Gemmy Tanzanite (36.44 carats) Kay Robertson Coll.

Item Description

Surprising, gemmy and unusually shaped tanzanite from Merelani. This cute blocky parallel-growth thumbnail has an unusual curved chisel termination. The upper 2/3 is quite gemmy, with only a few interior veils. The lower portion is gray and translucent. The crystal exhibits classic, textbook pleochroism. The A and B axes are the beautiful, blue and blue-violet, and SURPRISINGLY, has fantastic red color on the C axis! This is indicative of the natural unheated state of color. One side is contacted and the base of another side is contacted, but there is very little damage. These are mostly out-of-sight in the fine primary display views. This is a wonderful untreated tanzanite with striking textbook colors and unusual sharp crystal form. 36.44 carats mass. Ex Kay Roberson Collection # 6861. Kay is a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics (see the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record.