Pezzottaite

A very sharp and rather thick, gemmy thumbnail of this rare cesium member of the Beryl Group from Madagascar. This came from the original 2003 pocket and is a near perfect, tabular, hexagonal crystal with pyramid modifications along the edges. It has a very good, saturated "raspberry red" color, is unusually equant across the front and has good luster for this material compared to most Pezzottaites, but still weaker than other beryls, yet typical of the species. This Pezzottaite crystal has a very high level of transparency... very much gem with no need of backlighting. There is a rind of very pale pink around the periphery of the crystal for highlight and contrast, and one point of attachment in back at the bottom. This is one of the finer thumbnail examples of this rare gem species. After 2003, only a small amount of Pezzottaite trickled out and nothing has been found here in over a decade now. Shows 360 degrees with a mass of 5.67 grams.