Gaspeite

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Consumer Information

 

What color is it?: Gaspeite is a medium green color with yellow modifying color as seen above.

 

What is the story behind this gemstone?: Named for its main source of occurrence, Gaspe, Quebec, Canada this gemstone is a

fairly new item on the gemstone market. It has a pleasing "earth green" color and wears very well.

 

Can I wear it everyday?: Yes, for most purposes it will wear well with a hardness of about 4.8.

 

Is it expensive?: Relatively inexpensive. About the same price as a nice piece of Lapis Lazuli in the finest quality.

 

Is it a birthstone?: No

 

What do I need to know before going shopping?: First, don't shop for gaspeite on eBay. This is a rather rare gem material that is only now being found in the open markets. I found the above specimen at the Tucson show. It is a very pretty stone that matches well with other earth tone gem materials.

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General Information

 

 

 

 

 

Rough gaspeite shown above

 

Source: Canada

 

Chemical: (Ni,Mg,Fe)Co3 A member of the calcite group of minerals

 

Formation: In volcanic rock formation

 

Crystal System: Trigonal but rarely seen as crystals

 

Unusual Properties: None

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Gemological Information

 

RI: 1.61 - 1.83

 

Birefringence: .22

 

Optic Character: B-

 

Specific Gravity: 3.21

 

Hardness: 4.8

 

Transparency: Opaque

 

Special Identifying Properties and Tests: None

 

Synthetics: None known at this time

 

Imitations: None known at this time

 

Gemological information on this page has been provided by the

International School of Gemology.