Tags: Chemical Substance, Mineral.
Taaffeite (/ˈtɑːfaɪt/; BeMgAl4O8) is a mineral named after its discoverer Richard Taaffe (1898–1967) who found the first cut and polished gem in November 1945. As such it is the only gemstone to have been initially identified from a faceted stone. Most pieces of the gem prior to Taaffe had been misidentified as spinel.
