Sapphirine (NOT Sapphire) (rare)

Item Description

Here we have a good quality, incredibly rare specimen of crystallized Sapphirine from Madagascar. Do not be confused, I will reiterate that this is the magnesium aluminosilicate Sapphirine, NOT SAPPHIRE and considerably rare in the mineral world by comparison. This is one of the few specimens we've had to offer from Madagascar in the auctions in recent years. It features a sharp and well-formed dark blue colored monoclinic (pseudohexagonal) crystal of Sapphirine measuring to about 1.1 cm with dark bronze colored Phlogopite and Calcite matrix. I'm not sure how recently this specimen was collected, as they can date back to the 1960s, or as recently as the early 2000s.
From the collection of Gerry Morvell. It should be noted that the piece is labeled as coming from "Androy, Toliara, Madagascar", but Androy is the most southerly region of Madagascar, and Toliara is a town on the west coast, though the old Tuléar Province was also called Toliara, which was divided into four regions of Madagascar, Androy being one of them.