Purple Pink Laser Garnet Facet Rough, Pure Nd YAG

These are lab created purple-pink laser garnet (Nd:YAG) facet rough.  Smaller pieces can be purchased by weight range and larger pieces are labelled with their gram weight and letter in the photo and they can be purchased individually.

This is a very cool gem, a type of lab-created garnet grown for use in lasers, Neodymium YAG (Yttrium Aluminum Garnet).  It has the same structure as a natural garnet but a composition which could never occur in nature, allowing it to have a higher hardness (8.25) and greater brilliance.

YAG with neodymium is one of the most classic laser crystals.  The first ever laser used a ruby crystal but nd:YAG followed very soon after and may be the most widely used type today.  It can be readily pulsed and frequency doubled and it is useful for everything from rust removal to laser cutting to medical procedures.  It's about as ubiquitous as it gets, and as a result it has become something of a classic gemstone as well.  Its beautiful light purple color shifts to pink under some lights and has the magical property of losing all color under fluorescent illumination.  It makes for a brilliant and beautiful gem.

YAG is an excellent material to facet, incredibly easy to cut and polish and with a high hardness of 8.25-8.5, an RI of 1.83 and good dispersion which makes for very lively stones even before the color factors in. It is suitable for use in all kinds of jewelry.