Haüyne - Magliano Romano, Lazio, Italy

Haüyne

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Haüyne is one of those mineral species I find most collectors have difficulty in pronouncing (myself included), unless you are of continental European stock! Looking-up its phonetic pronunciation, it see it is written ah-wee-nyte, a bit tricky in itself! The species, a complex sodium-calcium tectosilicate sulphate (almost as difficult to say!) and is named for the famous French crystallographer René Just Haüy (1743–1822). This cabinet specimen was found in the Fosso Attici, a valley associated with a nearby caldera in central Italy, in the volcanic hills above Rome. The Haüyne occurs as crude crystals and crystalline aggregates in a characteristic volcanic matrix. Unlike its more famous counterpart from the Eifel volcanic district of Germany, Haüyne from Fosso Attici is a very pale cornflower blue tending to creamy white, as in this specimen. The accompanying video shows this specimen in white LED light and ultraviolet light, where the Haüyne fluoresces a bright transparent, glassy snow white with pale flamingo and candyfloss pink cores.