The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals plans to present a record-breaking, nearly 117-carat chaboritic stone to the public on Thursday, April 27.
The “Merelani Lion” weighs 116.76 carats, more than 100 carats heavier than the current largest tsavorite in the museum. This tsavorite is 15.93 carats.
It will be added to several other notable gems in the museum's National Gem Collection. It will be on public display in the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals.
“This tsavorite is truly one of the most important colored gemstones mined this decade.” As mineralogist Jeffrey Post, the museum's curator of gems and minerals, said. “A gemstone like this is one of Earth's natural treasures. It is an exciting addition to the National Gem Collection and our public exhibition.”.
Tsavorite is a rare green rough garnet. It is found mainly in a remote area along the border of Kenya and Tanzania.
British geologist Campbell Bridges first discovered the gemstone in Tanzania in 1967. While three years later he followed up with a source in Kenya.
Bridges, along with longtime Tiffany & Co. executive Henry Platt (who named the tanzanite after him), named the stone after Tsavo East National Park in Kenya.
The rough crystal that became the Merelani Lion was discovered near Merelani, Tanzania in 2017. Coincidentally the same year that marked the 50th anniversary of the discovery of chavorit.
Its weight was 283 carats.
Campbell's son, Bruce Bridges, CEO of the chaboritic mining company Bridges, played an integral role in the construction of the Lion of Merelani. As he said, this is in honour of his late father.
The following year, world-renowned gem cutter Victor Tuzlukov shaped the gemstone into its current form. That is, the world's largest square-cut cushion-shaped tsavorite with 177 facets.
According to the Post, chaborites with facets of more than 10 carats are rare. Which makes the nearly 117-carat Lion of Merelani an excellent example of a garnet.
This rough chaboritic crystal was mined near Merelani, Tanzania. It weighed more than 283 carats before being fashioned into the Lion of Merelani with 177 facets and nearly 117 carats.
The cutting of the chavoritis was historical and documented from start to finish, the museum said.
“The cutting process was thoroughly documented by Bruce Bridges. He will provide the Smithsonian with an edited version of a video. This will show the journey of the gemstone from the rough form to the treated form,” Post said. “Also, GIA went to Tucson during the cutting of the stone. There they recorded video and interviewed the carver.”.
In the Spring 2019 issue of Gems & Gemology, the GIA's quarterly research journal, an article documents the cutting of the stone. There it states that Tuzlukov first cut a test stone from a synthetic three-dimensional model of the rough tsavorite.
After making calculations after the test cut, he started cutting the real stone in front of the GIA team. A process he completed over the course of about a month, the article said.
“The material is amazing,” Tuzlukov told GIA. “It's not only a pleasure but an honor to cut it.”.
But the added element of detailed documentation as part of the gem's history is not something that comes with every record-breaking stone, Post said.
“It's rare that we can share with the public the story of how a rough stone is cut into a great gem, including video of the process and interviews with the cutter.”.
The Lion of Merelani is historic in other ways as well, with the Smithsonian reporting that it is the largest precision-cut chab in the world, as well as the largest chab gemstone ever cut in the United States.
Source: nationaljeweler.com
