Brazilianite Gemstone: Properties, Meanings, Value & More

Brazilianite is a beautiful but rare gemstone often found in stunning yellow to yellow-green colors. It’s a less popular gem among mainstream crowds, mostly known among collectors.

Part of brazilianite’s relative obscurity comes down to it being difficult to cut. Combined with high-quality facetable material being rare and low demand making production spotty, brazilianite gems aren’t seen as often in jewelry.

If you’ve wondered what gemstone is only found in Brazil, it’s not brazilianite (though it was discovered there).

As one of the top gemstone locales in the world, Brazil is known for many gemstones, with notable varieties like imperial topaz and Paraíba tourmaline, but there aren’t any gems exclusively found in Brazil.

That doesn’t make brazilianite any less special, though. In this guide, we’ll fill you in on all the brazilianite properties, prices, history, and meanings that make the gem underrated.

About Brazilianite Stone

Brazilianite is a rare semi-precious gemstone most coveted in bright yellow hues.

The unusual stone is one of few phosphate minerals (like turquoise and apatite) primarily used as a gemstone.

Astrologically, brazilianite is beneficial for Capricorn signs.

Visually, brazilianite may be mixed up with stones like:

• Topaz

• Chrysoberyl

• Apatite

• Beryl

• Amblygonite

As a yellow topaz look-alike, brazilianite can be substituted as a November birthstone or 23rd wedding anniversary stone.

Brazilianite Specifications & Characteristics

What is the formula for brazilianite? As a sodium aluminum phosphate hydroxide, brazilianite’s formula is NaAl3(PO4)2(OH)4. However, many elements can substitute in brazilianite’s formula such as:

• Phosphorus

• Aluminum

• Iron

• Manganese

• Barium

• Strontium

• Calcium

• Magnesium

• Sodium

• Potassium

• Fluorine

• Chlorine

Any element can replace part of brazilianite’s sodium, arsenates or vanadates can replace some of the phosphates, and iron can replace some aluminum.

Brazilianite crystals can be prismatic or spear-shaped, as well as radially fibrous. They can also be equant, short, or elongated. The mineral may form globular druzy or radially fibrous aggregates.

Brazilianite properties listed:

• Mohs hardness: 5.5

• Color: Pale yellow, yellow-green, green, colorless

• Crystal structure: Monoclinic

• Luster: Vitreous (glassy), sub-vitreous, or greasy

• Transparency: Translucent to transparent

• Refractive index: 1.602-1.623

• Density: 2.94-3.00

• Cleavage: Distinct/good to perfect on {010}

• Fracture: Conchoidal

• Streak: White

• Luminescence: None

• Pleochroism: Weak to none - two shades of body color

• Birefringence: 0.019-0.021

• Dispersion: 0.014 (weak)

Moving on from mineralogy, let’s look at brazilianite’s spiritual and historical side.

Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Brazilianite Meaning & History

Spiritually, the brazilianite crystal meaning reflects empowerment, harmony, and inspiration. Yellow brazilianite specifically symbolizes insight, hope, and enlightenment.

The name “brazilianite” comes from the mineral’s first discovery in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Though the first discovery was in 1942, the mineral’s first description came in 1945.

Brazilianite Initial Discovery

In 1942, Brazilian farmers clearing a hill to plant rice in the Minas Gerais mountains found pieces of brazilianite. They followed the float up to the pegmatite where the stone was breaking off from.

From there, they spent a few months working the deposit every once in a while, but felt the work wasn’t worth much because they hadn’t found a market or many higher-quality specimens.

Months later, a gem buyer acquired one of the men’s specimens. The buyer thought it was chrysoberyl and staked a claim on the deposit. He spent four months mining the deposit for gem material, finding plenty of gorgeous specimens.

When he sent the stones to be faceted, they weren’t as hard as chrysoberyl and split easily, discouraging him enough to stop mining that deposit.

Brazilianite Description

American mineralogist and museum curator Frederick Harvey Pough along with American chemist and meteorite curator Edward P. Henderson co-authored brazilianite’s first description in 1945.

A gem dealer (mentioned above) showed Pough a yellow-green crystal, calling it chrysoberyl, but Pough could tell it wasn’t chrysoberyl. They got another similar crystal from Sr. Oswaldo Correia of Belo Horizonte. The third crystal acquired came from Dr. Evaristo P. Scorza, a mineral collection curator who analyzed the stone and assumed it was fremontite.

After bringing the specimens back to the US, the authors sent grains of the stones to geologist Kiguma J. Murata to analyze, but it wasn’t until his colleague J.M. Axelrod took X-ray pictures of the specimens that it was certain the stones weren’t fremontite or amblygonite. Further crystallography proved the mineral was a new discovery.

To honor the mineral’s origin, Pough and Henderson wanted the name “brazilite” first, but chose “brazilianite” instead, since “brazilite” was synonymous with baddeleyite.

New deposits of gem-quality brazilianite in New Hampshire, USA, were published in 1948 and 1956.

Back to the metaphysical, what are brazilianite’s healing properties?

Brazilianite Healing Properties

A commonly yellow healing stone, brazilianite joins other yellow gems in promoting optimism, mental clarity, and self-awareness.

Emotional Healing

Crystal healers claim brazilianite’s metaphysical properties can help you understand your relationships better and establish boundaries, especially if you’re someone who has trouble saying no to people.

What is brazilianite used for in energy healing?

Chakra Healing

Energy healers use chakra healing to balance or open certain energy centers (chakras) that are blocked. This blockage causes negative symptoms. Brazilianite is used as a heart and solar plexus chakra stone.

By balancing and aligning the heart and solar plexus, brazilianite can help you feel both self-acceptance, connection, and empowerment.

Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Brazilianite Gemstone Properties

Besides rarity, factors affecting brazilianite value include their color, cut, clarity, and carat weight.

Color

Brazilianite can be colorless, yellow, yellow-green, or green. Most often, it’s yellow to yellow-green.

The best stones are saturated, often bright yellow or chartreuse, with uniform coloring.

Cut

Brazilianite is rarely faceted because it’s brittle and fairly soft with easy cleavage, making faceting difficult. This makes faceted brazilianites valuable and sought-after by collectors.

Lapidarists (gem cutters) must orient the stone properly to avoid its cleavage planes. Plus, rough is often quite flawed, so polishing can result in pits. Faceted stones usually have emerald, rectangular, or round shapes.

Most specimens are sold rough (uncut), as cabochons, or as small, freeform beads.

Clarity

Clarity describes the number of visible inclusions in a gemstone. More inclusions can lower the gem’s transparency and value. Most brazilianites have inclusions, so eye-clean specimens are rare and more valuable.

Potential inclusions include:

• Partially healed fractures

• Fingerprints of fluid inclusions

• Small colorless crystals

Faceted, eye-clean gems are rarely over 15 carats.

Carat Weight & Size

With the exception of some faceted brazilianites in museums or collections, most gems are 1-10 carats or smaller. It’s hard to find faceted brazilianites over 5 carats now.

Brazil crystals can be up to 12 cm (~4.72 in) long.

Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Brazilianite Formation & Sources

Brazilianite forms when rocks containing amblygonite-montebrasite undergo metasomatism, a process where hydrothermal fluids cause minerals in the rock to dissolve so new minerals form.

The mineral is usually found in phosphate-rich, granite pegmatite cavities or metamorphosed sedimentary deposits.

Common associated minerals include:

Albite

Elbaite

Montebrasite

Muscovite

Mica

Quartz

Apatite

Beryl

Mining Locations

Where is brazilianite found? The top source of gem-quality brazilianite is Brazil, specifically Minas Gerais and Paraíba.

The only other major sources are New Hampshire, USA, and Yukon, Canada, but these specimens are smaller.

Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Brazilianite Price & Value

Unsurprisingly, faceted brazilianites are the priciest option, with higher costs for larger, higher-quality gems.

Overall, they’ll go for $60 to $500 per carat, with most falling around $150 per carat. Top-quality ones can reach over $1,800 per carat.

Large crystal specimens can reach prices of around $4,000 to $35,000 each. Smaller crystals are generally $30 to $50.

Brazilianite Care and Maintenance

Last up we’ll talk about gemstone care. Brazilianite jewelry isn’t common, but it should have protective settings, especially a brazilianite ring, and only be worn occasionally.

One major consideration is heat. Brazilianite gems will start fading in color at 140ºC (284ºF) and become colorless at 300ºC (572ºF). Be careful with brazilianite jewelry repairs if they use a jeweler’s torch.

Additionally, don’t clean brazilianite with mechanical systems. Just use mild soap, warm water, and a soft toothbrush.

Store brazilianite in a cool environment away from other gems.

Brazilianite: An Underrated Treasure of South America!

Brazil is a top mineral source known for many gems, but brazilianite is sadly not one of the popular ones, despite its gorgeous coloring and glassy appearance.

To quote a 1947 edition of Gems & Gemology, "To the chemist, it is hydrous sodium aluminum phosphate. To the layman, it is spectacular, and merits wider acquaintance."

Buy brazilianite gemstones today!