Gem: Star Sapphire
Weight: 5.45 ct.
Dimensions:12.8 x 8.8 mm
Clarity: Silky / free of inclusions or dislocations
Origin: Weld River Basin, Northeast Tasmania, Australia
Treatments: None, natural gemstone
Comments:
This star sapphire is something really special. Sometimes it looks green, sometimes it looks blue, but it ALWAYS looks like a bright, storm-churned ocean. The body color of the gem is green, and it has a medium silk. In bright sun, the star is very apparent, and so is the gemmy clarity of the stone. It's exceptional.
In lower light, the stone can appear to flick back and forth between green or blue, with the blue becoming stronger and more obvious in low light.
Not only does this gem hold its own up against really great star sapphires from other locations, it is remarkably gemmy, and very well cut. The polish is also tops.
Everything about this gem says top shelf class.
From a rare location: Tasmania, Australia is a lesser known Australian sapphire locality, but some truly amazing gems tend to come up every so often. Star sapphires are also somewhat common from this location, but nothing of this size and quality can be said to be a regular occurrance.
This one is a beast of a gem, done up very carefully and with an eye for proportions and finish. It belongs in a top notch piece, or at the very least, in a collection of other rare gems of some note. it's perfect for a rare localities collection, really, given it's surprising quality.
A video can be seen here of the star effect:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fySFsPgOToo