Petalite

An OUTSTANDING, crystallized example of the rich "champagne" color Petalite from a find in Myanmar (Burma) within the last few years. My jaw dropped when I saw this specimen as it was not only one of the finest Burmese Petalites I've seen, but literally one of the finest gem crystals of Petalite extant. Most of the Petalites from this locality are small, and rather etched, and rarely found in such large and impressive crystallized examples.

Not only is this crystal over 2 inches in length, it's also stout and has remarkably SMOOTH and LUSTROUS monoclininc form. If that weren't enough, the color is as rich as it gets for the material, and the upper half of the crystal is WATER-CLEAR and would easily yield a tremendous and valuable faceted stone. I honestly don't know how this crystal survived the cutting wheel as almost everything mined in Burma is evaluated for gem rough value first, and specimen value is second. The crystal is complete on the front with a beautiful termination, but it did not finish crystallizing on the back, so it's incomplete on the other side. It still does not take away from the world-class quality of the crystal.

If you have ever seen Petalites from localities in Brazil or Afghanistan, you know they can be rough looking, whitish colored and rarely gemmy let alone GEM QUALITY like this amazing crystal. Even compared to all other Burmese Petalites I've seen, this one stands above the rest as the finest example of the material that we've had to offer. How often does one see Petalite with this color with any form of crystallization, and in such a ridiculously large crystal? It should be noted that this crystal does a slight color change in different temperature lighting as it can shift from the golden "champagne" hue to more of a greenish overtone. Do not miss out on this one, unlike Tourmaline, Beryl or Topaz, this is a magnificent example of a non-pegmatite gem crystal specimen that few collectors have in their collections, especially in such fine quality.

Specimen # TUC31714