What is Musgravite?
Musgravite is valued for the combination of rarity, hardness and restrained colour. A documented rough crystal or faceted stone gives a collection a direct link to one of gemology's most exclusive oxide families.
Mineralogy and crystal structure
Reference formula: BeMg2Al6O12. Musgravite is a rare member of the taaffeite family and is closely related to magnesiotaaffeite. The selected COD structure is a representative natural musgravite-family model; gem identification requires laboratory testing because colour and appearance overlap with other hard stones. Musgravite is classified with oxides and has a trigonal crystal system. Typical hardness is 8–8.5 on the Mohs scale and specific gravity is approximately 3.5–3.7.
Colour, lustre and habit
Typical colours include grey-green, green, bluish-grey, violet-grey. The usual prismatic, granular, massive habit and vitreous lustre help describe a specimen, but colour alone is not diagnostic.
Formation and notable localities
Musgravite forms in or is associated with rare aluminium- and beryllium-rich metamorphic rocks and gem-bearing alluvial deposits. Important documented localities include the Musgrave Ranges of Australia, Greenland, Madagascar, Tanzania and Sri Lanka.
A collector gemstone from the Musgrave Ranges
Musgravite is valued for the combination of rarity, hardness and restrained colour. A documented rough crystal or faceted stone gives a collection a direct link to one of gemology's most exclusive oxide families.
Collecting and care
Hard but rare and brittle at inclusions or edges; protect from impact and document any treatment or laboratory identification.
