Size/Shape

Cutting

Proportions

Color

Clarity

Origin

Treatment

Weight

5.9 x 4.0mm Oval

Portuguese-Cutting, Good Polish

3.15mm, Full Brilliance, No Windowing

Beautiful Vibrant Orange-Pink

Eye-Clean

Shigar Valley, Northern Areas, Pakistan

Not Treated - 100% Natural

0.48 Carats

Alchuri is a village in the Shigar Valley between the towns of Skardu, to the SE, and Gilgit, to the NW, in the Northern Areas of Pakistan.  Deposits in the area are well known to collectors of rare minerals.  It is a very mountainous region, and great effort and risk are taken to mine and gather mineral specimens and gem rough in the Shigar Valley.

Among the more sought after rare minerals found in Alchuri is Vayrynenite.  The mineral is named after Heikki Allen Vayrynen (1888-1956), a Finnish mineralogy professor.  Vayrynenite is a phosphate of Manganese and Beryllium, with a chemical formula of Mn²⁺Be(OH,F)PO_4.  The hardness is 5, but the stone is brittle with strong cleavages in several directions.

Faceted examples of Vayrynenite are rare, most often being very small, showing a pale orange-pink color with strong fractures and/or inclusions.

We are fortunate to have some very good faceted Vayrynenite gems to offer.  They were mined in the summer season of 2009.

This is the nicest quality faceted Vayrynenite we have ever offered.  No other stones in our current inventory compare to this gem.