A 6.59 ct faceted green stone, identified by standard gemological testing as sapphire, contained various inclusions such as needles, fingerprints, and a cluster of colorless and green crystals. The colorless crystals were identified as feldspar, and a transparent green prism-like crystal breaking the surface of the sapphire (see above) was confirmed as musgravite (magnesiotaaffeite) by Raman spectroscopy.
Musgravite, (MgFe,Zn)2BeAl6O12, crystallizes in the trigonal system and is part of the taaffeite group. Musgravite is rarely found as an inclusion in corundum, making these crystals a unique observation for gemologists.
A 6.59 ct faceted green stone, identified by standard gemological testing as sapphire, contained various inclusions such as needles, fingerprints, and a cluster of colorless and green crystals. The colorless crystals were identified as feldspar, and a transparent green prism-like crystal breaking the surface of the sapphire (see above) was confirmed as musgravite (magnesiotaaffeite) by Raman spectroscopy.
Musgravite, (MgFe,Zn)2BeAl6O12, crystallizes in the trigonal system and is part of the taaffeite group. Musgravite is rarely found as an inclusion in corundum, making these crystals a unique observation for gemologists.