Description
DUMORTIERITE CABOCHON
This is the blue dumortierite cabochon. Dimensions: 0.9 x 0.5 x 0.3″ (2.2 x 1.3 x 0.7cm). Weight – 0.1oz (3 grams). Origin: Russia, Siberia.
Some information about dumortierite:
Dumortierite is a fibrous variably colored aluminium boro-silicate mineral. The crystals are vitreous and vary in color from brown, blue, and green to more rare violet and pink. Substitution of iron and other tri-valent elements for aluminium result in the color variations. It has a Mohs hardness of 7 and a specific gravity of 3.3 to 3.4. Crystals show pleochroism from red to blue to violet.
Dumortierite was first described in 1881 for an occurrence in Chaponost, in the Rhône-Alps of France and named for the French paleontologist Eugène Dumortier (1803–1873).
It used in the manufacture of high grade porcelain. It sometimes mistaken for sodalite and used as imitation lapis lazuli.
