A rare Garnet gemstone from a relatively recent find in the Lindi province of Tanzania..

Commercially named "Dragon Garnet", it is a variety of the more often encountered Malaia (Malaya)-type with some notable differences.

It shares the colour-shift property of Malaia Garnet, changing from a delicate rose-pink colour in daylight (image 1), a more purple-red hue in household LED light (image 2) and  to a deeper rose-red shade in incandescent illumination (images 3 and 6).

Due to its unique chemical composition, which includes both Chromium and Vanadium, the gem does something quite extraordinary for a Garnet, it displays a strong pinkish-red fluorescence when exposed to long-wave UV light (image 7).

The gem is eye clean, although on close inspection it contains delicate needle-like Rutile inclusions which exhibit multicolour iridescence, as shown in image 8 an in magnified images 9 and 10.

To see a short video of the changes in colour of this gemstone effect on YouTube, please use this link:
https://youtu.be/snJ6i0zc-QY

weight:  2.28 carats
shape:   Modified cushion shape cut
dimensions:   8.61 x 6.50 x 4.23 mm
treatment:  None