A very pale yellow, almost colourless, Taaffeite gemstone from Mogok, Myanmar.

Taaffeite is a beryllium magnesium aluminium oxide named for Count Edward Charles Richard Taaffe (1898-1967) who discovered and identified it as a unique mineral species in 1945.

Since then, Taaffeite has been one of the most sought-after collectors gems in the world.  It shares a number of physical and optical properties with Spinel, with which many examples were misidentified before 1945, but they are distinguishable due to Taaffeites double refraction.

A rare and highly collectible gemstone.

weight:  0.55 carat
shape:   Cushion shape cut
dimensions:   4.98 x 4.06 x 3.50 mm
treatment:  None