Colgem Ltd of Israel introduced a recently re-discovered color gemstone, hollandite, at the Tucson show in February.
The gem, garnet variety of an intense orange color, is named hollandite in honor of the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange. Hollandite was discovered in Africa during the late 19th century by a Dutch adventurer who intended to mine the gem location. He died, however, before he could exploit his find and the mine was quickly forgotten. Only recently, the location was rediscovered, prospected and mined.
Hollandite is found in cubic crystals which generally show 24 natural facets, giving the rough crystals a rounded look. Hollandite is available from half carats up to 15 carats, while the average size of cut stones is two carats. It has a hardness of about 7-7.5, specific gravity close to 4.1 and RI of about 1.8. Hollandite exhibits an intense orange color, has very good brilliance and is eye clean. Veils may be observed with 10 X magnification. When included, it displays small black spots of manganese.
All marketing of Hollandite will be handled by Colgem Ltd. Company president Israel Eliezri said that mining and manufacturing is in progress and steady output is expected for some time to come.