SAPPHIRE. Aluthnuwara, Balangoda, Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. ...

Description

SAPPHIRE
Aluthnuwara, Balangoda, Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka

The words: "big" "transparent" and "Sapphire Crystal" are rarely used in the same sentence. There are two reasons for this. One is that big, transparent Sapphire crystals are rarer than transparent Sapphire crystals, which aren't exactly littering the countryside. The other is that any crystal with transparent areas is fair game for the gem cutters of Sri Lanka. Occasionally, an uncut specimen manages to escape unscathed, but that is truly the exception to the rule. Here we have a giant, doubly terminated, "floater" crystal of varicolored Sapphire with a number of secondary crystals growing: into, out of and on, the main one. Because crystals such as these are found in river gravels, they often show abrasion wear to a small degree, even though they are composed of a mineral exceeded only by Diamond in hardness. This results in the variable surface luster and the minor nicks seen here. Many areas are quite transparent and light blue or colorless, with orange, iron stained inclusions and fractures. Few specimens this large and euhedral are ever seen on the open market: there are just not enough of them.
Overall measurements: 3.92 x 1.9 x 1.57 inches (9.95 x 4.82 x 3.98 cm).

Provenance: Dudley Blauwet of Mountain Minerals International [Hoppel # D1476]

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