Grandidierite: One of the rarest gemstones
With grandidierite, you are buying one of the ten rarest types of gemstone. It is very rare to find grandidierite in gemstone quality. Transparent grandidierite is the most popular, but semi-transparent grandidierite, which appears slightly milky to the observer, can also be found on the market.
It is usually cut so that it shows a blue to blue-green color. In fact, the grandidierite has a strong trichroism and can also show reddish hues.
Named after the mineralogist Alfred Grandidier
Grandidierite was discovered in 1902 at Cap Andahomana, in southern Madagascar. The stone was named after the French explorer Alfred Grandidier, who studied the natural history of Madagascar.
Gem-quality Grandidierite from Madagascar
With a few exceptions, southern Madagascar is so far the only place where grandidierite in gemstone quality has been discovered. In general, grandidierite has only been discovered in a few places in the world. These include Malawi, Namibia and Sri Lanka.
Buy grandidierite for your gemstone collection
Grandidierite is mainly popular with collectors. It is rarely used for jewelry. However, with a hardness of 7.5, it is quite suitable for processing into robust pieces of jewelry. Its rarity and beautiful blue tones make pieces of jewelry with this gem an eye-catcher, even if the stones are not eye-clean or even translucent.
It can be used to make rings, bracelets and pendants for necklaces. It can be worked with either on its own or combined with small diamonds. Depending on your preference, it can be set in silver, yellow, red or white gold.
You can also use your grandidierite from the igneous gemstone shop as a precious gemstone for a precious piece of jewelry. Have a goldsmith transform it into an individual piece of jewelry according to your ideas.
Grandidierite is rarely flawless
Flawless grandidierite is very rarely found. Inclusions often make this gemstone appear cloudy. These inclusions can come from gases, liquids or foreign minerals such as zircon, monazite or apatite.
Its color is never enhanced by treatment. It is one of the few gemstones that are not heat-treated or irradiated to improve or change the hue.
Grandidierite in cabochon or faceted cut
The smooth cabochon cut is usually used for cloudy stones. Transparent grandierite, on the other hand, is faceted. To do this, round cuts, oval cuts, emerald cuts, baguette cuts, pear cuts or marquise cuts are used.
