I won this gorgeous gemstone in one of those storage locker auctions along with many others that were in the locker I bought! I am not a gemstone expert so I took them to a pawn shop and paid to have about 100 of them tested, whoo boy, it was expensive! The ones I tested turned out to match their certificates. Almost ALL of the Rubies I list have been tested on a Precidium II I am posting all of my gems at less than wholesale prices. After paying to get them tested I was told that I should have them graded and THEN get them appraised and THEN I would have to find a buyer to pay a ton for them. It all seems so exhausting . . . not to mention expensive! I realized that I will never get around to selling them because of all the steps. They've been in a locked closet for over ten YEARS. So I thought that I would just sell them for about what it costs to get tested by a professional and taking into consideration the size and cut of each gem. I don't have an expensive gem tester at home BUT my diamond tester can show the hardness of a stone (the MOHs scale) and can also tell if a stone is glass or CZ. I am showing that this gem has * Garnet * hardness to it on my tester which is about 6.5-7.5 mohs. Almandines make an excellent choice for January birthstone jewelry! Comes with Certificate and Gem Box.