Description

Status: sold
2.12 ct merelani mint garnet oval, big spready 9.4 mm x 6.5 mm, never set, retail $4200+!, Yvonne Raley/Prima Gems, DOORBUSTER price :)

Please email me at:
katharath80@live.com
Or contact thru LT - (but if you try thru LT and don’t hear back, it means I didn’t receive your message!)

Hello all,

This is a beautiful, natural, untreated merelani mint garnet from Tanzania (in a rare over 2 ct size) that I purchased from Yvonne Raley for $2200 roughly 5 yrs or so ago (if memory serves- I’m sure about the price, just not exactly sure what year I bought it). It was in a small parcel of just two from Prima Gems; Yvonne kept the other and made her pear mint garnet ring, while I nabbed this one and have had it stashed away all this time. Mint garnets over two carats have not gone down in price; I’m just pricing this one particularly low (imo) in hopes of moving it before Christmas :). The “retail price” from Jaimeen was listed at over $4200 when I bought it years ago for $2200; when I saw Yvonne last about 1.5 yrs ago, she said Jaimeen would likely actually ask $4000 for it now, meaning the “retail” would likely be more like $6000+? (and this was earlyish 2017).

I’ve owned many, many mints over the years, and this is the last one I still own. The color is very rich for a mint, with no gray whatsoever to my eye. You can see in one of my pics how it compares to the two other best mints I’ve previously owned (only the oval is for sale). It is definitely a bright green that, imo, has a glow to rival a paraiba, and is by far the most saturated mint I’ve owned.

There is only one issue with this one; it has a bit of a wonky cut. It shows a window in one part of the gem, with another smaller window in the other half (the smaller one is harder to see, but is there). I’ve considered recutting this gem and gone back and forth over and over on this issue - but as it’s so close to the 2 ct mark, I was always afraid of losing a lot of the value with the weight decrease a recut would bring (likely knocking it to under 2 cts). And on the plus side, this is one of those gems that looks FAR better with a bit of backing, it hides the windowing pretty well imo, and I was always certain that, once set, it wouldn’t bother me too much. I’ve tried the foil backing trick on this one just to see, and it really does minimize the windowing a great deal. So please take this into consideration when thinking about this one. The right setting should make it look amazing - and it is almost 10 mm along one dimension, meaning you’re getting a big one!

Note on pics - pic 2 shows the stronger hue as compared to other top mints I’ve owned; pic 3 is a “bad” one to show the windows pretty well (at least the main one, the smaller is harder to see); pic 4 shows it with some OEC diamonds I used to own.

So, with everything in mind - I’m asking $649 shipped insured priority USPS mail (shipping only in US due to insurance issues, apologies). This is definitely a steal and it’s priced to go quickly, so it is a great buy if someone is looking for an excellently colored, larger mint that is hugely discounted due to non perfect cutting ;)

Also - by pricing it so low, if the buyer did decide to invest in a recut, you wouldn’t lose any value! At this price even if it slipped to less than two cts it would still be well worth it. Just something to consider....

At this steep of a discount it is considered non returnable (and I’m selling for Christmas funds!) so please ask any questions before buying. I have many pics, showing the good and “bad” (lol), I can send more as requested. Also, I am happy to take some short vids if requested.

Pymt via PayPal only, personal PayPal requested but never required - I’ve had many, many successful sales from my collection over the years here, my PS ID is katharath.

Thanks for viewing!! And happy holidays :)