|
Name Origin | After Rene Hust Hauy, one of the great early mineralogists |
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Chemical Formula | (Na, Ca)4-8(Al6Si6)O24(SO4, S)1-2 |
Color | Blue; also white, shades of gray, green, yellow and red. Tranlucent to semi-transparent |
Hardness | 5.5 - 6 on Mohs Scale |
Crystal System | Isometric. Crystals dodecahedral or octahedral; usually rounded grains |
Cleavage | Distinct 1 direction. Fracture conchoidal to uneven. Brittle |
Specific Gravity (SG) | 2.44 - 2.50 |
Pleochroism | None |
Luster | Vitreous to greasy |
Occurrence |
Alkaline igneous rocks, associated with leucite and nepheline |
Stone sizes |
Opaque material is cut into cabochons up to an inch or two, but faceted gems are exceedingly rare, and always small. |
Note: Haüyne is one of the major constituents of lapis lazuli, a well-know and ancient gemstone material. It is, however, rarely seen as a distinct gem species. It is cut for collectors mainly as curiosity, but faceted gems would be deep blue in color and extremely beautiful. Blue is the most sought after color in this mineral.
Haüyne is found is (main sources): Canada, Canary Islands (Spain), Germany, Italy, Russia, and Tahiti.
Haüyne is found is (main sources): Canada, Canary Islands (Spain), Germany, Italy, Russia, and Tahiti.
Photo credit:
"Hauyne-169903" by Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hauyne-169903.jpg#/media/File:Hauyne-169903.jpg
Reference:
1- Color Encyclopedia of Gemstones, Joel E. Arem, VNR publications, New York.
"Hauyne-169903" by Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hauyne-169903.jpg#/media/File:Hauyne-169903.jpg
Reference:
1- Color Encyclopedia of Gemstones, Joel E. Arem, VNR publications, New York.