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California State Gemstone

Benitoite: California State Gemstone

Adoption of the California State Gemstone

Varying in color from very pale blue to deep purplish blue, the color of the finest benitoite (pronounced beh-nee-toe-ite), referred to as a cornflower blue, rivals that of fine sapphire. Indeed, upon its discovery near New Idria in 1907, it was thought to be sapphire or a new kind of "blue diamond."

Mr. James M. Couch of Coalinga, equipped with a donkey and a pick-axe had been grubstaked by oil man Roderick W. Dallas and sent off to prospect the Idria Quicksilver (Mercury) Mine area. What he stumbled upon was a cache of "blue diamonds."

After two days of wandering the hills of southern San Benito, James Couch spotted a promising outcrop of rocks.

According to David Austin in his self-published The Benitoite Story:

After crossing the creek, he climbed uphill several yards through the thick brush. After removing the brush cover that screened the entrance to two narrow clefts in the hillside, James walked into a fantasy scene. It was as if he had stepped into a giant geode. Before him, poured out at his feet in the dirt with no regard for their value, were literally thousands of multi-hued but mostly beautiful sapphire-blue gems, weathered from the nearly snow-white walls, and the natural matrix of their mother rock. The white walls were studded everywhere with thousands more of the glittering gems still in place, as if growing and ready to be harvested.

Stones collected by Mr. Couch were brought to jewelers for examination. Identification of the stones was uncertain and samples were brought to Professor George D. Louderback at the University of California, Berkeley.

After extensive examination, Professor Louderback declared the blue crystals a completely new mineral. He named the new substance benitoite to reflect its occurrence near the headwaters of the San Benito River in San Benito County, California.

Benitoite is particularly noteworthy because it became the first mineral to inhabit a previously theoretical mineral class and because of its beauty and rarity.

CFMS Emblem: stylized version of three-sided shape of a benitoite crystal

Its rarity and occurrence in California moved the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies (CFMS) to propose that it be adopted as the state's official gemstone. Thus began a four-year effort that led to the introduction of legislation in the California State Legislature and the adoption of benitoite's adoption as California's official state gemstone.

California Assembly members Lucy Killea and Rusty Areias introduced Assembly Bill No. 2404 (AB 2404) on January 18, 1984. By the end of May, the bill had been adopted in the Assembly and read and referred to the Committee on Rules in the Senate. Unfortunately, AB 2404 was defeated in the Senate on June 29 by a vote of 17 to 10.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. And that's exactly what the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies did a year later.

On March 8, 1985, Assembly Bill No. 2357 (AB 2357) was introduced in the Assembly. Sponsored by Rusty Areias, this bill made it through the Assembly and the Senate and was signed into law, by Governor George Deukmejian, on October 1, 1985.

CHAPTER 1365

An act to add Section 425.3 to the Government Code , relating to the state gemstone.

[Approved by Governor October 1, 1985. Filed with Secretary of State October 1, 1985.]

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 425.3 is added to the Government Code, to read:
425.3 Benitoite is the official state gemstone.

California Law

The following information was excerpted from the California Government Code, Title 1, Division 2, Chapter 2.

CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE
TITLE 1. GENERAL
DIVISION 2. STATE SEAL, FLAG, AND EMBLEMS
CHAPTER 2. STATE FLAG AND EMBLEMS
SECTION 420-429.8

425.3. Benitoite is the official state gemstone.

Source: California State Legislature, California Law, , March 1, 2008.
Source: Colored Stone: September/October 2001, Blue Bounty, , March 4, 2008.
Source: Friends of Mineralogy:Southern California, Minutes of the So. Calif. Chapter of the Friends of Mineralogy, , March 4, 2008.
Source: SOURCE:The Benitoite Story, by David Austin, Oscar Couch and Louis Couch, Self publiched, 1988.
Source: SOURCE: Classic Tales in California History, Alton Pryor, Stagecoach Publishing; 1st ed edition - July 15, 1999
Source: State Names, Seals, Flags and Symbols: A Historical Guide Third Edition, Revised and Expanded by Benjamin F. Shearer and Barbara S. Shearer. Greenwood Press; 3 Sub edition (October 30, 2001).

Additional Information

The Mineralogical Society of Southern California: So. Calif. Chapter of the Friends of Mineralogy featuring Benitoite - The California State Gemstone.

California State Gem Mine: After 100 years, the mine is open to the public. Rock hounds, gem, and specimen hunters can find one of the rarest and most desirable gemstones in the world!.

California State Gemstone & Mineral Specimens: This website offers specimens for sale and information about benitoite and the minerals that are found at Benitoite Gem mine.

Benitoite: California State Gem: California Geological Survey, Note 11.

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