Large Charoite Tower from Siberia — 11.5 Inch Rare Russian Purple Charoite Obelisk, 3 Pound Collector Specimen

Charoite comes from exactly one place in the world, the Murun Massif in the Sakha Republic in eastern Siberia, not far from the Chara River that gave the stone its name. Geologists have gone looking for it in other places and come back with nothing, so every piece of charoite in every shop anywhere began in that one stretch of Russian rock. Because the supply has only ever come from a single deposit, most of what reaches the market is small, a palm stone or a tumble or a strand of beads, which is what makes a polished tower standing 11.5 inches tall such an unusual thing to come across.

The stone itself is the reason people fall for it. Charoite grows in fine interlocking fibers rather than blocky crystals, so a polished face does not sit still the way quartz does. It gathers and releases the light as you move past it, a little like watered silk. The color runs from deep violet through lilac into a soft pale wash, and threaded all the way through are long white swirls that curl and double back on themselves, which is why charoite so often gets compared to brushwork, or to smoke, or to a van Gogh sky. Bands of dark charcoal cut across the body in a few places, and up near the point there is a seam of pale olive running at an angle.

It is a four sided obelisk, polished on every face and brought to a clean point, standing about 11.5 inches tall on a base of roughly 1.9 by 1.4 inches. It weighs 3 pounds 4 ounces, which you notice the moment you lift it. The base is cut flat, so it stands up on its own with no stand and nothing holding it, and it can go straight onto a mantel, a console, or the corner of a desk, somewhere it catches the light from a window and somewhere you can see it from across the room.

Charoite is usually spoken of as a stone of transformation, and the way people in crystal circles describe it is fairly specific. It is not the stone you reach for while you are deciding whether to change something, it is the one you reach for when the change is already underway and you have to walk the rest of the way through it. It is associated with the crown and the heart at the same time, so that insight and feeling are said to arrive together rather than one trailing the other, and it has a long reputation for loosening old fear, the kind that outlived whatever first caused it. A tower is traditionally read as gathering all of that and sending it up and out through the point.

The product photographs and the video show the exact piece you will receive.

Specifications
Stone: natural charoite
Origin: Murun Massif, Sakha Republic, Siberia, Russia
Size: about 11.5 inches tall, 1.9 by 1.4 inches at the base
Weight: 3 lb 4 oz
Form: four sided polished tower, self standing, no stand needed

Please note: charoite is a fibrous stone and the polished point is the most delicate part of the piece. Keep it out of direct water and prolonged sun, and dust it with a soft dry cloth.

Because natural minerals are delicate and can be damaged by the stress of shipping, we are unable to accept returns. If your item arrives damaged, please contact us within 48 hours with photos and we will make it right.