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In his book "Naming Gem Garnets" Dr. William Hanneman describes how you can classify garnets accurately using only one test. If you are interested in a chart that appears in this book just send me an email at dave@tiptopgem.com and ask- I will send you the full-color file by return email.
Beware of eBay sellers who are representing cheaper, off-color rhodolite garnet as "malaia". If the physical properties of the stone are not the same as malaia it is NOT malaia garnet! Any qualified gemologist has the knowledge and equipment to tell the difference, and many hobbyists are acquiring equipment like this as well. As more people are able to identify rare gemstones like these there is an excellent chance that demand will increase.
This beautiful stone is a trillian shape and has superb cutting for a lot of brilliance. It has a very slightly purplish-Pink hue that is stunning and would look fabulous as a piece of jewelry and would also be the centerpiece of any rare garnet collection. Only the exceptionally rare tsavorite (green) garnet and demantoid (green) garnets sell for more money than malaia garnet. When the malaia is of exceptional quality it will even exceed prices of typical demantoid and tsavorite garnets.
This gemstone is also a color-shift garnet. A lot of people are confused by color-shift and color-change. A color change gem will go from a cool hue to a warm hue. A sapphire that goes from violet to purple in different lighting is a good example of a color-change gem. Violet is cool (close to blue on the color wheel) while purple is warm (close to red on the color wheel). A stone like this will be violet under natural sunlight but purple under incandescent (light bulb or mag light) light.
A color shift gem like this malaia garnet does not move as far on the color wheel. Both hues that it shows are warm hues- purple under incandescent light and pink under natural sunlight. While not as desirable as color-change gemstones, color shift gems are very desirable particularly when the gemstone is very rare even in "normal" (non-shifting) color. Malaia is a great example of this type of obscure, hard to obtain rarity.
If you have any questions about this rare and remarkable gemstone please do not hesitate to ask me. I have been buying gemstones in Thailand for over 7 years and also am a Graduate Gemologist from GIA. I would be happy to answer any questions that you might have. Most of the time my wife and I live in Bangkok to be close to the stones (and to make custom jewelry) but we also live part-time in northwest Ohio, near Toledo. The best way to reach me is to send a note to dave@tiptopgem.com. If you are curious about us and what we do, please take a look at our blog for pictures of gemstones and jewelry that we have sold. We only do custom jewelry- you are the designer! We bring your dreams to life. You can see more here: http://thegemvault.tiptopgem.com/
The bidding is 7 days long on this extremely rare malaia garnet from Tanzania and starts at 25 bitcoins. There is no reserve- the winning bidder will own it. An independent laboratory report is available for all of the stones that we sell at a very nominal additional cost. Malaia garnet becomes quite valuable at the one-carat size, and over 1 1/2 carats it is extremely rare and desirable. When you add the color-shift property of this stone it becomes even more unusual and difficult to replace. Only very rarely do gemstones like this come available, even in large colored gemstone wholesale centers like Bangkok.
My wife and I search diligently and choose gemstones very carefully. All gemstones are fully tested and guaranteed to be natural and correctly identified. If you only learn one thing from reading this auction I hope that it is this: For a gemstone to be valuable, it has to be beautiful. All over eBay you will see ugly garnets, ugly sapphires, and ugly collectible stones like rare garnets. But rarity in and of itself does not make a gemstone desirable. Rarity and beauty combined make a gemstone valuable. Because my clients understand this, they have access to some of the most desirable and beautiful gemstones on the planet.
Remember Tip Top Gem gives you an unequivocal money back guarantee. If you are not thrilled with this stone just return it for a full refund. We even refund your shipping charge! You will love this stunning and rare malaia garnet.
~Dave
