Corundum var. Sapphire - Miass, Ural Mountains, Russia

Corundum var. Sapphire

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Corundum, var. Sapphire crystals from Miass, Ilmen Mountains, Chelyabinsk Oblast', Southern Urals, Russia are rarely seen available on the mineral market and this fine specimen is a real beauty. Consisting of a parallel cluster of pale blue hexagonal platy crystals one's first thought is that the specimen has perfect basal cleavage, but Corundum has no cleavage. Instead, this is perfect basal parting, probably caused by layers of impurities between the crystals. The specimen is accompanied by two labels from the collection of Prof. Dr. H. Siegmund in Vienna that indicate that it was acquired in 1962.