MORGANITE
Following the discovery of a new locality for rose beryl in Madagascar in 1910, George Kunz proposed the name morganite at a meeting of the New York Academy of Sciences on 5 December 1910 to honour his friend and customer J.P. Morgan for his financial support for the arts and sciences, and his important gifts of gems to the American Museum of Natural History in New York and to the Museum of Natural History in Paris.
On October 7th, 1989, one of the largest specimens of Morganite was uncovered. It was found in the Bennet Quarry of Buckfield, Maine, and it was somewhat orangish in hue and about 23 cm long and 30 cm across. It was christened 'The Rose of Maine.'
Although morganite is rarer than aquamarine, large cut stones are readily available on today’s market. Most of the morganite on the market comes from pegmatite mines in Minas Gerais, Brazil. While it’s only a minor producer today, the original Madagascar deposit still sets the standard for the best material.
