Kunzite: a rosy spodumene with an American name

Posted on June 9, 2020 by The Gemworld Staff

Spodumene is almost exclusively a pegmatitic mineral of the pyroxene group that forms in monoclinic system with a chemical formula of LiAlSi2O6. Its hardness is 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs’ scale and displays perfect prismatic cleavage. Transparent and colored varieties show strong pleochroism. Strangely, the name spodumene means “ash-colored” in Greek referring to the dull and colorless examples when it was first named in the second half of the 19th century.

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Engraved Gems

Posted on May 11, 2020 by The Gemworld Staff

Engraved Gems. Timeless Seals and Canvases of Ancient Scenes.

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Sphene: A Mineral Emanates Fire with Two Names.

Posted on April 7, 2020 by The Gemworld Staff

Titanite, as it is known to modern mineralogists for its significant titanium content, was first recognized as a new mineral by the great German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth in 1795. Soon after its discovery, in 1801, the wedge-shaped crystals inspired the mineralogist Rene Just Haüy, the name bearer of mineral hauyne, to introduce the name “Sphene” after “sphenos,” meaning wedge in Greek.

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Gem Focus – March 2020

Posted on March 10, 2020 by The Gemworld Staff

The fascination of deep blue matrix speckled with golden colored pyrite flecks of lapis lazuli goes back several millennia, almost to the beginning of all civilizations.

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Gem Focus – February 2020

Posted on February 19, 2020 by The Gemworld Staff

Rainbow Garnet: All Colors on Black.... Garnet group minerals are never short of marvels. There are more than twenty-four related species of garnets, ten of which are also known as gemstones. Structurally similar, gem garnets differ from…

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Gem Focus – January 2020

Posted on January 8, 2020 by The Gemworld Staff

Fancy Zoisite: A collector’s mineral from Austria to a celebrated gem of Tanzania. The name saualpite for a collector’s mineral from Saualpe in Carinthia, Austria must have sounded strange to Professor A. G. Werner of…

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Gem Focus – December 2019

Posted on December 11, 2019 by The Gemworld Staff

Turquoise is found in many locations in the world not only in Iran, but also Tibet, China and the US. It may vary in color as well as purity. The purest sky blue material is named as robin’s egg and considered to be the finest quality when it is really compact.

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Gem Focus – November 2019

Posted on November 6, 2019 by The Gemworld Staff

There are two suggestions for where the name topaz originated from; one is “topazios” in Greek referring to the island, also known as Zabargad, and the other is “tapaz” in Sanskrit translates as fire. Although Zabargad Island in today’s Egypt is the source

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Gem Focus – October 2019

Posted on October 3, 2019 by The Gemworld Staff

Tourmaline: The Mineral that comes in every Imaginable color.

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Gem Focus – September 2019

Posted on September 5, 2019 by The Gemworld Staff

Blue Sapphire: The Backbone of the US Colored Stone Industry. Corundum is an aluminum oxide mineral that occurs in the earth’s crust in abundance. It has been known as a common abrasive called “emery” when…

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