gem is perfectly clean, even under 10x magnification - it simply could not be any nicer. One of the very finest and largest of the oranges we have ever had and a lovely collector's rarity.