0.52 ct. Green Musgravite

When it comes to a discussion of the 'rarest of the rare' of gem species, there can be no doubt that Musgravite is near the top of the list.  Closely related to the classic rare species Taaffeite, true faceted Musgravites are exceptionally rare.  Along with Taaffeite, it is also one of the hardest of the extremely rare gem species - an 8 on the Moh's scale.

Aside from being one of the rarest species, this fascinating stone also is set apart by its highly unusual color - a green Musgravite?!  Yes, this is only the second time we have encountered Musgravite in this area of the spectrum - and the other gem was cut from the same piece of rough.  And there is no imagination required - it has a highly distinctive and quite lovely light evergreen shade.  Nearly ever other example we have seen is some shade of desaturated pink, purple or brown. 

As is often the case we extreme rarities, the cutting here was done with weight in mind, so there are some asymmetries in the cut.  Happily, the stone is not shallow and windowing is minimal - it is nicely brilliant.  The gem is extremely respectable as is, but could certainly be re-cut with a minimal loss of weight.  The clarity is also quite nice - we see just a few needles under 10x magnification.  All told, a fine example of one of the rarest gem materials in the world.   
 

$1375 total