Star of India (gem)
563.35-carat star sapphire / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Star of India (gem)?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
SHOW ALL QUESTIONS
This article is about the gem known as "Star of India". For other items of the same name, see Star of India (disambiguation).
The Star of India is a 563.35-carat (112.67 g) star sapphire, one of the largest such gems in the world.[1][lower-alpha 1] It is almost flawless and is unusual in that it has stars on both sides of the stone. The greyish-blue gem was mined in Sri Lanka[3] and is housed in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
The milky quality of the stone is caused by the traces of the mineral rutile, which is also responsible for the star effect, known as asterism. The tiny fibers of the mineral, aligned in a three-fold pattern within the gem, reflect incoming light into the star pattern.[1]