Inorganic Gemstones

Home

Brazilianite

2cm long Brazilianite rough from Divino das Laranjeiras, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Brazilianite is an uncommon and unusual gemstone. Cut for collectors only, its yellow or yellowish green colour is nonetheless striking. Crystals are fragile and brittle, with conchoidal fracture and perfect cleavage perpendicular for their length.

The primary localities have been in Brazil, where crystals as much as 15cm (6 inches) have been discovered. Smaller crystals happen to be mined in Nh in the united states.

Present in Minas Gerais in Brazil in the mid 1940s, brazilianite was initially regarded as chrysoberyl, but closer examination revealed that it is a brand-new mineral. It had been named following the country by which it had been found, but has since been wrongly identified as chrysoberyl, beryl and topaz.


Properties
Chemical Composition: 

Aluminium sodium hydroxyphosphate

Crystal System / Forms: 

Monoclinic

Hardness: 
5.5
Specific Gravity: 

2.99

Lustre: 
Vitreous
Refractive Index / Birefringence: 

1.60-1.62 / 0.021

Sources: 

Brazil, USA.

Cuts & Uses: 

Cushion, Pendeloque, Baguette.

Did you know?

Jewellery is one of the most bought products online. An estimated $1 billion USD of diamonds are bought annually via the Internet. Over 40 million people use the Internet to trade!

In Germany, the garland of ambers is hung around the necks of the infants, so that their teeth might come out without much trouble.

In Turkey, people fix a piece of amber in the hubble-bubble, dogged by an age old belief that the presence of the jewel would destroy all the germs and no disease would spread, even after many have dragged their puffs from it.

In Greece, people think if wine is poured into the cups made of amethyst, one does not get drunk after drinking that.

In Rome, a talisman having coral pieces is considered very auspicious to quell the bad spells of evil look. The Romans were in the habit of hanging chains made of ancient coral pieces from the cradle of the infants to protect them from evil effects.

In China, people wear rings studded with tiny conch or oyster shells as they believe it cures all aches such as stomach ache, worms and like.

In India, pendants made of silver and studded with pearls are hung from the necks of the children to save them from any bad effects.

Greeks still believe, if women wear blue sapphires then no sense of immorality would pollute their mind nor can any fear of the supernatural can trouble them.

The Pope Innocent III had circulated an order asking all the priests wear blue sapphire, so that morality can be strengthened.

It is said about turquoise, that when the stone changes its color into yellow, it actually signals bad times to the person who wears it.

It is believed that a turquoise gifted to a friend or a lover turns his or her life into one of happiness and good luck.

Poll