Zircon (170 carats)

Item Description

Despite the fact that the world produces plenty of gem quality Zircon, it's rarely crystallized, and often is only useful for cutting gemstones. It is not common in gem quality crystals from any locality in my experience. This particular crystal is one of the better Zircons I have seen from Tanzania for the size. The internal color along with the sharp crystallized faces make it a great rarity for Zircon from anywhere in the world. I've seen alluvial pieces of Zircon that are quite gemmy, and well-crystallized pieces that are opaque, but it's hard to find crystals this size that are so well-formed with such a eye-catching internal color. It has a beautiful "wine red" color, with a compressed tetragonal prismatic form and two distinct pyramdial terminations on each end. The faces are sharp, and when the piece is backlit, the color really shines through. A fine gemmy and colorful crystal that would yield a decent sized gemstone. Rarely are euhedral Zircon crystals found with such color and gemminess. Weight is 170 carats. Valued at $900.