Benitoite

Names

Standard and listing namesThe Chinese formal name for Benitoite comes from GB/T 16552—2017 Table A.1; the mineralogical name and the English name are both Benitoite, and the suggested listing name is Benitoite. Names in four languagesNames are given in four languages: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English (Benitoite) and Japanese (a katakana transliteration); Japan's GSJ formal name uses a different Japanese form. Institution usageOn authority wording, the CIBJO Gemmological Laboratories Book 2024 records Benitoite; the FTC has been checked and its text on file has no wording for Benitoite; GIA and Gem-A are unchecked, and bodies without a recorded wording show benitoite's own English name, which does not represent the position of those bodies.

Testing and market

Benitoite has no synthetic counterpart on the market. A note on testing methods in the CIBJO laboratory protocol states that when measuring refractive index with a refractometer, the higher refractive index may exceed the refractometer's range; the CIBJO laboratory protocol lists the required tests for Benitoite, and each method is in the protocol table on the laboratory testing page. Among the identification leads registered from GB/T 16553—2017, untreated Benitoite under magnification shows gas-liquid inclusions, mineral inclusions, growth striations, colour zoning and obvious doubling (birefringence); it is inert under long-wave UV and shows strong bluish-white fluorescence under short-wave UV; pleochroism varies with colour, being strong in blue stones (blue and colourless) and purplish red and purple in violet stones. GB/T 16553—2017 also registers that the UV-visible spectrum is not diagnostic and that there are infrared absorption bands characteristic of benitoite in the mid-infrared region.

The tests the CIBJO laboratory protocol requires for this material, and what each method means, are in the protocol table on the laboratory testing page: §6.1.11.

PropertyFinding (each row expands to source and check date)

How far testing can go

Each row's “Source & check” expands to the full source; the date beside it is the fact check date.

Clause-level definitions

Benitoite is defined directly in the CIBJO Gemmological Laboratories Book 2024 under the term Benitoite, as blue, violetish blue or rarely pink, and transparent; the cross-check shows it is defined directly by CIBJO and also appears in the GB/T annex. In the IMA Mineral List the entry is likewise Benitoite, recorded with the chemical formula BaTiSi₃O₉, IMA naming status code G and the year 1907, and cross-checked against the RRUFF/IMA master mineral list; the source is public domain data.

Who maintains this page

The material facts in the Benitoite entry are maintained by the LumaLark wiki and matched one by one to the standard clauses or institutional sources they cite: every fact carries its source (with a clause or page locator) and a check date, so it can be traced back to the original; clause-level definitions also carry a cross-check result. The entry exists so that buyers and sellers can check naming, disclosure and material facts item by item.

Facts editor

Ralph

Reviewer

June

How facts are checked

Each fact is matched to the clause it cites; facts checked between 2026-09-21 and 2026-09-26

Last revised

2026-10-12

Purpose

Lets buyers and sellers check naming, disclosure and material facts clause by clause.

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