Bicolor Sapphire with crystal inclusions

Item Description

A really interesting and unique faceted stone of natural (unheated) bicolor Sapphire from the famous region around Tunduru, Tanzania. A true favorite of many collectors is the rare color change Sapphire. Some of the best Sapphires around come from the Tunduru district in Tanzania. This "Round Brilliant" cut stone shows a swirling mix of beautiful reddish-pinks and blues, but upon close inspection (we photographed inside the gem with a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens) one can see that there are several crystal inclusions of other species! The compressed translucent, tabular white crystals are Calcite, which are the most obvious inclusions, but we also found minute golden Rutile, and what I believe to be either Phlogopite or Muscovite Mica or possiby Feldspar. What a cool stone to add to your collection! It's not a just a naturally occuring bicolor gem, which is rare enough in the gem world, but it actually plays host to other minerals inside. If you would like to read more about this material, check out the paper written by Warne Chitty in 2009 ( http://www.ruby-sapphire.com/pdf/chitty-2009-tunduru-thesis.pdf )