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| Mineral Name: |
sugilite |
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| Gem Names: |
sugilite - luvulite - Royal Lazelle |
| Chemistry: |
KNa2(Fe,Mn,Al) 2Li3Si12O30 |
| Class: |
silicate - cyclosiicates |
| Crystal Sys: |
hexagonal |
| Hardness: |
6.0 - 7.0 |
Specific Gravity: |
2.75 - 2.80 |
| Fracture: |
uneven to conchodial |
Refractive Index: |
1.606 - 1.610 |
| Dispersion: |
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| Misc Prop: |
Sugilite has a unique color that is one of a kind in the gem world. Color makes it easy to identify, it is a hot magenta-violet color. It is found in translucent to opaque stones and rarely transparent of any size. The translucent varieties with deep color are the most valuable and have almost an inner glow about them.
The stone is fairly new in the jewelry world achieving prominence in about 1979 when commercial mining began on the high quality "orchid" colored stone. It was named after Japanese petrologist Kenichi Sugi who described in in Japan. There it is tiny pink crystals and not the deep color variety sought after today.
It is most often cut into cabochons as faceted stones are too cloudy eve in the best material. The desired colors come from the element manganese.
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| Color: |
In gemstones, color, is often the key to naming or describing the particular variety. Hence look for this information below in the various descriptions. Color, opacity, and homogeneity often determine the placement of value on any given stone, and are all optical properties of the particular stone. |
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