Weight: 2.32 ct.
Dimensions: 10.4 x 8.0 mm
Clarity: VS apart from the silk that creates the cat's eye
Treatments: None, natural
Origin: Umba Valley, Tanania
Comments: If you've browsed around my website a little, you know I love kornerupine. It' a fantastic gem, optically, and in terms of color. But it also can, and sometimes does have a very fine silk trapped inside, which produces some of the most intense, vivid, lightening-like cat's eyes and star effects.
Here is a free-form shaped one that I made during summer this year. The silk in this one forms two distinct optical features: First, the cat's eye line -- it is a straight line, that bends and travels over the rounded surface of the cabochon. Second, there is an 'X' feature in the silk at the same time. It tends to bend around a center point in the cabochon.
In strong light, the color is rich, and the star and X feature both present beautifully, and dynamically.
This piece would be fantastic in a ring, and I assure you, you could spend hours each day getting lost in the movement. It's like watching water reflections dance on the bottom of a green pool in endless patterns.