Taaffeite
The only gem first identified as a cut stone, in a Dublin jeweller's tray.
- Family
- Taaffeite
- Formula
- BeMgAl₄O₈
- Mohs
- 8 to 8.5
- System
- Hexagonal
Drag to turn
Science
Taaffeite sits chemically between spinel and chrysoberyl and looks like pale mauve spinel, but it is doubly refractive where spinel is singly. That difference is what Richard Taaffe noticed under a loupe in 1945 in a stone already cut and sold as spinel.
- Mineral
- Taaffeite
- Formula
- BeMgAl₄O₈
- Crystal system
- Hexagonal
- Mohs hardness
- 8 to 8.5
- Specific gravity
- 3.60 to 3.62
- Refractive index
- 1.719 to 1.723
- Lustre
- Vitreous
- Colours
- Lilac, Mauve, Colourless, Red
Composition
BeMgAl₄O₈. Made of Beryllium, Magnesium, Aluminium, Oxygen, with trace Iron, Chromium responsible for colour.
Origin
- Sri Lankagem gravels
- TanzaniaTunduru
- Myanmar
Filled dots are primary sources
Rarity
Found only as pebbles in gem gravels, usually mistaken for spinel. Thought to be about a million times rarer than diamond.
- 1 Abundant
- 2 Common
- 3 Uncommon
- 4 Rare
- 5 Exceptional
Hardness
Taaffeite sits at 8 to 8.5 on the Mohs scale. It will scratch glass and holds a polish in daily wear.
Energy
Associations from crystal-healing tradition, recorded here as folklore. They are not medical claims.
Chakras
- Crown
- Third Eye
Element
- Air
Zodiac
- Aquarius
Planets
- Uranus
Properties
- Intuition
- Transformation
- Discernment
Lore
Count Richard Taaffe, an Austro-Irish gemmologist, bought a parcel of cut gems from a Dublin jeweller in October 1945 and spotted the double refraction in one of them; the Natural History Museum confirmed a new mineral. It is the only gem discovered after being cut.
It has no lore beyond that story.
- Discovered1945, as a cut stone, by Richard Taaffe.
- TestDoubly refractive, unlike the spinel it resembles.