Mineral
Painite
CaZrAl₉O₁₅(BO₃)Painit
A reddish-brown stone found only in Myanmar, for many years regarded as the rarest gem mineral in the world.
- Popularly: Semi-precious stone
- Gemstone
In short
Painite is a very rare mineral containing calcium, zirconium, aluminium and boron. It is named after Arthur C. D. Pain, the British gem collector who first noticed the crystals. It was described in the 1950s from the Mogok area of Myanmar; for many years only a handful of crystals were known in the world. After 2001 new finds were made and thousands of small crystals and fragments came to light, but stones of cuttable quality are still very scarce.
Photos
How does it form?
Painite is a mineral containing calcium, zirconium, aluminium and boron; its formula is CaZrAl₉O₁₅(BO₃). It gets its reddish colour from trace amounts of chromium and vanadium. Because zirconium and boron rarely occur together in nature, the mineral is very rare. Painite is found in the gem gravels of the Mogok area, which also yield stones such as ruby and spinel, together with corundum and phlogopite.
What is it used for?
- Collecting: its crystals and cut stones interest mineral and gem collectors above all.
- Jewellery: although its hardness (about 8) and brilliance suit jewellery, rough of cuttable quality is often full of cracks and inclusions, so cut stones are small and few.
- Science: its crystal structure was solved in 1976 and re-examined in 2004; the structure has been compared with other boron minerals such as jeremejevite and fluoborite.
Where is it found?
Painite is found only in Myanmar. The first crystals came from near the village of Ohngaing in the Mogok area; in the 2000s painite was also found at new places around Mogok, such as Kyauk-Pyat-That and Wet-loo, and in the north, in Kachin State around Namya (Namyazeik).
What determines its value?
Above all, rarity sets the value of painite. Most cut stones are very small, because most rough crystals are full of cracks and inclusions, which makes cutting a clean, large stone very difficult. A deep, vivid garnet-red colour, clarity (few inclusions), size and cutting quality add value. It has no known treatments or synthetics, so a laboratory report confirming that a stone really is painite, and that it comes from Myanmar, is important.
This information is educational, not buying, selling or investment advice. Value varies enormously with quality and treatment.
How to recognise it
- 1
Its colour is deep garnet-red, brownish red or orange-red, with a glassy shine. Crystals are elongated rods with a hexagonal cross-section and are usually small (up to about 1.5 cm).
- 2
The colour changes with the viewing direction: ruby-red in one direction, pale brownish orange in another (pleochroism).
- 3
It is very hard (about 8): it scratches quartz, is close to topaz in hardness and softer than corundum (9).
- 4
It occurs in the “gem gravels” of Mogok, together with minerals such as corundum (ruby and sapphire) and phlogopite.
- 5
Whether a stone really is painite can only be established in a gem laboratory, by testing its composition and crystal structure.
Fakes and imitations
What shops usually don’t tell you:
- Look-alikes: ruby, garnet and reddish-brown tourmaline can resemble painite to the eye. That a stone sold as painite really is painite can only be established with a laboratory report.
Myths and misconceptions
MythThere are only a few painite stones in the world.
FactThat was almost true until the early 2000s, when only two or three crystals were known. After 2001 new finds were made around Mogok and thousands of small crystals and fragments were found. Even so, painite of cuttable quality is very scarce.
MythPainite is a rare kind of ruby.
FactIts red colour and the fact that it comes from the same gravels as ruby in Mogok invite the comparison, but painite is a separate mineral: ruby is aluminium oxide (corundum), while painite is a compound of calcium, zirconium, aluminium and boron.
Did you know?
It is named after the British gem collector Arthur Charles Davy Pain (1901–1971). The stone was studied at the British Museum in London, and the mineral was introduced in 1957 in a paper in the Mineralogical Magazine titled “Painite, a new mineral from Mogok, Burma”.
For a long time after the 1950s only two crystals (1.7 and 2.1 grams) were known; a third later turned up at GIA. In 2001 an 11-gram (55-carat) crystal was identified near Mogok. Until the end of 2004 only two painite stones had ever been cut into faceted gems.
Painite is so rare because zirconium and boron seldom occur together in nature; the two elements rarely interact.
Where is it found?
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- Ohngaing village area, Mogok, Mandalay Region, Myanmar · Type localityWhere the crystals were first found and the mineral was described; in the gem gravels of the Mogok area, famous for ruby and spinel
- Namya (Namyazeik) area, Kachin State, Myanmar · Known localityNear Hpakant; one of the painite localities reported outside Mogok in the 2000s
Locations are approximate to protect sites. Red dots mark places in Türkiye. Open in the big map →
Frequently asked questions
What is painite?
Painite is a very rare mineral containing calcium, zirconium, aluminium and boron. It is named after Arthur C. D. Pain, the British gem collector who first noticed the crystals. It was described in the 1950s from the Mogok area of Myanmar; for many years only a handful of crystals were known in the world. After 2001 new finds were made and thousands of small crystals and fragments came to light, but stones of cuttable quality are still very scarce.
What is painite used for?
Collecting: its crystals and cut stones interest mineral and gem collectors above all. Jewellery: although its hardness (about 8) and brilliance suit jewellery, rough of cuttable quality is often full of cracks and inclusions, so cut stones are small and few. Science: its crystal structure was solved in 1976 and re-examined in 2004; the structure has been compared with other boron minerals such as jeremejevite and fluoborite.
How hard is painite?
It has a hardness of 7.5–8 on the Mohs scale. It scratches glass and steel; a steel knife cannot scratch it. Its specific gravity is 4.01–4.03 g/cm³.
Where is painite found?
Its best-known localities: Ohngaing village area, Mogok, Mandalay Region, Myanmar; Namya (Namyazeik) area, Kachin State, Myanmar.
How can you tell if painite is real?
Its colour is deep garnet-red, brownish red or orange-red, with a glassy shine. Crystals are elongated rods with a hexagonal cross-section and are usually small (up to about 1.5 cm). The colour changes with the viewing direction: ruby-red in one direction, pale brownish orange in another (pleochroism). It is very hard (about 8): it scratches quartz, is close to topaz in hardness and softer than corundum (9). Look-alikes: ruby, garnet and reddish-brown tourmaline can resemble painite to the eye. That a stone sold as painite really is painite can only be established with a laboratory report.
Is painite valuable?
On the “street to diamond” value ladder it sits on step 9 of nine: Museum-grade rarity. Above all, rarity sets the value of painite. Most cut stones are very small, because most rough crystals are full of cracks and inclusions, which makes cutting a clean, large stone very difficult. A deep, vivid garnet-red colour, clarity (few inclusions), size and cutting quality add value. It has no known treatments or synthetics, so a laboratory report confirming that a stone really is painite, and that it comes from Myanmar, is important.
Sources
- Handbook of Mineralogy: Painite · Mineralogical Society of America
- Painite · Wikipedia
- New discoveries of painite in Myanmar (Burma) (G. R. Rossman), Gems & Gemology 41(4) · GIA, 2005
- Painite, a new mineral from Mogok, Burma (Claringbull, Hey & Payne), Mineralogical Magazine 31 · Mineralogical Society, 1957
- Painite Value, Price, and Jewelry Information · Gem Society
- Mogok · Wikipedia
- Hpakant · Wikipedia
External links
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