| Currency: |
|  | | Registered Member : 4,091 |
|
 | |
|
| | | | | |
|
| <<Back to Main | ApatiteApatite | Aquamarine and BerylsAquamarine and Beryls | ChrysoberylChrysoberyl | Crystal CollectionsCrystal Collections | DanburiteDanburite | DiopsideDiopside | EnstatiteEnstatite | Feldspar and MoonstonesFeldspar and Moonstones | FluoriteFluorite | GarnetGarnet | Gemstones in matrixGemstones in matrix | Lapis LazuliLapis Lazuli | PegmatitePegmatite | PeridotPeridot | PetalitePetalite | PhenakitePhenakite | Pyrite, Hematite and Iron OresPyrite, Hematite and Iron Ores | Quartz Family: Amethyst, Citrine, Agate...Quartz Family: Amethyst, Citrine, Agate... | Rare Burmese SpecimensRare Burmese Specimens | RubyRuby | SapphireSapphire | ScapoliteScapolite | Sillimanite or FibroliteSillimanite or Fibrolite | SpinelSpinel | TopazTopaz | TourmalineTourmaline | ZirconZircon | Other Fine CrystalsOther Fine Crystals | | Our Top Rare Burmese Specimens Highlight | Rare Burmese Specimens | | | Rare specimens:
Many crystals and gemstones are valuable for their pure esthetic beauty but some people can find interesting and sometimes beautiful stones that don't have a very appealing color or shape because they are looking beyond the gemstone's appearance. Some gemstones are so rare or so unusual that many collectors, gemologists, geologists or mineralogists will simply fall in love with them!
I remember the first time I ever saw a "trapiche sapphire". I was excited as never before as that was the first time I'd ever heard about such thing in sapphire. The stone that was presented to me was actually really ugly but I could not imagine leaving without it. I paid 10 times the price for that stone that I would pay now. This is the problem with rare stones: If you don't buy them on the spot sometimes at a high price then you don't know if you will be able to get one at a later date. Our idea in this section is to show and to bring you things that probably nobody else will propose to you!
But please take care: Rarity does not mean high value on the market, as very few people know about these stones so very few people really search for them. But a rare stone can be extremely valuable, above and beyond the scientific interest there when there is some esthetic beauty in it. They are the real connoisseur items! As they are really hard to get items.
In this category we will put some rare gemstones, some more commonly seen stones which present some rare characteristics, and also reference specimens from specific origin that could be interesting from a scientific point of view.
Most of our stones are of course coming from the gemstone heaven on earth: The Burmese valley of Mogok!
It is one one the richest gem deposits on Earth...
The reason for this wonder is in Mogok's famously complex and unique geology:
Metamorphism in Mogok was very important (both contact and regional) but igneous, pegmatic and hydrothermal processes have also occured there. Therefore we see Mogok producing ruby, sapphire, spinel, peridot, moonstone, topaz, tourmaline, danburite, chrysoberyl, along with a large number of other gemstones:
In hard rock mines, from the famous calcite belts at Dattaw, Bawpadan, Kolan, Kadot Tad or Lin Yaung Chi for example, we can find, along with rubies and red spinels, apatite (Dattaw produces green and greenish blue, Pain Pyit is known for fine blue), lapis lazuli (Dattaw), chondrodite (Oo Saung Daung mine), diopside, sodalite, scapolite, sinhalite, iolite, sphene, and pyrite.
To the north of Mogok near Barnardmyo, peridots are found in the ultra basic rocks of Pyaung Gaung and Zalat Thaung mines.
To the west of Mogok, near the Kabaing granite intrusions, many pegmatites and some hydrothermal veins occur, especially in the Sakangyi and Barnardmyo areas. There we can find quartz (as rock crystal, amethyst, smoky quartz, chrysoprase, agate), topaz, danburite (golden yellow, straw yellow or colorless), feldspar (moonstones, orthoclase, albite, labradorite), beryl (aquamarine, goshenite), chrysoberyl, tourmaline, zircon, amblygonite, fluorite, spodumene and sillimanite, which is also called fibrolite.
Near the Kabaing granite area, the feldspatic hills of Thurein Thaung (Near Kyauk Pya That Monastery) or farther to the west near Ohn Dan, we can find excellent sapphires still in their matrix.
Besides the mountains in which hard rock mining occurs, many alluvial placers are found in the valleys near the cities of Mogok and Kyatpyin and the villages of Kin, Kabaing or Barnardmyo. Very famous alluvial mining operations are found in Yadana Kaday Kadar (near Kyauk Pya That monastery), which is famous for sapphires, and Schwee Pyi Aye (near Mogok city) famous for rubies. These alluvial mines are the most profitable operations as washing the ground is less costly than blasting the rocks. Many smaller operations, mostly private, are found everywhere the ground can be washed. There the gem bearing gravel known as "By | | See all Items in this Rare Burmese Specimens Category |  |
| |
|