Trio De Pedras Preciosas Brasileiras Exóticas:
Three Brazilian Exotic Gems
By Gavin Linsell
Caption: The author exploring the Fernão Dias Mine at Brazil’s principal Emerald source, Nova Era’s famous Iron Quadrangle located in the state of Minas Gerais.
Since the Portuguese colonial era, Brazil has been famously synonymous with the world’s finest gemstones… Aquamarines, Citrines, Emeralds, Kunzites, Topazes, Tourmalines, as well as a plethora of unique exotics. Today, Brazil remains an important and esteemed origin for the gem connoisseur.
With TVSN’s carnival of Brazilian gemstones this month, here’s a quick introduction to a trio of beautiful Brazilian gemmological scarcities, rarely seen in fine jewellery collections.
The world’s love affair with Brazilian gemstones started in 1573, when rumours and discoveries unleashed a ‘gem rush’ upon the country’s interior. After Brazil’s independence in 1822, German immigrants from the legendary lapidary centre of Idar-Oberstein saw Brazilian gemstones boom! Diamond and gold exploration overshadowed gem mining until the 19th century, when ‘garimpeiros’ (independent miners) became prolific.
While gem mining has shifted towards larger, more organised operations, Brazil’s extensive deposits are still underexplored. It once seemed a year hardly went by without enchanting new Brazilian gemstone discoveries, but now, mining vaults is increasingly as important as direct, mine-to-market sources.
Brazilian Pink Fluorite
Named for its famed country of origin, Brazilian Pink Fluorite’s signature, beautifully bright, all-natural fuchsias (purplish-pinks) are uncommon and highly prized. A scarce gemstone that’s enormously limited in its finest grades, Fluorite’s plethora of beautiful colours continues to see it desired by mineral, gemstone, and jewellery connoisseurs around the globe. Rightfully regarded as the world’s most colourful gem variety, Fluorite’s best gemmy examples come to life with optimal lapidary, deserving a place of pride in any serious gemstone collection.
While Fluorite is found in many countries, Brazil, China, India, Madagascar, and Pakistan are the premiere gem-quality sources. Displaying an exceedingly rare colour with an excellent clarity, Brazilian Pink Fluorite is from a new discovery, only very recently unearthed (January/February 2021) in the famous Iron Quadrangle (Quadrilátero Ferrífero), located in the south-eastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais (General Mines), an esteemed locale renowned internationally for its fine gemstones. Entirely natural and unenhanced, Brazilian Pink Fluorite’s attractive colours command higher prices due to their comparative rarity.
Brazilian Madeira Citrine
The preferred and quintessential Citrine colour for many gem connoisseurs, Brazilian Madeira Citrine is aptly named… this fantastic jewellery gemstone glows like fine Madeira wine, mellow and warm, but at the same time, bright and vibrant. Named for the fortified wine made on the Portuguese Madeira Islands, an archipelago comprising four islands off Africa’s northwest coast, Madeira Citrine has a crimson-reddish orange body colour, with red or reddish-orange flashes coming from the facets; no browns, golds, light oranges, or yellows.
This is despite the Portuguese word ‘Madeira’ meaning ‘wood’; Madeira Citrine’s named for the wine, not the word or island. Coined for the forests that covered the island in 1419, ‘Madeira’ is the largest and most populous of the Madeira Archipelago. Extremely limited, our stunning Brazilian Madeira Citrine is very old mine production, definitely displaying the historic gemmy-quality expected from this notable origin, which is sadly, no longer readily or significantly available. Some sources estimate that Madeira Citrine represents less than two-percent of all Citrine, but this is difficult to accurately quantify; it may be far less.
Mined well-over two decades ago in Minas Gerais, Brazilian miner relationships cultivated over 20 years, enabled us to acquire these raw uncut crystals from a vaulted private collection. Brazilian Madeira Citrine wonderfully showcases the high-quality its significant, origin pedigree implies, with optimal lapidary highlighting its beautiful colour, the key value determinant for this coveted, but increasingly rare Citrine.
Brazilian Hiddenite
Unbelievably scarce, Hiddenite is the highly-desirable green variety of mineral Spodumene, named from the Greek ‘spodumenos’ (burnt to ashes), in reference to its typical light greys. Hiddenite was discovered in North Carolina’s Alexander County in 1879, and was named in 1881 for mineralogist, William Earl Hidden (1853 - 1918). Aside from the historic, largely depleted North Carolinian deposit, Hiddenite is also very occasionally found in the granite pegmatites (coarsely crystalline igneous rocks) of California, New Hampshire, and South Dakota, as well as in Brazil, China, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka, albeit in scant, sporadic quantities, especially for fine, facet-grades.
Coming from both the same family and mine, Brazilian Hiddenite is a close sister gem to the coveted Brazilian ‘Galiléia’ Kunzite, and a chance 2008 discovery from the famous Urucum Mine (pronounced: Ooo-roo-coom). Decades long friendships enabled our acquisition of the top 15 percent of this exceptional historic parcel (pocket mine-run). Discovered in 1962, the Urucum Claim (Lavra do Urucum) works a granite pegmatite located in Galiléia near Conselheiro Pena, approximately two hours’ drive from Governador Valadares in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.
Commencing major production in the mid-70s, the claim briefly closed in March 2014. While mining since recommenced, it continues to be plagued by negligible, intermittent production. Mined and cut in Brazil, this prized jewellery gemstone wonderfully displays its essential lemon-limes, with a high-clarity, fine-transparency, and wonderful scintillation. With no significant Hiddenite unearthed from Urucum in well over a decade, this increasingly limited and valuable, historic gemmy-quality is continuously decreasing in availability, maximising its collectability.
Experience jewellery collections featuring an amazing array of Brazil's acclaimed gemstones during TVSN Brazilain Gem Carnival.
