A bag of 72 kilos of the pretty green crystals ended up at Columbia Gem House 's Shenzhen cutting factory in March 2002. The stranger who brought them couldn't say for sure what they were and she declined to indicate where they came from.

The factory director, Lam Nai-Kai, liked the look of the rough. He recommended taking a chance on it. "When I inspected the rough, I realized that I had never seen it before. It was different from the usual crystals of aquamarine and tourmaline found that are commonly found in Shenjiang, the Northwest part of China," Mr Lam said. "I suspected that the rough might be kunzite at that time."

Company CEO Eric Braunwart, back in the company's U.S. head office, didn't even get a chance to see the crystals in person or submit them for gemological testing before making a decision. It was all or nothing and he only had 72 hours to decide whether to commit a considerable sum to the unknown gem.

Braunwart decided to go for it. The risk paid off. Gemological testing confirmed that the gem was a new variety of diopside. Yields were lower than expected, only between 2 to 5 percent, but the finished gems were spectacular enough to make up for it, especially when cut into the factory's trademark concave faceted Radial™ Cuts. All that remained was to convince others that this new gemstone was worth a gamble.

First he had to find a name. Although Columbia Gem House and its jewelry-manufacturing arm, Trigem Designs, are brand-name gem specialists, this was their first opportunity to name a completely new variety. Braunwart and his wife Kathe, who designs jewelry for