Yet another Malagasy mineral that rarely escapes the island in crystal form is spodumene. Most of it gets bought up by Thai traders who then irradiate and facet them as necessary. I was shown a few small parcels of gem material, from which I selected the best crystalline examples. This is a rather large, etched crystal, complete all around and damage free. In terms of quality, these are no different from their Brazilian of Afghan counterparts. This piece is pure gem--because of the etched surface it is hard to tell from the photographs, but this specimen is like glass.

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