When we talk about rare gemstones in the world, we must write down the grandidierite, which is a gem of great beauty, with an extraordinary colour, which has been found in very few places, and which has considerable hardness, which it is enough to be classified as a rare mineral; that many people do not know and that it is worthowning in a beautiful gem.
For this reason, we invite you to know some important details about this precious stone, whose rarity begins with its particular name, which it owes to its discoverer, the Frenchman Antoine François Alfred Lacroix, who, upon finding it in 1902, decided to call it in this way, for his admiration for the gemmologist Alfred Grandidier, who developed many innovative investigations in the area of natural sciences.
In this way, the little granite has become a world-famous gemstone, firstly, for its beauty and rarity, for its excellent hardness that reaches 7.5 on the Mohs scale; which guarantees its enormous durability, and makes it one of the 10 rarest gemstones in the world.
This gem is similar to garnet, with physical properties such as a density of 2.85 to 3.0 and a refractive index in a range of 1,590 to 1,623. The crystal system in which it is formed is the orthorhombic, and because it has some traces of iron, its colour turns bluish green; but the original material of the gem is transparent or translucent, although those that are very transparent are very rare and difficult to get, while those that are opaque have poor quality and are sold at low prices in the jewellery market, even in Sometimes, they take advantage of the unwary, to whom they are sold as high quality.
The specimens of grandidierite with a sufficiently large size and with great purity, have been found recently in this millennium, and have been used in the field of luxury jewellery; where it has become a kind of star in the firmament of precious stones, in which subtle inclusions have been found, called feathers, which are due to the effects caused by fluids and liquids in a state of solidification, which for millions of years, they have been inside the crystal.
Initially we said that the grandidierite is found in very few places in the world, and even more so when it comes to high-quality gems, which have only been found in Madagascar and Sri Lanka, where they present optimal conditions to be carved and later set in jewellery.
Furthermore, it is an interesting and very real fact that Madagascar and Sri Lanka were united in the “Pangea”, the continental mass that existed, before the division of the continents was carried out; and for this reason, many of the minerals found in Sri Lanka are the same as those found in Madagascar, as in the case of grandidierite.
However, the specimen piecesfound in Sri Lanka are lighterand have fewer inclusions than those from Madagascar; what makes this last place, the most important source of this precious stone; because the colour that the feathers or inclusions provide to the gem, is unique and highly valued.
Thus, since the initial discovery, pieces of grandidierite have been found in some countries such as Namibia, Malawi and Sri Lanka; but few are high-quality specimens; and its main origin is Madagascar, a place that boasts of possessing the gems of grandidierite with the best color in the world.
The color of this gem is dreamy, its shades vary from teal to lagoon blue. Shades of blue are generally highly sought after by jewelry designers and potential customers; due among other things, because it produces serenity and gives elegance to designs. In addition, light blue and greenish blue gems rank first in women’s preferences around the world; and a jewel made with grandidierite, it is a highly coveted work of art among lovers and connoisseurs of luxury jewelry.
As an important fact, we have that there are some gems of grandidierite in Tucson, whose prices for each carat vary greatly, taking into account the level of transparency of the pieces of these precious stones.
This has been seen at the fair of minerals and precious stones held in the State of Arizona, in the United States, called “Gems & Mineral Showin Tucson”, where it was possible to sell pieces of grandidierites with optimal transparency, in about 2,000 dollars per carat; which makes them highly prized and expensive gems, which are used in luxury jewellery designs, which are then sold at very high prices.
ALFA