4.05 ct. Orissa Iolite
Color: Medium Dark Violet-Blue
Clarity: Eye Clean
Origin: Orissa, India
Cut: Triangle
Treatments: None
Measurements: 12.2 x 12 mm
Iolite is hugely underappreciated, but a large part of this is due to the low quality material and commercial grade cutting that is so common in the market. For those of you who haven't really considered Iolite, let's point out a few of the reasons why this stone is so great - starting with the color. Iolite rough tends to be quite thin, a fact which limits the size of the finished stones, but also, very crucially, the orientation of the stone. Because of its almost unbelievable pleochroism, you have cut an Iolite at just the correct orientation to the crystal axis in order to get the finest color. And that color can truly be great - a rich and saturated Violet, one of the few stones that naturally comes in this particular hue. As should be the case, you actually have to tilt the stone off-axis here to see the famed pleochroism.
Secondly, the cutting deserves mention as so many of the Iolites in the market suffer from substandard cutting while this one is quite nice. And finally, the size - good, larger stones are much scarcer than what you may think. Orissa stones are especially nice, but tend toward small gems in the finest quality - again, not the case here. All in all, a great stone and of a quality that we constantly look for but rarely find..