Gem: Vanadium Kornerupine
Weight: 0.46 ct.
Dimensions:5.1 x 4.35 mm
Clarity: VS+ - extremely fine, sparse silk, invisible by eye
Origin: Umba Valley, Tanzania
Treatments: None, natural gem
Comments:
Vanadium kornerupine lasted a little while longer than chrome kornerupine on the market, after the 2019 strike in the Umba Valley in Tanzania. While everyone scrambled for some of the blue/purple and green dichroic and trichroic chrome pieces, the bright, lemon/lime green vanadium kornerupine sort of sat on the back burner, available much cheaper.
During 2022, as chrome kornerupine ran out on the market, and became actually impossible to replace, prices for vanadium kornerupine increased quickly also. What I could get for $425 in 2021, costs over $3k now. I have shopped around, and it's just the new reality: There is no more new kornerupine, and it's only available sporadically from forward thinking, savvy dealers who stowed some away for this eventuality.
I am super happy to be releasing affordable cut kornerupines of all sorts, while supplies last!
This oval is VERY bright, benefitting a lot from an imperceptible super-fine silk, which doesn't show to the eye, but helps to catch light and hold color. People see these gems, and feel like they just POP; well-- they DO, literally have something extra helping them to pop.
In particular this, and other bright green vanadium kornerupines look great in normal lighting, and seem to only perform even better in bright sunlight -- This is odd, and notable, because bright sunlight tends to be too much contrast for almost all other gem types, making them appear harsh and washed out, and sometimes causing windowing, etc. Vanadium kornerupine seems to be immune to this problem, or at least resistant.