Hpj Connoisseurs Portfolio: Extremely Rare 3.57 Ct Vvs Umba River Valley Malaya Garnet

  FABULOUSLY RARE 3.57 CARAT VVS PINK MALAYA GARNET.   GEM TYPE: MALAYA GARNET CARAT WEIGHT: 3.57 CARATS DIMENSIONS: 10.80 x 8.00 x 4.40mm CLARITY: VVS COLOUR: PINK CUT: OVAL ORIGIN: TANZANIA TREATMENTS: NONE A strikingly beautiful and very rare Malaya Garnet from the Umba River Valley, Tanzania. Under incandescent lighting it exhibits colour changing to hot reddish orange. Malaya Garnet is one of the rarer and more interesting 'hybrid' varieties of Garnet. It is primarily a mix of Pyrope and Spessartine,which was first discovered in the 1960s. It was discovered in the Umba River Valley bordering Tanzania and Kenya, which remains the primary source for Malaya Garnet.  Since its discovery, the production and mining of Malaya Garnet has been very irregular, and because of its rarity, it is highly prized by gem collectors.   GIA classifies Malaya Garnet as only a Pyrope-Spessartite species, but this may not be the case for all Malaya Garnet. For the most part, Malaya Garnet has been considered a variety of Pyrope, since most tested specimens contained higher percentages of Pyrope as their primary component. However, over the years, many Malaya Garnet specimens were discovered to contain equal parts of both Spessartite or Almandine. In some cases, stones also contained minor traces of Grossular and Andradite. Research has now shown that its composition can be highly variable, ranging anywhere from 2 to 94% spessartite, 0 to 83% Pyrope, 2 to 78% Almandine, 0 to 24% Grossular, and 0 to 4% Andradite.