Guide to Gemstones
Oregon Sunstone
Let’s look at my absolute favorite gem, the Oregon Sunstone. They are found in the southest corner of Oregon. I’ve traveled there myself and found amazing treasurers.The Oregon substone is one of the few gemstones that goes through no treatment process. Many gemstones are heated or treated in some form to improve color or clarity. The Oregon sunstone is all natural.Its colors are yellow, orange. Red and even green. It has metallic like inclusions that make it glisten in the sun.If you ever get a chance to see the Oregon Sunstone you will be pleasantly surprised at its beauty. I get more compliments on my sunstone jewelry than any other gemstone piece I own. I have a large private collection of loose stones if you have interest in purchasing.
Green Garnets
Did you know some of the most valuable garnets are green? Tsavorite and Demantoid are green gemstones from the garnet family. Tsavorite’s color ranges from yellowish green to bluish green, but the most valuable color is a pure saturated green. Found primarily in Africa, it is hard to find over 2 carats. Demantoid was first found in the Ural Mountains in Russia and was popular among Russian nobility. Since then sources have also been found in Africa. Demantoid colors are yellowish or brownish green with true green being the rarest and most valuable. Demantoid also have an unusual feature called a horsetail inclusion. This feature separates Demantoid from all other green gems.
Fancy Saphires
You know about blue sapphires, but do you know about fancy sapphires? Fancy sapphire is a term for any sapphire that isn’t blue (or red, which is a ruby). Different elements and conditions can be present in a sapphire to give it several different colors other than blue. Sapphires can be found in yellow, orange, pink, purple, orange, green and even black. Pink sapphire commands a very high price but the most valuable sapphire color is close to a salmon or sunset color. It’s called a Padparadcha, named after the Sri Lankan term for lotus flower. It must be a particular mix of orange and pink to qualify as a padparadcha. They are rare, you will probably never see one, but keep an eye out, because they command a high price!
Tanzanite
You have probably heard of Tanzanite. Tanzanite is mined in only one place in the world, Tanzania at the foot of the Himalayans. When miners first discovered it, they thought they found sapphires, but testing showed they found a gem called ziosite with an unusual blue color. In 1968 Tiffany &Co coined the name “tanzanite” and accompanied it with a large marketing push.One way to tell the difference between sapphire and tanzanite is by color. A sapphire stone will only show one color. Tanzanite is “pleochroic” and shows two colors depending on the viewing angle. Those colors are usually blue and violet.