This stone gets its name from the Greek, words "tria", three, plus "phylon", family, because it was thought to contain three cations (Fe, Li, Mg). There have been crystals of Triphylite found in South Dakota up to 6 feet long !! Most of those crystals are opaque and wouldn't be well suited for cutting gems. Brazil is one of the few places that produces gem quality Triphylite and this stone is a a very good size gem for the material. It is very very slightly included and has a very pleasing almost dichroic appearance as it looks somewhat greenish grey one direction, but shows hints of a brownish orange in another direction. It reminds me of Axinite stones that I have seen from Baha. The stone has an Emerald cut, and would make a great addition to any rare stone collection. Enjoy.

About two to three years ago there was a substantial discovery of what are some of the finest red, gem quality Chondrodites found in recent memory. The crystals were not terribly large, but they were fine quality, and showed a deep orange red hue within. This particular stone was cut from a broken crystal that we purchased two years ago. It is gem quality, make no mistake, but does have some slight inclusions. When viewed in the sunlight, the color is a very rich red with slight orange overtones. The stone has an Oval cut, and is simply a great example of this extremely rare and highly sought after material. I have seen some of these stones selling for up to $500 per carat overseas recently.

Taaffeite as a mineral species is incredibly rare, and facetted gems are becoming more and more difficult to obtain. IT IS THE ONLY GEM SPECIES I KNOW OF WHICH WAS DESCRIBED FIRST FROM ITS BEAUTIFUL ROUGH, LONG BEFORE A CRYSTAL WAS FOUND! Purple material remains among the most rare of all gems today despite decades of hunting. Taaffeite (the correct name is actually now Magnesiotaaffeite-2N�2S) is one of the great rarities in the gem world. This stone is from the TYPE LOCALITY for the material, and it is a superb quality gem. The clarity and size make this more than just collector quality, it's top notch! Taaffeite is very similar to mauve colored Spinel, and the original stones were actually all sold as Spinel (which can still happen to this day), but it is the characteristic birefringence of Taaffeite which now allows gemologists and gem dealers to identify the material and prevent it from being labeled as the much more common Spinel. This stone is a very attractive, purplish-pink color, virtually eye clean, Marquise cut gem. The fact that this stone is over 1 carat is weight makes it truly collector quality, and a very worthwhile stone. Every rare gem collection needs a top quality Taaffeite like this stone in their collection. For future reference, it is most likely that in the gem trade the name "Taaffeite" will mostly likely continue to be used instead of the more cumbersome (though correct) Magnesiotaaffeite-2N�2S.

GEM: 1.8 x 1.8 x 1.4 cm (25.5 carats) I love this set because its a rare instance to match the significance in both specimen and gem! The specimen is a superb example for this classic locale because it is large, complete, and very well colored. the gem is HUGE for what it is unusually clean, and is said to be by those who know more than I one of the best cut Mexican apatites. It is VERY impressive in person and look smor elike fluorite, for the color and clarity - you would not guess aapatite at first. And yet, the colors here are a dead-even match and i know the man who cut it. BOTH STONES ARE MORE GREEN IN PERSON< THAN YELLOW AS THEY APPEAR.