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Lot 4322
Rare Taafeite
16 May 2018, 10:00 PDT
Los AngelesSold for US$20,000 inc. premium
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Rare Taafeite
Sri Lanka
Taaffeite was named after its discoverer Richard Taaffe (1898–1967) who found the first sample, a cut and polished gem, in 1945 in a jeweler's shop in Dublin, Ireland. As such, it is the only gemstone to have been initially identified from a faceted stone. Most pieces of the gem, prior to Taaffe, had been misidentified as spinel. For many years afterwards, it was known only in a few samples, and is still one of the rarest gemstone minerals in the world.
Faceted as a kite-shaped stone with exceptional cut and pleasing proportions, the present, very rare offering of a collector's gemstone displays a lovely lavender color. This rare collector's gemstone which is so infrequently seen in the marketplace, exhibits both excellent clarity and luster and is significantly larger than most ever seen in the marketplace. Weighing approximately 5.34 carats and measuring 14.62 x 9.86 x 6.60 mm
Taaffeite was named after its discoverer Richard Taaffe (1898–1967) who found the first sample, a cut and polished gem, in 1945 in a jeweler's shop in Dublin, Ireland. As such, it is the only gemstone to have been initially identified from a faceted stone. Most pieces of the gem, prior to Taaffe, had been misidentified as spinel. For many years afterwards, it was known only in a few samples, and is still one of the rarest gemstone minerals in the world.
Faceted as a kite-shaped stone with exceptional cut and pleasing proportions, the present, very rare offering of a collector's gemstone displays a lovely lavender color. This rare collector's gemstone which is so infrequently seen in the marketplace, exhibits both excellent clarity and luster and is significantly larger than most ever seen in the marketplace. Weighing approximately 5.34 carats and measuring 14.62 x 9.86 x 6.60 mm