Jewelry Lovers

Over and above the gemstones are still numerous minerals which make beautiful gemstomes in cut form as well as completely fulfilling the requirements of beauty, rarity, and durability. Their popularity and their market success are mostly determined by their great rarity; because of the latter they are all the more coveted by collectors. Contrary to prevailing ideas, these extremely rare and unusual collectors‘ delights can be obtained at favorable prices.

Together with many others, the varieties pictured on the color plate opposite belong to those gemstones which are most treasured by gemmologists and collectors: From left to right, top row: Yellow amblygonite, an aluminium phosphate containing the volatile elements fluorine and lithium, was discovered in 1953 in a drawer at a mineral museum and recognized as a gemstone in its own right. Asparagus-green andalusite, an aluminous silicate first found in Andalusia, is distinguished by its intense pleochroism which makes the narrow ends appear reddish-brown. As a beryllium aluminium silicate, light green euclase is a close relative of beryl. Lime-green hiddenite and lilac-colored kunzite belong to the spodumene family, an aluminium silicate with a lithium content. Second row: Wine-yellow danburite comes, so far, only from Burma. Yellow-brown sinhalite was first discovered in 1946 in Ceylon. Yellow-orange to brown sphalerite with its leaden luster almost equals the high refraction of diamond. Clear yellow orthoclase, a brother of moonstone, often yields huge specimens from Madagascar. Lively, sparkling phenacite owes its name to its vanity in trying to appear better than it is.

The double row in the center displays the rich colors of the fluorite family, whose light green, green, and pink specimens come from Swiss occurrences. Second row from the bottom: Clove-brown axinite crops out in small specimens in the Alps, gem-quality ones in southern California. Apatite, too, is often a mineral of the Alpine clefts. Up to now, the extremely rare sapphire-blue benitoite has been found only in Benito County in California. Yellowish-green brazilianite, so far encountered only in Brazil, has been known only since 1944. Blue cordierite, named in honor of the French geologist P. Cordier, is striking in its strong pleochroism. Bottom row: Pink scapolite from Burma and yellow from Brazil are very popular collectors‘ stones. But prestige is bestowed upon any gem collection by yellow, green, and brown sphenes which display the most intense fire of all gemstones. Yellow scheelite rivals them in its high refraction of light.

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