Bastnäsite (very rare)

Item Description

In the early 2000s, we started seeing these world-class Bastnäsites coming out of Zagi Mountain in Pakistan. These stones (and crystals) are among the finest quality Bastnäsite ever found. What makes them special is that the crystals are often robust with good strong orange color and they're gemmy enough to produce fine cut stones. Typically Bastnäsite forms in relatively thin blades and was never suitable enough for cutting, so the thicker habit of the Pakistani crystals is significant. The stones cut from these crystals are extremely rare and highly prized by collectors. They often have some sort of inclusions, and completely eye clean gems are very hard to find. This particular stone is a beautiful Bastnäsite with a classic "Oval" cut. The stone has very very slight of inclusions, which is significant for this material, as they are almost always a bit included, so this one is rather clean by comparison. It also exhibits a slight color change showing an orange color in incandescent light, but actually shows a yellowish-green color under the light of "energy saver" (mercury-bearing) light bulbs. This stone would fill a spot in any rare gem collection, and considering that very little of this material has come to the market recently, it's a great time to snag one of these stones before the price goes higher. It should be noted that this is specifically Bastnäsite-(Ce), but for the purposes of gem collectors, it's often only referred to as Bastnäsite.