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Dsef~Collectors Grade 524.5 Carats Natural Aquamarine Gemstone
Gem Rock Auctions
CRYSTALS MINERALS GEMSTONES FOSSILS ROCKS - Rubellite (Minas Gerais, Brazil) Rubellite is a variety of elbaite, which is one of six members of the tourmaline group. Elbaite can occur in any color ~ red, green, blue, yellow, purple, pink, etc. The focus here will be on Rubellite or "red tourmaline" which ranges from light pink to deep red in color. Rubellite commonly occurs in hexagonal, prismatic crystals, often very elongated with vertical striations, and can grow up to three feet in length. Easily distinguishable by a bulging triangular cross section, it is very hard (7 – 7.5) and heavy, with a conchoidal fracture. It is opaque to transparent with a vitreous luster. It is strongly piezoelectric and pyroelectric and can be charged electrically by heating and cooling. Rubellite does fracture easily across the crystal. Elbaite is a high-temperature and pressure mineral, forming in igneous and metamorphic rocks, and best developed in pegmatites, less often in high-temperature veins. It is made up of a series of compounds with varying quantities of sodium, calcium, magnesium, lithium, aluminum and iron but with a constant structure and content of Boron, aluminum, silica and the volatiles (B2O3 and Li2O). The finest elbaites are found in Elba (Italy) famous for its pink crystals, Minas Gerais (Brazil), the Urals (Russia) famous for its deep red crystals, Sri Lanka, Namibia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Newry (Maine), Kabul (Afghanistan), and Pala (CA), famous for its pink crystals. Some colored and transparent varieties of Elbaite are sold as semiprecious stones. High pressure gauges make use of the mineral's piezoelectric properties. Size: 5 x 1.2 x 1.1 cm | Facebook
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