Taafeite

About Taafeite

The only mineral that was first identified from a faceted gemstone rather than a rough crystal. Count Taaffe discovered it in 1945 in a box of spinels - it looked like spinel but showed double refraction, which spinel does not have. It is 1,000x rarer than diamond. Found primarily in Sri Lanka and Tanzania. Prices range from $1,500-2,500 per carat for average quality. Fine mauve-pink stones command much higher prices. It is one of the rarest gem minerals. Few thousand faceted stones are known to exist. It is beryllium magnesium aluminum oxide.