Hiddenite

Hiddenite is a green type of spodumene, this one was mined in North Carolina. It is also found in Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Brazil, Madagascar and California. It gets it green color from Chromium, and it varies in color from an almost imperceptible and almost clear light-green to yellow-green and at its darkest, deep bottle (emerald) green. Hiddenite is pleochroic, which means that it displays different colors when seen at different angles. Therefore, a single piece of Hiddenite can appear to be blue-green, emerald green or yellow-green. The most valuable Hiddenite is an intense emerald green, but most of the stones that exhibit this darker shade are irradiated to make this happen.

This stone weighs 2.20ct and it is flawless, I got a really good deal on this one. It is a 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs hardness scale, but it also has perfect cleavage so it should not be set in a ring unless it is guarded on all sides to keep it from cracking. Because it is hard to cut it is usually faceted in an Emerald cut and a flawless stone expertly cut can be pricey. This is a nice specimen and I will keep it loose the way it is.