Hiddenite

W. E. Hidden discovered the stone in 1879 in North Carolina, United States. It has a strong vitreous luster. Its coloring agents are chrome or iron and the colors can gradually fade away.

Deposits of this stone can be found in United States, Madagascar, Burma and Brazil.

                                         
                                              



 ...Back

Iolite

Iolite displays different colours in different directions in the same crystal. A cube cut from iolite will look a violet blue from one side, clear as water from the other, and a honey yellow from the top. Because of this, some people in the past called iolite "water sapphire". The name iolite comes from the Greek "ios", which means violet. Iolite resembles a sapphire, but affordable. The more transparent and blue the stone, the better. It is mined in India, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Brazil. Iolite is relatively hard but should be protected from blows.

Kunzite

The stone is named after G. F. Kunz, the U.S. Mineralogist. It belongs to the Spodumene Group. Its coloring agent is manganese and the stones are mostly light colored and the colors can fade away.
The main producer of this stone is Brazil and other deposits can be found in Pakistan, Madagascar and the United States.