Rocksday

Benitoite

A rare blue barium titanium silicate with distinctive triangular crystals.

Benitoite specimen
Photo: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify benitoite

  • Sapphire-blue triangular crystals.
  • Glows brilliant blue under shortwave UV light.
  • Usually on white natrolite.

Often confused with

Where it's found

  • San Benito County, California

Uses

Collector specimens and rare gems.

Rock tumbling

Not suitable for tumbling.

Did you know?

It's California's state gem, and gem crystals are known from essentially one mine.

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