Specifications
Description
Locality: Badakhshan, Afghanistan
Description: Hackmanite takes its name from the Finnish geologist Victor Axel Hackman. In 1901 his countryman Leonhard Borgström described it from the Tawa Valley on Russia's Kola Peninsula and named it in Hackman's honour. This piece comes from Badakhshan Province in northeastern Afghanistan, which has produced significant gem-quality hackmanite in recent decades (GIA, 2009). Mindat records world-class crystals from Ladjuar Medam, near the Sar-e-Sang lapis lazuli mines.
Hackmanite is a sulfur-bearing variety of sodalite known for tenebrescence (reversible photochromism). Exposure to ultraviolet light deepens its colour to pink, violet or purple; ordinary white light or daylight then gradually fades it back to its paler colour. Under longwave UV it also fluoresces orange. How each piece behaves in the dark varies with origin: some hold their colour, some slowly fade, and some Badakhshan material is noted to re-darken. The effect is reversible but can be permanently destroyed by strong heat.
Like other sodalite varieties, hackmanite fluoresces a bright orange under UV light. What makes it special among fluorescent sodalites is the combination of that fluorescence with tenebrescence.
The combination of Tenebrescence and fluorescence in these specimens is truly a sight to behold - they start off pale purple, fluoresce safety orange under UV, and then, when the UV light is removed, they turn a deep dark purple in sharp contrast to their original color.
In crystal traditions, hackmanite is associated with the third eye chakra, intuition and insight, and with calm and positive thinking.
Chemical Composition: Na8(Al6Si6O24)(Cl2,S)
Chakra: Third Eye
Mini
Approximate Size of 1 Piece: 1cm x 1cm x 1cm
Approximate Weight of 1 Piece: 0.5g
Small
Approximate Size of 1 Piece: 1.75cm x 1.25cm x 1.25cm
Approximate Weight of 1 Piece: 3g
Medium
Approximate Size of 1 Piece: 2.5cm x 1.5cm x 1.5cm
Approximate Weight of 1 Piece: 5g
Large
Approximate Size of 1 Piece: 2.5cm x 2cm x 2cm
Approximate Weight of 1 Piece: 7g
X-Large
Approximate Size of 1 Piece: 3.25cm x 2.5cm x 2cm
Approximate Weight of 1 Piece: 10g
XX-Large
Approximate Size of 1 Piece: 3.75cm x 3cm x 2cm
Approximate Weight of 1 Piece: 18g
XXX-Large
Approximate Size of 1 Piece: 4.5cm x 4.5cm x 2.5cm
Approximate Weight of 1 Piece: 42g
Quantity: 1pc
We do our best to buy quality products- although not every rock is the same. If you choose to purchase the "staff pick option", we will select the best of the batch for you. Otherwise, it will be at random from the larger batch we have in stock.