Blue zircon 3.794ct

Blue zircon 3.794ct.

6.43×13.35×4.97mm

Cambodian

Fancy Marquis

Yao & Pucchan Works

EGL1231364

★★★★★

This is a masterpiece with a deep blue that is almost fluorescent blue like Paraiba tourmaline, and is finished into a well-made fancy marquise.
Blue zircon is the most popular, but after sapphires were discovered in Cambodia in the 1890s, many brown zircons were also mined.

Brown zircon mined in Ratanakiri, northeastern Cambodia, turns blue when it is heated. Curiously, brown zircon from other sources does not turn blue when heated.

Cambodia is arguably the world's number one source of gorgeous blue zircon. The rustic, remote and stunningly beautiful region of Ratanakiri is the primary source of Cambodian zircon, producing some of the world's finest blue zircon. "Ratanakiri" literally means "mountain of gems."

Traditionally, zircon mining took place near Bo Keo, about 30 kilometers from Banlung, the capital of Ratanakiri province, but now a new mining area has opened up. There is a mining camp in the forest south of Banlung, where workers are busy extracting Ratanakiri zircon from narrow tunnels that penetrate the alluvial deposits about 4.5 meters underground.

The first minerals were formed 160 million years after the birth of the Earth, and zircon is the oldest mineral on Earth (4.4 billion years old) and was discovered in Western Australia.
A very unique feature of zircon is that it has birefringence (double refraction), which means that as light passes through the material it splits into two rays, resulting in the back facets appearing doubled and thicker.
While other rocks and minerals melt and transform under the tremendous heat and pressure of events such as continental drift, mountain building, and violent asteroid impacts, zircon remains intact.

Characteristics of zircon
Origin: Cambodia, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Tanzania
Colors: blue, green, honey (gold), white, yellow
Attribute Zircon
Hardness 6.0 - 7.5
Refractive index 1.81 - 1.99
Specific Gravity 3.90 - 4.73
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