Gem: Sapphire Crystal
Weight: too big for my 50 gram scale by far. My guess is 100-150 grams, but I will try to get a real weight ASAP!
Dimensions: 41 x 39.5 x 33 mm
Clarity: N/A -- Included and opaque, though the 'skin' has plenty of tiny gemmy areas that show some color.
Origin: For the first time ever, I don't know where this specimen came from!
Treatments: None known or suspected.
Comments:
For the first time in my shop's history, I'm offering a specimen even though I don't know its origin. I'd guess it's probably from Africa, but that's really just going with the odds. It could really be from anywhere that sapphires this large can form -- which isnt a lot of places, but enough that it remains a mystery to me!
The reason I'm offering it with the unknown factor, is that it is just AMAZING!! It's important to have information to pair with specimens in my opinion, but this piece is just too unique, and well formed for its size to just keep it on my desk.
It has amazing crystal form, with rugged, surface texture resulting from contact with surrounding mineralization as it was forming. It's got classic hexagonal structure, with all sides and both terminations in-tact, and undamaged. A perfect Triangular crystal face, sometimes called a 'record keeper' and also known by geologists and mineral nerds as 'trigons' - triangular crystallization patterns. These growth lines are classic sapphire habits.