Iolite

[Lefty]

Same stone from three different angles....

Don't know much about this stuff. There's a fracture right across the middle, plus surface cracks and small inclusions but I'm pretty sure there's two stones in it.

Anyone got any tips for working with this material?

 

[Mungoman]

Some one more knowledgeable than I could explain it better Lefty, but isn't it to do with refraction, or the type of light travelling through the stone and how it behaves, due to it being impeded?

 

[rough2cut]

Its called pleocrosim Iolite is in the orthorhombic system so it has three different axis each with its own colour. Cut in the best colour. A great looking colour in a small stone is better than an ugly big stone.

 

[Lefty]

It looks darker to the eye than the camera sees. I'll try to orient it the way I have it in the middle photo, which is closer to the eye to the colour of the bottom photo - but you can still see through it without backlighting.

Oriented the way it is in the third photo, it looks a bit dark to the eye.

Hardness about the same as quartz, roughly. Hopefully it will turn out nice.

 

[KiwiKaren]

Gorgeous stone! You have captured the colours perfectly! When you study gemmology you usually get one of those in the exam

 

[Lefty]

Gorgeous stone! You have captured the colours perfectly! When you study gemmology you usually get one of those in the exam

We have a gemmologist at the club but he's leaving town. How many years of study to obtain a gemmology degree Karen? Do you need prior geology qualifications?